Sonntag German · revision 34886

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=calque, compound|attested=9th century|origins=la diēs Sōlis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈzɔntaːk/, [ˈzɔntʰaˑkʰ], /ˈzɔntax/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Austria, Bavaria, Southern-Germany: [-d̥ɑɡ̥]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Sonntag''' ''m'' (genitive Sonntages or Sonntags, plural Sonntage)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|sunnentac]], [[inh|goh|sunnūntag]], a Germanic loan translation [[der|la|diēs Sōlis|t=day of the sun]], itself a translation of [[grc|ἡμέρα Ἡλίου|tr=hēméra Hēlíou|t=day of Helios]].^(Kluge 2011|858)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) It is a genitive compound of the words for [[Sonne]] and [[Tag]], Proto-West Germanic [[m|gmw-pro|*sunnōn dag]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same rendering is [[osx|sunnundag]], [[ang|sunnandæg]], [[ofs|sunnandei]] and [[non|sunnudagr]], and today [[nl|zondag]], [[en|Sunday]] and [[sv|söndag]].^(Kluge 2011|858)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ The loan translation must be old, from before the 4th century, because from that time the Church's name for the Lord's day, with [[m|la|dominicus|t=of the Lord]], spread in Latin; it is the source of [[fr|dimanche]] and [[it|domenica]].^(Kluge 2011|858)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ From the 15th century the Central German form with /o/ prevailed, first in the full form [[Sonnentag]] (15th century) and then in the short one (16th century).^(Pfeifer 1993) In the 16th century the full form came to be used only for “sunny day”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''sunnūntag'' is recorded from the 9th century,^(Kluge 2011|858)^(Pfeifer 1993) in Otfrid, several confessions (Fulda, Lorsch, Mainz, Reichenau), Notker and the glosses.^(Schützeichel 2012|321) Adelung dates a form ''Sununtag'' to the 8th century.^(Adelung 1793) Notker also uses ''frôntag'' “the Lord's day”, formed to translate Latin ''dies dominicus''.^(DWB|16, 1710)^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Sunday was originally the first day of the week and has been counted as the last since the 1970s; it is the day of rest and worship, set against the working day.^(Paul 2002) As the first part of compounds it marks festivity, as in ''Sonntagsbraten'' and ''Sonntagskleid'', or, disparagingly, the amateur: ''Sonntagsjäger'' in the 19th century, ''Sonntagsfahrer'' and ''Sonntagsmaler'' today.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ A ''Sonntagskind'', a child born on a Sunday, was believed to have special powers, such as seeing ghosts (16th century); from the 18th century the word means a lucky person.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) Paul finds it first in Fischart, 1574.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before the 4th century – The Germanic loan translation of Latin ''diēs Sōlis'' is made.^(Kluge 2011|858)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 9th century – Old High German ''sunnūntag'' is recorded.^(Kluge 2011|858)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 15th century – The form ''Sonnentag'', with /o/, spreads.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 16th century – ''Sonntag'' appears, and ''Sonnentag'' comes to mean “sunny day”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1574 – ''Sonntagskind'' is used by Fischart.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1616 – ''sonntäglich'' is recorded by Hulsius.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1970s – Sunday comes to be counted as the last day of the week.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|Sunday]], the seventh day of the week that begins on Monday, the usual day of rest: ''Am Sonntag hat die Bäckerei geschlossen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sonntags]]

+ * [[sonntäglich]]

+ * [[Sonntagskind]]

+ * [[Sonntagsbraten]]

+ * [[Sonntagsfahrer]]

+ * [[Sonntagsmaler]]

+ * [[Palmsonntag]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Sonne]]

+ * [[Tag]]

+ * [[Sonnabend]]

+ * [[en|Sunday]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The ''Weißer Sonntag'' is the Sunday after Easter, on which Catholic children traditionally receive their first communion; the name renders Church Latin ''dominica in albis'', after the white robes that those baptised at Easter wore until that day.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}