# German: etymology of geläufig



## AnnaJDT

Dear WR-friends,
Having checked "An etymology dictionary of the German language by Friedrich Kluge" (1891) and the wikipedia - etymology section, I find no entry for the word *geläufig *("familiar"). I'm curious about the origins of this word, and also surprised to see many synonyms for "familiar":
vertraut, gewohnt, bekannt, geläufig, geflügelte.
Are they perfect synonyms?

On the other hand it's very easy to understand the origins of "gewohnt" and "bekannt". Thank you in advance!


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## berndf

_Geläufig _is an emphatic form of _läufig_ the literal meaning of which is _able to walk or run_. One of the many figurative meaning of _läufig/geläufig_ is _frequently occurring_ from which the meaning _familiar_ is derived.

This only surviving modern meanings are: _läufig = on heat_ (of an animal, a bitch in particular); _geläufig = familiar_.


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## Cenzontle

I don't know if this is relevant, but the connection between "familiar" and "running" (Ger. _laufen_)
is matched in Spanish by the adjective "corriente" (from Latin _currere_, 'to run'), which in the phrase "común y corriente" means 'common, ordinary'.  "_Run_-of-the-mill", so to speak.


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## fdb

Geläufig is evidently a semantic calque on Latin currens or French courant.


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## berndf

fdb said:


> Geläufig is *evidently* a semantic calque on Latin currens or French courant.


Could you provide such evidence? _Läufig _in its original, literal sense is not an exact translation of _courant_. If this sense where a calque the literal translation_ laufend _would be a more obvious candidate.

There are other parallels to French, e.g. the obsolete or at least obsolescing figurative meaning _Er spricht geläufig Französisch = Il parle couramment le Français_, today replaced by _fließend _which follows the French semantically even better.

If don't think we can decide without closer investigation which of all the many figurative meanings is a calque and which is a parallel development.


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## Perseas

In Greek there is the participle "τρέχων(m)-τρέχουσα(f)-τρέχον(n)" that translates the English "current" (= "of the present time") and the German "geläufig", though not in the sense of "familiar". Is there in this word the meaning of "familiar" only in German?


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## berndf

No, _geläufig _cannot mean _current_ in the sense of _of the present time_.


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## fdb

My German-French dictionary actually defines “geläufig” as “courant”. But (as Bernd says) this does not say anything about the origin of the two words.


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## AnnaJDT

Thank you all so much for your replies! 
What an interesting debate my original question has sparked, I am so glad I asked! Cenzontle, amazing answer, I was familiar with the Spanish expression "común y corriente" but had never thought of this association myself (relevant or not) before you mentioned it. Now that you did, it does fit great into the context and will definitely help me remember the word. That was why I delved into the etymology in the first place, to see if I could find a memory aid there. 

I have received many replies from berndf before, I understand why he would seek evidence, his replies are always well documented and a pleasure to read.


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## fdb

We have just had an interesting discussion in the “other languages” forum about a document, which, after being confidently claimed as Yiddish and Armenian, turned out to be simple German in kurrentschrift (“ordinary writing”, the usual style of German handwriting until it was banned by the Nazis in 1941, and is now illegible even to highly literate Germans); kurrent- in the sense “geläufig”.


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## berndf

fdb said:


> We have just had an interesting discussion in the “other languages” forum about a document, which, after being confidently claimed as Yiddish and Armenian, turned out to be simple German in kurrentschrift (“ordinary writing”, the usual style of German handwriting until it was banned by the Nazis in 1941, and is now illegible even to highly literate Germans); kurrent- in the sense “geläufig”.


I think you refer to me here.

But a _Kurrentschrift_ is a connected (=_cursive_) handwriting script. Nothing to do with _geläufig_, I am afraid.


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## CapnPrep

berndf said:


> But a _Kurrentschrift_ is a connected (=_cursive_) handwriting script. Nothing to do with _geläufig_, I am afraid.


This is a strange statement for an etymology forum, in a thread where the sense parallel between _currere_ and _laufen _has been established…


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## berndf

CapnPrep said:


> This is a strange statement for an etymology forum, in a thread where you yourself have pointed out the relationship between _currere_ and _laufen_…


To repeat myself, the original meaning of _(ge)läufig_ is _able to run_ and not _running_. That would be _laufend_. Another word for _Kurrentschrift_ is _Laufschrift_ which in the logic of German composite nouns can either mean _script for running _or _running script_, in this case the latter; but it cannot mean _*script that is able to run_.


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## CapnPrep

berndf said:


> To repeat myself, the original meaning of _(ge)läufig_ is _able to run_ and not _running_.


What is the root of _läufig_? And why is Kurrentschift called _Kurrentschrift_?

I do see your point, if you take fdb's statement ("kurrent- in the sense “geläufig”") completely at face value. _Kurrentschrift_ obviously does not mean _geläufige Schrift_. But _Kurrent(schrift) _is a calque/loan/adaptation of _cursivus_, and _curs-_/_currere_ in other cases corresponds to _laufen_ (_lauf-_, _laufend_, _geläufig_, etc.). So in that sense the word _Kurrentschrift_ does have "something to do with" _geläufig_.


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## fdb

From DWB:

kurrent, current,  gäng und gäbe, seit dem 16. jahrh.; Adelungs vermutung, dasz es aus ital. corrente gleicher  bed. stamme, wird richtig sein, vermittelt wol durch die  kaufmannssprache, nur dasz mans lat. färbte. dasselbe in franz. form ist courant, auch currant geschrieben, wie Adelung tadelnd anführt.  (...)

kurrentschrift, scriptura inclinata et cursim ducta Stieler 1924, also gleich cursivschrift, bei Adelung currentschrift laufende schrift, wie man sie schreibt, im gegensatz zu kanzelleischrift und fractur.


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## berndf

CapnPrep said:


> So in that sense the word _Kurrentschrift_ does have "something to do with" _geläufig_.


In the same sense as Latin _capere _and German _haben _"have something to do" with each other. But not semantically and that was fdb's claim to which I responded:





fdb said:


> We have just had an interesting discussion in the  “other languages” forum about a document, which, after being confidently  claimed as Yiddish and Armenian, turned out to be simple German in  kurrentschrift (“ordinary writing”, the usual style of German  handwriting until it was banned by the Nazis in 1941, and is now  illegible even to highly literate Germans); *kurrent- in the sense  “geläufig”*.


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## berndf

fdb said:


> From DWB:
> 
> kurrent, current,  gäng und gäbe, seit dem 16. jahrh.; Adelungs vermutung, dasz es aus ital. corrente gleicher  bed. stamme, wird richtig sein, vermittelt wol durch die  kaufmannssprache, nur dasz mans lat. färbte. dasselbe in franz. form ist courant, auch currant geschrieben, wie Adelung tadelnd anführt.  (...)
> 
> kurrentschrift, scriptura inclinata et cursim ducta Stieler 1924, also gleich cursivschrift, bei Adelung currentschrift laufende schrift, wie man sie schreibt, im gegensatz zu kanzelleischrift und fractur.


Interesting that Grimm adds _kurrentschrift, scriptura inclinata et cursim ducta_ under meaning 2) (=_gewöhnlich_). It might have developed out of an earlier meaning _common script_ but the meaning has clearly changed. The semantic association with _common_ (_gemein, gewöhnlich_) is completely lost in the word _Kurrentschrift_.


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