Fwd: "Quellenforschung, n." - Word of the Day from the OED

[Dave Monroe]

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Date: Fri, May 17, 2013 at 7:30 PM
Subject: "Quellenforschung, n." - Word of the Day from the OED
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OED Online Word of the Day
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Your word for today is: Quellenforschung, n.

Quellenforschung, n.
[‘ The study of the sources of, or influences upon, a literary work.’]
Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈkvɛlənˌfɔːʃʊŋ/,  U.S. /ˈkvɛlənˌfɔ(ə)rʃʊŋ/
Etymology: <  German Quellenforschung (1834 or earlier) <  Quellen-,
combining form of Quelle source (see Quelle n.) + Forschung
investigation, research (Old High German forscunga, Middle High German
vorschunge) <  forschen to search (for), to conduct research (see
frayne v.) + -ung -ing suffix1.
  The study of the sources of, or influences upon, a literary work.
1884 Amer. Jrnl. Philol. 5 325 It does not increase our confidence in
the conclusions of the recent ‘Quellenforschung’ among the Germans to
find each of no less than five authors claimed as the main or even the
sole source of Dio Cassius in his history of the second Punic war.
1932  M. N. Tod Sidelights on Greek Hist. ii. 32 Rarely—I would not
say never—are we in our study of them [sc. inscriptions] confronted
with problems of Quellenforschung.
1958  C. S. Lewis in Times Lit. Suppl. 28 Nov. 689/3, I wonder how
much Quellenforschung in our studies of older literature seems solid
only because those who knew the facts are dead and cannot contradict
it?
2000 Classical Philol. 95 450 Quellenforschung, along with a corollary
assumption that Pliny contributed little material of his own, was once
a common approach to the Natural History.

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