Kampf German · revision 35354

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=11th century, Old High German glosses|origins=la campus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kam(p)f/, [kampf], [kamɸ]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Kampf''' ''m'' (genitive Kampfes or Kampfs, plural Kämpfe)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|kampf]], [[inh|goh|kampf|t=single combat, duel]], [[bor|la|campus|t=field, battlefield]].^(Kluge 2011|468)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|5, 368) Pfeifer and the EWA date the borrowing before the High German consonant shift, which turned the /p/ of the Latin word into the affricate ⟨pf⟩.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|5, 368) Wiktionary reconstructs the earlier form as [[gmw-pro|*kamp|t=field, battlefield]].^(Wiktionary) Kluge and the Duden dictionary call the Latin origin probable rather than certain.^(Kluge 2011|468)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ The same loan is [[osx|kamp|t=piece of land, fight]], [[gml|kamp|t=fenced field, fight]], [[ofs|kamp]] and [[ang|camp|t=field, battle, strife]].^(EWA|5, 368)^(Pfeifer 1993) [[non|kapp|t=zeal, contest]] reached the North very early, since it still took part in the change of /mp/ to /pp/, whereas [[sv|kamp]] and [[da|kamp]] were borrowed again from Middle Low German.^(EWA|5, 368)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ Kluge explains the sense: the Germanic word first meant a duel, and such duels were fought on a marked-off field, for which the Latin word served as the name.^(Kluge 2011|468)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) The EWA adds that the Latin word itself came to mean a judicial duel in the Middle Ages, and the Grimms' dictionary points to the Bavarian law's term for the judicial duel, [[goh|chamfwîc]].^(EWA|5, 368)^(DWB|11, 138)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The compound ''kampfheit'' is recorded in the 8th century and ''sigikamph'' in the 9th; the simple Old High German ''kampf'' appears in glosses of the 11th century, translating Latin ''duellum'', ''monomachia'' and ''pugna'', “single combat, duel”.^(Kluge 2011|468)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|5, 368)^(AWB|5, 25) Middle High German ''kampf'' meant a duel, a judicial combat or ordeal, a tournament and a battle.^(Köbler MHD)^(FWB)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As the word for armed fighting, ''Kampf'' replaced the older ''Streit'', while still older words for battle survived only in personal names (''gund-'', ''hadu-'', ''hilti-'', ''wīg-'').^(Paul 2002) It was soon applied to struggles of the mind and of ideas, as in Luther's ''kämpfe den guten Kampf des Glaubens'' (“fight the good fight of faith”), and many compounds followed from the end of the 19th century, such as ''Wahlkampf'' (election campaign), ''Preiskampf'' (price war, 1907) and ''Klassenkampf''.^(Paul 2002) Weakened, it also means a sporting contest (''Zehnkampf'', decathlon).^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ''Kampf ums Dasein'' renders Darwin's “struggle for life” (or “for existence”); Paul dates the German phrase to the translation of 1863.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden GWDS 1999) The Low German form of the agent noun survives in ''Kämpe'' “warrior”, used since the 18th century in poetic or historicising style.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) English borrowed ''Kulturkampf'' in 1879 for the conflict between the Prussian state and the Catholic Church, and ''Stuka'', from ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', in 1940.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – The compound ''kampfheit'' is recorded.^(Kluge 2011|468)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 9th century – ''sigikamph'' “victorious fight” is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 11th century – Old High German ''kampf'' appears in glosses for “duel”.^(EWA|5, 368)^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 1863 – ''Kampf ums Dasein'' translates Darwin's “struggle for life”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1879 – English borrows ''Kulturkampf''.^(LWP)

+ * 1907 – First record of ''Preiskampf''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large-scale military [[m|en|battle]] or fighting between hostile troops.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A physical [[m|en|fight]] between two or more opponents, also with weapons: ''ein Kampf Mann gegen Mann''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A fierce [[m|en|struggle]] or controversy between opponents over views, interests or aims.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(sports)'' A [[m|en|contest]] or match: ''die beiden Ringer lieferten sich einen harten Kampf''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A sustained effort to achieve or prevent something, a [[m|en|campaign]]: ''der Kampf gegen die Armut''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An inner conflict, a struggle with oneself.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[kämpfen]]

+ * [[Kämpfer]]

+ * [[Kämpe]]

+ * [[kämpferisch]]

+ * [[Zweikampf]]

+ * [[Wettkampf]]

+ * [[Wahlkampf]]

+ * [[Kulturkampf]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Camp]]

+ * [[kampieren]]

+ * [[Kampagne]]

+ * [[Champion]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Jemandem oder einer Sache den Kampf ansagen'' is to make clear that one will take measures against someone or something, to declare war on it.^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''Ein Kampf auf Leben und Tod'' is a fight to the death.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}