werden German · revision 35578

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈveːʁdən/, [ˈveːɐ̯.dn̩], [ˈvɛɐ̯-]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''werden''' (irregular, third-person singular present wird, past tense wurde or (archaic) ward, past participle geworden or (as an auxiliary) worden, past subjunctive würde, auxiliary sein)^(Wiktionary)

+ In Old High German the verb still alternated between ''d'' and ''t'' (''wirdu'', ''ward'' beside ''wurtum'', ''wortan''), and Middle High German levelled this out to ''wirde'', ''wart'', ''wurden'', ''worden''.^(DWB|29, 221)

+ The singular preterite ''wurde'', with the vowel of the plural and an ''-e'' taken from the subjunctive, appears in the 15th century beside the older ''ward''.^(DWB|29, 221) Both forms then lived side by side, and ''ward'' survives only in elevated and poetic language.^(DWB|29, 221)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|werden]], [[inh|goh|werdan]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*werþan]], [[inh|gem-pro|*werþaną|t=to become]].^(Kluge 2011|982)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary) The same strong verb is [[got|𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌽|tr=waírþan]], [[non|verða]], [[ang|weorþan]], [[ofs|wertha]], [[osx|werthan]] and [[nl|worden]], and the obsolete English verb [[m|en|worth]] “to become”.^(Kluge 2011|982)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ It continues [[ine-pro|*wert-|t=to turn]], a verb also found in [[sa|वर्तते|tr=vártate|t=turns, rolls]], [[la|vertō|t=to turn]], [[lt|versti|alt=ver̃sti|t=to turn, overturn]] and [[cu|врьтѣти|tr=vrĭtěti|t=to turn]].^(Kluge 2011|982)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|928) Pfeifer takes the root as an extension with a dental of [[m|ine-pro|*wer-|t=to turn, bend]].^(Pfeifer 1993) From the start of the Germanic record the verb no longer means “to turn” but “to come about, become”: whatever turns becomes something else.^(Kluge 2011|982)^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2020|928) Kluge compares the same shift in the Lithuanian verb [[m|lt|virsti|alt=vir̃sti|t=to fall over; to turn into]].^(Kluge 2011|982)

+

+ The old sense of turning survives in [[-wärts]] and [[Wirtel]].^(Kluge 2011|982)^(Pfeifer 1993) Kroonen suggests that [[Wurst]] may also keep the older sense “to twist”.^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''werdan'' is recorded from the 8th century, in the glosses and in almost every Old High German text, with more than 4,000 occurrences.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD) It meant “to come into being, arise, grow, happen, be born”, and with a dative “to fall to someone's share”.^(Schützeichel 2012|381)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already in Gothic the verb served as an auxiliary, and in the Germanic languages it formed the passive, as it still does in German, Dutch and Icelandic.^(Duden 7 2020|928)^(Pfeifer 1993) Its use for the future is a German innovation, regular since late Middle High German.^(Pfeifer 1993) It grew out of constructions with the present participle meaning “to begin to”, such as ''er wirt lachende'' “he starts laughing, will laugh”; from the 14th century the infinitive replaced the participle, probably on the model of the older future auxiliaries [[wollen]] and [[sollen]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The present participle ''werdend'' came to mean “still developing, not yet finished”, and Paul quotes Goethe: ''ein Werdender wird immer dankbar sein'' (“one who is still becoming will always be grateful”).^(Paul 2002) With a dative the verb meant that something came into a person's possession; this survives in ''zuteil werden'' “to be granted”.^(Paul 2002) The impatient question ''wird's bald?'' (“is it coming soon?”) treats an awaited event as the subject.^(Paul 2002) The noun [[Werdegang]] “course of development”, first used of a nation or a state and then of a person, became current in the second half of the 19th century.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''werdan'' is first recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|982)

+ * 1060–1065 – Middle High German ''werden'' appears in Williram of Ebersberg's commentary on the Song of Songs.^(Köbler MHD)

+ * Late Middle High German – ''werden'' becomes the regular auxiliary of the future.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 14th century – The infinitive begins to replace the present participle in the future construction.^(Wiktionary)

+ * 1473 – The preterite ''wurde'' appears in Steinhöwel's ''De claris mulieribus'' (Ulm), beside the more frequent ''ward''.^(DWB|29, 221)

+ * 1546 – Luther's Bible replaces the plural preterite ''warden'' of the 1522 edition with ''wurden'' in John 2:2.^(DWB|29, 221)

+ * Second half of the 19th century – ''Werdegang'' becomes current.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|become]], to get into a state or take on a quality: ''Die Milch ist sauer geworden.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(impersonal, with a dative)'' Of a feeling: to come over someone: ''Dem Kind wurde im Auto schlecht.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # With a noun: to become, to take up a role or profession: ''Sie will Tierärztin werden.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''zu etwas werden'' “to turn into something”, ''aus etwas werden'' “to [[m|en|develop]] out of something”: ''Aus dem Streit wurde eine Freundschaft.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(impersonal)'' To draw near to a point in time: ''Es wird bald Mitternacht.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(elevated)'' To come into being, [[m|en|arise]], as in Luther's ''Es werde Licht'' (Genesis 1:3).^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' To turn out as intended, to come out well: ''Die Fotos sind gut geworden.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(auxiliary, with an infinitive)'' Forms the [[m|en|future]] tense, and expresses a supposition: ''Morgen wird es schneien.'' ''Sie wird wohl schon zu Hause sein.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(auxiliary, subjunctive ''würde'')'' Would: ''Ich würde gern mitkommen.''^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(auxiliary, with a past participle; participle ''worden'')'' Forms the [[m|en|passive voice|alt=passive]]: ''Die Brücke wird repariert.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Werden]]

+ * [[werdend]]

+ * [[Werdegang]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[-wärts]]

+ * [[Wirtel]]

+ * [[Vers]]

+ * [[en|worth]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The past participle is ''geworden'' when the verb stands alone and ''worden'' when it is the passive auxiliary (''Er ist Arzt geworden'', ''Er ist operiert worden'').^(Wiktionary)^(Duden GWDS 1999) Some dialects still form the future with ''wollen'' and ''sollen'', the older auxiliaries that ''werden'' displaced in the standard language.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}