Etymologically
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auch

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Pronunciation

  • /aʊ̯x/[1]
  • Austria, southern Germany: /aʊ̯/[1]

Forms

auch[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German ouch, inherited from Old High German ouh, inherited from Proto-Germanic *auk.[2][1][3] The same particle is Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐌺 (auk, “for, but, also”), Old Norse auk, Old English ēac, Old Frisian āk and Old Saxon ōk,[2][4] and it survives as Dutch ook, archaic English eke, Swedish och (“and”) and Danish og (“and”).[5][1]

Its origin is disputed, and perhaps particles of separate origin fell together, as the different senses suggest: the Gothic word could also mean “for” and the Old High German one “but”.[2][5][6] One explanation takes it as an imperative “add!” of the strong verb Proto-Germanic *aukaną (“to add, increase”) (in 𐌰𐌿𐌺𐌰𐌽 (aukan) and Old Norse auka), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- (“to increase”), the root of Latin augeō.[2][7] Kluge favours it because of Old English þǣr-tō-ēacen (“besides”), literally “added to it”, and the Grimms already saw in the word the idea of something added.[2][8]

The other explanation joins a particle Proto-Indo-European *au, as in Ancient Greek αὖ (aû, “again, on the other hand”), with the emphatic particle Proto-Indo-European *ǵe.[2][9] Kroonen and Orel accept only this, Kroonen as Proto-Indo-European *h₂eu-ǵe;[4][9] Pfeifer also thinks it very likely, comparing Latin aut (“or”), Sanskrit उ (u, “and, also”) and Tocharian A ok, Tocharian B uk (“still”), and allows that the word was later attached to the verbs of increase.[5] The Duden dictionary takes it as a mixture of a frozen case form and an old particle.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German ouh is recorded from the second half of the 8th century, in glosses and the Abrogans, and then in Isidor, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.[3][11] Its senses ranged from “also, likewise, moreover, even, namely” to “on the other hand, but”.[3][12]

Semantic evolution

The contrasting sense “but”, still found in the older stages, was lost, and the adding sense prevailed.[5][7] In Middle High German ouch joined a new sentence to the last, set it against it or confirmed it.[13] Modern German uses auch as an adverb (“also, besides, even”) and as a modal particle expressing annoyance, confirmation or doubt; with interrogative words it generalises (was auch geschieht “whatever happens”) and with wenn it concedes (wenn auch “even if”).[10][3] In the phrase sowohl … als auch “both … and” it was already described by Adelung.[14]

Timeline

  • After 765 – Old High German ouh appears in glosses.[11]
  • 1060–1065 – Middle High German ouch is used in Williram's commentary on the Song of Songs.[15]
  • 1793 – Adelung describes auch as a conjunction marking an addition.[14]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Also, too, likewise: ich bin auch nur ein Mensch “I am only human too”;[10][1] nicht nur …, sondern auch “not only … but also”.[10][1]
  2. Besides, moreover: ich kann nicht, ich will auch nicht “I can't, and besides I don't want to”.[10]
  3. Even: auch die kleinste Freude wird einem verdorben “even the smallest pleasure is spoilt”.[10][1]

Particle

  1. Expressing annoyance or surprise: du bist aber auch stur! “you really are stubborn!”[10][1]
  2. Confirming or giving a reason for what was said: sie sah krank aus, und sie war es auch “she looked ill, and indeed she was”.[10][1]
  3. Expressing doubt in questions: hast du dir das auch überlegt? “have you really thought about it?”[10][1]
  4. With interrogative or relative words, generalising: was auch [immer] geschieht “whatever happens”.[10][1]
  5. With wenn, so or wie, concessive: wenn auch “even if, although”.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 70
  3. ^ a b c d Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 6, 1270
  4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  6. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
  7. ^ a b Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 3, 394
  8. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 1, 598
  9. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  12. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 247
  13. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 181
  14. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 1, 463
  15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling