Wagen German · revision 36068

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈvaːɡən/, [ˈvaːɡŋ̍], [ˈʋaː-]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Wagen''' ''m'' (genitive Wagens, plural Wagen or (regional) Wägen, diminutive Wägelchen n or Wägelein n or Wäglein n or Wagerl n or Wagl n)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|wagen]], [[inh|goh|wagan]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*wagn]], [[inh|gem-pro|*wagnaz|t=wagon]].^(Kluge 2011|966)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The same word is [[osx|wagan]], [[non|vagn]], [[ang|wægn]], [[ofs|wein]] and [[nl|wagen]], and [[en|wain]].^(Kluge 2011|966)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013) It is a concrete noun from the root of [[bewegen]], [[ine-pro|*weǵʰ-|t=to move, carry, ride]], and so means “the thing that moves, that rides”.^(Kluge 2011|966)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|916)^(Kroonen 2013) Kroonen reconstructs [[ine-pro|*uoǵʰ-no-]].^(Kroonen 2013) The same root with a suffix in /n/ is in [[sa|वाहन|tr=vāhana|t=vehicle]] and [[sga|fén|t=a kind of cart]]; without it, in [[grc|ὄχος|tr=ókhos|t=chariot]], [[cu|возъ|tr=vozŭ|t=cart]] and [[la|vehiculum|t=vehicle]].^(Kluge 2011|966)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|916)

+

+ Central German had contracted forms such as [[m|gmh|wain]] and [[m|gmh|wān]], the first still in the 15th century.^(DWB|27, 379)^(Köbler MHD) The umlauted plural is a younger, mainly southern form.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) [[Waggon]], borrowed from English, is ultimately the same word.^(Kluge 2011|966)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''wagan'' is first recorded in glosses of about 765, then in Otfrid and Notker; it meant a cart or wagon, and also the constellation of the Great Bear.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|367) Old High German glosses render with it Latin ''plaustrum'', ''carpentum'', ''vehiculum'' and ''carrum''.^(DWB|27, 379)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Unlike [[Karre]], ''Wagen'' came above all to mean a vehicle for carrying people, a covered carriage, and it led on to the [[Kutsche]]; the ''gelber Wagen'' was the mail coach, and Fontane's ''schwarzer Wagen'' the hearse.^(Paul 2002) The name of the constellation is older, from the Book of Job (9:9), and the ''Sonnenwagen'' “chariot of the sun” comes from classical myth.^(Paul 2002) The ''Wagenburg'', a ring of wagons drawn up as a fortification, arose in the Hussite wars of the 15th century.^(Paul 2002) Shortly before 1900 ''Wagen'' became the usual word for a motor car, a short form of ''Motorwagen'', and it also names a railway carriage and a tram.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) English borrowed the brand name ''Volkswagen'' in 1958.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 15th century – The ''Wagenburg'' of the Hussite wars.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1555 – Jörg Wickram's ''Rollwagenbüchlein'', named after the covered coach.^(Paul 2002)

+ * Before 1900 – ''Wagen'' “motor car”, short for ''Motorwagen''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1958 – English ''Volkswagen''.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|wagon]] or [[m|en|cart]] on wheels, drawn by animals, especially horses; also short for a handcart, a pram, a serving trolley or a shopping trolley.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A railway [[m|en|carriage]] or a tramcar: ''Der dritte Wagen des Zuges war voll.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A motor [[m|en|car]]: ''Sie hat ihren Wagen in der Garage.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(technology)'' The carriage of a machine, such as a typewriter.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(astronomy)'' ''der Große Wagen'', the Big Dipper or Plough, and ''der Kleine Wagen'', the Little Dipper.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Wagner]]

+ * [[Wagenburg]]

+ * [[Kinderwagen]]

+ * [[Lastwagen]]

+ * [[Personenwagen]]

+ * [[Straßenbahnwagen]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bewegen]]

+ * [[Weg]]

+ * [[Waggon]]

+ * [[Vehikel]]

+ * [[en|wain]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Das fünfte Rad am Wagen sein'' “to be the fifth wheel on the wagon” is to be superfluous, and ''jemandem an den Wagen fahren'' (1881) to tread on someone's toes.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''Abwarten, wie der Wagen läuft'' is colloquial for waiting to see how things turn out.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}