denken German · revision 35071

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈdɛŋkən/, [ˈdɛŋkən], [ˈdɛŋʔŋ̍]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''denken''' (irregular weak, third-person singular present denkt, past tense dachte, past participle gedacht, past subjunctive dächte, auxiliary haben)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|denken]], [[inh|goh|denken]], also [[m|goh|thenken]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*þankijan]], [[inh|gem-pro|*þankijaną|t=to think]].^(Kluge 2011|190)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same verb is [[got|𐌸𐌰𐌲𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽|tr=þagkjan|t=to think, plan]], [[non|þekkja|t=to perceive, know]], [[ang|þencan]], [[ofs|thanka]] and [[osx|thenkian]], and today [[nl|denken]] and [[en|think]].^(Kluge 2011|190)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Orel 2003) In the modern English verb the related impersonal verb for “seem” has merged with it.^(Kluge 2011|190)^(EWA|2, 579) The Scandinavian forms such as [[sv|tänka]] and [[da|tænke]] lack the assimilation of /nk/ to /kk/ seen in the Old Norse verb and were borrowed from Low German.^(EWA|2, 579)^(DWB2|6, 649)

+

+ Outside Germanic it corresponds exactly to Old Latin [[m|la|tongeō|t=to know]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Kluge 2011|190) Pfeifer and Duden trace both to a root [[ine-pro|*teng-|t=to think, feel]], also found as *tong-.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Köbler AHD) The Germanic verb looks like a causative, standing in ablaut beside the verb continued by [[dünken]] and beside [[Dank]] and [[Gedanke]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) Kroonen, noting that the meaning is stative rather than causative, takes it, like the Latin verb, as an inherited present with o-grade of the root, and compares Tocharian B [[m|txb|tankw|t=love]].^(Kroonen 2013) Kluge sees the root as unclear at first, and suggests a link with [[ine-pro|*teng-|t=to pull, stretch]] (see [[Deichsel]]), which in Slavic also means “to weigh”: the Germanic verb would first have meant “to weigh up”, the Latin one the resulting state, “to know”.^(Kluge 2011|190)

+

+ The past tense and the past participle go back to [[m|gem-pro|*þanht-]], with loss of /n/ and lengthening of the vowel (Old High German [[m|goh|dāhta]], Middle High German [[m|gmh|dāhte]]), and the vowel was later shortened before the consonant cluster.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(EWA|2, 579)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''denken'', ''thenken'' is recorded from the 8th century, first in glosses of after 765, and then in the Tatian, Otfrid, Notker, Williram, the Benedictine Rule, the Monsee fragments and the Murbach hymns.^(Kluge 2011|190)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|70) It meant “to think (of), consider, reflect, imagine”, and also “to intend, be bent on” and “to pay attention”; the thing thought of stood in the genitive.^(Schützeichel 2012|70)^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The genitive object was gradually replaced by ''an'' with the accusative, as in Heine's ''Denk ich an Deutschland in der Nacht''.^(Paul 2002) Only for remembering the past could the genitive still be used in the 19th century (''denkst du noch der Zeiten…?''), and that sense passed mostly to [[gedenken]].^(Paul 2002) The content of thought stands in the accusative (''etwas Gutes denken''), and poets such as Klopstock and Goethe extended the bare accusative to the object as well (''du denkst nur dich'').^(Paul 2002) Directed at the future, ''denken'' with ''zu'' and an infinitive came to mean “to intend”.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ Derivatives record the history of thought and memory: [[nachdenken]] dates from the 15th century and [[nachdenklich]] from the mid-17th.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) [[Denkzettel]] was in Middle Low German law a written summons or memorandum; in the 16th century schoolboys were hung with notes listing their offences, hence today's sense “a lesson, a punishment to remember”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) [[Denkmal]] was coined in the 16th century to render Greek [[m|grc|μνημόσυνον|tr=mnēmósunon|t=memorial]], and partly Latin ''monumentum''.^(Duden 7 2020) [[Denker]] “philosopher”, from the first half of the 18th century, follows English ''thinker''; an Old High German ''thenkāri'' of the 11th century remained isolated.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) The noun ''das Denken'' “a body of thought, a way of thinking” was formed in the early 19th century.^(DWB2|6, 658)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''thenken'', ''denken''.^(Kluge 2011|190)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 11th century – An isolated Old High German ''thenkāri'' “thinker”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 15th century – ''nachdenken'' “to reflect”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+ * 16th century – ''Denkzettel'' and ''Denkmal'' appear.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+ * Mid-17th century – ''nachdenklich'' “pensive”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * First half of the 18th century – ''Denker'', after English ''thinker''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+ * 1808 – Fichte uses ''das Denken'' for a whole body of thought.^(DWB2|6, 658)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|think]], to use one's reason, reflect: ''sie denkt immer sehr gründlich''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To be of a certain mind or outlook: ''er denkt sozial''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # To [[m|en|assume]], believe, suppose: ''ich denke, der Zug kommt gleich''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To have an opinion about something (''über''): ''wie denkst du über den Plan?''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # With ''an'': to think of, not to forget, to [[m|en|remember]]: ''denk an die Fahrkarten!''^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(reflexive, dative)'' To [[m|en|imagine]]: ''ich kann mir denken, warum er geht''.^(Wiktionary)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # With ''zu'' and an infinitive: to intend: ''wir denken, im Mai umzuziehen''.^(Paul 2002)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bedenken]]

+ * [[gedenken]]

+ * [[verdenken]]

+ * [[erdenken]]

+ * [[nachdenken]]

+ * [[nachdenklich]]

+ * [[denkbar]]

+ * [[Denker]]

+ * [[Denkmal]]

+ * [[Denkzettel]]

+ * [[Denke]]

+ * [[denkste]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Bedacht]]

+ * [[bedächtig]]

+ * [[denkwürdig]]

+ * [[Gedanke]]

+ * [[Dank]]

+ * [[dünken]]

+ * [[Andacht]]

+ * [[en|think]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Fixed phrases include ''jemandem zu denken geben'' “to set someone thinking, make someone suspicious” and the colloquial retort ''denkste!'' “that's what you think!”.^(Duden GWDS 1999) The irregular past ''dachte'' and participle ''gedacht'' are those of a weak verb with loss of /n/; many Upper German dialects use the regular participle ''(ge)denkt''.^(EWA|2, 579)^(DWB2|6, 649)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}