schwarz German · revision 35363

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ʃvarts/, [ʃʋaʁts], [ʃʋaɐ̯ts]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''schwarz''' (strong nominative masculine singular schwarzer, comparative schwärzer or schwarzer, superlative am schwärzesten or am schwarzesten)^(Wiktionary)

+ Middle High German had the comparatives ''swarzer'' and ''swerzer''; modern standard German uses ''schwärzer'', and the forms without umlaut are dialectal.^(DWB|15, 2300)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|swarz]], [[inh|goh|swarz]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*swart]], [[inh|gem-pro|*swartaz|t=black]].^(Kluge 2011|833)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[osx|swart]], [[ofs|swart]], [[ang|sweart]] and [[non|svartr]], continued in [[nl|zwart]], [[sv|svart]] and the dated [[en|swart|t=dark, swarthy]].^(Kluge 2011|833)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Orel 2003) Pfeifer and Orel list [[got|𐍃𐍅𐌰𐍂𐍄𐍃|tr=swarts]], while Kluge infers the adjective from [[got|𐍃𐍅𐌰𐍂𐍄𐌹𐌶𐌻|tr=swartizl|t=ink]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Orel 2003)^(Kluge 2011|833) A zero-grade form is probably found in [[non|sorti|t=darkness, thick fog]] and [[non|sortna|t=to grow black]].^(Kluge 2011|833)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ Outside Germanic it is compared with [[la|sordēs|t=dirt]] and [[la|sordidus|t=dirty]], so that the first sense would have been “dirt-coloured, dark”.^(Kluge 2011|833)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|765)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) Pfeifer reconstructs [[ine-pro|*su̯ordos|t=dirt-coloured, black]] on this basis,^(Pfeifer 1993) and Wiktionary gives the root as [[ine-pro|*swerd-|t=dirty, dark]],^(Wiktionary) but Kluge treats the Latin comparison as only possible and calls the further origin unclear.^(Kluge 2011|833)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''swarz'' is recorded from the late 8th century in the Abrogans and other glosses, and then in the Tatian, Otfrid, the Murbach Hymns, Notker and Williram, meaning “black, dark-coloured” and glossing Latin ''ater'', ''niger'' and ''fuscus''.^(EWA|8, 1483)^(Schützeichel 2012|324)^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The basic sense was “dark”, the opposite of white: the Nibelungenlied has ''swarz alsam ein kol'' “black as a coal”, Luther a sky black with clouds (1 Kings 18:45), and Matthias Claudius the line ''Der Wald steht schwarz und schweiget'' “the wood stands black and silent”.^(Paul 2002) It named dark varieties, as in ''Schwarzbrot'' “rye bread” (14th century) and ''Schwarzwild'' “wild boar”, [[m|gmh|swarzwilt]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|765) The ''Schwarze Kunst'' “black art” meant printing from 1494 (Sebastian Brant), the ''schwarze Brett'' was the university notice board (1687, Thomasius), and the ''schwarze Tod'' the plague, after the black swellings on the bodies of the sick.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ Black was the colour of mourning from Old High German on, and it came to signify misfortune and evil.^(Paul 2002) From the black clerical dress, ''die Schwarzen'' named the clerical party in the 19th century, and later the conservative and Christian Democratic parties.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ The sense “illegal, secret” comes from thieves' cant, where ''schwärzen'' meant “to smuggle” (18th century), probably first “to do something by night”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|765) Pfeifer dates ''Schwarzmarkt'' and ''Schwarzhandel'' to the First World War or the inflation around 1923, first for illegal currency dealing and then for rationed goods; the same development appears later in [[en|black market]] (about 1930?), [[it|mercato nero]] (about 1940), [[fr|marché noir]] and [[ru|чёрный рынок|tr=čórnyj rýnok]], apparently after German.^(Pfeifer 1993) Colloquial ''schwarzfahren'' “to ride without a ticket” and ''schwarzhören'' belong here.^(Duden 7 2014|765)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 8th century – Old High German ''swarz'' appears in the Abrogans glosses.^(EWA|8, 1483)^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 1060–1065 – Middle High German ''swarz'' is used by Williram.^(Köbler MHD)

+ * 14th century – First record of ''Schwarzbrot''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|765)

+ * 1494 – Sebastian Brant uses ''Schwarze Kunst'' for printing.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1687 – Thomasius mentions the ''schwartze Brett'' at Leipzig university.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 18th century – Thieves' cant ''schwärzen'' “to smuggle”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 19th century – ''die Schwarzen'' names the clerical party.^(Paul 2002)

+ * About 1923 – ''schwarz'' “illegal” spreads in ''Schwarzmarkt'' and ''Schwarzhandel''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|black|alt=Black]], of the darkest colour, reflecting no light: ''ein schwarzer Mantel''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''Schwarz auf weiß'' means “in writing”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # Very [[m|en|dark]]: ''schwarze Johannisbeeren''; of coffee, without milk: ''Ich trinke meinen Kaffee schwarz.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Having dark skin;^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE) ''Black'' (of people).^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' Dark with dirt: ''Nach der Gartenarbeit waren seine Finger ganz schwarz.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(colloquial, often derogatory)'' Shaped by Catholicism, mainly Catholic;^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''(political jargon)'' Christian Democratic, [[m|en|conservative]] (in Germany the CDU/CSU, in Austria the ÖVP).^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|ominous|alt=Ominous]], gloomy; also wicked, evil: ''ein schwarzer Tag für die Firma''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' [[m|en|illegal|alt=Illegal]], without official permission: ''Er hat jahrelang schwarz gearbeitet.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(card games)'' Having taken no trick: ''schwarz werden'' in skat, from an old cant sense “to have no money”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Schwärze]]

+ * [[schwärzen]]

+ * [[schwärzlich]]

+ * [[anschwärzen]]

+ * [[pechschwarz]]

+ * [[Schwarzbrot]]

+ * [[Schwarzwild]]

+ * [[Schwarzmarkt]]

+ * [[Schwarzarbeit]]

+ * [[schwarzsehen]]

+ * [[Schwarzer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|swart]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Goethe's ''Denn was man schwarz auf weiß besitzt, / Kann man getrost nach Hause tragen'' (“what one has in black and white one can take home with confidence”, Faust I, 1966–1967) is the source of the saying.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''Ins Schwarze treffen'' “to hit the bull's-eye”, the black centre of a target, is used of saying exactly the right thing.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}