Tier German · revision 35254

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /tiːr/, [tʰiːɐ̯]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Tier''' ''n'' (genitive Tieres or Tiers, plural Tiere, diminutive Tierchen n or Tierlein n)^(Wiktionary)

+ Older texts spell it ''Thier'', the form under which the Grimms' dictionary lists it.^(Köbler AHD)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|tier]], [[inh|goh|tior]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*deuʀ]], [[inh|gem-pro|*deuzą|t=wild animal]].^(Kluge 2011|917)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[got|𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍃|tr=dius]], [[non|dýr]], [[ang|dēor]], [[ofs|diār]] and [[osx|dior]]; [[en|deer]] has narrowed it to one kind of animal.^(Kluge 2011|917)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013) It first meant wild animals, as opposed to domestic stock, called [[Vieh]].^(Kluge 2011|917)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ Most sources take it as “a breathing being”: Pfeifer, Duden and Kluge compare [[lt|dvėsti|alt=dvė̃sti|t=to breathe one's last]], [[cu|доухъ|tr=duxŭ|t=breath, spirit]] and [[m|cu|доуша|tr=duša|t=soul]] and trace them to [[ine-pro|*dʰews-|t=to blow, breathe]], an extension of the root of [[Dunst]] and [[Duft]], just as [[la|animal|t=animal]] belongs to [[m|la|anima|t=breath, soul]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Kluge 2011|917) Kluge also mentions [[m|la|bēstia|t=beast]] as the closest in meaning, though its sound development is unclear.^(Kluge 2011|917) Kroonen instead connects it with the Old English adjective of the same form, “wild, bold”, and takes the root to have meant “to lose one's senses”, hence “to be wild”.^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''tior'' is recorded in glosses from about 765, and then in the Murbach Hymns, Notker, the ''Physiologus'' and Williram, meaning a wild animal or a living creature.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|331)^(Kluge 2011|917)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ For a long time, and in dialects still, ''Tier'' meant above all a four-footed creature living in the wild;^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) Luther still used it so.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) The general sense “animal as opposed to man” is quoted from Brockes.^(Paul 2002) Hunters use it of the female of red deer, as Frisch records, much as English ''deer'' has kept the old sense of game.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2020) Applied to people it is usually contemptuous, but ''ein großes'' or ''hohes Tier'' “a bigwig” is used with respect, already by Johann Christian Günther, and Campe records ''ein gutes Tier'' “a good honest soul”.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ''Tierkreis'' “zodiac” renders Latin ''zodiacus'';^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Paul 2002) Pfeifer and Duden give Middle High German ''tierkreiz'', Paul dates the modern word to Zesen in 1645.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Paul 2002) ''Tiergarten'' goes back to Old High German ''tiorgarto'' (in a 12th-century manuscript), ''tierisch'' appears early in the 16th century in place of Middle High German ''tierlich'', and Campe records ''Tierquälerei'' in 1810.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 765 – Old High German ''tior'' in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 12th century – ''tiorgarto'' in a manuscript.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * Middle High German – ''tierkreiz'' “zodiac”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+ * Early 16th century – ''tierisch''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+ * 1645 – Zesen uses ''Tierkreis''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1810 – Campe records ''Tierquälerei''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|animal]], a living being with senses and breathing organs that feeds on other organisms and usually moves freely: ''Der Igel ist ein nachtaktives Tier.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A brutal, coarse person;^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''ein gutes Tier'' ''(slang)'', a good-natured but simple person.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''ein großes'' or ''hohes Tier'' ''(colloquial)'': a [[m|en|bigwig]], a person of high rank.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+ # ''(hunting)'' The female of red deer, fallow deer and elk, a [[m|en|hind]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tierisch]]

+ * [[Tierchen]]

+ * [[Getier]]

+ * [[Untier]]

+ * [[vertieren]]

+ * [[Tiergarten]]

+ * [[Tierkreis]]

+ * [[Tierarzt]]

+ * [[Tierheim]]

+ * [[Tierquälerei]]

+ * [[Haustier]]

+ * [[Raubtier]]

+ * [[Kuscheltier]]

+ * [[Maultier]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Dunst]]

+ * [[Duft]]

+ * [[Dusel]]

+ * [[en|deer]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The saying ''Quäle nie ein Tier zum Scherz, denn es fühlt wie du den Schmerz'' warns against cruelty to animals.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}