Brat

As a brat (or as a brat ) is known especially in northern Germany and Berlin dialect jokingly or disparaging a small, naughty or lively child , especially girls . The term is widespread throughout the German-speaking area today.

etymology

The word comes from Low German and has been used since the 17th century. Its origin is unclear, presumably it is a formation of an adjective that has been preserved in Rhenish as gor 'low' and in the derivation in Old High German from the 9th century as gōrag and in Middle High German as gōrec for 'low, poor' has been. Brat (e) should therefore be interpreted as a small, poor creature . Another conceivable origin is Gurre for "[bad] mare" from the 13th century, mhd. Gurre , gorre , which was later related to humans.

The Grimm's dictionary takes a critical view of the latter origin and notes: “göre usually becomes gurre, gorre, f. “Mare”, which is used as a swear word for women and girls ”; but that “besides formal difficulties [...] against such a relationship, that gurre transmitted to humans obd., especially Switzerland. occurs, md. and nd. but only sporadically; Furthermore, gurre is often used in its basic meaning, always pejoratively in the figurative sense, while göre is initially never meant to be contemptuous. "Rather, there is an" assumption of an abstract formation for an adj. * gôr , that as gorig [...], in the older meaning 'low, poor', today mainly the Rhine. is occupied; this explains the fem. genus and the resulting more frequent use for 'girls'. the usual concretization of such abstract formations [...] leads here first to the meaning 'the small, helpless being'. "

The German dictionary by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm defined Gör as follows:

“GÖR, n., Occasionally Göhr, child, for 'boy' and (more often) 'girl'. secondary education to nd. göre, f. [...] probably about its plural, which is more common for children of both sexes, [...] next to the usual and not to be separated from that of göre, f., Pl. -en also görens, pl. [...]. in literary use, but occasionally also in colloquial language [...], brat penetrates beyond the nd. as its original area of ​​distribution. In literary use, the word is used entirely from the perspective of the adult, expressly but also concisely the characteristics of the small, childish or childish to [...]. "

A linguistic relationship with the English girl ( Middle English : gurle, gerl for child, young person ) is likely; the exact connections are unclear, since the origin of Engl. girl is scientifically controversial. Liberman writes to girl and her relationship with brat, guy and coo :

Girl does not go back to any Old English or Old Germanic form. It is part of a large group of Germanic words whose root begins with a g or k and ends in r . The final consonant in girl is a diminutive suffix. The gr words denote young animals, children, and all kinds of creatures considered immature, worthless, or past their prime.

“ Girl does not go back to an Old English or Old Germanic form. It is part of a large group of Germanic words whose roots begin with g or k and end in r . The final consonant in girl is a diminutive suffix. The gr -words designate young animals, children, as well as all kinds of creatures that are seen as not grown up, worthless or beyond their prime. "

Use of terms

According to the German dictionary , the word is used differently in contemporary history. In the oldest documents, only the meaning 'small child' appears. Heinrich Heine used in his poem Elster “Gören” for children “without any particular characteristic, used, especially in the pl., But here it is not always certain whether göre, f. or brat, n. (sd) is the basis ”:“ some bottles will empty for the well-being of these brats - oh, the pretty orphans ”. More recent uses combine “special ideas with the word [and] are found especially in Berlin and, probably with borrowing from there, also in literary usage. speaker. jokingly approving or annoyingly rebuking a fresh, cheeky, also spoiled, mischievous (little or big) girl, child ”.

“For female socialization, since the late 19th century, the behavioral pattern Brat, whether it was picked up by the girls' book or the novel , had a role that could be transferred to life . The young and never aging Franziska zu Reventlow is brat-like ”. In popular culture, the proverbial phrase “Berlin brat” is used for a self-confident, lively, perky and hard-boiled young woman and sometimes as a literary figure who, as a stage character in the Berlin cabaret of the 1920s and 30s, was part of a typical proletarian milieu ( Heinrich Zille ) was also popularized in the middle class . Claire Waldoff , for example, was the epitome of the Berlin brat.

Since 2003, the German Children's Fund has been awarding the “Golden Brat” prize, which, according to its own statements, is “Germany's most highly endowed prize for child and youth participation”.

Web links

Wiktionary: Brat  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Wiktionary: Brat  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gör , duden.de, accessed on November 23, 2011.
2. ↑ Göre in duden.de, accessed on April 5, 2014.
3. ^ Etymological dictionary of German according to Pfeifer, online at DWDS , accessed on November 23, 2011.
4. ↑ Nicole Helbig: The Berlinische als teaching subject of the subject German , p. 88 online in Google books
5. ↑ Bulette, Brat and Keule ( Memento of the original from April 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , berlin.de - The official capital city portal, accessed on April 5, 2014.  
6. ^ German dictionary by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. 16 vols. In 32 partial volumes. Leipzig 1854–1961. List of sources Leipzig 1971. online , accessed on April 5, 2014.
7. ^ German dictionary by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. 16 vols. In 32 partial volumes. Leipzig 1854-1961. List of sources Leipzig 1971, online , accessed on April 5, 2014.
8. ↑ Wolfgang Falkner, Hans-Jörg Schmid: Words, Lexemes, Concepts, Approaches to the Lexicon: Studies in Honor of Leonhard Lipka Gunter Narr Verlag 1999, p. 8, online in Google books.
9. ^ Anatoly Liberman: An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology . University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 2008, ISBN 978-0-8166-5272-3 , pp. xxxviii, 94-100 ( etc. ) ac.ir [PDF].
10. ^ German dictionary by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. 16 vols. In 32 partial volumes. Leipzig 1854–1961. List of sources Leipzig 1971.
11. ↑ Hannelore Schlaffer : The brat - career of a literary figure. In: Merkur 65.3 (March 2011), pp. 274–279, quote: p. 275.
12. ↑ Hans-Werner Rautenberg: Hikes and cultural exchange in Eastern Central Europe: Research on the outgoing Middle Ages and the younger modern times , Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag 2007, p. 156, online in Google books.
13. ↑ WEESTE STILL ...! ( Memento of the original from April 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Steidl Verlag , accessed on April 6, 2014. 
14. ^ Roger Stein: Das deutsche Dirnenlied: Literarisches Kabarett from Bruant to Brecht Böhlau Cologne 2007, p. 272 online in Google books.
15. ↑ Goldene-Göre-Preis ( Memento of the original of April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. of the DKHW, accessed on April 5, 2014.