Wahl German · revision 35083

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=early 9th century, Old High German glosses|origins=ine-pro *welh₁-}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /vaːl/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''Wahl''' ''f'' (genitive Wahl, plural Wahlen)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|wale]], [[inh|goh|wala|t=choice]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*walu]], [[inh|gem-pro|*walą|t=choice]].^(Kluge 2011|967)^(Wiktionary) It corresponds to [[non|val|t=choice]], a neuter, while [[got|𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃|tr=gawaleins|t=choice, election]] is formed with another suffix from the same verb.^(Kluge 2011|967)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|27, 507) That verb, [[gem-pro|*waljaną|t=to choose]], is [[got|𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽|tr=waljan]], [[non|velja]], [[osx|wellian]] and [[goh|wellen]], the ancestor of [[wählen]].^(Kluge 2011|967)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Pfeifer 1993)

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+ Kluge says that the verb split off from [[wollen]] in a way whose details are unclear, and that its root meant both “to want” and “to choose”: [[ine-pro|*welh₁-|t=to choose, want]].^(Kluge 2011|967)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary)^(Pfeifer 1993) The Grimms' dictionary and Paul think that the noun was formed from the verb rather than the reverse, since the verb is old while the noun was at first limited to High German and Norse and reached Low German only in the 16th century.^(DWB|27, 507)^(Paul 2002) Today the verb looks like a derivative of the noun, and its form has followed it.^(Kluge 2011|967)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''wala'' is recorded from the early 9th century, three times in glosses and then in Notker, meaning “choice, selection, free decision”, for Latin ''optio'' and ''electio''.^(Köbler AHD)^(DWB|27, 507)^(Schützeichel 2012|368)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Middle High German ''wale'' or ''wal'', much more frequent than the Old High German word, meant “choice, selection”, and also “situation, fate”.^(DWB|27, 507)^(Köbler AHD) Its synonym was ''kür'' (see [[Kur]]).^(Paul 2002) The vowel was lengthened by the beginning of New High German, and Luther usually wrote ''Wahl''; the two-syllable ''Wahle'' lasted in chancery language into the 17th century.^(DWB|27, 507) The proverb ''wer die Wahl hat, hat die Qual'' goes back to the 14th century, and ''eine Wahl treffen'' to the 18th.^(Paul 2002)

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+ The sense “appointment to an office by vote” is Middle High German, and it grew with parliamentary life; only in this sense does the word have a plural, ''Wahlen''.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|27, 507) The agent noun [[Wähler]] first meant the prince-electors who chose the king.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) [[Wahlspruch]] “motto” is Zesen's coinage for Latin ''symbolum'' (1648), and [[Wahlverwandtschaft]] (1779) translates ''attractio electiva'', the chemist Bergman's term, a sense Goethe transferred to human relations in his novel ''Die Wahlverwandtschaften'' (1809).^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) The use for the quality grade of goods, as in ''zweite Wahl'', is probably recent.^(Paul 2002)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * Early 9th century – Old High German ''wala'' appears in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)^(Kluge 2011|967)

+ * 14th century – The proverb ''wer die Wahl hat, hat die Qual'' is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 16th century – The word reaches Low German, and Luther writes ''Wahl''.^(DWB|27, 507)

+ * 1648 – Zesen coins ''Wahlspruch''.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1779 – Weigel coins ''Wahlverwandtschaft'' in chemistry.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1809 – Goethe publishes ''Die Wahlverwandtschaften''.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|choice|alt=Choice]], the possibility of deciding, and the act of choosing between two or more options: ''Sie hatte keine andere Wahl, als abzusagen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An [[m|en|election]], a vote to fill an office or to make up a body: ''Die nächste Wahl findet im Herbst statt.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The fact of being elected to an office: ''Er nahm die Wahl an.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(commerce)'' A [[m|en|quality]] grade, as in ''erste Wahl'' or ''zweite Wahl''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Wähler]]

+ * [[wählerisch]]

+ * [[Wahlspruch]]

+ * [[Wahlverwandtschaft]]

+ * [[Wahlkreis]]

+ * [[wahllos]]

+ * [[Damenwahl]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[wählen]]

+ * [[wollen]]

+ * [[Kur]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Wer die Wahl hat, hat die Qual'', “whoever has the choice has the torment”, is said of a hard decision between good options.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002) ''Zweite Wahl'' also describes, colloquially, something or someone less valued.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}