Bürger German · revision 35199

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=late 8th century, Monsee fragments|origins=gmw-pro *burgwari}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈbʏʁɡɐ/, /ˈbʏɐ̯ɡɐ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Bürger''' ''m'' (genitive Bürgers, plural Bürger, feminine Bürgerin)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|burgære]], [[inh|goh|burgāri]].^(Kluge 2011|163)^(Duden 7 2020|177)^(Wiktionary) On the face of it this is an agent noun of [[Burg]] with the suffix [[m|goh|-āri]], but the corresponding [[ang|burgware|t=citizens]] suggests an old compound naming the inhabitants, [[gmw-pro|*burgwari]], that was adapted to those agent nouns only after the regular loss of /w/.^(Kluge 2011|163)^(Duden 7 2020|177)^(Wiktionary) Gothic had a formation without the second element, [[got|𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐌾𐌰|tr=baurgja|t=citizen]].^(DWB2|5, 1015)^(DWB|2, 537)

+

+ The second element, [[gem-pro|*warōn]] or [[m|gem-pro|*wazōn]], also appears in old tribal names such as [[la|Ampsivarii|t=dwellers on the Ems]] and [[m|la|Baioarii|t=Bavarians]].^(Kluge 2011|163)^(Duden 7 2020|177) It is usually connected with [[wehren]], which would make the burgher originally a defender of the stronghold;^(Duden 7 2020|177)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) Kluge finds a link with the Germanic verb for “to be, stay, dwell” (as in [[Wesen]]) more likely in sense, but doubts whether such a form could have appeared with /r/ in the old names.^(Kluge 2011|163)

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+ The same word is [[gml|borgere]], [[dum|borger]] and [[ofs|burger]].^(Kluge 2011|163)^(DWB2|5, 1015)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Monsee fragments of the Gospel of Matthew, from the end of the 8th century, use the plural ''burgera'' for the townspeople who went out to meet Jesus;^(Köbler AHD)^(DWB2|5, 1015) a gloss of the 11th century renders Latin ''oppidani'' “townsfolk”.^(DWB2|5, 1015) Old High German ''burgāri'' meant the dweller in a castle or a town, a townsman, and Notker uses it too.^(Köbler AHD) In Middle High German poetry the ''burgære'' are the people of the castle, and the Nibelungenlied speaks of ''den burgæren von der stat'' “the burghers of the town”.^(Lexer 1872|1, 395)^(DWB|2, 537)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the inhabitant of a fortified settlement the word moved to the inhabitant of a town in general;^(WGd) in the legal sense, from the 12th century, it meant the full member of a town community.^(Duden 7 2020|177) As a member of a social estate the burgher stood between the nobility and the peasants,^(DWB|2, 537) and Adelung (1774) defined the burghers as the third estate of a state, after the nobility and the clergy.^(Paul 2002) Luther's Bible, following Latin ''civis'', already used the word for the members of a people (“the citizens of Jericho”).^(Paul 2002)

+

+ From the middle of the 17th century ''Bürger'' also means the inhabitant of a country, the citizen of a state, and in the 18th century [[Staatsbürger]] was formed for this.^(WGd) Kant tied citizenship to the right to vote on the laws.^(Paul 2002) [[Bürgertum]] was formed around 1800 for French ''bourgeoisie'',^(Duden 7 2020|177) and in the middle of the 19th century, under the influence of [[fr|bourgeois]], ''Bürger'' took on the negative reading “member of the propertied class”.^(WGd) Hungarian borrowed the word early as ''polgár'', recorded in 1229.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 8th century – ''burgera'' in the Monsee fragments.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 12th century – The legal sense “full member of a town community” appears.^(Duden 7 2020|177)

+ * 1229 – Hungarian ''polgár'' is recorded.^(LWP)

+ * Mid-17th century – The sense “citizen of a state” appears.^(WGd)

+ * 1774 – Adelung defines the burghers as the third estate.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 18th century – ''Staatsbürger'' is formed.^(WGd)

+ * c. 1800 – ''Bürgertum'' is formed for French ''bourgeoisie''.^(Duden 7 2020|177)

+ * Mid-19th century – The negative sense “member of the propertied class”.^(WGd)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|citizen]]: a member of a state.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An inhabitant of a town or municipality: ''die Bürger der Gemeinde''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # A member of the [[m|en|middle class]], with its traditions; a [[m|en|bourgeois]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(historical)'' A [[m|en|burgher]], a freeman of a town, standing between the peasants and the nobility.^(Wiktionary)^(DWB|2, 537)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bürgerlich]]

+ * [[Bürgertum]]

+ * [[Bürgerin]]

+ * [[Bürgerschaft]]

+ * [[Bürgermeister]]

+ * [[Bürgerwehr]]

+ * [[Staatsbürger]]

+ * [[Mitbürger]]

+ * [[ausbürgern]]

+ * [[einbürgern]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Burg]]

+ * [[wehren]]

+ * [[en|burgher]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Akademischer Bürger'' (dated) is a student, and ''Bürger in Uniform'' a soldier of the German Bundeswehr, a model that derives military duties from civic rights.^(Duden GWDS 1999) The proverb ''Bürger und Bauer scheidet nichts als die Mauer'' “nothing but the wall divides burgher and peasant” is in the Grimms' dictionary.^(DWB|2, 537) The feminine is [[Bürgerin]], recorded from Middle High German.^(WGd)^(Duden 7 2020|177)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}