Quelle German · revision 35373

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=11th century, Old High German glosses|origins=gmw-pro *kwalljā}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈkvɛlə/, [ˈkʋɛlə]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Quelle''' ''f'' (genitive Quelle, plural Quellen)^(Wiktionary)

+ Beside the feminine there has been a masculine ''Quell'' since the 15th century, now mainly poetic.^(EWA|7, 44)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|quelle]], [[inh|goh|quella|t=spring]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*kwalljā|t=spring, well]].^(EWA|7, 44)^(Wiktionary)^(AWB|7, 491) The same word is [[osx|quella]], [[gml|quelle]] and [[ang|cwylla]].^(EWA|7, 44)^(Pfeifer 1993) It is a noun formed from the strong verb [[quellen]], Old High German [[m|goh|quellan|t=to well up]], which Kluge records from the 10th century.^(EWA|7, 44)^(Kluge 2011|738)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ The verb is found elsewhere in Germanic only in the Old English participle [[m|ang|collenferhþ|t=bold, proud]], properly “swollen-spirited”.^(Duden 7 2020|665)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|738) Pfeifer and the Duden dictionary connect it with [[sa|गलति|tr=galati|t=drips, falls down]] and the root [[ine-pro|*gʷelH-|alt=*gu̯el-|t=to drip, well up]],^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|665)^(Wiktionary) while Kluge only tentatively compares [[grc|βλύζω|tr=blúzō|t=I gush forth]].^(Kluge 2011|738)

+

+ The sources disagree on whether the modern noun continues the Old High German one.^(EWA|7, 44)^(Duden 7 2020|665)^(Pfeifer 1993) The EWA takes the late Middle High German form as the continuation of the Old High German noun.^(EWA|7, 44) The Duden dictionaries point out that it is missing in classical Middle High German and take it to be a new back-formation from the verb in East Central German, from where it spread,^(Duden 7 2020|665)^(Duden GWDS 1999) and Pfeifer leaves both possibilities open.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''quella'' is recorded once, in an 11th-century gloss on Prudentius, where the accusative plural ''quellon'' translates [[m|la|scatebra|t=bubbling spring]], water gushing from rock.^(AWB|7, 491)^(EWA|7, 44) The compound ''brunquella'' “spring” is older, from the 8th century.^(Kluge 2011|738)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle German a ''qwelle'' is recorded in 1440, glossing [[m|la|latex]], but the word became common only with Luther, who used it in the Bible for springs and wells.^(DWB|13, 2342) From the 15th century it was used figuratively for an origin or beginning,^(Pfeifer 1993) and the Early New High German dictionary also has it for a watering place or well.^(FWB) The Grimms' dictionary takes the masculine ''Quell'' as a later formation from the feminine, with a change of gender.^(DWB|13, 2342)

+

+ In New High German it also came to mean a text used as evidence for research, and a person or place from whom information is obtained directly.^(EWA|7, 44)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – The compound ''brunquella'' “spring” is recorded.^(Kluge 2011|738)

+ * 11th century – Old High German ''quella'' glosses Latin ''scatebra'' in a manuscript of Prudentius.^(AWB|7, 491)^(EWA|7, 44)

+ * 15th century – The masculine ''quell'' and the figurative sense “origin” appear.^(EWA|7, 44)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1440 – Middle German ''qwelle'' is recorded in a glossary.^(DWB|13, 2342)

+ * 16th century – The word becomes common through Luther's Bible.^(DWB|13, 2342)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|spring]]: water coming out of the ground, the source of a stream or river: ''eine heiße Quelle''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|well]] from which oil or gas is obtained.^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|source]], origin of something: ''eine Quelle der Freude''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A source text: a document or text used as evidence in research: ''historische Quellen auswerten''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # A person or place from whom information is obtained directly: ''aus sicherer Quelle wissen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(physics)'' A point from which a vector field flows out, the opposite of a [[Senke]].^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Quell]]

+ * [[Quellcode]]

+ * [[Quellwasser]]

+ * [[Quellenangabe]]

+ * [[Quellenkritik]]

+ * [[Quellensteuer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[quellen]]

+ * [[Qualle]]

+ * [[Qualm]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Aus erster Quelle'' is “at first hand”;^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''an der Quelle sitzen'' ''(colloquial)'' is to have good connections and get things on favourable terms.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}