Angst German · revision 35495

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century, Old High German glosses|origins=ine-pro *h₂enǵʰ-}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /aŋst/, [ʔaŋst], [ʔaŋkst]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Angst''' ''f'' (genitive Angst, plural Ängste)^(Wiktionary)

+ In Middle High German and Early New High German the noun was often masculine.^(Paul 2002)^(EWA|1, 253) Unlike most words of its field it has always had a plural, perhaps under the influence of the Latin plural [[m|la|angustiae]].^(Paul 2002)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|angest]], [[inh|goh|angust]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*angusti-]].^(Kluge 2011|45)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|1, 253) The word is limited to German, Dutch and Frisian: [[gml|angest]], [[dum|anxt]], [[nl|angst]] and [[ofs|ongost]] belong here, while [[da|angst]] and [[sv|ångest]] were borrowed from Middle Low German.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|97)^(EWA|1, 253)

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+ It is an abstract noun formed with a suffix ⟨st⟩ from the adjective that survives in [[eng]], Proto-Germanic [[m|gem-pro|*anguz|t=narrow]], so that its first meaning was “narrowness, tightness”.^(Kluge 2011|45)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) Others derive it from a noun stem in ⟨s⟩ meaning “oppression, distress”, which is attested in [[non|angr|t=sorrow, grief]].^(DWB2|2, 1000) The root is [[ine-pro|*h₂enǵʰ-|t=to constrict]], also found in [[sa|अंहस्|tr=áṁhas|t=distress, anxiety]], [[ae|ązah-|t=constriction]], [[la|angor|t=strangling, anguish]] and [[m|la|angustus|t=narrow]].^(Kluge 2011|45)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word comes closest to the German one in form, but the analysis of the ⟨st⟩ is still disputed.^(EWA|1, 253)

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+ From the 11th century the unstressed ⟨u⟩ of the second syllable was weakened, giving [[m|goh|angist]] and then [[m|goh|angest]].^(AWB|1, 523)^(Pfeifer 1993)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''angust'' is first recorded in glosses about 765, then in Otfrid and Notker.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|37) It meant “mental distress, fear, worry, unrest”, but also “suffering, pain, sickness”, translating Latin ''angustia'', ''anxietas'' and ''cura''.^(EWA|1, 253)^(Schützeichel 2012|37)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle High German and until the 17th and 18th centuries the word was often more concrete than today, “affliction, need, suffering”, especially in pairs such as ''Angst und Not''.^(Paul 2002)^(Lexer 1872|1, 71) Early New High German also used it for military distress and for “risk”, and the bell rung on Thursday evenings in memory of Christ's agony was called the ''Angst''.^(FWB)

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+ The theory of the passions of the 18th century made it more psychological: Sulzer in 1771 calls it the highest degree of fear.^(Paul 2002) Under the influence of Kierkegaard it became a central term of psychology and philosophy (Freud, Jaspers), often for a fear without a definite object; specialists distinguish it in this way from ''Furcht'', which has an object.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) Only in the last hundred years has ''Angst'' become more frequent than ''Furcht''.^(Paul 2002)

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+ The word was borrowed into English as [[m|en|angst]] in 1849, and Hebrew has it as a loan too.^(LWP)

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+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 11th century – Spellings with a weakened vowel, ''angist'', ''angest''.^(AWB|1, 523)

+ * 14th century – The phrase ''jemandem angst machen'', with ''angst'' felt as an adjective.^(DWB2|2, 1002)

+ * 1519 – Luther writes the comparative ''engster'' “more afraid”.^(DWB2|2, 1002)

+ * 1771 – Sulzer defines ''Angst'' as the highest degree of fear.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1849 – English borrows ''angst''.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|fear]], [[m|en|anxiety]]: an oppressive feeling of being threatened, often with no definite cause: ''Sie hat Angst vor großen Hunden.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Worry, concern that something will happen: ''Er hatte Angst, den Zug zu verpassen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+ # ''(psychology, philosophy)'' Anxiety without a definite object, as opposed to ''Furcht'' “fear of something”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ängstlich]]

+ * [[ängstigen]]

+ * [[Todesangst]]

+ * [[Lebensangst]]

+ * [[Prüfungsangst]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[eng]]

+ * [[bange]]

+ * [[en|angst]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ In ''mir ist angst'', ''jemandem angst machen'' the word is felt as an adjective, and older writers even formed a comparative ''ängster''; the pairing ''angst und bange'' is recorded since Luther.^(Duden 7 2020|97)^(DWB|1, 359)^(Pfeifer 1993) ''In tausend Ängsten schweben'' “to be in a thousand fears” is quoted from Adelung in 1774.^(Paul 2002) The adjective [[ängstlich]] goes back to Old High German ''angustlīh'', and [[ängstigen]] replaced the older ''ängsten''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|97)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}