sagen German · revision 35408

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Germany: /zaːɡən/, /zaːɡŋ̩/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Austria: /saːɡɛn/, /saːɡŋ̩/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sagen''' (third-person singular present sagt, past tense sagte, past participle gesagt, auxiliary haben)^(Wiktionary)

+ Middle High German often used contracted forms: ''seist'', ''seit'', ''seite'', ''geseit'' for ''sagest'', ''saget'', ''sagete'', ''gesaget''.^(Lexer 1872|2, 571) Such forms survive into Early New High German, and Swiss German still has ''er seit'' “he says”.^(DWB|14, 1650)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|sagen]], [[inh|goh|sagēn]], [[inh|gem-pro|*sagēn|t=to say]].^(Kluge 2011|782)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD) The other West Germanic and Norse forms go back to a variant with a j-suffix that caused umlaut, [[gem-pro|*sagjaną]]: [[osx|seggian]], [[ang|secgan]], [[ofs|sedza]] and [[non|segja]], and today [[nl|zeggen]], [[en|say]] and [[sv|säga]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|782)^(Orel 2003)

+

+ It continues the European root [[ine-pro|*sekʷ-|t=to say]], also found in [[la|inquit|t=he says]], [[sga|insce|t=speech]], [[lt|sakýti|t=to say, tell]] and [[grc|ἐννέπω|tr=ennépō|t=to tell, proclaim]].^(Kluge 2011|782)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) Elsewhere the root means “to follow”, and Kluge suggests that the starting point was “to follow a sequence”, hence “to narrate”, as with [[erzählen]] from [[Zahl]].^(Kluge 2011|782) Pfeifer starts from “to scent, track” (of a hunting dog), which led on the one hand to “show, announce, say” and on the other to “follow”; he therefore also connects the forms under [[sehen]].^(Pfeifer 1993) The Duden likewise explains it as “let see, show” and relates it to that verb.^(Duden 7 2014)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''sagēn'' is recorded from glosses of about 765 on, and is common in Otfrid, Tatian and Notker, meaning “to say, tell, narrate, proclaim, report, assert”.^(Köbler AHD)^(Kluge 2011|782)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Paul notes that, apart from fixed phrases such as ''gesagt, getan'' “no sooner said than done”, ''sagen'' differs from [[sprechen]] and [[reden]] in naming a one-way utterance together with its content.^(Paul 2002) Adelung, around 1800, records that in everyday speech it could be used of any sound at all (''das sagte patsch!'').^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ Several prefixed verbs changed their meaning on the way: [[untersagen]] meant “to discuss, report” in Old High German and took the sense “to forbid” in Middle High German under the influence of Latin ''interdicere'';^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014) [[versagen]] meant “to refuse, deny” and only later “to fail”, and the noun [[Versager]] meant “slanderer” in the 16th century before it came to mean “failure”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 765 – Old High German ''sagēn'' appears in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 9th century – The prefixed verbs ''bisagēn'', ''untarsagēn'' and ''firsagēn'' are recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 10th century – ''anasagēn'' “to object, accuse” is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 15th century – The nouns ''Aussage'' and ''Zusage'' appear.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 16th century – ''Versager'' is recorded in the sense “slanderer”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 17th century – ''Entsagung'' “renunciation” appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|say]], utter words or sentences: ''Ja sagen'', ''was hat sie gesagt?''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|tell]], let someone know.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To use a word or expression in one's speech: ''sagst du Rotkohl oder Rotkraut?''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # To call something by a certain name: ''zu einem Fotoapparat Kamera sagen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # To [[m|en|mean]] something to someone, to ring a bell.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(reflexive)'' To think to oneself.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[absagen]]

+ * [[ansagen]]

+ * [[aussagen]]

+ * [[besagen]]

+ * [[entsagen]]

+ * [[unsäglich]]

+ * [[untersagen]]

+ * [[versagen]]

+ * [[zusagen]]

+ * [[Entsagung]]

+ * [[aufsagen]]

+ * [[Sage]]

+ * [[unsagbar]]

+ * [[Versager]]

+ * [[Absage]]

+ * [[Aussage]]

+ * [[Zusage]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Saga]]

+ * [[sehen]]

+ * [[en|say]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Sage und schreibe'' “believe it or not, no less than” emphasises a surprising amount: ''er hat mich sage und schreibe eine Stunde warten lassen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''Sagen wir'' introduces an estimate or an example.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}