Vergangenheit German · revision 36125

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1757, Gottsched|origins=gem-pro *gangan}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /fɛɐ̯ˈɡaŋənhaɪ̯t/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Vergangenheit''' ''f'' (genitive Vergangenheit, no plural)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|de|vergangen|-heit]], from the past participle of [[vergehen]] “to pass”.^(Wiktionary)^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE) The participle [[vergangen]] belongs to the old verb [[goh|gangan|t=to go]], from [[gem-pro|*gangan]], which supplies the past forms of [[gehen]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD) The Grimms' dictionary calls the noun relatively young and finds no record of it in the medieval language;^(DWB|25, 374) Köbler lists a medieval [[gmh|vergangenheit]] in the 14th-century mystics Heinrich Seuse and Elsbeth Stagel, but there it meant passing away, transience and rapture, not the time that has passed.^(Köbler MHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Pfeifer, Paul and the Grimms' dictionary date the word to the 18th century; the first record they quote is Gottsched's grammar of 1757, which divides the past tenses into ''dreierlei stuffen der vergangenheit'' “three degrees of the past”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|25, 374) Before it, people said ''die vergangene Zeit'', as Schottelius did in 1663, and ''di vergangen zeit'' is found around 1400.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In its general sense, the time before the present, the word spread in the later 18th century;^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|25, 374) Paul names Schiller, and the Grimms quote Heine looking back ''in die vergangenheit''.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|25, 374) As a grammatical term for the past tenses of the verb it became usual in the 19th century.^(Pfeifer 1993) A person's ''Vergangenheit'' is their earlier life, often with a suggestion of things they would rather not talk about.^(Duden GWDS 1999) The phrase ''die unbewältigte Vergangenheit'', and the compound [[Vergangenheitsbewältigung]], came to refer especially to the crimes of National Socialism.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * About 1400 – ''di vergangen zeit'' “the past time”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1663 – Schottelius uses ''vergangene Zeit'' for the past tense.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1757 – Gottsched's ''Sprachlehre'' has ''Vergangenheit'' for the past tenses.^(DWB|25, 374)^(Paul 2002)

+ * 19th century – Established as the grammatical term.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|past]], the time before the present and what happened in it: ''Wir sollten aus der Vergangenheit lernen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # A person's earlier life; a group's or a town's [[m|en|history]]: ''Das Dorf ist stolz auf seine Vergangenheit.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(grammar)'' The [[m|en|past tense]], a form of the verb for a past event.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Vergangenheitsbewältigung]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vergehen]]

+ * [[vergangen]]

+ * [[Zukunft]]

+ * [[Gegenwart]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Etwas gehört der Vergangenheit an'' means that something is no longer customary or useful.^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''Die unbewältigte Vergangenheit'' “the past not yet come to terms with” refers especially to the crimes of the National Socialist period.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}