oben German · revision 35245

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈʔoːbən/, [ˈoːbm̩]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''oben''' (adverb)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old High German had ''obana'', ''opana'' and ''obena'', Middle High German ''obene'', ''obine'' and ''oben''.^(DWB|13, 1065)^(EWA|6, 1098)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|oben]], [[inh|goh|obana|t=from above; above]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*obanā]], [[inh|gem-pro|*ubanē|t=from above]].^(Kluge 2011|663)^(Wiktionary)^(EWA|6, 1098) The same word is [[osx|oƀana]], [[non|ofan]], [[ang|ufan]] and [[ofs|ova]].^(Kluge 2011|663)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Orel 2003) Old Saxon, Middle Low German, Dutch, Old Frisian and Old English mostly used forms with the prefix of [[be-]] instead, such as [[gml|bōven]], [[nl|boven]] and the Old English [[m|ang|bufan]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|6, 1098)

+

+ It is an adverb formed with the suffix [[gem-pro|*-anē]] from the local particle continued in [[ob]] “above”, [[gem-pro|*ub]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary)^(Orel 2003) Like [[außen]], [[hinten]], [[innen]] and [[unten]] it first gave the direction from which something comes, “from above”, and then the place.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) The particle goes back to [[ine-pro|*upo|t=towards, up to]], which is also found in [[sa|उप|tr=úpa|t=towards, near]];^(Kluge 2011|663)^(Köbler AHD) Kluge compares [[la|superus|t=upper]], though the origin of its /s/ is unclear.^(Kluge 2011|663)^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''obana'' is recorded from the 8th century, first in the Abrogans glossary, then in other glosses, the Tatian and Otfrid.^(EWA|6, 1098)^(Kluge 2011|663) It meant “above” and “from above”, as in ''obana fona himile'' “from above, from heaven”, and already “above in the text, before”.^(EWA|6, 1098)^(Schützeichel 2012|243)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Paul takes the original sense to be “from above”; by Middle High German at the latest it meant “at a higher place”.^(Paul 2002) In a text ''oben'' means “earlier”, properly “higher up on the roll” of papyrus or parchment, then “higher on the page”, and it was then applied to sequences in time.^(Paul 2002) It is also used of social hierarchies, of orders that come from above, as in Kurt Tucholsky's remark of 1926 that the police were seldom corrected ''von oben''.^(Paul 2002)^(FWB)

+

+ With ''dar'' it formed ''droben'' (1331), frequent in Luther's Bible, also for “in heaven”.^(Paul 2002) Later combinations are ''obenan'' (Luther), ''obenhin'' “superficially” (1349) and ''obendrein'' “moreover” (about 1740–70), a loan formation after Latin ''insuper''.^(Paul 2002) Colloquially ''oben'' also means “up north”, after the orientation of a map on the wall.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''obana'' is recorded in the Abrogans glossary.^(EWA|6, 1098)

+ * 1331 – The contracted form ''droben'' is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1349 – ''obenhin'' “superficially” is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * c. 1740–1770 – ''obendrein'' “moreover” is formed after Latin ''insuper''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1926 – Tucholsky uses ''von oben'' of the higher authorities.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|above]], up; at a higher place, at the top or on the upper side: ''Die Teller stehen oben im Regal.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|upstairs]], on a higher floor: ''Die Kinder schlafen schon oben.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' In the north: ''Sie wohnt jetzt oben in Kiel.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Earlier in a text, above: ''wie oben erwähnt''.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)^(Paul 2002)

+ # At a higher level of a hierarchy: ''Die Anweisung kam von oben.''^(Wiktionary DE)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[droben]]

+ * [[obenan]]

+ * [[obendrein]]

+ * [[obenhin]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ob]]

+ * [[ober]]

+ * [[über]]

+ * [[auf]]

+ * [[unten]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Von oben herab'' means in a condescending manner, ''von oben bis unten'' “from top to bottom, completely”, and ''nicht mehr wissen, wo oben und unten ist'' is to be utterly confused.^(Duden GWDS 1999) The jocular ''oben ohne'' means topless.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}