Bahnhof German · revision 35771

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound, clipping|attested=c. 1840}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈbaːnˌhoːf/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Bahnhof''' ''m'' (genitive Bahnhofs or Bahnhofes, plural Bahnhöfe)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is shortened from [[Eisenbahnhof]], a compound [[af|de|Eisenbahn|Hof|t1=railway|t2=yard, court]], in which the second part has the sense of a large group of working buildings.^(Kluge 2011|83) Around 1840 the short form gradually took the place of the longer one.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ The first part is [[Bahn]], [[gmh|ban]] “way, track”, a word missing from the oldest period.^(Kluge 2011|83)^(Pfeifer 1993) Kluge takes it for an old technical term, comparing [[sa|घन|tr=ghaná|t=hammer]], and derives it from [[ine-pro|*gʷʰen-|t=to strike]].^(Kluge 2011|83) Pfeifer and the EWA start from a path beaten or cut through a forest and connect it with [[goh|bano|t=killer]] and [[got|𐌱𐌰𐌽𐌾𐌰|tr=banja|t=wound]], from a root [[m|ine-pro|*bʰen-|t=to strike, wound]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA) The second part is [[Hof]], [[goh|hof]], from [[gem-pro|*hufą]].^(Kluge 2011|420)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Pfeifer dates ''Bahnhof'' to about 1840.^(Pfeifer 1993) The revised Grimm dictionary's first quotation is from a letter of the poet Georg Herwegh in 1842, who asks to be met ''im Bahnhofe''.^(DWB2|4, 72) The first edition of the Grimms' dictionary defines it as the yard with the working buildings of a railway.^(DWB|1, 1079)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was coined with the railways, and its partner [[Bahnsteig]] (1886) in the same way pushed out the French ''Perron''.^(Pfeifer 1993) It names both the whole station with its tracks and the station building.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ''Nur Bahnhof verstehen'' “to understand nothing” was fashionable in the 1920s, especially in Berlin; its origin is unclear, and one guess is that a person who thinks only of the station where the journey starts no longer listens to anything else, another that soldiers at the end of the First World War wanted to hear of nothing but the trip home.^(Duden 7 2020|122)^(Duden GWDS 1999) The revised Grimm dictionary quotes Fallada in 1934.^(DWB2|4, 72) ''Großer Bahnhof'', a grand reception for an important visitor, is recorded from 1955.^(DWB2|4, 72)

+

+ Silesian Polish borrowed the word as ''banhof'' (1844), and Danish ''banegård'' is a loan translation.^(LWP)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * About 1840 – ''Bahnhof'' begins to replace ''Eisenbahnhof''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1842 – Herwegh writes of meeting ''im Bahnhofe''.^(DWB2|4, 72)

+ * 1844 – Silesian Polish ''banhof'' is recorded.^(LWP)

+ * 1886 – ''Bahnsteig'' is coined beside it.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1920s – ''nur Bahnhof verstehen'' becomes fashionable in Berlin.^(Duden 7 2020|122)

+ * 1955 – First record of ''großer Bahnhof'' “grand reception”.^(DWB2|4, 72)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A railway [[m|en|station]], with its tracks and buildings: ''Der Schnellzug hält an diesem Bahnhof nicht.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The station building, with its hall, ticket offices and shops: ''Wir trafen uns im Bahnhof am Kiosk.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' ''nur Bahnhof verstehen'': to understand nothing at all;^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(DWB2|4, 72) ''großer Bahnhof'': a grand [[m|en|reception]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(DWB2|4, 72)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Hauptbahnhof]]

+ * [[Güterbahnhof]]

+ * [[Bahnhofshalle]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Bahn]]

+ * [[Hof]]

+ * [[Bahnsteig]]

+ * [[Eisenbahn]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Nur Bahnhof verstehen'' “not to understand a word” is colloquial; the Duden dictionaries call its origin unexplained.^(Duden 7 2020|122)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}