Etymologically
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Hälfte

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈhɛlftə/[1]

Forms

Hälfte f (genitive Hälfte, plural Hälften)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle Low German helfte, which made its way into High German in the 15th century.[2][3] The word was formed with a dental suffix from Middle Low German half (“half”), the Low German form of halb,[4][5][1] going back to Proto-Germanic *halbiþō.[1] The same formation is Middle Dutch helft, Old Frisian helfte and Old Norse helft, now Dutch helft.[2][4]

Wiktionary notes that it reached the standard language through Central German, and that the change between ⟨b⟩ and ⟨ft⟩ was not levelled, probably because the same alternation occurs in native words such as schreiben beside Schrift.[1] An Old High German formation of this kind is not recorded.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grimms find it earliest in Old Frisian and, in High German territory, in a charter from Halle of 1469 describing a seal, der helfte with three small lions.[6] Kluge and Paul date it to the 15th century.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Coming from the north in the 15th and 16th centuries, the word spread south, was used often by Luther and won out in the written language over the older Halbe (Old High German halba, Middle High German halbe).[4][8] Luther's Bible has und Mose nam die helfte des bluts “and Moses took half of the blood” (Exodus 24:6) and bis an die helfte meines königreichs “unto the half of my kingdom”.[6]

Adelung records the sense “middle”, as in auf der Hälfte unserer Reise.[9] For a spouse, Ehehälfte is recorded from 1736, and Hamann wrote in 1762 Grüßen Sie Ihre liebe Hälfte “give my regards to your dear half”;[7][4] bessere Hälfte is a loan translation of English better half.[7][4]

Timeline

  • 15th century – The Low German word enters High German.[2]
  • 1469 – helfte in a charter from Halle.[6]
  • 16th century – Luther uses the word frequently.[4]
  • 1736 – Ehehälfte “wife” is recorded.[7]
  • 1805 – Hölderlin's poem Hälfte des Lebens.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. One of two equal parts of a whole, a half: Die Hälfte der Gäste kam zu spät. Er schnitt die Birne in zwei Hälften.[5][1]
  2. (colloquial) One of two unequal parts: Du hast mir die größere Hälfte gegeben![5][1]
  3. (colloquial) The middle, the point where two halves meet.[1][9]

Word family

  • hälftig
  • Jahreshälfte

Usage notes

Meine bessere Hälfte (colloquial, humorous) means one's wife or, less often, one's husband.[5] Die Hälfte abstreichen müssen (colloquial) is not to be able to believe everything one is told.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 388
  3. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  6. ^ a b c d Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 10, 223
  7. ^ a b c d e Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  8. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  9. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf