Januar

Forms

Januar m (genitive Januars or Januar, plural Januare)^[1] Until the 18th century the month was usually called by its Latin name Januarius, inflected with Latin endings (im Januario).^[2][3][4] The endingless Januar spread in the second half of the 18th century;^[3][2] Lessing uses it from 1753.^[3][2]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin Iānuārius (“of Janus”), short for mēnsis Iānuārius (“the month of Janus”).^[5][2][1] The Latin name is usually connected with that of the old Italic god Iānus, god of doors, of going in and out, and so of beginnings,^[2][6][7] but Kluge points out that neither the connection nor the reason for the name is certain.^[5] Pfeifer and the Duden take the god's name as a personification of iānus (“passage, archway”), compare iānua (“house door”).^[2][6] The year began with this month only after the Roman calendar was reformed; earlier it had begun in March.^[2][6]

An older borrowing of the same month name is Jänner, Middle High German jenner, Old High German jenner, taken from the variant Vulgar Latin Iēnuārius.^[5][2][4] The same learned word is Dutch januari, English January, French janvier and Swedish januari.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The older form is recorded first: Old High German jenner is found only in a damaged gloss of the 12th century, translating Latin ianuarius.^[4][8] The Latin Ianuarius itself was in German use from the humanist period.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Jänner (Middle High German jener, jenner) was long current all over Upper German and was also found in Central and Low German.^[4] From the 17th and 18th centuries the newly borrowed Januar, promoted by scholars, pushed it back into the southern dialects; it remains standard in Austria.^[4][9][2] Büchner's Lenz still uses Jänner in its first sentence.^[9]

Before the Roman names were adopted, Adelung records, the month was called Wintarmanoth “winter month”, a name ascribed to Charlemagne by Rabanus Maurus and Einhard.^[10] The god's name has given German janusköpfig “two-faced, ambiguous” and, in the late 20th century, Januswort for a word with opposite senses.^[9]

Timeline

• 12th century – Old High German jenner appears in a gloss.^[4][2]
• 16th century – Humanists use the Latin Januarius with Latin endings.^[4]
• 1753 – Lessing uses the endingless Januar.^[3]
• Second half of the 18th century – Januar becomes the general form and Jänner retreats to the south.^[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. January, the first month of the year: Im Januar fahren wir in die Berge.^[11][1]

Related words

• Jänner
• English January

Usage notes

In Austria and in Upper German dialects the older form Jänner is used.^[9][5] The abbreviation is Jan.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
3. ^ 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, 2264
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 5, 284
5. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 454
6. ^ a b c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 401
7. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
8. ^ Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch (1952–), founded by Elisabeth Karg-Gasterstädt and Theodor Frings, Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag / De Gruyter; online awb.saw-leipzig.de, p. 4, 1810
9. ^ a b c d Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
10. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
11. ^ a b Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag