lassen German · revision 35576

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=8th century, Old High German|origins=ine-pro *leh₁d-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * [ˈlasn̩], [ˈlasən]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''lassen''' (class 7 strong, third-person singular present lässt, past tense ließ, past participle gelassen or (with an infinitive) lassen, auxiliary haben)^(Wiktionary)

+ The long vowel of Middle High German ''lâʒen'' was shortened in the written language, as a spelling of the 15th century already shows, but until the 17th century poets still liked to rhyme ''lassen'' with words in long ''a''.^(DWB|12, 213) East Central German, Hessian, Thuringian, Saxon, Silesian and Berlin speech still say ''lâszen'' with a long vowel, and Swabian has ''lauʒen''.^(DWB|12, 213)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|lāzen]], [[inh|goh|lāzan]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*lātan]], [[inh|gem-pro|*lētaną|t=to let, leave behind]], originally a reduplicating strong verb.^(Kluge 2011|560)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The shortened form [[m|goh|lān]] stands beside it in Old High German and Middle High German.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD) The same verb is [[got|𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽|tr=lētan]], [[non|láta]], [[ang|lǣtan]], [[ofs|lēta]] and [[osx|lātan]], continued in [[en|let]], [[nl|laten]] and [[sv|låta]].^(Kluge 2011|560)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ Kroonen and Wiktionary derive it from [[ine-pro|*leh₁d-|t=to let go, be tired]], comparing [[grc|ληδεῖν|tr=lēdeîn|t=to be tired]] and [[la|lassus|t=tired, weary]].^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary) Pfeifer and the Duden take the same comparisons back to an extended root [[m|ine-pro|*lēid-]], from [[m|ine-pro|*lēi-|t=to slacken]], and the Duden dictionaries give the original sense as “to grow slack, tired”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|496)^(Duden GWDS 1999) Kluge is more cautious: these words have no exact equivalent of the Germanic verb, the Greek one is an uncertain gloss, and [[lt|léisti|t=to let, let go, set free]] matches the meaning better, but uniting both groups under a root with a long diphthong is not free of problems.^(Kluge 2011|560) The adjectives [[lass]] “weary” and [[lässig]] belong to the same family.^(Kluge 2011|560)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''lāzan'' is recorded from the 8th century.^(Kluge 2011|560)^(Pfeifer 1993) Paul explains that the verb first described a state of doing nothing: not holding on to something, not stopping a movement or an event.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From letting something happen the verb came to describe an action of its own, causing something to be done: ''ein Haus bauen lassen'' is to have a house built.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) With a plain accusative it used to mean “not to prevent something from leaving one”, as in ''Tränen lassen'' “to shed tears”, now dated, and in ''Blut lassen'' and ''zur Ader lassen'' “to let blood”, whose origin is no longer understood.^(Paul 2002) It also meant “to leave behind”, as in the song ''Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen'', a sense now taken over by [[verlassen]].^(Paul 2002) Luther's ''ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn'' (“I will not let thee go, except thou bless me”, Genesis 32:26) shows the sense “to let go”.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ The verb has a large family of particle verbs and prefixed verbs (''ablassen'', ''entlassen'', ''verlassen'', ''zulassen'') and abstract nouns such as [[Anlass]], Middle High German ''anlāʒ'' “beginning, starting point of a race, occasion”.^(Kluge 2011|560)^(Pfeifer 1993) ''Unablässig'' “unceasing” dates from the 16th century, and ''Anlasser'', the starter of an engine, from about 1900.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''lāzan'' is first recorded.^(Kluge 2011|560)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 11th century – The short form ''lān'' appears in Old High German glosses.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 1060–1065 – Middle High German ''lāzen'' is used by Williram of Ebersberg.^(Köbler MHD)

+ * 15th century – A spelling with ''ss'' shows the shortened vowel.^(DWB|12, 213)

+ * 16th century – First record of ''unablässig''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 17th century – Poets still rhyme ''lassen'' with long ''a''.^(DWB|12, 213)

+ * About 1900 – ''Anlasser'' comes to mean a device for starting an electric motor.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(with an infinitive)'' To have something done, to [[m|en|cause]] something to happen: ''Wir lassen das Dach reparieren.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(with an infinitive)'' To [[m|en|allow]], let, not prevent: ''Sie ließ die Katze im Bett schlafen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(reflexive, with an infinitive)'' To be able to be done: ''Das Fenster lässt sich nicht öffnen.''^(Wiktionary)

+ # To leave somewhere or in a certain state: ''Er hat den Schirm im Zug gelassen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' To stop doing something, [[m|en|refrain]] from it: ''Er kann das Grübeln nicht lassen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To let someone have something, to leave it to them: ''Sie ließ ihm das letzte Stück Kuchen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ablassen]]

+ * [[anlassen]]

+ * [[auslassen]]

+ * [[bleibenlassen]]

+ * [[einlassen]]

+ * [[entlassen]]

+ * [[erlassen]]

+ * [[hinterlassen]]

+ * [[nachlassen]]

+ * [[niederlassen]]

+ * [[überlassen]]

+ * [[unterlassen]]

+ * [[verlassen]]

+ * [[zulassen]]

+ * [[Anlass]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lasch]]

+ * [[lässig]]

+ * [[lass]]

+ * [[gelassen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ With an infinitive the perfect uses the infinitive ''lassen'' instead of the participle ''gelassen'': ''Ich habe das Auto waschen lassen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''Haare lassen müssen'' is “to suffer a painful loss”.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}