Brothers
Gebrüder ( ahd . Gibruoder , mhd . Gebruoder ) is an old plural form of the word brother , originally synonymous with brothers , which has come out of use in this usage, but has been preserved in connection with a surname after it as a plural tantum that has two or several of the brothers of a family collectively referred to with emphasis on their special togetherness.
The word is used in traditional company names and also used to designate historically well-known brothers who, through their cooperation, achieved particularly outstanding scientific or technical achievements.
In the 20th century, in connection with the obsolescence of the word usage, the idea arose that the brothers only correctly refer to the entirety of the brothers in a family and therefore Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, as the oldest of five brothers in the Grimm family, correctly only refer to the Grimm brothers and not to be called the Brothers Grimm .
This view not only contradicts the language used by the two Grimms and their contemporaries, who used both terms side by side, but also contradicts other historical usage, because just as siblings - originally also a plural form to designate a plurality of sisters - were neither did the brothers ever commit to the designation of a total number. However, Brothers Grimm has established itself as the more neutral term in technical language.
List of known brothers
- Farrelly brothers
- Graun brothers
- Grimm brothers
- The Kießling brothers
- Lumière brothers
- Mayer brothers , organ builders
- Vehicle factory Gebr. Möck , automobile manufacturer
- Montgolfier brothers
- Müller brothers , musicians
- Pospíšil brothers
- Brothers Riezler
- Schlegel brothers
- Schnell brothers , Switzerland
- Brothers Stumm
- Gebrüder Weiss
- Gebrüder Weiss-Oberndorfer , cycling team
- Werner brothers
- Wright Brothers
additional
- Zwey brothers , sailing ship
- Gebrüder Blatt Schuss , music group
- The Kip brothers , Roman
Individual evidence
- ^ German dictionary by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , 16 volumes [in 32 sub-volumes], Leipzig 1854–1960, volume 4, section 1, 1st half, Leipzig 1878, column 1875 online version
- ↑ Duden Volume 9. Correct and good German. 6th, completely revised edition 2007. Dudenverlag Mannheim, ISBN 978-3-411-04096-4
- ^ Friedrich Neumann: Brothers or Brothers Grimm? In: native language in 1957, No. 10, pp 388-391, S. 389f
- ^ German dictionary by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , 16 volumes [in 32 sub-volumes], Leipzig 1854–1960, Volume 5, Section 1, Part 2, Leipzig 1897, Column 4002 online version