sollen German · revision 35423

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈzɔlən/, [zɔln̩]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Austria, southern Germany, Switzerland: /ˈsɔlɛn/, [sɔln̩]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sollen''' (preterite-present, third-person singular present soll, past tense sollte, past participle gesollt, auxiliary haben)^(Wiktionary)

+ The second person singular was ''du sol(l)t'' until the second half of the 18th century, as is usual for a preterite-present verb.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|suln]], [[inh|goh|sculan]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*skulan]], [[inh|gem-pro|*skulaną]], a preterite-present verb whose original meaning was “to owe”.^(Kluge 2011|857)^(Wiktionary)^(Pfeifer 1993) The same verb is [[got|𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌽|tr=skulan]], [[non|skulu]], [[ang|sculan]], [[osx|skulan]] and [[ofs|skela]];^(Kluge 2011|857)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) English [[m|en|shall]] and [[m|en|should]], Dutch [[m|nl|zullen]], Swedish [[m|sv|skola]] and Yiddish [[m|yi|זאָלן|tr=zoln]] continue it.^(Kluge 2011|857)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) Outside Germanic only Baltic has related words: [[lt|skelėti|alt=skelė́ti|t=to owe]], and without the initial ⟨s⟩ [[m|lt|kaltė|alt=kaltė͂|t=guilt]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|790) Pfeifer sets up a root [[ine-pro|*(s)kel-|t=to owe, be guilty]] from these, while Kluge calls the further origin unclear.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|857) The Grimms' dictionary rejects Jacob Grimm's idea that the verb first meant “I have killed and so owe wergild”, since the sense “owe” is found in Baltic as well.^(DWB|16, 1452) The noun [[Schuld]] belongs to the same old verb.^(Duden 7 2020|790)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch)

+

+ The modern initial ⟨s⟩ comes from a simplification of /sk/ in the unstressed position the word usually has in a sentence; the same happened in English.^(Kluge 2011|857)^(EWA|8, 306) In Old High German ⟨sk⟩ (⟨sc⟩) is the regular spelling until the 11th century; forms with ⟨s⟩ appear from then on, and rarely earlier, already in the Tatian.^(EWA|8, 306) Pfeifer dates the simplified forms [[m|goh|solan]] and [[m|goh|sulan]] to the 9th century.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''sculan'' is recorded from the end of the 8th century in glosses and in Isidor, the Monsee fragments, the Tatian and Otfrid.^(EWA|8, 306) It meant “to be obliged, must, shall”, but also “to owe, be indebted for” and “to be due”.^(EWA|8, 306)^(Schützeichel 2012|294)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The full sense “to owe” survived longest in the language of merchants: ''er soll mir 10 Taler'' “he owes me ten thalers” was in use until the end of the 18th century, or by Pfeifer's dating the early 19th.^(Duden 7 2020|790)^(Pfeifer 1993) Logau writes ''wer mir fünfzig Gulden soll'' “whoever owes me fifty guilders”, and Goethe in a letter of 1774 asks what he “owes” for the tea.^(Paul 2002) From this use comes the bookkeeping noun [[Soll]] “debit”: account books from the 16th century head their left-hand page ''soll'' “owes”, rendering Medieval Latin ''debet''.^(Kluge 2011|857)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|790)

+

+ Since Old High German the verb has mostly been used with an infinitive to pass on someone else's will, as in the commandment ''du sollst keine andern Götter neben mir haben'' “thou shalt have no other gods before me”.^(Paul 2002) It also expresses what is fitting, usually in the past subjunctive (''das sollte man niemals tun'' “one should never do that”), and in the philosophy of Kant ''das Sollen'' is the moral “ought”.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 8th century – Old High German ''sculan'' appears in glosses and Isidor.^(EWA|8, 306)

+ * 9th century – Simplified forms ''solan'', ''sulan'' are recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 11th century – Forms with ⟨s⟩ replace the spelling ⟨sk⟩.^(EWA|8, 306)

+ * 16th century – ''soll'' “owes” heads pages of account books, the source of the noun ''Soll''.^(Duden 7 2020|790)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1774 – Goethe still uses ''sollen'' “to owe” in a letter.^(Paul 2002)

+ * End of the 18th century – The sense “to owe” goes out of use outside merchants' language.^(Duden 7 2020|790)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # With an infinitive: to be told or required to do something; to be [[m|en|supposed]] to (''er soll sofort kommen'').^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Expressing a wish or intention of the speaker or another person (''du sollst dich hier wie zu Hause fühlen'').^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # In questions or negated: expressing perplexity (''was soll ich nur machen?'').^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # Expressing a [[m|en|necessity]] or recommendation.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In the past subjunctive: what would be expected or desirable; [[m|en|should]], [[m|en|ought]] to (''das sollte er eigentlich wissen'').^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In the past tense: what was destined to happen later .^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Reporting a claim made by others: is said to, [[m|en|reportedly]].^(Wiktionary)

+ # In a conditional clause in the subjunctive: should, if.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated)'' To owe (''Cajus soll mir noch hundert Thaler'').^(Adelung 1793)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Soll]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Schuld]]

+ * [[en|shall]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}