Abstract
The article deals with the dynamics of the development of the semantics and forms of the verb hōren in the German language and the ancient state of the verb is being reconstructed on this basis.Basing on the analysis of literary works of Old German period four meanings of the verb hōren have been determined. The first place according to the frequency of use is the word form hōren in the meaning “to perceive someone, something by ear”. The second place according to the frequency of implementation is occupied by the lexeme hōren in the meaning of “obey, obey someone, anything”, as well as the use of this word form as a pointing particle. And the fourth lexico-semantic variant of the verb hōren in Old German is “auditory perception.” In the Middle High German period, the first place according to frequency of implementation in texts is hōren in the meaning “to hear someone, something.” The second lexico-semantic variant of the verb hōren is ‘to obey someone’. And finally, in MHG texts hоren is implemented in the figurative meaning ‘to recognize someone’. During MHG period, the ancient form of hōren, having received the umlaut, gradually took on the form of hœren in writing. Comparison of the semantics of the considered verb in OHG and MHG texts showed that the most common is its option ‘to perceive by ear’. The development of the meaning of the word hœren indicates some abstraction of this lexeme in MHG period, as a result of which there appeared the meaning ‘recognize’. The analysis of the Old High German texts showed the change of the semantics of the verb hōren from the concrete to the abstract usage and revealed the following derivation pattern: to perceive with the organ of hearing → to hear → to obey (to listen to) → to pay one’s attention to → to recognize. The noun *kwes with the meaning of “ear” forms the motivational basis of the analysed verb and the related words hōren (Old High German) and ōra, hōra “ear” (Old High German) originate from it.
Published Version
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