Abend German · revision 35076

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈaːbənt/, /aːmt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Abend''' ''m'' (genitive Abends, plural Abende)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|ābent]], [[inh|goh|āband]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*ābanþ]], [[inh|gem-pro|*ēbanþs|t=evening]].^(Kluge 2011|4)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The same word is [[osx|āband]], [[ofs|ēvend]], [[dum|avont]] and [[nl|avond]], and, perhaps reshaped after the word for “morning”, [[ang|ǣfen]], the source of [[en|eve]] and [[m|en|evening]].^(Kluge 2011|4)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013) The Norse forms differ, with a short vowel and a dental: [[non|aptann]], [[sv|afton]], [[da|aften]].^(Kluge 2011|4)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB2|1, 121) Gothic has no corresponding word.^(Kluge 2011|4)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ In Old Norse the word at first meant the time from about three to nine in the afternoon, while sunset was [[m|non|kveld]]; later the Norse languages generalised that word, the other languages this one.^(Kluge 2011|4)

+

+ Its further origin is disputed.^(Kluge 2011|4)^(Paul 2002)^(Kroonen 2013) Kluge assumes a formation with the suffix of time words in /nt/ from a word for “late, later”, the one behind [[aber]], and compares [[fr|soir]] from [[la|sērus|t=late]], and [[grc|ὀψία|tr=opsía|t=evening]] from [[m|grc|ὀψέ|tr=opsé|t=late]].^(Kluge 2011|4) Pfeifer, the Duden and the Grimms' revised dictionary likewise connect it with [[m|grc|ἐπί|tr=epí|t=on]] and [[ine-pro|*epi|t=near, after, behind]], reconstructing [[m|ine-pro|*ēponto-]] or [[m|ine-pro|*āptanto-]]: the evening would be the later part of the day.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2007)^(DWB2|1, 121)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) Kroonen compares the suffix of [[hit|išpant-|t=night]] and reconstructs [[m|ine-pro|*h₁eh₁pt-ont-]], but considers the etymology unclear, since the initial laryngeal rules out the link with “after”.^(Kroonen 2013) The long vowel of the West Germanic forms is unexplained.^(Kluge 2011|4)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''āband'' appears in glosses of the last quarter of the 8th century, and the compound ''abendstern'' “evening star” also in the 8th century.^(Köbler AHD)^(Kluge 2011|4) In the Tatian, Otfrid, Notker and the Murbach Hymns it means the [[m|en|evening]], also the evening of life or of the world, the evening service and the eve of a feast.^(Schützeichel 2012|27)^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “eve of a feast”, and even “the day before a feast”, comes from the old reckoning in which the day began with the evening before it, as in the Bible (Leviticus 23:32) and among the Germanic peoples according to Tacitus.^(Kluge 2011|4)^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2014|98) It survives in [[Feierabend]], [[Heiligabend]] and [[Sonnabend]].^(Duden 7 2007)^(Paul 2002) From the 14th century ''Abend'' also means “west”, a semantic loan from [[m|la|vesper]], first in a translation of Marco Polo according to the Duden; it became common through Luther in the early 16th century.^(Kluge 2011|4)^(Duden 7 2014|98)^(Pfeifer 1993) The older Duden edition says the sense first appears in Luther's Bible.^(Duden 7 2007) Hence [[Abendland]] “the West” (16th century).^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ In southern and western Germany ''Abend'' could also mean the afternoon, while in the north and centre it includes the hours of darkness.^(Paul 2002) The greeting ''guten Abend'' is found in Middle High German, in the ''Kudrun''.^(Paul 2002) From the 18th century, after French ''soirée'', the word also names an evening party or performance.^(Paul 2002) In the Bavarian and Austrian dialects the word was not originally at home, where ''Nacht'' was used instead.^(DWB2|1, 121)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – The compound ''abendstern'' “evening star” is recorded.^(Kluge 2011|4)

+ * Late 8th century – Old High German ''āband'' appears in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * c. 1200 – The genitive ''ābendes'' becomes an adverb, the modern ''abends''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 14th century – ''Abend'' is used for “west”, after Latin ''vesper''.^(Kluge 2011|4)

+ * 16th century – Luther makes ''Abendmahl'' the name of the Last Supper and the sacrament.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1699 – ''Vorabend'' “eve” is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 18th century – ''Abend'' comes to mean an evening party, after French ''soirée''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1996 – The spelling reform makes ''heute Abend'' the standard spelling, replacing ''heute abend''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|evening]], the time of day around dusk until the night: ''am späten Abend''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A social gathering or [[m|en|performance]] in the evening: ''ein musikalischer Abend'', ''bunter Abend'' “variety evening”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(dated)'' The [[m|en|west]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The end of a life or an era: ''der Abend des Lebens''.^(Wiktionary DE)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[abends]]

+ * [[abendlich]]

+ * [[Abendland]]

+ * [[Abendmahl]]

+ * [[Abendrot]]

+ * [[Abendessen]]

+ * [[Feierabend]]

+ * [[Heiligabend]]

+ * [[Sonnabend]]

+ * [[Vorabend]]

+ * [[Lebensabend]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aber]]

+ * [[en|evening]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Es ist noch nicht aller Tage Abend'' “it is not yet the evening of all days” means that nothing is decided yet; it goes back, in variants, to Early New High German.^(Paul 2002) ''Der Heilige Abend'' is Christmas Eve, and ''je später der Abend, desto schöner die Gäste'' is a humorous greeting for a latecomer.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}