erzählen German · revision 35206

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=end of the 8th century, Isidor|origins=gem-pro *taljaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɛɐ̯ˈt͡sɛːlən/, /ɛɐ̯ˈt͡seːlən/, /ɛɐ̯ˈt͡seːl̩n/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''erzählen''' (third-person singular present erzählt, past tense erzählte, past participle erzählt, auxiliary haben)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|erzellen]], [[inh|goh|irzellen]], formed [[af|de|er-|zählen]].^(Kluge 2011|258)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The simple verb is [[goh|zellen]], from [[gem-pro|*taljaną|t=to count, tell]].^(Köbler AHD) The same prefixed verb is found in [[gml|ertellen]], [[dum|ertellen]] and [[ang|ātellan]].^(DWB2|8, 2331)

+

+ Kluge describes the path of the meaning: the verb first meant “to count up”, then “to recite in order, report”, and the present sense arose from this by generalisation.^(Kluge 2011|258) In the same family the sense “count up” led to “tell, report” more than once, as in [[en|tell]], which means both, the noun [[m|en|tale]] and the Low German verb [[m|nds|vertellen]].^(Duden 7 2020|243) Modern German kept only the arithmetical sense for the simple verb, and the sense “tell” passed to the prefixed verb alone.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|243)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''irzellen'' is recorded at the end of the 8th century in Isidor, where the years of Christ's coming are “counted” (''iaar arzelidiu'', for Latin ''anni numerantur''), and in Otfrid (863/71), who cannot “enumerate” all the blind and lame that Jesus healed.^(DWB2|8, 2331)^(Köbler AHD) Its senses were “to tell, report”, “to count, enumerate”, “to describe” and “to consider”.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|405)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “To enumerate” was the main use until the 17th century and became obsolete in the 18th;^(DWB2|8, 2331) Lessing could still write of someone who ''die verschiedenen Arten der Diamante erzehlet''.^(Paul 2002) In Early New High German legal language it also meant “to proclaim publicly”, and Luther writes ''Die Himel erzelen die Ehre Gottes'' (Psalm 19:2), a use Adelung already calls obsolete outside the Bible.^(Paul 2002)^(Adelung 1793) The general sense “to relate, give an account”, first of speech, then also of written stories, true or invented, is the one that survived.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ [[Erzählung]] is recorded from 1461; late Middle High German ''erzelunge'' still also meant “enumeration”, and today the word also names a simple form of narrative literature.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|243) [[Erzähler]] appears in the 17th century.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|243) Regional speech also says ''verzählen'' or ''derzählen''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * End of the 8th century – Old High German ''irzellen'' in Isidor.^(DWB2|8, 2331)^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 863/71 – Otfrid uses it for “enumerate”.^(DWB2|8, 2331)

+ * 1060/65 – Middle High German ''erzelen'' in the Vienna Genesis.^(DWB2|8, 2331)

+ * 1461 – First record of ''Erzählung''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 17th century – ''Erzähler'' appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 18th century – The sense “to enumerate” becomes obsolete.^(DWB2|8, 2331)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|narrate]], to tell a story vividly in speech or writing: ''den Enkeln eine Gespenstergeschichte erzählen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|report]], to give an account: ''sie erzählte von ihrer Reise nach Island''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To tell, to [[m|en|confide]] something: ''er erzählt seinem Bruder alles''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial, regional)'' To talk a lot, to talk nonsense.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Erzähler]]

+ * [[Erzählung]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aufzählen]]

+ * [[zählen]]

+ * [[Zahl]]

+ * [[en|tell]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Das kannst du deiner Großmutter erzählen'' (colloquial) means “I don't believe that”, and ''dem werde ich was erzählen!'' “I'll give him a piece of my mind”.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}