Bau German · revision 35109

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century, Old High German glosses|origins=ine-pro *bʰewh₂-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /baʊ̯/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Bau''' ''m'' (genitive Baues or Baus, plural Bauten or Baue)^(Wiktionary)

+ The plural ''Bauten'' gradually replaced older ''Baue'' and ''Bäue'' from the early 19th century.^(DWB2|4, 271) It belongs to the obsolete chancery word ''Baute'', taken in the 18th century from Low German, Middle Low German ''bū(we)te''.^(Duden 7 2014|154)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ ''Baue'' remains the plural for an animal's burrow and for a mine working.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|bū]], [[inh|goh|bū|t=dwelling]], [[inh|gem-pro|*būą|t=building, dwelling]].^(Kluge 2011|96)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same noun is [[osx|bū]], [[ang|bū]] and [[non|bú|t=dwelling, household, livestock]], and in the modern languages [[nl|bouw]] and [[sv|bo|t=household; burrow, nest]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|154) The basic sense of all these forms is “dwelling”.^(Duden 7 2014|154)

+

+ It belongs with the verb [[bauen]], whose main sense in the old languages is “to dwell”: [[got|𐌱𐌰𐌿𐌰𐌽|tr=bauan]], [[non|búa]], [[ang|būan]] and [[m|goh|būan]].^(Kluge 2011|97) Kluge takes the Germanic verb as a lengthened-grade formation from [[ine-pro|*bʰewh₂-|t=to become, be]], the root of [[la|sum|alt=fuī|t=I was]], [[lt|būti|alt=bū́ti|t=to be, become]], [[cu|быти|tr=byti|t=to be]], [[grc|φύω|tr=phúō|t=to bring forth]] and [[sa|भवति|tr=bhávati|t=becomes, is]].^(Kluge 2011|97) Kluge holds that the modern verb sense “to build” is a derivative of the noun, while the Grimms' revised dictionary treats the noun as a back-formation from the verb.^(Kluge 2011|97)^(DWB2|4, 271)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''bū'' glosses Latin ''habitatio'' “dwelling” at the end of the 8th century.^(DWB2|4, 271)^(Köbler AHD) The ''Muspilli'' (9th–10th century) speaks of the man who wins ''in pardisu pu'', ''hus in himile'' “a dwelling in paradise, a house in heaven”, and Otfrid also uses the word, for “dwelling, place”.^(DWB2|4, 271)^(Schützeichel 2012|63)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “tillage of the land” is already Old High German, and in Middle High German ''bū'' meant the cultivation of a field or vineyard, a dwelling, a building and the building of a house.^(Duden 7 2014|154)^(Lexer 1872|1, 375) From Middle High German on it was felt as the noun of the transitive verb ''bauen'', both the act of building and the building itself.^(Duden 7 2014|154) In New High German the agricultural sense receded in the simple word, surviving in ''Ackerbau'', ''Obstbau'' and ''Weinbau'', and the mining sense lives on in ''Bergbau'' and ''Raubbau''.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ An animal's den was a ''Bau'' early on, especially that of the fox and the badger.^(DWB|1, 1161) Adelung records the punishment of labour on fortifications and the prison where convicts were held, the source of the soldiers' word for the guardroom.^(Adelung 1793|1, 748)^(Paul 2002) The sense “structure”, as in ''Körperbau'' and ''Satzbau'', appears with Kant and Herder.^(Paul 2002) ''Vom Bau sein'' “to be an expert” dates from about 1830.^(Paul 2002) Walter Gropius founded the ''Bauhaus'' in Weimar in 1919, and English took over the name about 1923.^(Paul 2002)^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * End of the 8th century – Old High German ''bū'' glosses ''habitatio''.^(DWB2|4, 271)

+ * 9th–10th century – ''pu'' “dwelling” appears in the ''Muspilli''.^(DWB2|4, 271)

+ * 14th century – Late Middle High German ''bawfellig'' “dilapidated” is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 18th century – ''Baute'' is taken from Low German;^(Duden 7 2014|154)^(Pfeifer 1993) ''Baukasten'' “box of building blocks” appears.^(Duden 7 2014|154)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * Early 19th century – The plural ''Bauten'' becomes established.^(DWB2|4, 271)^(Paul 2002)

+ * c. 1830 – ''vom Bau sein'' is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1919 – Gropius founds the ''Bauhaus''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|construction]] or building of something: ''Der Bau der Brücke dauerte drei Jahre.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The way something is put together, its [[m|en|structure]]; also a person's build: ''ein Mann von kräftigem Bau''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A [[m|en|building site]]: ''Ihr Vater war Maurer auf dem Bau.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A (large) [[m|en|building]], an edifice (plural ''Bauten'').^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An animal's [[m|en|burrow]] or den (plural ''Baue'').^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(slang)'' One's home.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(military slang)'' The guardroom where soldiers serve detention, and the detention itself; also colloquially prison.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(mining)'' A gallery or working (plural ''Baue'').^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(Bavaria, Austria)'' The growing of crops.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Ackerbau]]

+ * [[Anbau]]

+ * [[Bergbau]]

+ * [[Raubbau]]

+ * [[Neubau]]

+ * [[Überbau]]

+ * [[Bauwerk]]

+ * [[Baumeister]]

+ * [[Baustein]]

+ * [[Baukasten]]

+ * [[baulich]]

+ * [[baufällig]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bauen]]

+ * [[Bauer]]

+ * [[Gebäude]]

+ * [[Bude]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}