offen German · revision 35092

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɔfən/, [ˈʔɔ.fən], [ˈʔɔfɱ̩]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''offen''' (strong nominative masculine singular offener, comparative offener, superlative am offensten)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|offen]], [[inh|goh|offan]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*opan]], [[inh|gem-pro|*upanaz|t=open]].^(Kluge 2011|666)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same adjective is [[osx|opan]], [[non|opinn]], [[ang|open]] and [[ofs|epen]], and today [[nl|open]], [[en|open]] and [[sv|öppen]].^(Kluge 2011|666)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|6, 1131) There is no record of it in Gothic.^(DWB|13, 1163)

+

+ Kluge explains it as formed with an n-suffix and ablaut from the same base as [[auf]], and more distantly related to [[oben]] and [[ober]].^(Kluge 2011|666)^(Duden 7 2020|593) Pfeifer suggests that it first meant “drawn or lifted up”, hence “open”,^(Pfeifer 1993) and the Grimms' dictionary takes the Germanic form for the participle of a lost strong verb.^(DWB|13, 1163) Wiktionary also explains it as such a participle, of a verb formed from [[gem-pro|*upp|t=up]] and meaning “lying on top”, but notes that no other trace of that verb exists.^(Wiktionary) Köbler traces the base to [[ine-pro|*upo|t=below, up, over]].^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''offan'' is recorded from the second half of the 8th century, first in the Abrogans glossary and many other glosses, then in the Tatian, Otfrid, Notker and Williram, meaning “open, opened”, and also “evident, clear, bright” and “public”.^(EWA|6, 1131)^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|244) Otfrid speaks of seeing Christ ''offenên ougun'' “with open eyes”.^(DWB|13, 1163)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Middle High German ''offen'' meant “opened, spread out, wide” and also “evident, unconcealed, public”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|6, 1131) The senses “plain to everyone” and “public” later passed to the derivatives [[offenbar]] and [[öffentlich]].^(Paul 2002) The adjective was transferred to what is not occupied (''eine offene Stelle''), to what is not yet decided, to people receptive to impressions, and to frank and sincere people, from which came [[Offenheit]] (Wieland, 1773).^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) Since Karl Popper's ''Die offene Gesellschaft und ihre Feinde'' (German translation 1957–58) it has also described political systems that are open to change.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ The adjective ''öffentlich'' goes back to Old High German ''offanlīh'' (9th century), gained an inserted /t/ in the 13th century and its umlaut from the 15th, and was later used in the sense of Latin ''publicus'', as in ''die öffentliche Meinung'' (late 18th century, after French ''opinion publique'').^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) [[Öffentlichkeitsarbeit]] (second half of the 20th century) translates English ''public relations''.^(Duden 7 2020|593)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''offan'' appears in glosses, among them the Abrogans.^(Kluge 2011|666)^(Köbler AHD)^(EWA|6, 1131)

+ * 8th century – The verb ''offanōn'', the ancestor of [[öffnen]], is first recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 9th century – ''offanlīh'', the ancestor of ''öffentlich'', is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 10th century – ''offanbāri'', the ancestor of ''offenbar'', is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1641 – [[offenherzig]] is recorded in Schottelius.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1773 – Wieland uses ''Offenheit''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1800 – ''Offenbarungseid'', the oath of disclosure of a debtor, is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1957–58 – Popper's ''The Open Society and Its Enemies'' appears in German as ''Die offene Gesellschaft und ihre Feinde''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|open|alt=Open]], not closed, so that someone or something can get in or out: ''Das Garagentor stand die ganze Nacht offen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Not locked or sealed, and of a shop or office: open for business: ''Die Apotheke hat heute bis zehn Uhr offen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # Uncovered, not covered over.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # Not blocked by any obstacle, freely accessible.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # Of a competition: not restricted to particular participants.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # Of wine and other drinks: served from the barrel or by the glass, not in a bottle, and ''(regional)'' of goods: sold loose, not packed.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # Not yet decided, [[m|en|uncertain]]: ''Ob das Konzert im Freien stattfindet, ist noch offen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # Not yet paid or settled, and of a post: [[m|en|vacant]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # [[m|en|frank|alt=Frank]], [[m|en|candid]], hiding nothing about one's feelings: ''Sie hat ihm offen gesagt, was sie denkt.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Plain for everyone to see, unconcealed, and done in public, not secret.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(sports)'' Neglecting defence and so leaving the opponent room for a counter-attack.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(phonetics)'' Of a vowel: pronounced with the mouth wide open, and of a syllable: ending in a vowel.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|openly|alt=Openly]], frankly.^(Wiktionary)^(DWB|13, 1171)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[öffnen]]

+ * [[Öffnung]]

+ * [[offenbar]]

+ * [[offenbaren]]

+ * [[Offenbarung]]

+ * [[Offenheit]]

+ * [[offenherzig]]

+ * [[öffentlich]]

+ * [[Öffentlichkeit]]

+ * [[veröffentlichen]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[auf]]

+ * [[oben]]

+ * [[en|open]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}