hoffen German · revision 35178

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=12th century|origins=gmw-pro *hopōn}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈhɔfən/, [ˈhɔ.fən], [-fn̩]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''hoffen''' (third-person singular present hofft, past tense hoffte, past participle gehofft, auxiliary haben)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|hoffen]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*hopōn]], recorded from the 12th century.^(Kluge 2011|421)^(Wiktionary) The verb belonged at first to the northern West Germanic dialects: [[gml|hopen]], [[dum|hopen]], [[ang|hopian]], recorded in the 9th century, and [[ofs|hopia]].^(Kluge 2011|421)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) The older Upper German dialects lacked it and used [[goh|thingen]], later [[gmh|gedingen]], instead.^(DWB|10, 1668)^(Paul 2002) Pfeifer and Wiktionary consider that it may have reached the continent with the Anglo-Saxon mission, or that the High German form was taken over from [[odt|hopon]];^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) Kluge thinks its sense was shaped by [[la|spērō|t=to hope]].^(Kluge 2011|421)

+

+ Its origin is disputed.^(Pfeifer 1993) Kluge points to the sense “to fear” in Old Low German glosses and Upper German dialects and to the hunters' [[verhoffen]], used of game that stops to look about, and compares [[grc|κύπτω|tr=kúptō|t=I stoop, bend forward]], from [[ine-pro|*keu-|t=to bend]]: leaning forward to see further would have led to “looking into the future”.^(Kluge 2011|421) He rejects a link with a Hittite verb meaning “to plot”.^(Kluge 2011|421) The Grimms and Duden connect it with [[hüpfen]], as if “to jump up with expectation”,^(DWB|10, 1668)^(Duden 7 2020|374) but Pfeifer finds this doubtful and calls the origin unexplained.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Middle High German ''hoffen'' is recorded first in Middle German texts, among them Lamprecht's ''Alexander'' (1150–1170), meaning “to hope, trust”.^(Köbler MHD)^(Paul 2002) It became general in the 13th century, and Konrad von Würzburg uses it at the end of that century.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|10, 1668)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Until the 18th century the thing hoped for could stand in the genitive, as in Luther's ''wie kann man deß hoffen, das man siehet'' (“how can one hope for what one sees”); ''hoffen auf'' has become the usual construction.^(Paul 2002) Literary German until the 18th century also used an accusative object, as Klopstock and Goethe do.^(Paul 2002) Adelung notes ''ich will doch nicht hoffen, dass …'' as a mild way of forbidding something.^(Adelung 1793|2, 1238)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ The old physical sense survives in hunting: game ''verhofft'' when it stops and looks round.^(Adelung 1793|2, 1238)^(Pfeifer 1993) The noun [[Hoffnung]] is Middle High German ''hoffenunge'';^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) ''guter Hoffnung sein'' came to mean “to be pregnant”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) The adverb [[hoffentlich]] goes back to ''hoffenlich'', formed from the infinitive, with a glide ⟨t⟩ since the 17th century.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) The verb spread north into Swedish ''hoppas'' and Danish ''håbe''.^(DWB|10, 1668)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 9th century – Old English ''hopian'' is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1150–1170 – Middle High German ''hoffen'' in Lamprecht's ''Alexander''.^(Köbler MHD)

+ * 13th century – The verb becomes general in High German, displacing ''gedingen''.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|10, 1668)

+ * 17th century – ''hoffentlich'' with ⟨t⟩.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 18th century – The genitive object goes out of use.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|hope]], to wish for something and count on it: ''Ich hoffe, dass der Zug pünktlich ist''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # With [[auf]]: to put one's hope or [[m|en|trust]] in someone or something: ''auf besseres Wetter hoffen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To be hopeful, to have confidence in the future.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Hoffnung]]

+ * [[hoffentlich]]

+ * [[unverhofft]]

+ * [[verhoffen]]

+ * [[erhoffen]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hüpfen]]

+ * [[en|hope]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The proverb ''Hoffen und Harren macht manchen zum Narren'' (“hoping and waiting makes many a fool”) warns against idle expectation.^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''Ich will nicht hoffen, dass …'' is often said in a slightly threatening tone.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}