Beruf German · revision 36277

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1416}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /bəˈʁuːf/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Beruf''' ''m'' (genitive Berufes or Berufs, plural Berufe)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|beruof|t=reputation, repute]], a noun formed from [[berufen]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)^(Kluge 2011|112) The verb is [[gmh|beruofen|t=to call together, proclaim]], a prefixed form of [[rufen]];^(Pfeifer 1993) Beside it stands the weak [[goh|biruofen|t=to call together]] of the 10th century.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ Kluge explains the modern word from the religious sense of the verb: God's call goes out to people, and the noun was used like New Testament [[grc|κλῆσις|tr=klêsis|t=calling]] and [[la|vocātiō]].^(Kluge 2011|112)^(Paul 2002) Luther, following 1 Corinthians 7:20 and the mystics, also used it for a worldly office and station, and this led to the present meaning.^(Kluge 2011|112)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Before Luther the noun was mainly a word of the law and of public life: in 1416 a Prussian ordinance says that parties ''keynen berueff haben'' “have no appeal” except to the lords.^(DWB2|4, 1037) In the 15th century it also meant a summons, a proclamation and a person's reputation.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(FWB)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Luther's Bible has ''Ein jglicher bleibe in dem ruff, darinnen er beruffen ist'' (“let every man abide in the calling wherein he was called”), and the mystics and Luther stressed that God also calls people to worldly offices.^(Paul 2002) From this the 16th century used ''Beruf'' for an appointment to an office and for a person's destined task; the sense “occupation by which one earns a living” arose in the 17th century and was fully developed only in the 19th.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|112) According to Paul the fading to a mere “activity” had not yet happened by the early 19th century.^(Paul 2002)

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+ Adelung (1793) gives first the solemn call to an office and God's call to people, and figuratively an inclination or inner urge to do something.^(Adelung 1793) The older meaning survives in phrases such as ''aus innerem Beruf''.^(Pfeifer 1993) The adjective [[beruflich]] appeared in the middle of the 19th century.^(Pfeifer 1993)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1416 – ''Beruf'' means a legal appeal to a higher court.^(DWB2|4, 1037)

+ * 15th century – Senses “summons, proclamation, reputation”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 16th century – Luther uses it for God's calling and for a worldly office.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+ * 17th century – The sense “occupation” begins to appear.^(Kluge 2011|112)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1793 – Adelung records the call to an office and an inner urge.^(Adelung 1793)

+ * Mid-19th century – ''beruflich'' is formed.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|occupation]], usually one that has been learned, by which one earns one's living; a [[m|en|profession]] or trade: ''Er arbeitet seit zwanzig Jahren in seinem Beruf.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(formal, dated)'' A [[m|en|vocation]], an inner calling.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[beruflich]]

+ * [[berufstätig]]

+ * [[Berufsschule]]

+ * [[Freiberufler]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[berufen]]

+ * [[Berufung]]

+ * [[rufen]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}