fahren German · revision 34949

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 8th century, Old High German Isidor|origins=ine-pro *per-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * [ˈfaːʁən], [ˈfaːɐ̯n]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Austria, southern Germany, Switzerland: [ˈfaːn]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fahren''' (class 6 strong, third-person singular present fährt, past tense fuhr, past participle gefahren, past subjunctive führe, auxiliary haben or sein)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|varn]], [[inh|goh|faran]], [[inh|gem-pro|*faraną|t=to go, travel]].^(Kluge 2011|272)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The same verb is [[got|𐍆𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌽|tr=faran]], [[non|fara]], [[ang|faran]] (now [[en|fare]]), [[ofs|fara]] and [[osx|faran]].^(Kluge 2011|272)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ Outside Germanic it is compared with [[grc|πορεύω|tr=poreúō|t=I carry, (middle) I go]], and further with [[la|portō|t=to carry, bring]], [[grc|περάω|tr=peráō|t=to pass through]], [[m|grc|πόρος|tr=póros|t=passage, ford]] and [[cu|пьрати|tr=pĭrati|t=to soar]].^(Kluge 2011|272)^(Pfeifer 1993) They belong to the root [[ine-pro|*per-|t=to pierce, bring across]]; whether they are separate developments of it or more closely related cannot be decided.^(Kluge 2011|272) Kroonen describes the verb as an o-grade intensive [[m|ine-pro|*pór-e-]], and the preterite [[m|goh|fuor]] as a secondary formation.^(Kroonen 2013) The causative is [[führen]], and [[Fähre]], [[Fuhre]] and [[Furt]] belong to the same family.^(Kluge 2011|272)^(Duden 7 2014)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''faran'' is found from the 8th century, first in the Isidor translation (''ih faru dhir fora'' “I go before you”), then in the Tatian and many other texts; it meant any movement from place to place: “to go, travel, move, fly, flow”, and also “to fare, behave”.^(DWB2|9, 46)^(Köbler AHD)^(EWA|3, 56) In the second Merseburg charm, Phol and Wodan ''uuorun zi holza'' “rode to the wood”.^(DWB2|9, 46)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb was originally the most general word for every kind of movement, covering going, riding, flying and swimming, and only gradually narrowed to travel by vehicle or ship.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) The old sense survives in ''fahrendes Volk'' “travelling people”, ''fahrende Habe'' “movable goods”, in [[Vorfahr]] and in religious language: ''gen Himmel gefahren'' “ascended into heaven”, ''zur Hölle fahren''.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2014) It is also still used of sudden quick movements, as of lightning or a hand.^(Duden 7 2014)

+

+ In Middle High German and Middle Low German, with the idea of motion faded, it meant “to behave, live, fare”, which survives in ''mit etwas gut fahren'' “to do well with something” and in [[Hoffart]] and [[Wohlfahrt]].^(Duden 7 2014)^(Paul 2002) Today it is used of travel by car, train or ship, but of aircraft one says ''fliegen'', although ''Ballon fahren'' remains.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) ''Fahrer'', recorded from the 18th century for a carter, came to mean a motor-car driver around 1900.^(Pfeifer 1993) English has borrowed ''Fahrvergnügen'' “the pleasure of driving” (1990).^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''faran'' in the Isidor translation.^(Kluge 2011|272)^(DWB2|9, 46)

+ * c. 830 – Used in the Tatian.^(DWB2|9, 46)

+ * 10th century – The Merseburg charm (manuscript) uses it of Phol and Wodan riding.^(DWB2|9, 46)

+ * 15th century – ''fahrlässig'' is formed from the phrase ''varn lāʒen'' “to let go”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 18th century – ''Fahrer'' “carter” and ''fahrig'' “restless” in its modern sense.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * c. 1900 – ''Fahrer'' comes to mean the driver of a motor car.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # Of a vehicle: to move, [[m|en|run]]; of public transport, to run on a route: ''Der Bus fährt alle zehn Minuten''.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # Of a person: to [[m|en|travel]] by vehicle or ship, to go by car or train.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # To [[m|en|drive]], steer (a vehicle): ''Sie fährt einen Lastwagen''.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # To take or transport someone or something by vehicle.^(Wiktionary)

+ # To pass the hand or an object quickly over or into something.^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # To make a sudden, quick movement; of a person or animal, to dart.^(Wiktionary DE)^(Wiktionary)^(Duden 7 2014)

+ # With ''gut'' or ''schlecht'' and ''mit'': to fare well or badly with something.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2014)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Fahrer]]

+ * [[Fahrt]]

+ * [[fahrend]]

+ * [[fahrig]]

+ * [[fahrlässig]]

+ * [[Fahrnis]]

+ * [[Fahrzeug]]

+ * [[erfahren]]

+ * [[verfahren]]

+ * [[fortfahren]]

+ * [[zerfahren]]

+ * [[wallfahren]]

+ * [[willfahren]]

+ * [[Vorfahr]]

+ * [[Hoffart]]

+ * [[Wohlfahrt]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Abfuhr]]

+ * [[Fährte]]

+ * [[Fuhrmann]]

+ * [[führen]]

+ * [[Fähre]]

+ * [[Fuhre]]

+ * [[Furt]]

+ * [[Porto]]

+ * [[en|fare]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Fahren'' takes ''sein'' when it means movement and ''haben'' when it has an object, as in driving a vehicle.^(Wiktionary) An unrelated verb of the same spelling, Old High German ''fārēn'', Middle High German ''vāren'' “to lie in wait for, strive after”, belonged to the noun that survives in [[Gefahr]]; it has died out.^(DWB2|9, 52) ''Fahr wohl'' “farewell” was a frequent parting greeting;^(Paul 2002) Paul takes it as a loan translation of English ''farewell''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}