zählen German · revision 35213

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 8th century, Old High German glosses|origins=gem-pro *talō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈtsɛːlən/, [ˈt͡sɛː.l̩n], [ˈt͡seː-]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''zählen''' (third-person singular present zählt, past tense zählte, past participle gezählt, auxiliary haben)^(Wiktionary)

+ Middle High German formed the past mostly without umlaut, ''zalte'', ''gezalt'', forms that lasted into the 16th century, as in the 1483 Bible ''die har eures haubtes sind all gezalt''.^(DWB|31, 47)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|zellen]] (also [[m|gmh|zeln]]), [[inh|goh|zellen]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*talljan]], [[inh|gem-pro|*taljaną|t=to count, tell]], a verb formed on the noun [[Zahl]], Old High German [[m|goh|zala]].^(Kluge 2011|1001)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same verb is [[osx|tellian]], [[ang|tellan]], [[ofs|tella]] and [[non|telja]], continued in [[nl|tellen]], [[en|tell]] and [[sv|tälja]].^(Kluge 2011|1001)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ The /ll/ of Old High German is the West Germanic doubling; the long vowel of the modern verb comes from the second and third persons singular of the present, which had no doubling, helped by the long vowel of the noun.^(Wiktionary) Köbler compares, with a question mark, a root [[ine-pro|*del-|t=to aim, reckon]], and Wiktionary [[la|dolus|t=guile]].^(Köbler AHD)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''zellen'' is found from the last quarter of the 8th century in the glosses, then in Isidor, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|405) It meant “to count, enumerate”, and just as often “to tell, report, proclaim, confess, consider, say”: Otfrid's ''thir zell ih hiar ubarlût'' is “I tell you here openly”.^(DWB|31, 47)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb first meant “to give an account”, from which came both enumerating and simply telling.^(DWB|31, 47) In New High German, as with ''Zahl'', it was narrowed to counting, and the sense of telling passed to [[erzählen]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|943) Adelung called the sense “to speak” long obsolete.^(Adelung 1793|4, 1645) English “tell”, by contrast, kept chiefly the sense of speaking.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ''Jemanden unter seine Freunde zählen'' “to count someone among one's friends” is recorded by Adelung.^(Adelung 1793|4, 1645) The agent noun [[Zähler]] became the numerator of a fraction as a loan translation of [[la-med|numerator]]: Duden dates this to about 1400, Pfeifer to the early 16th century;^(Duden 7 2020|943)^(Pfeifer 1993) since the 19th century it has also meant a meter.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|943)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Last quarter of the 8th century – Old High German ''zellen'' appears in the glosses.^(Köbler AHD)^(Kluge 2011|1001)

+ * 9th century – Otfrid uses ''zellen'' for “to tell”.^(DWB|31, 47)

+ * About 1400 – ''Zähler'' “numerator” is formed after Latin, by Duden's date.^(Duden 7 2020|943)

+ * 1483 – A Bible still has the unumlauted participle ''gezalt''.^(DWB|31, 47)

+ * 17th century – ''Zählung'' “counting” is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 19th century – ''Zähler'' names a meter.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|count]], recite numbers in order: ''die Kleine kann schon bis zwanzig zählen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To count, find the number or sum of: ''das Wechselgeld zählen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(formal)'' To have, [[m|en|number]]: ''das Dorf zählt 800 Einwohner''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|reckon]] among, regard as belonging to: ''ich zähle sie zu meinen Freundinnen''; also intransitive, to belong to: ''Wale zählen zu den Säugetieren''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To be of importance, to count, matter.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # With ''auf'': to count on, rely on.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To tell, recount.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[erzählen]]

+ * [[Zähler]]

+ * [[Zählung]]

+ * [[abzählen]]

+ * [[aufzählen]]

+ * [[nachzählen]]

+ * [[verzählen]]

+ * [[zählbar]]

+ * [[zusammenzählen]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[zahlen]]

+ * [[Zahl]]

+ * [[en|tell]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}