falsch German · revision 35260

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=12th century, West Central German|origins=la fallō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /falʃ/, [fälʃ], [fältʃ]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''falsch''' (strong nominative masculine singular falscher, comparative (rare) falscher, superlative (uncommon) am falschesten)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|valsch]] (also [[m|gmh|vals]]), [[bor|fro|fals]], from [[la|falsus|t=false, deceptive]], the past participle of [[m|la|fallō|t=to deceive]].^(Kluge 2011|275)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|271) The ending ⟨sch⟩ comes from [[dum|valsc]], in which the French loan had been reshaped after native adjectives in ⟨-sc⟩; through the poems of Heinrich von Veldeke this form spread east.^(Kluge 2011|275)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) The verb [[fälschen]] is older: [[goh|falscōn]] is recorded in the 9th century and [[m|goh|felsken]] in the 10th or 11th, probably taken from [[la-vul|*falsicō]], a shortening of [[la-lat|falsificō|t=to falsify]], and Pfeifer thinks its existence helped the form with ⟨sch⟩ to take hold.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|271)^(AWB)

+

+ Wiktionary instead derives the adjective from an unrecorded [[goh|*falski]], [[gmw-pro|*falskī|t=false, counterfeit]], formed from the verb;^(Wiktionary) the Grimms likewise inferred an Old High German adjective from the verb and, from the 10th-century personal name Falsco, noting that native words for “false” were used in Gothic and in Old High German.^(DWB|3, 1291) The same Latin word gave [[nl|vals]], [[en|false]], [[fr|faux]], [[sv|falsk]] and [[is|falskur]],^(Kluge 2011|275) and the Latin verb is also the source of [[fehlen]].^(Kluge 2011|275)^(Duden 7 2014|271)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Paul and Pfeifer place the first records in West Central German of the 12th century.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) The revised Grimm dictionary quotes ''Der Wilde Mann'' (about 1170/80) on someone choosing with ''valiser list'' “false cunning”.^(DWB2|9, 102) Middle High German ''valsch'' meant “faithless, dishonest, untruthful” of people and “not genuine, counterfeit, wrong, deceptive” of things, as in ''falsche pfenning'' “counterfeit pennies”.^(Lexer 1872|3, 12)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Paul sorts the uses into three groups: “not genuine” (false gems, coins, signatures, hair), “insincere, deceitful” (a false heart, a false tongue) and “incorrect” (a false report, a false opinion, wrong spelling).^(Paul 2002) Luther's commandment ''Du solt kein falsch zeugnis reden wider deinen Nehesten'' (Exodus 20:16) uses the third sense.^(Paul 2002) In regional colloquial speech it also means “angry”, as in Schiller's ''der Vater schnitt ein falsch Gesicht''.^(Paul 2002) Duden notes that it is often said of human character, and especially of forged things such as coins and jewellery.^(Duden 7 2014|271)

+

+ The noun ''Falsch'' “deceit” (Middle High German ''valsch'', also “counterfeit money”) survives only in ''ohne Falsch'', kept alive by Luther's Bible: ''seid klug wie die Schlangen und on falsch wie die Tauben'' (Matthew 10:16).^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|3, 1293)^(Paul 2002) ''Falschmünzer'' appears in the 16th century beside ''falscher Münzer'', and ''Falschspieler'' in the 17th.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|271) Pfeifer dates ''Fälschung'' to the 16th century, Duden to the 18th.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|271) The word was borrowed into Polish (''fałsz''), Czech (''faleš''), Russian (''фальшь'') and Romanian (''falș''), and into Hungarian as ''fals'' (1878).^(Wiktionary)^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 9th century – Old High German ''falscōn'' “to refute, declare false”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 12th century – Middle High German ''vals'', ''valsch'' in West Central German.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * c. 1170/80 – ''valisch'' in ''Der Wilde Mann''.^(DWB2|9, 102)

+ * 16th century – ''Falschmünzer''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 17th century – ''Falschspieler''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|271)

+ * 1878 – Hungarian ''fals'' is first recorded.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Imitation, artificial, made to look like the real thing: ''falsche Wimpern''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|forged|alt=Forged]], counterfeit: ''ein falscher Ausweis''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Not matching the facts, [[m|en|wrong]], mistaken: ''Wir sind in den falschen Bus gestiegen.'' ''falsch verbunden sein'' “to have dialled the wrong number”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Faulty, [[m|en|incorrect]]: ''Die Rechnung ist falsch.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Not fitting the situation, misplaced: ''falsche Scham''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+ # Untruthful, [[m|en|deceitful]], two-faced: ''ein falscher Kollege''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Falsch]]

+ * [[Falschheit]]

+ * [[fälschlich]]

+ * [[fälschlicherweise]]

+ * [[Falschgeld]]

+ * [[Falschmünzer]]

+ * [[Falschspieler]]

+ * [[fälschen]]

+ * [[Fälscher]]

+ * [[Fälschung]]

+ * [[verfälschen]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fehlen]]

+ * [[Falsett]]

+ * [[en|false]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Falsch spielen'' can mean either “to break the rules of a game” or “to cheat at a game”.^(Paul 2002) The noun survives in ''an jemandem ist kein Falsch'' and ''ohne Falsch sein'' “to be honest and sincere”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}