gehen German · revision 35398

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɡeːən/, [ˈɡeː.ən], /ɡeːn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gehen''' (class 7 strong, third-person singular present geht, past tense ging, past participle gegangen, auxiliary sein)^(Wiktionary)

+ The past tense ''ging'' was long also spelled ''gieng'', from Middle High German ''gienc''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its paradigm joins forms of unrelated verbs.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|308) The infinitive and present are [[inh|gmh|gān]] and [[m|gmh|gēn]], [[inh|goh|gān]] and [[m|goh|gēn]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*gān]], [[inh|gem-pro|*gāną|t=to go]].^(Kluge 2011|340)^(Wiktionary) This verb is also [[ang|gān]] and [[ofs|gān]], and survives in [[nl|gaan]], [[en|go]] and [[sv|gå]].^(Kluge 2011|340)^(Pfeifer 1993) In Old High German it had only an infinitive and athematic present forms.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ The past tense ⟨ging⟩ and the participle ⟨gegangen⟩ come from [[goh|gangan]], [[gem-pro|*ganganą|t=to go, walk]], a reduplicating strong verb that is also [[got|𐌲𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌰𐌽|tr=gaggan]], [[non|ganga]] and [[m|ang|gangan]]; it is related to [[Gang]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary)^(EWA) Outside Germanic it is compared with [[lt|žengti|alt=žeñgti|t=to step]], from the root [[ine-pro|*ǵʰengʰ-|t=to stride]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ For the present stem Kluge compares [[grc|κιχάνω|tr=kikhánō|t=to reach, overtake]], a Homeric verb;^(Kluge 2011|340)^(Pfeifer 1993) Pfeifer sets up a root [[ine-pro|*g̑hē-|t=to be empty, lack, leave]], perhaps the same as that of [[gähnen]], since “go away” may have developed from “stand gaping apart”.^(Kluge 2011|340)^(Pfeifer 1993) Wiktionary and Kroonen give it as [[ine-pro|*ǵʰeh₁-|t=to leave]].^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The origin of the Old High German /ē/ forms, which Kluge traces to Germanic /ai/, is disputed, but they are surely a secondary development.^(Kluge 2011|340)^(Duden 7 2020|308) Kroonen considers that the stem in /ai/ may contain the prefix [[m|gem-pro|*ga-]] and the old root [[ine-pro|*h₁ey-|t=to go]].^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''gān'' and ''gēn'' are recorded from the 8th century, ''gangan'' from the last quarter of that century, first in the Benedictine Rule and glosses.^(Kluge 2011|340)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA)^(Köbler AHD) They meant “to go, step, walk, come, go away, set out, extend, relate to”.^(EWA)^(Schützeichel 2012|121)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The present forms were originally of one syllable (Middle High German ''gēn'', ''gēst'', ''gēt''), like those of [[stehen]] and [[tun]]; the two-syllable infinitive comes from a written language of the Bavarian and East Franconian south.^(Paul 2002)^(EWA) Forms with /a/ (''gān'', ''gāt'') at first predominated and still occur in the 16th century.^(Paul 2002) The forms of ''gangan'' were driven out of the present, Middle High German still having the imperative ''ganc'', but held the past tense and participle.^(Paul 2002) The ''h'' was put in the spelling by analogy with ''sehen''.^(Wiktionary) In Early New High German the perfect was formed with ''haben'' in the south and with ''sein'' in Central German.^(FWB)

+

+ The first sense was to move on foot, upright and step by step; the verb then became a general word for movement of any kind, contrasted with [[fahren]] and [[laufen]].^(Paul 2002) It also came to mean “to be possible”, “to work, function” and “to extend, lead”, and is used in asking after someone's health, ''wie geht es?'' “how are you?”.^(Duden 7 2020|308)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''gān'' and ''gēn'' are first recorded.^(Kluge 2011|340)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * Late 8th century – Old High German ''gangan'' appears in the Benedictine Rule and glosses.^(EWA)^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 11th century – The short preterite ''gie'', formed after the present ''gān'', appears in early Middle High German.^(EWA)

+ * 16th century – The last present forms with /a/ (''gan'', ''gat'') are found.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|walk]], to move upright on one's feet, step by step.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To cover a [[m|en|distance]] on foot: ''einen Umweg gehen'' “to make a detour”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # To go somewhere, often for a purpose: ''schwimmen gehen'' “to go swimming”, ''zum Arzt gehen'' “to see the doctor”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|leave]]; of a train or plane, to depart.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' To [[m|en|work]], to function, of a machine or method.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(impersonal)'' To be possible, to be acceptable.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(impersonal, with dative)'' To be doing, to fare: ''wie geht es?'' “how are things?”.^(Wiktionary)^(Duden 7 2020|308)

+ # To [[m|en|extend]], to lead, of a road or path.^(Wiktionary DE)^(Duden 7 2020|308)

+ # Of dough: to [[m|en|rise]].^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[abgehen]]

+ * [[angehen]]

+ * [[aufgehen]]

+ * [[ausgehen]]

+ * [[begehen]]

+ * [[eingehen]]

+ * [[entgehen]]

+ * [[ergehen]]

+ * [[hintergehen]]

+ * [[übergehen]]

+ * [[umgehen]]

+ * [[untergehen]]

+ * [[vergehen]]

+ * [[vorgehen]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Gang]]

+ * [[gähnen]]

+ * [[en|go]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}