Talk:ent-

The meaning of "ent-" is usually "out of".

This is very clear in the case of "entspringen" and "entsprießen", i.e. aus etwas springen = entspringen, aus etwas sprießen = entsprießen.

Likewise entbrennen = aus etwas brennen, entzünden = aus etwas zünden, entstehen = aus etwas bestehend werden, aus etwas stehen.

The reasoning is the same for all words under point 3 "beginning".

Well, in case of point 1 "removing" the reasoning is different, but again it goes back to "out of".

entfesseln = aus den Fesseln kommen, enterben = aus dem Erbe kommen, entehren = aus der Ehre kommen, enthüllen = aus der Hülle kommen etc.

In other words, case 1 is really "transition out of the condition indicated by the stem" and case 3 is "transition out of the subject or an object of the clause in a way indicated by the stem", e.g. eine Wunde hat sich entzündet, jemand entbrennt vor Liebe, Holz entbrennt, eine Pflanze entsprießt der Erde.

"enterben" belongs under point 1, also "entdecken" = aus der Verdecktheit kommen, aus der Decke kommen, as if "Decke" (cover) and "Hülle" (hull) would be different things..., "entkräften" = aus der Kraft kommen, rather clear when used as an adjective "entkräftet", "entschädigen" = aus dem Schaden kommen, "entschärfen" = aus der Schärfe kommen, i.e. aus der Gefahr kommen, "entsetzen" = aus der Gesetztheit kommen, cf. "stay put", "entsichern" = aus der Sicherheit kommen, "entwaffnen" = aus den Waffen kommen, "entzaubern" = aus der Verzauberung kommen, aus dem Zauber kommen.

The remaining cases under point 2 "reversion" are of the sort "transition out of here in a way indicated by the stem", e.g. "enteilen" = get out of here by eilen, "entfernen" = get out of here by increasing in Ferne, "entfliehen" = get out of here by fliehen, "entführen" = get out of here by being geführt, "entfremden" = get out of here (out of what is usual around here) by becoming strange.

As for the three "emp-" words: "empfehlen" (cf. befehlen) falls under point 2, by directing someone out of here by advising him, and "empfinden" and "empfangen" fall under point 3, where the meaning is to find or catch something out of a certain situation (introspection, analysis of how ideas and intents are born) or place (usually one's home).

I don't want to change the article. There's the question of arbitrariness, "out of" being a rather general concept when applied to actions (i.e. you can always make it fit). Still, I think this is essentially correct. Only that it would require some thought on the standards of objectivity in linguistics and I'm not involved. 46.131.53.226 14:34, 25 June 2021 (UTC)