Tochter German · revision 35520

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century, Old High German glosses|origins=ine-pro *dʰugh₂tḗr}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈtɔx.tɐ/, [ˈtɔx.tɐ], [ˈtɔχ.tɐ]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Tochter''' ''f'' (genitive Tochter, plural Töchter, diminutive Töchterchen n or Töchterlein n or Töchterl n)^(Wiktionary)

+ The Old High German plural was ''tohtera'';^(DWB|21, 532) Middle High German usually had ''tohter'' without an ending, beside umlauted ''töhter'' and weak ''tohtern''.^(DWB|21, 532)

+ The modern plural ''Töchter'' continues the umlauted form.^(DWB|21, 532)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|tohter]], [[inh|goh|tohter]], [[inh|gem-pro|*duhtēr|t=daughter]].^(Kluge 2011|919)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[got|𐌳𐌰𐌿𐌷𐍄𐌰𐍂|tr=daúhtar]], [[non|dóttir]], [[ang|dohtor]], [[osx|dohtar]] and [[ofs|dochter]], continued in [[nl|dochter]], [[en|daughter]] and [[sv|dotter]].^(Kluge 2011|919)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ It continues the Indo-European word for “daughter”, [[ine-pro|*dʰugh₂tḗr]], also found in [[sa|दुहितृ|tr=duhitṛ́]], [[ae|dugədar]], [[grc|θυγάτηρ|tr=thugátēr]], [[xcl|դուստր|tr=dustr]], [[lt|duktė]], [[cu|дъшти|tr=dŭšti]] and [[txb|tkācer]].^(Kroonen 2013)^(Kluge 2011|919)^(Pfeifer 1993) It is formed with the suffix of kinship terms, [[ine-pro|*-tḗr]], like [[Mutter]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ Its further origin is unclear.^(Kluge 2011|919)^(Pfeifer 1993) The Grimms' dictionary calls the old explanation as “the milker”, from the Sanskrit root for milking, doubtful, and connects the word with [[taugen]] instead.^(DWB|21, 532) Pârvulescu derives it from a root [[ine-pro|*dʰewgʰ-|t=to produce, work]], so that it would have meant first “worker, servant”, then “girl” and “daughter”.^(Kluge 2011|919)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''tohter'' is first recorded in glosses of the last quarter of the 8th century, and then in Isidor, Tatian, Otfrid, Notker and Williram, meaning “daughter”.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|332) Old Saxon has ''dohtar''.^(Kluge 2011|919)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Beside the kinship sense, the older language used it more generally for a young woman or girl, a sense that survives in Switzerland;^(Kluge 2011|919)^(Paul 2002) Kluge suspects the influence of [[fr|fille]].^(Kluge 2011|919)^(Paul 2002) Hence Swiss ''Saaltochter'' “waitress” and ''Ladentochter'' “shop assistant”, and the ''Töchterschule'' (1773), a school for girls.^(Kluge 2011|919)^(Paul 2002) Older people addressed a young woman familiarly as ''meine Tochter''.^(Paul 2002)^(Adelung 1793|4, 611)

+

+ Luther's Bible used it for the women of a people or a place, as in ''du Tochter Zion'' (Zechariah 9:9), and it came to express an origin, as in Hölderlin's “love, God's daughter”.^(Paul 2002) After [[fr|fille de joie]], ''Tochter der Freude'' became a veiled term for a prostitute.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002) In business German it is short for [[Tochtergesellschaft]], a subsidiary company.^(Paul 2002)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''tohter'' appears in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)^(Kluge 2011|919)

+ * 1060–1065 – Williram of Ebersberg uses the form ''dohter''.^(Köbler MHD)

+ * 1460 – The plural ''dochtere'' is recorded in a Weistum.^(DWB|21, 532)

+ * 1773 – First record of ''Töchterschule'', a school for girls.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|daughter]]: a female child in relation to her parents.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated)'' A form of address to a younger woman.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(Switzerland, dated)'' An unmarried young woman, especially one employed in a restaurant or a household.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(jargon)'' Short for [[Tochtergesellschaft]]: a [[m|en|subsidiary]] company.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Töchterchen]]

+ * [[Schwiegertochter]]

+ * [[Stieftochter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Tochtersprache]]

+ * [[en|daughter]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Die Tochter des Hauses'' is the grown-up daughter of the family.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002) ''Höhere Tochter'', a girl from a good middle-class home, is dated and now jocular.^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''Tochtermann'' “son-in-law”, a Middle High German compound, is dated and survives in the southwest.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}