sterben German · revision 35156

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 830, Old High German Tatian|origins=gem-pro *sterbaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈʃtɛrbən/, [ˈʃtɛʁ.bm̩], [ˈʃtɛɐ̯-]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sterben''' (class 3 strong, third-person singular present stirbt, past tense starb, past participle gestorben, past subjunctive stürbe, auxiliary sein)^(Wiktionary)

+ The old plural preterite ''sturben'' (beside singular ''starb'') was still usual in the 17th century and is found until the end of the 18th.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|18, 2416) ''Starben'', formed after the singular, appears in the 16th century and won out in the 19th.^(Paul 2002)

+ A weak transitive ''sterben'' “to kill” (''sterbte'', ''gesterbt'') survived in writing into the 18th century and later only in dialects.^(DWB|18, 2430)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|sterben]], [[inh|goh|sterban]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*sterban]], [[inh|gem-pro|*sterbaną]], a strong verb found only in West Germanic.^(Kluge 2011|882)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same verb is [[osx|sterƀan]], [[ofs|sterva]], [[ang|steorfan]] and [[nl|sterven]];^(Kluge 2011|882)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) English [[m|en|starve]] narrowed it to dying of hunger or cold.^(Kluge 2011|882)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ An older meaning appears in [[non|stjarfi|t=tetanus, lockjaw]] and [[m|non|starfa|t=to toil]], so the starting point was probably “to become stiff”, a veiled way of speaking of death.^(Kluge 2011|882)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|821) Kluge and Pfeifer compare [[ru|стербнуть|tr=stérbnutʹ|t=to harden, go numb]] and perhaps [[grc|στέρφος|tr=stérphos|t=hide, skin]], and forms without the initial /s/: [[la|torpeō|t=to be stiff, numb]] and [[lt|tirpti|alt=tir̃pti|t=to go numb]].^(Kluge 2011|882)^(Pfeifer 1993) Pfeifer traces them all to [[ine-pro|*(s)terbʰ-]] or [[m|ine-pro|*(s)terp-]], an extension of the root of [[starren]] “to be stiff”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|821) Wiktionary gives both roots as alternatives, and Kluge calls a link with [[starr]] possible.^(Wiktionary)^(Kluge 2011|882)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''sterban'' appears in the Tatian (about 830), then in Otfrid, Notker and the ''Physiologus'', meaning “to die”; the prefixed ''irsterban'' is older, in the ''Abrogans'' glossary.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|313)^(EWA|8, 1047) Kluge dates the verb to the 9th century.^(Kluge 2011|882)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Since Old High German the verb has meant passing from life to death, of people and animals; in Middle High German it could also mean that property “fell free” by its owner's death.^(Paul 2002)^(Lexer 1872|2, 1178)^(EWA|8, 1047) Konrad von Megenberg already used it of plants, though today ''eingehen'' is preferred for plants and ''verenden'' for animals.^(Paul 2002) The noun ''Sterben'' meant above all an epidemic, the plague, in Middle High and Early New High German.^(DWB|18, 2431)^(FWB)

+

+ The phrase ''kein sterbendes Wörtchen'' (18th century, “a faint little word”) was contracted in the 19th century to ''kein Sterbenswörtchen'', “not a word”.^(Duden 7 2020|821) Prefixed and particle verbs such as [[absterben]] (16th century, of plants and limbs), [[aussterben]] (late Middle High German, of families and species) and [[versterben]] (only of people) divide the field further.^(Duden 7 2020|821)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 830 – ''sterban'' is used in the Old High German Tatian.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 9th century – Kluge's date for the verb's first record.^(Kluge 2011|882)

+ * 16th century – the plural preterite ''starben'' appears beside ''sturben'';^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2020|821) ''absterben'' is first recorded.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2020|821)

+ * 18th century – the phrase ''kein sterbendes Wörtchen'' is in use.^(Duden 7 2020|821)

+ * 19th century – ''starben'' prevails, and ''Sterbenswörtchen'' is formed.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2020|821)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|die]], stop living: ''Ihr Großvater starb mit 91 Jahren.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To die a particular death, with an accusative: ''einen qualvollen Tod sterben''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To give one's life for someone or something: ''für seine Überzeugung sterben''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' ''gestorben sein'': of a plan, to have been dropped;^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''für jemanden gestorben sein'', to be ignored by someone completely.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sterblich]]

+ * [[Sterben]]

+ * [[absterben]]

+ * [[aussterben]]

+ * [[ersterben]]

+ * [[versterben]]

+ * [[sterbenskrank]]

+ * [[Sterbenswörtchen]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[starren]]

+ * [[starr]]

+ * [[en|starve]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Zum Sterben langweilig'' or ''müde'' is an emotional intensifier, “bored or tired to death”.^(Duden GWDS 1999) In film jargon ''gestorben!'' means that a scene has been shot.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}