weisen German · revision 35299

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈvaɪ̯zn̩/, /ˈvaɪ̯zən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''weisen''' (class 1 strong, third-person singular present weist, past tense wies, past participle gewiesen, auxiliary haben)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and Middle High German inflected the verb weakly; strong forms appear sporadically in Middle High German and become frequent in the 16th century, while weak forms survive beside them in the 16th and 17th centuries, in Luther, Hans Sachs and Opitz.^(DWB|28, 1078) Paul compares the change with [[preisen]] and notes that newer editions of Luther's Bible replaced his weak forms with strong ones.^(Paul 2002)

+ The weak participle survived in the 18th century in the formula ''geweister Weg'' beside ''gewiesener Weg'', and still does in some dialects.^(DWB|28, 1078)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|wīsen]], [[inh|goh|wīsen|t=to lead, show]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*wīsijan]], [[inh|gem-pro|*wīsijaną]].^(Kluge 2011|980)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same verb is [[osx|wīsian]], [[non|vísa]], [[ang|wīsan]] and [[ofs|wīsa]], and it continues in [[nl|wijzen]], [[sv|visa]] and [[is|vísa]].^(Kluge 2011|980)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|28, 1078)

+

+ Pfeifer, Duden, Paul and the Grimm dictionary take it as a causative of the adjective [[weise|t=wise]], meaning “to make knowing”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|926)^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|28, 1078) Kluge agrees that it certainly belongs to [[ine-pro|*weyd-|t=to see, know]], the root of [[wissen]], in which the sense “to direct, instruct” also occurs, but he finds the morphology unclear and the derivation from the adjective unlikely.^(Kluge 2011|980)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''wīsen'' is first recorded in glosses of the late 8th century, then in the Benedictine Rule, the ''Muspilli'', Otfrid, Notker and Williram, meaning “to lead, show, direct, invite, summon”.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|394) Pfeifer dates the senses “to lead, invite, summon” to the 9th century.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb first took an accusative of the person and a genitive of the matter, “to instruct someone in something”, as in the ''Nibelungenlied'': ''wer wiset nu die recken somanege hervart'' (“who will now lead the warriors on so many campaigns”).^(Paul 2002) This sense lives on in [[unterweisen]].^(Paul 2002) With a word of direction it came to mean sending someone a certain way, ''auf den rechten Weg'' or ''aus dem Haus''.^(Paul 2002) From Middle High German on it also meant “to show”, with the person in the dative: ''jemandem den Weg weisen'';^(Paul 2002) Luther writes that the devil ''weisete ihm alle Reiche der Welt''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ In the older language of the law ''ein Urteil weisen'' and ''das Recht weisen'' meant to declare the law, the source of [[Weistum]].^(Paul 2002)^(Kluge 2011|980) The Grimm dictionary observed that the simple verb was really alive only in the literary language and in the dialects, not in everyday speech, where the compounds took over.^(DWB|28, 1078) English borrowed ''way-wiser'', from [[Wegweiser]], in 1651, and the verb lives on in [[sl|vižati|t=to lead, steer]].^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 8th century – Old High German ''wīsen'' appears in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)^(Kluge 2011|980)

+ * 9th century – The verb means “to lead, invite, summon”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 16th century – Strong forms (''wies'', ''gewiesen'') become frequent.^(Kluge 2011|980)^(DWB|28, 1078)

+ * 1651 – English borrows ''way-wiser'' from ''Wegweiser''.^(LWP)

+ * 18th century – The weak participle survives in ''geweister Weg''.^(DWB|28, 1078)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(formal)'' To [[m|en|show]] (the way, the direction): ''Ein alter Mann wies uns den Weg zum Bahnhof.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|point]] in a direction or at something: ''Der Zeiger weist nach Süden.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(regional)'' To show, display: ''Er wies dem Schaffner seine Fahrkarte.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # To send away, [[m|en|expel]]: ''Der Wirt wies die Störenfriede aus dem Lokal.'' ''Etwas weit von sich weisen'' is to reject it firmly.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(Switzerland)'' To show, prove: ''Erst der Winter wird weisen, ob das Dach dicht ist.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ausweisen]]

+ * [[beweisen]]

+ * [[einweisen]]

+ * [[überweisen]]

+ * [[unterweisen]]

+ * [[verweisen]]

+ * [[abweisen]]

+ * [[anweisen]]

+ * [[aufweisen]]

+ * [[erweisen]]

+ * [[hinweisen]]

+ * [[nachweisen]]

+ * [[vorweisen]]

+ * [[Weiser]]

+ * [[Weisung]]

+ * [[Ausweis]]

+ * [[Beweis]]

+ * [[Wegweiser]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[weise]]

+ * [[wissen]]

+ * [[Weistum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The Grimm dictionary keeps apart an obsolete verb ''weisen'' “to visit”, Middle High German ''wîsen'', Old High German ''wīsōn'', related to [[got|𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃𐍉𐌽|tr=gaweisōn|t=to visit]], and a late formation ''weisen'' “to grow wise”, found only in the proverb ''mancher greiset, eh er weiset'' “many a man grows grey before he grows wise”.^(DWB|28, 1102)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}