Hühnergott

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German

FWOTD – 12 July 2020

Etymology

Theories

For a time it was suspected that the word was introduced into German via the loan translation made by Thomas Reschke in 1966[2] of an expression already occurring in the original title of the Russian novella called “Куриный бог” written in 1963 by Yevgeny Yevtushenko.[3] Owing to the novella the stone and its name gained, from 1966 onwards, great popularity in the former GDR.[3] In 1985 it was introduced in the 18th revision of the East German version of “Der Große Duden”[4] dictionary of German orthography.[5] Widely unknown in Western Germany, the word appeared for the first time in 1999 in the 3rd edition of the – now all-German – ten-volume dictionary “Duden, Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache”[6]; one year later it found its way into the 22nd edition of the dictionary of German orthography, “Duden, Die deutsche Rechtschreibung”[5]. However, the word seems to already have existed in German before 1966.[7]: in the year of publication of the Soviet original version in 1963, it already occurs in a first translation made by René Drommert published in the West German daily “Die Zeit”[8]. A decade before, it is attested in the first volume of the German translation – made by Alexander Böltz and published by the publishers Rütten & Loening – of the Russian novel “Iwan Ⅲ.”[9] by Valery Yasvitsky. The oldest known attestation up to now occurs, however, in a book by Dmitry Tselenin about the Russian (East-Slavic) folklore[10] published in German in 1927 by de Gruyter publisher′s in which the Russian expression “Kuriny bog” [written in Latin letters] is translated into German as “Hühnergott”.[7]
And yet, there is even now, however, no solid proof and no reliable evidence for the usage of the word “Hühnergott” in German before 1966.[7] From a folkloristic point of view it is interesting that the word first only existed in the GDR, but not to the west of the Elbe river, which is without a doubt attributable to the distribution of Yevtushenko′s novella in the translation by Reschke.[11] Even though the German word existed – for instance in reference books or through private contacts – sporadically here and there, Thomas Reschke′s credit for introducing the word “Hühnergott” into the German language usage and its ultimate canonization in the “Duden” dictionaries remains therefore irrefutable.[11]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈhyːnɐˌɡɔt]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: Hüh‧ner‧gott

Noun

Hühnergott m (strong, genitive Hühnergottes or Hühnergotts, plural Hühnergötter)

  1. (regional, especially East German) A stone (to be found at the coasts of the Baltic Sea) with generally one, but at times several, naturally formed holes (usually used as amulet, talisman or mascot) being in most cases a flint nodule whose chalk deposits are washed out or weathered; self-bored stone, ≈ adder stone
    • 1966, Jewgeni Jewtuschenko with Thomas Reschke, transl., Четвертая Мещанская. Куриный бог. [Der Hühnergott: Zwei Liebesgeschichten], Berlin: Verlag Kultur und Fortschritt, page 31:
      Ein Hühnergott – das ist ein Meeressteinchen mit einem kleinen Loch. Man sagt, die Krimtataren hätten geglaubt, daß ein solches Steinchen, mit einem Faden an die Hühnerstange gehängt, das Federvieh zu verbesserter Legetätigkeit ansporne. Daher auch der Name Hühnergott. Später kam der Glaube hinzu, ein Hühnergott bringe auch den Menschen Glück. Mir scheint, ein bißchen glaubt jeder an solche Glücksbringer: die einen mit kindlich-vertrauensseliger Offenheit, die anderen heimlich, mit mürrischer Verbissenheit. Ich glaube heimlich daran. Immer wenn ich am Meer war, wünschte ich mir sehr, einen Hühnergott zu finden, aber in diesem Sommer ganz besonders.
      A self-bored stone – that is a small stone found by the sea with a little hole [in it]. It is said of the Crimean Tatars that they had believed such a small stone, hung up on a hen roost by a thread, would spur the poultry on to improved laying activity. Thus the [self-bored stone′s local] name “hen′s god”. Later the belief additionally arose that self-bored stones would bring people good luck. It appears to me that everyone believes in such lucky charms: some with childlike-credulous openness, others privily, with grumpy doggedness. I privily believe in it. Every time I had been by the sea I wished so hard to find a self-bored stone, but especially in this summer.
    • 2006, Christine Berger, Falk-spirallo-Reiseführer: Rügen‎[1], Ostfildern: Falk, →ISBN, retrieved 10 October 2015, page 10:
      Während die einen am Strand nach Bernstein, Hühnergöttern oder Donnerkeilen suchen, ernten andere Schilf, um damit Dächer zu decken.
      While some search on the beach for amber, self-bored stones or thunderbolts, others harvest reed to thatch roofs with it.
    • 2009 July 23, Franz Lerchenmüller, “Ostsee: Ist das ein Hühnergott? An der ganzen Ostsee gibt es besonders schöne Steine zu bestaunen. Auf Fehmarn bekommt man sie erklärt”, in Zeit Online‎[2], number 31, →ISSN, retrieved 10 October 2015:
      Besonders gesucht sind natürlich Fehmarns ‚Spezialitäten‘, Donnerkeile und Hühnergötter. […] Hühnergötter, durchlöcherte Feuersteine, hängte man einst an Stalltüren, um das Federvieh vor den Füchsen zu schützen.
      Particularly in demand are Fehmarn′s ‘specialities’, thunderbolts and self-bored stones. […] Self-bored stones, flint stones full of holes, once were hung up on stable doors to protect the poultry from foxes.
    • 2010, Heidi Dahlsen, Gefühlslooping, Norderstedt: Books on Demand, →ISBN, retrieved 10 October 2015, page 55:
      Als sie aus dem Urlaub kamen, brachten sie Hühnergötter mit, fädelten diese auf eine Schnur und banden sie an ihr Terrassendach.
      When they came back from vacation, they brought self-bored stones, threaded them onto a cord and tied them to their roof terrace.

