gar German · revision 35001

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɡaːr/, [ɡaː], [ɡaːɐ̯]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gar''' (strong nominative masculine singular garer, not comparable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Middle High German ''gar'', ''gare'' had inflected forms ''garewer'', ''garwer'', as Old High German ''garo'' had ''garawēr''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) Hans Sachs also wrote ''garb''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|gare|t=ready, prepared; complete]], [[inh|goh|garo|t=ready, prepared, equipped]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*garu]], [[inh|gem-pro|*garwaz|t=ready, finished]].^(Kluge 2011|332)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[osx|garu]], [[gml|gār]], [[nl|gaar]], [[ang|gearo|t=ready]] (English dialect [[m|en|yare]]) and [[non|gǫrr]]; it is found only in North and West Germanic.^(Kluge 2011|332)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|4, 84)

+

+ Its origin is disputed.^(Kluge 2011|332) Kluge, following Heidermanns, thinks it most probable that it is a back-formation from a verb [[gem-pro|*garwijaną|t=to make ready]], built with the prefix [[m|gem-pro|*ga-]] on the adjective [[gem-pro|*arwaz|t=quick, ready]], seen in [[non|ǫrr|t=ready, willing]] and [[osx|aru|t=ready, ripe]].^(Kluge 2011|332)^(Kroonen 2013) The Old Norse adjective serves as the participle of the verb [[m|non|gørva|t=to make ready]], which supports this.^(Kluge 2011|332) That adjective goes back to [[ine-pro|*orwo-|t=quick, ready]], also found in [[ae|aurva|t=quick, brave]] and [[txb|ārwer|t=ready]], and further to [[grc|ὄρνυμι|tr=órnumi|t=I set in motion]].^(Kluge 2011|332) Pfeifer calls the further origin uncertain; he gives this explanation, and also an alternative from the root [[ine-pro|*gʷʰer-|t=hot, warm]] of [[grc|θερμός|tr=thermós]] and [[la|formus|t=warm]], which would require a first sense “cooked”, not proved.^(Pfeifer 1993)

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+ The verb [[gerben]] “to tan”, originally “to make ready”, is derived from it.^(Kluge 2011|332)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''garo'' is recorded from the 8th century in glosses and then in the Benedictine Rule, Isidor, the Monsee Fragments, the Tatian, Otfrid, Notker and other texts, meaning “ready, prepared, equipped, willing, ready for battle, adorned, accomplished”.^(EWA|4, 84)^(Schützeichel 2012|123)^(Köbler AHD) The adverb ''garo'' “entirely, completely” is found from the 8th century in glosses, Otfrid and Notker.^(EWA|4, 86)^(Schützeichel 2012|123) A runic Old Swedish form appears on the Rök stone (about 800).^(EWA|4, 84)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As an adjective the word meant “ready, finished, fit for use” until the 18th century, as in Heynatz's ''sind meine schuhe schon gar?''.^(Paul 2002) The sense “cooked, done”, of food, is recorded from the 14th century;^(Paul 2002) Henisch (1616) quotes the rhyme ''Iß was gahr ist / Trinck was klar ist / Sag was wahr ist''.^(Paul 2002) Several trades kept the old sense: ''gares Leder'', ''gares Eisen'', ''gare Kohlen'' in Adelung.^(Paul 2002)^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ As an adverb it meant “completely, entirely”, as in the Nibelungenlied's ''do waren gar gestorben die Guntheres man'' “then Gunther's men were all dead”.^(Paul 2002) It became an intensifier, “very, quite”, now mainly Austrian, Swiss or literary, and with negatives it means “at all” (''gar nicht'', ''gar nichts'').^(Paul 2002)^(Wiktionary) The old sense lives on in ''ganz und gar''.^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) The noun ''Garaus'' comes from ''gar aus'' “quite over”, probably the watchman's call that announced the closing hour in Nuremberg and Regensburg around 1500.^(Pfeifer 1993)

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+ The adverb was borrowed into Czech as ''kór'' and Slovak as ''gôr'' “even, especially”.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''garo'' appears in glosses.^(EWA|4, 84)^(Köbler AHD)

+ * c. 800 – A runic Old Swedish form is carved on the Rök stone.^(EWA|4, 84)

+ * 863–871 – Otfrid uses the adverb ''garo'' “completely”.^(EWA|4, 86)

+ * 14th century – First record of the sense “cooked”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * c. 1500 – ''Garaus'' is the curfew call in Nuremberg and Regensburg.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1536 – Dasypodius records the word in Early New High German.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 18th century – The general sense “ready” goes out of use.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of food: [[m|en|cooked]], done: ''Der Reis ist noch nicht gar.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(agriculture)'' Of soil: in the best state for sowing.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(southern Germany, Austria, colloquial)'' Used up: ''Das Brot ist gar.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(technical)'' Of metal or leather: [[m|en|refined]], dressed.^(Wiktionary)^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # With a negative: at all: ''gar nicht'', ''gar nichts'', ''gar kein''.^(Wiktionary)^(Paul 2002)

+ # ''(formal or literary)'' [[m|en|even]], expressing a climax: ''Er kam spät oder gar nicht.''^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(formal or literary, with zu)'' All too: ''gar zu gern''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Austria, Switzerland, otherwise poetic)'' Very, quite: ''gar schön''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # In ''ganz und gar'': completely.^(Wiktionary)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[garen]]

+ * [[Garaus]]

+ * [[Garküche]]

+ * [[sogar]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gerben]]

+ * [[en|yare]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}