Feminine
🐐

Ziege

Meaning

  1. (feminine) goat
  2. (derogatory, feminine, informal) a stupid, stubborn person (usually female)

Frequency

C1
Dialects

Basel-Landschaft

Basel-Landschaft

gaiss

Basel-Landschaft

Basel-Landschaft

yysebäänlerkue

St. Gallen

St. Gallen

gizì

Data provided by: Deutsch-Schweizerdeutsches Wörterbuch

Pronounced as (IPA)
/ˈt͡siːɡə/
Etymology

In summary

From Middle High German zige, from Old High German ziga, from Proto-West Germanic *tigā. Ziege was originally found in Franconian dialects alongside otherwise exclusive Geiß. In Middle High German times, it established itself in the colonial dialects (East Central German) and also conquered vast areas of Low German, where the borrowing Middle Low German sēge was predominant since at least the 15th century (due to a virtual lack of domestic goat breeding). During the same time, curiously, Ziege was widely lost in West Central German and Upper Franconian, its original provenance. Its eventual victory in the standard language was reinforced by its use in Luther’s Bible.

Notes

Sign in to write sticky notes