Leute German · revision 34967

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century, Old High German|origins=gem-pro *liudīz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈlɔɪ.tə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Leute''' ''pl'' (plural only, diminutive Leutchen n or Leutlein n)^(Wiktionary)

+ The singular ''liut'' “people, nation” was lost from the written language by the 15th century, leaving only the plural.^(DWB|12, 837)^(Paul 2002) Bavarian and Austrian dialects keep ''das Leut'' “people, folk”, and southern German ''das Leut'' can mean a (female) person.^(DWB|12, 837)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|liute]], [[inh|goh|liuti]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*liudi]], [[inh|gem-pro|*liudīz|t=people]], the plural of a noun that survived into Old and Middle High German as [[goh|liut|t=people, nation]].^(Kluge 2011|574)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) Kluge reconstructs the Germanic noun as [[gem-pro|*leudi-]], a full member of the tribal assembly, with the plural meaning “the people”.^(Kluge 2011|574) The same word is [[osx|liudi]], [[ang|lēode|t=people]], [[ofs|liōde]] and [[non|lýðr|t=people]], and Latinised forms of it are recorded from the 7th century.^(Kluge 2011|574)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch)

+

+ Outside Germanic it matches Balto-Slavic words for “people”: [[cu|людъ|tr=ljudŭ|t=people]], [[lt|liaudis|alt=liáudis|t=common people]], [[lv|ļaudis|t=people, men]] and [[ru|люди|tr=ljudi|t=people]].^(Kluge 2011|574)^(Pfeifer 1993) Related forms with an r-suffix mean “free”: [[grc|ἐλεύθερος|tr=eleútheros|t=free]] and [[la|līber|t=free]].^(Kluge 2011|574)^(Kroonen 2013) Pfeifer and the Grimms' dictionary connect the root with the verb [[goh|liotan|t=to grow]], [[got|𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽|tr=liudan|t=to grow]], from [[ine-pro|*leudh-|t=to grow up]], so that the people were “the offspring, those who have grown up”;^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|12, 837) Kluge gives this root only as a possibility.^(Kluge 2011|574) Paul and Kroonen take the original sense to be “free men”, the common people as against the unfree.^(Paul 2002)^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''liuti'' is recorded from the 8th century meaning “people, nation”;^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD) Pfeifer dates the sense “population, crowd” to the 9th century and “subjects” to the 10th.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD) The EWA lists a wide range of senses in the glosses, Isidor, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker: a human being, the members of a people, the crowd, the population of a country and the subjects of a ruler.^(EWA|5, 1397)^(Schützeichel 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Because the word was felt as plural in sense, the plural form took over and the singular disappeared; a vocabulary of about 1485 already glosses ''leuth'' as Latin ''homines''.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|12, 837) The old political sense of “the people” widened to “human beings” in general, as in Luther, and narrowed to a person's household or family (''meine Leute'', recorded by Frisch in 1741) and to the people working under someone, workmen or soldiers.^(Paul 2002) Adelung, around 1800, noted that ''Leute'' was used of ordinary people and not of persons one spoke of with respect.^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ In compounds ''-leute'' serves as the plural of ''-mann'': ''Kaufleute'', ''Seeleute'', ''Landsleute'', ''Hauptleute''.^(Paul 2002) The singular survives only in ''leutselig'', Middle High German ''liutsælic'' “pleasing to people”, which since the 16th century has meant “kindly towards common people” and is now often ironic, “condescendingly friendly”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 7th century – Latinised ''leodis'' is recorded.^(Kluge 2011|574)

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''liuti'' “people, nation”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|574)

+ * 10th century – First record of the sense “subjects”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * About 1485 – Only the plural ''leuth'' is used for “people” in a vocabulary.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 16th century – ''leutselig'' takes on the sense “kindly towards common people”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1562 – ''Leuteschinder'' “slave-driver” in Mathesius.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|people|alt=People]], persons seen together as a group: ''auf dem Markt waren viele Leute''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # People in general, others, the public: ''was sollen die Leute denken?''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' The people who work under someone, [[m|en|staff]], [[m|en|crew]] or soldiers: ''der Meister lobt seine Leute''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' One's family, relatives: ''meine Leute wohnen auf dem Land''.^(Paul 2002)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' Used to address a group: ''Leute, jetzt geht's los!''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[leutselig]]

+ * [[Leuteschinder]]

+ * [[Kaufleute]]

+ * [[Landsleute]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[goh|liut]]

+ * [[en|lede]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Fixed phrases include ''unter die Leute kommen'' “to become known”, ''etwas unter die Leute bringen'' “to spread something about”, ''in aller Leute Munde sein'' “to be talked about everywhere” and ''wir sind geschiedene Leute'' “we are finished with each other”.^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''Land und Leute'' pairs the country with its inhabitants.^(Paul 2002)^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}