Rat German · revision 35549

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=765, Old High German glosses|origins=ine-pro *rēdʰ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /raːt/, [ʁaːt]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Rat''' ''m'' (genitive Rates or Rats, plural Räte)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|rāt]], [[inh|goh|rāt|t=advice; supplies]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*rād]], [[inh|gem-pro|*rēdaz|t=advice, counsel]], the verbal abstract of [[raten]], [[m|gem-pro|*rēdaną]].^(Kluge 2011|747)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) For West Germanic, Kluge reconstructs an i-stem [[m|gmw-pro|*rǣdi-]]; the same word is [[osx|rād]], [[ang|rǣd]] and [[ofs|rēd]], while [[non|ráð]] is a neuter a-stem.^(Kluge 2011|747) Kluge also lists [[nl|raad]], [[sv|råd]] and [[is|ráð]], and Wiktionary adds [[en|rede]].^(Kluge 2011|747)^(Wiktionary) No Gothic noun is recorded, but the verb is attested as [[got|𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌳𐌰𐌽|tr=garēdan]].^(DWB|14, 156)

+

+ The verb goes back to [[ine-pro|*rēdʰ-|t=to arrange, advise]], also in [[sga|rád|t=speaking, saying]] and [[cu|радити|tr=raditi|t=to care for]];^(Kluge 2011|747) Kluge takes it as probably an extension of the root [[m|ine-pro|*arə-|t=to fit together]], as in [[Art]].^(Kluge 2011|747) The Grimms' dictionary, in contrast, found nothing certain to compare outside Germanic.^(DWB|14, 156)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''rāt'' is first recorded in glosses of 765, and then in the Ludwigslied, Otfrid, Notker and Williram.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|253) Its senses range from “advice, plan, decision” and “way out, rescue” to “assembly” and “supplies, yield, wealth”.^(Schützeichel 2012|253)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Pfeifer, Duden and Paul take “the means needed to keep a household” as the first sense, preserved in [[Hausrat]], [[Vorrat]] and [[Unrat]], in [[Gerät]] and in [[Heirat]], literally “provision for the house”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|674)^(Paul 2002) From the providing of such means came “help, remedy, way out”, still heard in ''Rat schaffen'' and ''kommt Zeit, kommt Rat'', and then “well-meant advice”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) The Grimms see the starting point in the care that the head of a family or a ruler owed to those in his charge.^(DWB|14, 156)

+

+ Already in Old High German the word meant “deliberation”, then “council”, later “board, authority” (''Stadtrat'', ''Staatsrat''). The single member of such a body gave rise to titles such as ''Geheimrat'' and ''Studienrat''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|674) After 1917 it rendered [[ru|совет|tr=sovet]] in communist usage, as in ''Arbeiterrat'' and ''Rätedemokratie''.^(Paul 2002) Swabian sources of the 15th century write ''raut'', and Franconian ones of the 16th ''rot''.^(DWB|14, 156)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * Around 800 – ''rātgebo'' “adviser” is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * Around 1000 – ''rātelōs'' “unadvised, undecided” is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1445 – A Swabian chronicle writes ''grosz und clainer raut''.^(DWB|14, 156)

+ * 1462 – First record of ''ratslag'' “advice, deliberation”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 16th century – ''ratsam'' “advisable” appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1624 – First record of the phrase ''Rat und Tat''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * After 1917 – ''Rat'' renders Russian ''sovet''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|advice]], a recommendation: ''Kannst du mir einen Rat geben?''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A way out of a difficulty, a [[m|en|remedy]]: ''Da wusste niemand mehr Rat.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A [[m|en|council]], an advisory or decision-making body: ''der Wissenschaftliche Rat des Instituts''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(politics)'' A local council with administrative or legislative tasks: ''Der Rat der Gemeinde tagt am Montag.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(communist usage, usually plural)'' A [[m|en|soviet]], a revolutionary organ of power.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+ # A member of a council, a [[m|en|councillor]]: ''Sie wurde zum Rat gewählt.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The title of various officials, also an honorary title: ''Geheimer Rat'', ''Studienrat''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ratlos]]

+ * [[ratsam]]

+ * [[Ratschlag]]

+ * [[Ratgeber]]

+ * [[Rathaus]]

+ * [[Ratsherr]]

+ * [[Stadtrat]]

+ * [[Hausrat]]

+ * [[Vorrat]]

+ * [[Unrat]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[raten]]

+ * [[Gerät]]

+ * [[Heirat]]

+ * [[Rätsel]]

+ * [[en|rede]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The plural ''Räte'' is now used only for councils and their members; for pieces of advice the plural is [[Ratschläge]].^(Paul 2002) Fixed phrases include ''mit Rat und Tat'' “with advice and practical help”, ''jemanden zu Rate ziehen'' “to consult someone”, ''mit sich zu Rate gehen'' “to think something over” and ''da ist guter Rat teuer'' “it is hard to know what to do”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}