Verb formation with the inseparable prefix: ‘ver-‘

 

The prefix ver- (New High German) has a threefold origin in Germanic. Here are the Gothic forms:

 

·        Gothic fra- (cognate with Latin pro meaning ‘forth’

·        Gothic faír- (cognate with Latin per meaning ‘through’

·        Gothic faúr- (cognate with Latin prae, pro meaning ‘passing along’

 

fra-

 

This Gothic form, cognate with Latin pro (‘forth’) comes to stand for ‘away’, and is represented in the High German verbs:

verkaufen - to sell

(JS) vermieten - to rent out

verlieren† - to lose

vergehen† - (of time) to go by; (of pain) to wear off

verjagen - to chase away, to drive away

verpflantzen - to transplant.

 

“The next step was to form verbs implying making away with something by consuming it…”

Old High German vrezzan ‘eat up’

New High German fressen† - (said of animals) to eat [JS - thus fressen was mentioned. Although it does not carry the prefix ver- it could be thought of as a type of shortened form.]

verschlingen† - to devour; gulp (down)

verdreschen† - (familiar) to give s.o. a thrashing, to work s.o. over,

 

“with special reference to waste of money in…”

[sein Geld] verspielen - to lose,

 

“waste of time in…”

verträumen - to dream away

verplaudern - to spend (time) chatting

verschlafen† - to oversleep, to sleep through,

 

“or waste of material in…”

verbrennen† - to burn up

versengen - to scorch.

 

“From the idea of ‘passing away’ sprang that of ‘ceasing to exist or occur’ ”

verblühen [aux. sein] - to fade; to whither

verhallen [aux. sein] - (of sound) to fade, to die away.

 

“Since the meaning of consumption often carries the an implication of blame, ver- came to be used in verbs indicating a mistake of a specific kind…”

sich verhören - to get it wrong

sich versehen† - to make a mistake

(JS) sich verlaufen† - to lose one’s way,

 

“as well as in verbs indicating excess…”

verzärteln - to coddle, to pamper

sich vergaloppieren - (familiar) to overshoot; to be on the wrong track,

 

“though this development may have furthered by ver << faúr discussed below. The idea of a mistake…”

verwöhnen - to spoil

verbilden - to mis-educate,

 

“may lead to an implication of the contrary of the simple verb”

verachten - to despise

verlernen - to forget.

 

“On the other hand, the coexistence of simplex and derived forms…”

tilgen - (economy) to pay off

vertilgen - to exterminate; (familiar) to consume,

 

“gives to ver- a nuance of thoroughness or greater intensity”

vermischen - to mix, to mingle, to blend

verbinden† - (medical) to bandage; (technical) to connect; (chemical) to combine.

 

[JS - paraphrasing] Verbs, having the sense of beginning or becoming, derived from adjectives or substantives like…

veralten - to become obsolete

verstummen - to fall silent

verbauern - to become countryfied

verkalken - (familiar) to become senile

verkohlen - to char,

 

“may be connected with the idea of moving away from a starting-point (as in vergehen).”

 

faír-

 

This second Gothic form is cognate with Latin per. From the idea of ‘through’ the particle reaches the idea of attainment. Apparently belonging to this category are:

verstehen† - to understand; (familiar) get, catch

vernehmen† - (jurisprudence) to question, to interrogate

verdienen - to earn

verbleiben† - to remain

versuchen - to try; to attempt

verhandeln - to negotiate

verhelfen† - jemandem zu etwas verhelfen - to help s.o. to get sth.

 

faúr-

 

This third Gothic form, cognate with Latin prae, pro, gives the sense of ‘passing along’, as exemplified by the High German:

verlaufen† - to run; to go; to end up.

 

“From the meaning ‘before’ develops that of representation, ‘standing in front of’ or ‘for’ “

verfechten† - to advocate

verbürgen - to vouch for

verantworten - to take responsibility for.

 

“On the other hand, faúr- may indicate placing an obstacle in front of and thus impeding…”

verbieten† - to forbid

versagen - to deny; to refuse

verschweigen† - to keep sth a secret

verbitten† - to not stand for sth,

 

“and hence of covering over and thus obstructing the view”

verbergen† - to hide, to conceal

verstecken - to hide; Verstecken spielen - to play hide-and-seek

verdecken - to cover (up)

verbauen - to build up (an area); to obstruct; to use up or spend in building

verschütten - to spill; to bury s.o. alive

verputzen - to plaster; (familiar, eating) to polish off.

 

From the non-verbal derivatives it is but a step to use the noun of the material with which something is covered or providid

vergolden - to gild

verproviantieren - to provision; to supply with provisions.

 

Somehow connected with these uses is the function of ver- to form verbs from adjectives (especially comparatives):

versüßen - to sweeten; jemandem den Tag versüßen - to make s.o.’s day

verfälschen - to falsify; to distort

verbittern - to make bitter; to embitter

verbessern - to improve

vergrößern - to enlarge

vergöttern - to idolize.

 

 

 

Table - Strong and Irregular Verbs (selected list of verbs)

(A complete reference table can be found at this website )

Infinitive	Simple Past	Aux.	Past Participle	Special Present Forms
bergen (recover)	barg		geborgen	du birgst, er birgt
bieten (offer)	bot		geboten
binden (tie)	band		gebunden
bitten (request)	bat		gebeten
bleiben (remain)	blieb	ist	geblieben
brennen (be on fire)	brannte		gebrannt
dreschen (thresh)	drosch		gedroschen
essen (eat)	aß		gegessen	du/er isst
fechten (fence, fight)	focht		gefochten	du fichtst, er ficht
fressen (eat [of animals])	fraß		gefressen	du/er frisst
gehen (go)	ging	ist	gegangen
helfen (help)	half		geholfen	du hilfst, er hilft
laufen (run)	leif	ist	gelaufen	du läufst, er läuft
nehmen (take)	nahm		genommen	du nimmst, er nimmt
schlafen (sleep)	schlief		geschlafen	du schläfst, er schläft
schlingen (wind, wrap)	schlang		geschlungen
schweigen (be silent)	schwieg		geschwiegen
sehen (see)	sah		gesehen	du siehst, er sieht
stehen (stand)	stand		gestanden
verlieren (lose)	verlor		verloren

 

 

[JS -- The flow of this article follows the plan used on page 255 of The German Language, by Priebsch and Collinson, both Ph.D’s. The book is written in English, but the German words given as examples generally appeared without English meanings. My contribution is to provide the meanings. Aside from that, my own additions are tagged with ‘JS’. Wherever a strong or irregular verb-stem is used in a ver-compound, it is marked with a dagger, and refers to a table of principle parts, appearing at the end.]