sorgen German · revision 35053

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈzɔrɡən/, [ˈzɔʁ-], [ˈzɔɐ̯-]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sorgen''' (third-person singular present sorgt, past tense sorgte, past participle gesorgt, auxiliary haben)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|sorgen]], [[inh|goh|sorgēn]], [[inh|gem-pro|*surgāną|t=to worry]], a verb formed from the noun that is now [[Sorge]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary)^(Kluge 2011|859) The same verb is [[got|𐍃𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐌰𐌽|tr=saurgan]], [[non|syrgja]], [[ang|sorgian]], [[osx|sorgon]] and [[nl|zorgen]], and [[en|sorrow]] as a verb.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|16, 1773) The noun is [[gem-pro|*surgō|t=worry, grief]], in [[m|got|𐍃𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐌰|tr=saurga]], [[m|non|sorg]] and [[m|ang|sorh]].^(Kluge 2011|859)^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ Its further origin is uncertain.^(Pfeifer 1993) Old High German also has forms with /sw-/ in the Tatian and Otfrid, which the EWA and Kroonen take as secondary.^(EWA|8, 642)^(Kroonen 2013) If they are original, the word may be compared with [[sa|सूर्क्षति|tr=sū́rkṣati|t=cares about]] and an Indo-European [[m|ine-pro|*swergʰ-|t=to care for]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD) If not, Pfeifer and the Duden compare [[sga|serg|t=illness]] and [[lt|sirgti|alt=sir̃gti|t=to be ill]], from a sense “oppression of body or mind”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2007) Kluge compares [[lt|sergėti|alt=sérgėti|t=to guard, keep]] and, more distantly, [[la|servō|t=to keep, save]].^(Kluge 2011|859)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''sorgēn'' is recorded from the 8th century, in the Muspilli, the Murbach hymns, the Tatian, Otfrid and Notker, meaning “to be anxious (about)”, “to take pains” and “to care for”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Schützeichel 2012|327)^(Köbler AHD) Wulfila's Gothic ''saurgan'' translates Greek “to be grieved”.^(DWB|16, 1773)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb once meant “to grieve, to feel sorrow”, as Adelung notes,^(Adelung 1793) and the noun kept the sense “grief” in Low German, Swedish and English.^(Duden 7 2007) Middle High German ''sorgen'' meant “to be worried, troubled, afraid”.^(Lexer 1872|2, 1058)^(Köbler MHD) By Adelung's time the sense of grief was old-fashioned, and the main uses were “to worry about a future evil” and ''für etwas sorgen'' “to see to something”; he also notes the sense “to fear” in familiar speech.^(Adelung 1793) Goethe still uses it in this way: ''Oftmals hab' ich gesorgt, es möchte der Krug dir entstürzen'' (“often I feared the jug might fall from you”).^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ In German the noun developed both “fear of a threat” and “effort to remove it”, and the verb followed the second branch in ''sorgen für'' and in its prefixed forms.^(Pfeifer 1993) Today ''für etwas sorgen'' has also faded to “to cause”, as in ''Die Nachricht sorgte für Aufsehen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) The reflexive ''sich sorgen'' “to worry” is the usual form of the first sense.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''sorgēn'' is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 9th century – Forms with ''sw-'' appear in the Tatian and Otfrid, and ''bisorgēn'' is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|8, 642)

+ * Late Middle High German – ''besorgnis'' appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * Second half of the 20th century – ''entsorgen'' “to dispose of waste” is coined.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(reflexive)'' To [[m|en|worry]], to be concerned: ''Sie sorgt sich um ihren Sohn.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To look after, to [[m|en|care]] for (with ''für''): ''Wer sorgt in den Ferien für die Katze?''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To see to it that something is there or happens, to [[m|en|ensure]] (with ''für''): ''Die Gastgeberin sorgte für gute Stimmung.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To bring about, to cause (with ''für''): ''Der Sturm sorgte für Verspätungen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[besorgen]]

+ * [[entsorgen]]

+ * [[versorgen]]

+ * [[besorgt]]

+ * [[Besorgnis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Sorge]]

+ * [[en|sorrow]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The proverb ''Borgen macht Sorgen'' “borrowing brings worries” is recorded by Adelung.^(Adelung 1793) Only the dialect of Carinthia has a strong participle.^(DWB|16, 1773)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}