Vorjahr German · revision 35435

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfoːrˌjaːr/, [ˈfoːɐ̯ˌjaː(ɐ̯)], [ˈfɔɐ̯-]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Vorjahr''' ''n'' (genitive Vorjahres or Vorjahrs, plural Vorjahre)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound [[af|de|vor-|Jahr|t1=before|t2=year]].^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE) The word appears first in Low German, with two senses: [[gml|vȫrjâr]] meant both “an earlier year, the previous year” and “spring”.^(Schiller & Lübben 1875)^(Lübben 1888)^(DWB|26, 1219) [[nl|voorjaar]] still means “spring”.^(Wiktionary)^(DWB|26, 1219)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the older language the word mostly meant the beginning of the year, that is spring, since the year was once reckoned from the spring; a record of 1577 uses it of the time between Easter and Whitsun.^(DWB|26, 1219)^(Adelung 1793) Schottel (1663) and Stieler gloss it as the first part of the year, spring.^(DWB|26, 1219)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Adelung (1793) still knew only the sense “spring”, which he described as Low German, and Campe did not record “the previous year” either.^(Adelung 1793)^(DWB|26, 1219) That sense appears in the standard language in Pestalozzi (1819) and became the usual one, while “spring” remained in Low German dialects and in the Baltic provinces.^(DWB|26, 1219) The plural first meant “earlier years” in general, as in Schupp (1663), but now refers only to the years just past.^(DWB|26, 1219)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1577 – ''Vorjahr'' names the time between Easter and Whitsun.^(DWB|26, 1219)

+ * 1663 – Schottel records the sense “spring”, and Schupp uses the plural for earlier years.^(DWB|26, 1219)

+ * 1793 – Adelung records only the regional sense “spring”.^(Adelung 1793)

+ * 1819 – Pestalozzi uses it for the previous year.^(DWB|26, 1219)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The previous year: ''Der Umsatz stieg gegenüber dem Vorjahr um fünf Prozent.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(obsolete, regional)'' [[m|en|spring|alt=Spring]]; a synonym of [[Frühjahr]].^(Wiktionary)^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Vorjahresquartal]]

+ * [[Vorjahreszeitraum]]

+ * [[vorjährig]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Jahr]]

+ * [[nl|voorjaar]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}