Declension

Declension of Hühnergott [masculine, strong]
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein der Hühnergott die Hühnergötter
genitive eines des Hühnergottes, Hühnergotts der Hühnergötter
dative einem dem Hühnergott, Hühnergotte1 den Hühnergöttern
accusative einen den Hühnergott die Hühnergötter

1Now rare, see notes.

See also

References

  • „Hühnergott“ in Wissenschaftlicher Rat der Dudenredaktion (ed.): Duden, Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache. In 10 volumes. 3rd, completely revised and extended edition, volume 4: Gele–Impr, Dudenverlag, Mannheim/Leipzig/Wien/Zürich 1999, →ISBN, page 1877.
  1. ^ „Hühnergott“ in wissen.de — Lexikon
  2. ^ Jewgeni Jewtuschenko: Der Hühnergott: Zwei Liebesgeschichten. 1st edition, Verlag Kultur und Fortschritt, Berlin 1966 (Original title: Четвертая Мещанская. Куриный бог. Translation by Thomas Reschke).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gerhard Priewe (author), Jürgen Brummert (photographer): Hühnergötter: Glückssteine vom Strand. 1st edition, Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock 2007, →ISBN, page 42.
  4. ^ Horst Klien: Der Große Duden, Wörterbuch und Leitfaden der deutschen Rechtschreibung. VEB Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1985.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Gerhard Priewe (author), Jürgen Brummert (photographer): Hühnergötter: Glückssteine vom Strand. 1st edition, Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock 2007, →ISBN, page 48.
  6. ^ Wissenschaftlicher Rat der Dudenredaktion (ed.): Duden, Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache. In 10 volumes. 3rd, completely revised and extended edition, volume 4: Gele–Impr, Dudenverlag, Mannheim/Leipzig/Wien/Zürich 1999, →ISBN, page 1877.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Gerhard Priewe (author), Jürgen Brummert (photographer): Hühnergötter: Glückssteine vom Strand. 1st edition, Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock 2007, →ISBN, page 49.
  8. ^ Der Hühnergott. In: Die Zeit. No. 03, January 18, 1963 (URL; retrieved October 10, 2015).
  9. ^ Waleri Jaswizki: Iwan Ⅲ: Herrscher von ganz Rußland. Volume 1, Rütten & Loening, Berlin 1953, page 98.
              „An ihrem Hals [der Hühner] waren mit Zwirn bunte Steinchen angebunden, die ‚Hühnergötter‘, die sie vor Seuche behüteten.“
                 “On their [i.e. the chickens′] neck were tied with twisted yarn colorful stones, the ‘Hühnergötter’, that protected them from epidemics.”
  10. ^ Dmitrij Zelenin: Russische (Ostslavische) Völkerkunde. In: Reinhold Trautmann, Max Vasmer: Grundriß der slavischen Philologie und Kulturgeschichte. Volume 3, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Leipzig 1927, →ISBN (Reprint Hardcover), →ISBN (Print/E-Book), →ISBN (E-Book), page 64 ff., 387.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Gerhard Priewe (author), Jürgen Brummert (photographer): Hühnergötter: Glückssteine vom Strand. 1st edition, Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock 2007, →ISBN, page 52.

Further reading

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