Bahn German · revision 35330

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=12th century|origins=gem-pro *banō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /baːn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Bahn''' ''f'' (genitive Bahn, plural Bahnen)^(Wiktionary)

+ Older German occasionally used the word as a masculine, as in ''über den ban'' (1468) and ''den rechten bahn'' in Abraham a Sancta Clara.^(DWB2|4, 64)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|ban|alt=ban(e)|t=path, way]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*banu]], [[inh|gem-pro|*banō]].^(Kluge 2011|83)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[gml|bāne]] and [[dum|bane]], now [[nl|baan]]; [[da|bane]] and [[sv|bana]] were borrowed from Middle Low German.^(Kluge 2011|83)^(Pfeifer 1993) The word is missing in the oldest period of the language.^(Kluge 2011|83) The revised Grimm dictionary calls its origin uncertain.^(DWB2|4, 64)

+

+ Most sources connect it with [[got|𐌱𐌰𐌽𐌾𐌰|tr=banja|t=(fatal) blow, wound]], [[non|ben]], [[ang|benn|t=wound]], [[goh|bano|t=killer]], [[goh|bana|t=death]] and [[en|bane]], from a root meaning “to strike”: the path would at first have been a way cut through a forest or a beaten, trodden track,^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)^(DWB2|4, 64)^(Duden GWDS 1999) with parallels in [[gmh|slâ|t=track]], [[fr|chemin battu|t=beaten path]] and [[la|via trita]].^(EWA|1, 460) Paul compares [[Schneise]] beside [[schneiden]].^(Paul 2002) Pfeifer gives the root as [[ine-pro|*bʰen-|t=to strike, wound]],^(Pfeifer 1993) while the revised Grimm dictionary and Wiktionary give [[ine-pro|*gʷʰen-|t=to strike, kill]].^(DWB2|4, 64)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Kluge takes it instead as a technical term, starting from the sense “striking face of a hammer” and comparing [[sa|घन|tr=ghaná|t=hammer]], [[ru|гон|tr=gon|t=(dialect) stretch ploughed without turning]] and [[cy|gwanaf|t=swath]]; he sets up a word for a surface in particular uses, from a noun “blow” that belongs to the same root as [[sa|हन्ति|tr=hánti|t=strikes]], [[hit|kuenzi]], [[grc|θείνω|tr=theínō|t=to strike]] and [[la|offendō]].^(Kluge 2011|83) The revised Grimm dictionary notes that the hammer sense is first recorded only in Early New High German.^(DWB2|4, 64)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Kluge dates the word to the 12th century.^(Kluge 2011|83) Hartmann von Aue's ''Erec'' (about 1185) describes an orchard with ''ein eben ban'', a level path, running round it.^(DWB2|4, 64) The EWA cites a Latinised ''de media bana'' in a post-Carolingian charter as possibly the earliest record.^(EWA|1, 460)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The first sense was a beaten path, hence ''Bahn brechen'', used by Luther, and figuratively, as Adelung explains, to make the first start in a difficult undertaking; from it came ''Bahnbrecher'' in the 18th century and ''bahnbrechend'' “epoch-making” in the middle of the 19th.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) The word was used for the course of the stars and, in time, of a life (''Lebensbahn'', ''Laufbahn''), and for a way of conduct: Luther prays to stay ''auf rechter bane'';^(Paul 2002) ''aus der Bahn geworfen werden'' may come from the tournament.^(Paul 2002) In sport it is the course or track on which races are run, as in ''Rennbahn'' and ''Eisbahn''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ The sense “breadth of cloth”, as in ''Tuchbahn'' and ''Zeltbahn'', was taken from [[nl|baan]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) From the 1830s the way for the locomotive gave ''Bahn'' “railway”, shortened from [[Eisenbahn]], and at the end of the 19th century it also came to mean the tram.^(Kluge 2011|83)^(Paul 2002) The railway brought ''Bahnhof'' (about 1840), which displaced ''Eisenbahnhof'', and ''Bahnsteig'' (1886), which won out over ''Perron''.^(Pfeifer 1993) German ''Autobahn'' was borrowed into English as ''autobahn'' in 1937, and Russian took ''бан''.^(LWP)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 12th century – First record of Middle High German ''ban(e)''.^(Kluge 2011|83)

+ * c. 1185 – Hartmann von Aue uses ''ban'' for a level path.^(DWB2|4, 64)

+ * 1468 – A masculine ''ban'' is recorded in Augsburg.^(DWB2|4, 64)

+ * First half of the 17th century – ''Bahn brechen'' “to prepare a way” is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 18th century – ''Bahnbrecher'' “pioneer” appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1830s – ''Bahn'' comes to mean the railway.^(Paul 2002)

+ * c. 1840 – ''Bahnhof'' appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1886 – ''Bahnsteig'' appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1937 – English borrows ''autobahn''.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|path]] or way that someone or something clears through difficult ground: ''Die Feuerwehr schlug sich eine Bahn durch das Gestrüpp.'' ''Sich Bahn brechen'' is to win through.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|course]] that a body follows, an [[m|en|orbit]] or trajectory: ''die Bahn eines Kometen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A marked-out track for races; a [[m|en|lane]] of such a track or of a swimming pool; a bowling or skittle alley; a lane of a road.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A long strip of material cut to a width, such as cloth, wallpaper or roofing membrane: ''drei Bahnen Tapete''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(crafts)'' The flat working face of a tool, as of a hammer or anvil.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # Short for [[Eisenbahn]]: the [[m|en|railway]], a train; also a tram, suburban or underground train: ''Wir fahren mit der Bahn nach Hamburg.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' The railway as an institution or company; also a station.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bahnen]]

+ * [[anbahnen]]

+ * [[Bahnbrecher]]

+ * [[bahnbrechend]]

+ * [[Bahnhof]]

+ * [[Bahnsteig]]

+ * [[Autobahn]]

+ * [[Eisenbahn]]

+ * [[Straßenbahn]]

+ * [[Laufbahn]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Schneise]]

+ * [[en|bane]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Fixed phrases include ''freie Bahn haben'' “to have a clear way”, ''auf die schiefe Bahn geraten'' “to go off the rails, go astray” and ''jemanden aus der Bahn werfen'' “to throw someone off course”.^(Duden GWDS 1999) The sports call ''Bahn frei!'' “make way!” is also common.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}