Literatur German · revision 35177

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=16th century|origins=la littera}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /lɪtəraˈtuːr/, [ˌlɪ.tə.ʁaˈtu(ː)ɐ̯]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Literatur''' ''f'' (genitive Literatur, plural Literaturen)^(Wiktionary)

+ The spelling ''Litteratur'' was usual until the 19th century.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|litterātūra|t=writing in letters; grammar, philology]], a learned borrowing of the 16th century.^(Kluge 2011|580)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|516) In Late Latin the word also meant “written works”.^(Pfeifer 1993) It is formed from [[m|la|littera|t=letter]], whose plural [[m|la|litterae]] meant “documents, letters, learning”,^(Pfeifer 1993) and Kluge connects the noun with [[m|la|linō|t=to smear]].^(Kluge 2011|580) Kluge sees the Latin word as a loan translation of [[grc|γραμματική|tr=grammatikḗ]], in the sense “philology”, which developed differently in the two languages.^(Kluge 2011|580)

+

+ The same word is [[nl|literatuur]], [[en|literature]], [[fr|littérature]] and [[sv|litteratur]].^(Kluge 2011|580)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the 16th century it meant learning or scholarship: Simon Rot's dictionary of 1571 explains it as writing, the art of writing, and the knowledge of the learned.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2020|516)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Until the 18th century the word covered all written works as well as the knowledge of languages, learning and the sciences.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|516) In 1765 Herder named languages, the arts of taste, history and philosophy as the four lands of ''Litteratur'', and a title of 1775 uses it for a bibliography.^(Paul 2002) From about 1770 it means the body of texts of a people, as in Garve's definition of 1773, and at the beginning of the 19th century it became shorthand for imaginative literature, the sense that prevails today.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ Compounds followed: [[Literaturgeschichte]] in the 18th century, replacing ''Literarhistorie'', and [[Literaturwissenschaft]] in the 19th.^(Pfeifer 1993) The adjective [[literarisch]] is current from the 18th century, and [[Literat]] meant “scholar” in the 16th century and “writer” in the 19th, now often with a slighting tone.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|516)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 16th century – Borrowed from Latin.^(Kluge 2011|580)

+ * 1571 – Simon Rot glosses it as the art of writing and learning.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1765 – Herder's “four lands of literature”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1773 – Garve uses it for the whole body of a people's works.^(Paul 2002)

+ * Early 19th century – It comes to mean imaginative literature.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 19th century – ''Literaturwissenschaft'' appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Written or printed works generally: ''die wissenschaftliche Literatur''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''Graue Literatur'' is material not sold through bookshops, such as reports of offices and firms.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # The [[m|en|literature]] on a subject, the works an author consults: ''die Literatur zum Thema sichten''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(music)'' The [[m|en|repertoire]] of written works for an instrument or voice.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # Imaginative writing, [[m|en|belles-lettres]]: ''die Literatur der Romantik''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Literaturgeschichte]]

+ * [[Literaturwissenschaft]]

+ * [[Literaturkritik]]

+ * [[Literatursprache]]

+ * [[Literaturpreis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Letter]]

+ * [[literarisch]]

+ * [[Literat]]

+ * [[en|literature]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}