schwanen
German
Etymology
Sometimes taken as a loan from Middle Low German, but first attestations are nearly contemporaneous (1514 for Low German, 1543 for High German, according to Grimm). Semantic derivation disputed. The Duden dictionary suspects a learned jocular translation from Latin olet mihi (“I smell [something]”) (with dative construction as in German), due to phonetic similarity of Latin olēre (“to smell”) and olor (“swan”). Grimm however, because of the early and near-contemporaneous attestations in different regions, sees it as an inherited word of the common people, connecting it to the traditional Germanic association of swans with prophecy and fate (cf. the Norns) and pointing to the synonymous expression Schwansfedern haben/tragen (literally “to have/wear swan's feathers”). Earlier variants contain -d- (schwanden, Low German swanden), probably under influence of ahnden, a once common variant of ahnen (“to anticipate, to suspect”).[1][2]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʃvaːnən/
Audio (file)
Verb
schwanen (weak, third-person singular present schwant, past tense schwante, past participle geschwant, auxiliary haben)
- (colloquial) to anticipate (something bad), to suspect, to dread
- Synonyms: ahnen, befürchten
- Mir schwant nichts Gutes.
- I sense something bad coming up.
- (literally, “I anticipate nothing good.”)
- 2014, Paul Grossman, Schattenmann: Kriminalroman, Aufbau Digital, →ISBN:
- Ihm schwante Übles bei seinem bevorstehenden Besuch im Polizeihauptquartier. Aber diesmal nicht aus den üblichen Gründen. Dieser eine Messerstich hatte ihm nicht nur einen Freund genommen, sondern auch gleich beide Stellungen.
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
Conjugation
| infinitive | schwanen | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present participle | schwanend | ||||
| past participle | geschwant | ||||
| auxiliary | haben | ||||
| indicative | subjunctive | ||||
| present | — | — | i | — | — |
| — | — | — | — | ||
| er schwant | sie schwanen | er schwane | sie schwanen | ||
| preterite | — | — | ii | — | — |
| — | — | — | — | ||
| er schwante | sie schwanten | er schwante1 | sie schwanten1 | ||
| imperative | — | — | |||
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
| perfect | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| indicative | — | — | subjunctive | — | — |
| — | — | — | — | ||
| er hat geschwant | sie haben geschwant | er habe geschwant | sie haben geschwant | ||
| pluperfect | |||||
| indicative | — | — | subjunctive | — | — |
| — | — | — | — | ||
| er hatte geschwant | sie hatten geschwant | er hätte geschwant | sie hätten geschwant | ||
| future i | |||||
| infinitive | schwanen werden | subjunctive i | — | — | |
| — | — | ||||
| er werde schwanen | sie werden schwanen | ||||
| indicative | — | — | subjunctive ii | — | — |
| — | — | — | — | ||
| er wird schwanen | sie werden schwanen | er würde schwanen | sie würden schwanen | ||
| future ii | |||||
| infinitive | geschwant haben werden | subjunctive i | — | — | |
| — | — | ||||
| er werde geschwant haben | sie werden geschwant haben | ||||
| indicative | — | — | subjunctive ii | — | — |
| — | — | — | — | ||
| er wird geschwant haben | sie werden geschwant haben | er würde geschwant haben | sie würden geschwant haben | ||
References
- “schwanen” in Duden online
- “schwanen” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
Further reading
- “schwanen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “schwanen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “schwanen” in Duden online