Zahl

Forms

Zahl f (genitive Zahl, plural Zahlen)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German zal, inherited from Old High German zala, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *talu, inherited from Proto-Germanic *talō (“speech, reckoning”).^[2][3][4] The same word is Old Saxon tala, Old Norse tala (“number, speech”) and Old English talu (“tale, account”), whence English tale, and Dutch taal (“language”); beside it is a neuter, Old Norse tal, Old English tæl (“number”).^[2][3][4] Gothic has the related verb 𐍄𐌰𐌻𐌶𐌾𐌰𐌽 (talzjan, “to teach”) and the adjective 𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌰𐌻𐍃 (untals, “unruly, untaught”).^[3][5]

The Grimms' dictionary found no certain related words outside Germanic, and Pfeifer calls the origin unexplained.^[5][3] Kluge, the Duden and Wahrig connect it with Latin dolō (“to hew”), from a root meaning “to cut, notch”: a notch would have been the starting sense, since numbers were cut on tally sticks.^[2][6][7] Others compare Ancient Greek δόλος (dólos, “bait, trick”) and Latin dolus (“deceit”), from a root Proto-Indo-European *del- (“to aim, reckon”).^[3][8] Brøndal instead suggested a borrowing from Medieval Latin tāliō (“to cut, notch”), against the same background of tally sticks.^[2] Kroonen compares Old Armenian տող (toł, “line, row”).^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German zala is recorded from the 8th century, in glosses of about 765, then in the Isidor, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.^[8][9] It meant “number, amount, series”, but also “narrative, speech, statement, definition, reason”.^[9][8]

Semantic evolution

In Middle High German, as in Old English and Old Norse, the word also meant “enumeration, report”.^[10][3] This survives in the fixed phrase ohne Zahl “countless”, while in the related languages the sense of speech won: Dutch taal is “language” and English tale a story.^[10][6] Luther uses it for a sum: die zal der ziegel (Exodus 5:8).^[10]

Its technical use in arithmetic was shaped by Latin numerus: Stieler has ungerade Zal (odd number), and Adelung uses it for a written figure, as in römische, arabische Zahlen.^[10] Zahlwort “numeral” was coined by Schottelius in 1641 after Latin numerale.^[10][3] The verb zahlen, at first “to count”, took on the sense “to pay” in Early New High German, because the medieval counting board was also used for reckoning money.^[10][6]

Timeline

• c. 765 – Old High German zala appears in glosses.^[8]
• c. 1000 – The verb zalōn “to count, reckon” is recorded.^[3]
• 16th century – zahlen acquires the sense “to pay”.^[6][10]
• 1641 – Schottelius coins Zahlwort.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A number, a concept of quantity based on the unit one: die Zahl Sieben.^[11][1]
2. A figure or numeral, the sign for a number: römische Zahlen.^[11][1]
3. An amount, a quantity of persons or things: Die Zahl der Gäste war klein.^[11][12]
4. (grammar) Number, the singular or plural.^[11][12]
5. The tails side of a coin.^[1][12]

Word family

• zahlen
• zahllos
• zahlreich
• Anzahl
• Zahlwort
• Einzahl
• Mehrzahl
• Zahlung

Related words

• zählen
• erzählen
• Zoll
• English tale

Usage notes

Rote Zahlen schreiben means to make a loss and schwarze Zahlen schreiben to make a profit, after the traditional colours of a balance sheet.^[11] In großer Zahl means “in large numbers”.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. 1001
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
4. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 31, 36
6. ^ a b c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 943
7. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
9. ^ a b Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 403
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
11. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
12. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org