{"id":10594,"date":"2019-04-10T13:24:04","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T13:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=10594"},"modified":"2019-04-16T11:11:50","modified_gmt":"2019-04-16T11:11:50","slug":"the-german-prefix-ur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/the-german-prefix-ur\/","title":{"rendered":"The German Prefix ‘Ur’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guten Tag! Today we\u2019re going to look at the German prefix ur<\/strong>. This is a very interesting prefix, because it is used only to talk about \u2018original\u2019<\/strong>, \u2018primitive\u2019<\/strong>, and \u2018earliest\u2019<\/strong> things. Let\u2019s get into it.<\/p>\n

The prefix ur<\/strong> is pronounced ooh-ah<\/em> \u2013 exactly how you\u2019d pronounce the German word for clock<\/em>, die Uhr<\/strong> (but note the difference in spelling).<\/p>\n

Putting the prefix ur<\/strong> before a word tells us that this is the earliest<\/strong> or original<\/strong> of something. Here are some German words that use the prefix ur<\/strong>, and their meanings:<\/p>\n

uralt (ur + alt)<\/strong>
\nVery old, ancient.<\/em>
\nUsually refers to objects, buildings etc. but, just like in English, it can also be used as an insult: \u201cDiese Frau ist uralt!\u201d – \u201cThis woman is ancient!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

der Urtext (Ur + Text)<\/strong>
\nOriginal version of a text.<\/em><\/p>\n

der Urahn (Ur + Ahn)<\/strong>
\nAncestor, forefather<\/em><\/p>\n

die Urbev\u00f6lkerung (Ur + Bev\u00f6lkerung)<\/strong>
\nIndigenous people, indigenous population.<\/em><\/p>\n

der Ursprung (Ur + Sprung)<\/strong>
\nOrigin.<\/em> Related: the verb urspr\u00fcnglich means \u2018originally\u2019.<\/p>\n

die Ursache (Ur + Sache)
\n<\/strong>Cause.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

der Urwald (ur + Wald)
\n<\/b>Jungle\/primeval forest.<\/em><\/p>\n

urgermanisch (ur + germanisch)<\/strong>
\nProto-Germanic.<\/em><\/p>\n

die Urgro\u00dfmutter (ur + Gro\u00dfmutter)<\/strong>
\nGreat-grandmother<\/em> (also: Uroma<\/strong>, where \u2018die Oma\u2019 is a less formal way of saying grandmother in German)<\/p>\n

der Urgro\u00dfvater (ur + Gro\u00dfvater)<\/strong>
\nGreat-grandfather<\/em> (also: Uropa<\/strong>, where \u2018der Opa\u2019 is a less formal way of saying grandfather in German)<\/p>\n

die Urzeit (ur + Zeit)<\/strong>
\nPrehistoric times.<\/em>
\nTake care not to confuse this with the very similar word die Uhrzeit<\/em>, which means \u2018time\/time of day\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

der Urmensch (ur + Mensch)<\/strong>
\nPrehistoric man<\/em><\/p>\n

urig<\/strong>
\nauthentic, original<\/em><\/p>\n

die Urheimat (ur + Heimat)<\/strong>
\nOriginal homeland of speakers of a proto-language.<\/em> Compare with the word Heimat<\/em> by reading this post!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The English language<\/strong> also uses the German ur<\/strong> prefix in the same way (to talk about the earliest, primitive version of something), but in English der Bindestrich<\/strong> (hyphen)<\/em> is often used to separate the prefix from the noun. For example, Ur-civilisation: the beginning of civilisation. <\/em><\/p>\n

I hope this has been helpful. Can you think of any other German words that use the prefix ur<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Bis bald (see you soon)!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Guten Tag! Today we\u2019re going to look at the German prefix ur. This is a very interesting prefix, because it is used only to talk about \u2018original\u2019, \u2018primitive\u2019, and \u2018earliest\u2019 things. Let\u2019s get into it. The prefix ur is pronounced ooh-ah \u2013 exactly how you\u2019d pronounce the German word for clock, die Uhr (but note…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":10597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[935,12133,95131,451644,376023,499,114,2418,461031],"class_list":["post-10594","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language","tag-german","tag-german-grammar","tag-german-language","tag-german-words","tag-language","tag-language-learning","tag-origin","tag-prefix","tag-ur"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t