Hauptstadt German · revision 36159

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=10th century, Old High German glosses}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈhaʊ̯ptˌʃtat/^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Forms==

+ '''Hauptstadt''' ''f'' (genitive Hauptstadt, plural Hauptstädte, diminutive Hauptstädtchen n)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|houbetstat]], [[inh|goh|houbitstat]], a compound [[af|de|Haupt|Stadt|t1=head|t2=town]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD)^(Duden GWDS 1999) The first part, [[gmh|houbet]], [[goh|houbit]], [[gem-pro|*haubidą]], is the old word for the head, the same as [[got|𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌸|tr=haubiþ]] and [[ang|hēafod]], and is related to [[la|caput]], though the diphthong of the Germanic form is not fully explained.^(Kluge 2011|399)^(Pfeifer 1993) The second part is [[gmh|stat]], [[goh|stat]] “place”, which took over the meaning “town” only after 1200, from older [[Burg]].^(Kluge 2011|874)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''houbitstat'' “capital, metropolis” is recorded twice, in glosses of the 10th century.^(Köbler AHD)^(Pfeifer 1993) Middle High German ''houbetstat'' meant the foremost town of a country: in Hartmann's ''Gregorius'' a ruler is driven back until only his ''houbetstat'' is left to him, and Wolfram's ''Parzival'' names Capua as the ''houbetstat'' of the Terre de Labur.^(DWB|10, 631)^(Pfeifer 1993)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Luther's Bible uses ''heubtstad'' for the chief town of a land (Hebron, Hazor, Philippi), and Maaler's dictionary of 1561 glosses it with Latin ''metropolis''.^(DWB|10, 631) Because the first town of a country is usually where its ruler resides, the word also came to mean the residence; the formula ''Haupt- und Residenzstadt'' was common in the 19th century.^(DWB|10, 631) Adelung defines it as the most important town of a province, either because the head of state lives there or because the chief courts and offices are there, and notes that it could also simply mean the largest town.^(Adelung 1793|2, 1018) The Grimms also record the senses “mother city of a colony” and “chief town for some product or activity”.^(DWB|10, 631) Today it means the town where the government sits.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Pfeifer 1993)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 10th century – Old High German ''houbitstat'' appears in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * c. 1200 – Hartmann von Aue and Wolfram von Eschenbach use ''houbetstat''.^(DWB|10, 631)

+ * 16th century – Luther's Bible has ''heubtstad''.^(DWB|10, 631)

+ * 1561 – Maaler glosses ''hauptstatt'' as ''metropolis''.^(DWB|10, 631)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|capital]] of a country or region, the (often largest) town in which the [[m|en|government]] has its seat: ''Wien ist die Hauptstadt Österreichs.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Bundeshauptstadt]]

+ * [[Landeshauptstadt]]

+ * [[hauptstädtisch]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Haupt]]

+ * [[Stadt]]

+ * [[Hauptmann]]

+ * [[Häuptling]]

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}