Geburtstag German · revision 35340

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound, calque|attested=9th century, Old High German|origins=la diēs nātālis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɡəˈbuːɐ̯t͡sˌtaːk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Geburtstag''' ''m'' (genitive Geburtstages or Geburtstags, plural Geburtstage)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|geburttac]], [[inh|goh|giburtitago|t=day of birth]], formed [[af|de|Geburt|Tag]] as a loan translation of [[la|diēs nātālis|t=birthday]].^(Kluge 2011|338)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|305) The first part continues [[goh|giburt|t=birth]], an abstract noun of the family of [[gebären]], from [[ine-pro|*bʰer-|t=to carry, bear]];^(Pfeifer 1993) Old English had a similar compound, [[ang|gebyrddæġ]] (compare [[en|birthday]]).^(DWB|4, 1911) The linking ⟨s⟩ was added later: forms without it were still used in the 16th and 17th centuries, and Jean Paul still wrote the word without it.^(DWB|4, 1911)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''giburtitago'' is recorded from the 9th century and ''giburtitag'' from about 1000, meaning the day on which someone was born.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary DE)^(Kluge 2011|338) Middle High German ''geburttac'' appears in the Genesis of 1060–1080.^(Köbler MHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Following the use of ''Tag'' for an anniversary, the word took on in the 16th century its modern sense, the day on which a birth comes round again and is celebrated.^(Kluge 2011|338) The Grimms' dictionary points out that the celebration was then not yet a middle-class custom: Thomas Platter did not even know his year of birth, and the custom seems to have spread to the middle classes in the 17th century in imitation of the courts, while it was still not really at home among the peasants in the 19th.^(DWB|4, 1911) In official language it can also mean the date of birth.^(Duden GWDS 1999) The word was borrowed into the Silesian dialect of Polish as ''geburstag'' and into Kashubian as ''gebùrstach''.^(LWP)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 9th century – Old High German ''giburtitago'' is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|338)

+ * About 1000 – The form ''giburtitag'', without final ''-o''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1060–1080 – Middle High German ''geburttac'' in the Genesis.^(Köbler MHD)

+ * 16th century – The sense “anniversary of one's birth, celebrated” appears;^(Kluge 2011|338)^(DWB|4, 1911) Luther's Bible has ''des königs geburtstag''.^(Kluge 2011|338)^(DWB|4, 1911)

+ * 17th century – Birthday celebrations spread from the courts to the middle classes.^(DWB|4, 1911)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|birthday]], the anniversary of one's birth: ''Mein Bruder feiert morgen seinen vierzigsten Geburtstag.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(official language)'' The date of birth.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Geburtstagskind]]

+ * [[Geburtstagsfeier]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Geburt]]

+ * [[Tag]]

+ * [[gebären]]

+ * [[en|birthday]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Ein runder Geburtstag'' is one on which someone turns 30, 40, 50 and so on.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}