Luft German · revision 35647

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /lʊft/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Luft''' ''f'' (genitive Luft, plural Lüfte, diminutive Lüftchen n or Lüftlein n or Lüfterl n)^(Wiktionary)

+ The word was masculine in Gothic, masculine or feminine in Old Saxon and Old High German, and has always been masculine in Upper German, where ''der Luft'' is still heard.^(DWB|12, 1237) The feminine was Dutch, Low German and Central German, and spread in the written language from the 16th century, following Luther.^(DWB|12, 1237)^(Paul 2002)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|luft]], [[inh|goh|luft]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*luftu]], [[inh|gem-pro|*luftuz|t=air]].^(Kluge 2011|586)^(Wiktionary)^(EWA|5, 1488) The same word is [[got|𐌻𐌿𐍆𐍄𐌿𐍃|tr=luftus]], [[osx|luft]], [[ang|lyft|t=air, sky]] and [[non|lopt|t=air, sky; upper room]].^(Kluge 2011|586)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013) Middle Low German [[m|gml|lucht]] and [[nl|lucht]] show the change of /ft/ to /xt/ typical of Low German and Dutch.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ Its origin is unclear.^(Kluge 2011|586)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) Kluge links it with words for an upper storey and for lifting, such as the Old Norse verb [[m|non|lypta|t=to lift]] and [[gmh|lüften|t=to lift]], and mentions Sommer's view that they go back to a sound gesture [[ine-pro|*lup-]] for a quick upward movement.^(Kluge 2011|586) Pfeifer and Kroonen start from “roof, covering”: Kroonen takes [[m|gem-pro|*luftu-]] as a tu-stem from the root of [[m|gem-pro|*laubą|t=foliage]], meaning a roof made of bark, as suggested by [[ru|луб|tr=lub|t=bast]], and Pfeifer also compares [[lt|lupti|alt=lùpti|t=to peel]], [[la|liber|t=bast]] and [[grc|λύπη|tr=lúpē|t=grief]], under a root [[m|ine-pro|*leup-]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary) Orel allows that the development may have run the other way, from “air” to “upper room”.^(Orel 2003)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''luft'' is recorded from the 8th century, in the ''Abrogans'' and other glosses from 765, then in the Benedictine Rule, the ''Muspilli'', Otfrid and Notker.^(EWA|5, 1488)^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|209) It meant air, the sky and heavens, the ether and a breath of air, glossing Latin ''aer'', ''aether'', ''aura'' and ''caelum''.^(EWA|5, 1488) Old Saxon ''luft'' appears in the ''Heliand''.^(EWA|5, 1488)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Paul thinks the first sense was a current of air, since movement made the air noticeable; that sense survives in Upper German and in the poetic plural ''Lüfte'' and the diminutive ''Lüftchen''.^(Paul 2002) Opposed to the room indoors, ''Luft'' is the open air, as in ''an die Luft gehen'' and ''jemanden an die Luft setzen'' “to throw someone out”.^(Paul 2002) [[Luftschloss]] “castle in the air” dates from the 17th century, after the 16th-century phrase ''ein Schloss in die Luft bauen''.^(Duden 7 2020)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) ''Jemandem Luft machen'' first meant to remove the pressure that stops someone breathing, and Goethe wrote ''ich machte meinem Herzen Luft''.^(Paul 2002) Compounds such as ''Luftballon'' and ''Luftpumpe'' date from the 18th century, and ''Luftschutz'' and [[Luftwaffe]] from the first half of the 20th.^(Duden 7 2020) Russian borrowed the word as ''люфт'' (1957) for the play between the parts of a machine.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 16th century – The feminine gender spreads in the written language, and the phrase ''ein Schloss in die Luft bauen'' is recorded.^(DWB|12, 1237)^(Duden 7 2020)

+ * 17th century – ''Luftschloss'' is formed.^(Duden 7 2020)

+ * 18th century – ''Luftballon'' and ''Luftpumpe'' appear.^(Duden 7 2020)

+ * First half of the 20th century – ''Luftschutz'' and ''Luftwaffe'' appear.^(Duden 7 2020)

+ * 1957 – Russian ''люфт'' “play, clearance” is recorded.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(no plural)'' [[m|en|air]], the mixture of gases, chiefly oxygen and nitrogen, that surrounds the earth and that people and animals breathe: ''Nach dem Gewitter war die Luft klar und kühl.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(no plural)'' Breath: ''Nach dem Sprint bekam er kaum noch Luft.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(plural elevated)'' The open space above the ground, the [[m|en|sky]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(plural only poetic)'' A light wind, a [[m|en|breeze]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(no plural; colloquial)'' Room, [[m|en|play]], free space: ''Im Zeitplan ist noch etwas Luft.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lüften]]

+ * [[luftig]]

+ * [[Luftschloss]]

+ * [[Luftballon]]

+ * [[Luftwaffe]]

+ * [[Luftikus]]

+ * [[Lüftung]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Lift]]

+ * [[lüpfen]]

+ * [[Laub]]

+ * [[en|loft]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Many colloquial phrases use the word: ''die Luft ist rein'' “the coast is clear”, ''dicke Luft'' “a tense atmosphere”, ''Luft für jemanden sein'' “to be ignored by someone”, ''in die Luft gehen'' “to blow one's top”, and ''seinem Ärger Luft machen'' “to vent one's anger”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}