Lage German · revision 35130

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈlaːɡə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Lage''' ''f'' (genitive Lage, plural Lagen)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|lāge]], [[inh|goh|lāga|t=ambush, trap]], an abstract noun of [[liegen]] with a different vowel grade.^(Kluge 2011|555)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) Duden calls it a word found only in German,^(Duden 7 2020) while Köbler sets up [[gem-pro|*lēgō|t=lying, position, ambush]].^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ The verb goes back to [[gem-pro|*ligjaną]], from [[ine-pro|*legʰ-|t=to lie]].^(Kluge 2011|578)^(Köbler AHD) Old High German also had [[m|goh|laga|t=laying]], a noun of [[legen]], and they merged.^(Duden 7 2020)^(DWB|12, 58)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''lāga'' appears only in glosses, from the end of the 8th century, meaning “lying in wait, ambush, trap, snare”.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|191) Kluge dates it to the 9th century.^(Kluge 2011|555)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle High German ''lāge'' meant lying in wait, an ambush, but also the state of lying, a condition, and a storehouse.^(Duden 7 2020)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler MHD) Paul notes that the senses close to the modern ones are found only in some Low and Central German sources; the word spread into the written standard only in the 17th century,^(DWB|12, 58)^(Paul 2002) and is missing from the Upper German dictionaries of the 16th century.^(DWB|12, 58)

+

+ The first modern sense was the way a thing or place lies, as of a vineyard, which still gives the word for a wine-growing site.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) From this came the figurative “situation, circumstances”, as in ''bei dieser Lage der Dinge'' (1797), and ''in der Lage sein'' “to be able”.^(Paul 2002) From 1626 (Opitz) ''Lage'' also meant a layer;^(Paul 2002) on warships it was a row of guns and their discharge, ''die volle Lage'', a broadside,^(Paul 2002) and colloquially a round of drinks.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) Compounds such as [[Lagebericht]] and [[Rückenlage]] became common around 1900, and in swimming ''Lagen'' are the four strokes of the medley.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * End of the 8th century – Old High German ''lāga'' “ambush” appears in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 9th century – Kluge's date for the first record.^(Kluge 2011|555)

+ * 1626 – Opitz uses ''Lage'' for a layer.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 17th century – The word spreads in the written standard in the sense “position”.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|12, 58)

+ * 1797 – ''Lage der Dinge'' and ''missliche Lage'' are recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * c. 1900 – Compounds such as ''Lagebericht'' and ''Rückenlage'' come into use.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 20th century – ''Lagenschwimmen'', medley swimming.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|location]], site: where something lies in relation to its surroundings: ''Das Hotel liegt in ruhiger Lage am Waldrand.'' In wine-growing, a vineyard site and the wine from it.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|position]]: the way something lies: ''Der Balken ist nicht in der richtigen Lage.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(swimming, usually plural)'' One of the four strokes of the [[m|en|medley]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ # [[m|en|situation]], circumstances: ''Die wirtschaftliche Lage hat sich verbessert.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|layer]]: ''eine Lage Kies''; in bookbinding, a gathering of folded sheets.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(music)'' A register or range of the voice or an instrument; a position of the hand on the fingerboard.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' A [[m|en|round]] of drinks: ''Ich gebe eine Lage aus.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Lagebericht]]

+ * [[Lebenslage]]

+ * [[Rückenlage]]

+ * [[Tonlage]]

+ * [[Lagenschwimmen]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[liegen]]

+ * [[legen]]

+ * [[Lager]]

+ * [[Liege]]

+ * [[Gelage]]

+ * [[Niederlage]]

+ * [[en|lie]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''In der Lage sein, etwas zu tun'' means “to be able to do something”, and colloquial ''die Lage peilen'' is to find out how things stand.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002) North German ''Lütje Lage'' is a beer with a schnapps.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}