bis

Forms

bis (preposition with the accusative; conjunction)^[2][1] Middle High German had biz and bitze, Middle Low German bit, bet or bette.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German biz, from Middle High German bī (“by”) + ze (“to”), grown together into one word.^[5][6][1] The DWB revision traces it to late Old High German, where bi and zi first merged in the border area between Low and High German.^[3][7] Kluge explains the loss of the vowel and the pronunciation of the ⟨z⟩ as /s/ by its frequent position before prepositions beginning with a vowel, such as auf.^[5]

The Grimms already favoured this explanation over others, such as a derivation from Middle High German be daz, and pointed to the parallel of bitze and Middle Low German bette.^[4] It corresponds to bit,^[3] and Wiktionary compares Saterland Frisian bit (“until”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word first appears in the 12th century, in the Trier Psalms, as an adverb, a preposition and a conjunction.^[4][6][5] A 12th-century manuscript has Christ say to the river: stant, Iordan, biz ih unde Iohan uber dih gegan “stand still, Jordan, until John and I have crossed you”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the 12th century bis took over from several older ways of expressing a limit, which explains why it can be an adverb, a preposition and a conjunction.^[6] It competed with the older unze “until”, and only prevailed over it in Early New High German;^[8][3] not all Middle High German poets used it, while Luther did.^[4]

Combined with other prepositions (bis zu, bis nach) it was at first an adverb, and these phrases gave rise to its use as a preposition on its own (bis Sonntag).^[6][7] The conjunction comes from bis dass.^[7] Compounds include bisher from Middle High German biz her, bislang, shortened in the 16th century from bissolang, and bisweilen “sometimes”, recorded in 1534.^[6][8]

Timeline

• 12th century – First records of biz in the Trier Psalms.^[4][6]
• c. 1295 – Heinrich von Hesler uses the conjunction biz “until”.^[3]
• 1534 – bisweilen “sometimes” is recorded.^[8]
• 16th century – bislang is shortened from bissolang;^[6][3] bis displaces unze.^[6][3]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (time) until, till: bis heute, von 8 bis 11 Uhr; also by a certain time.^[2][1]
2. (place) As far as, to: bis München fliegen, bis an den Rhein.^[2][1]
3. bis auf: including everything up to; also except: bis auf einen.^[2]
4. bis zu before numbers: up to: Gemeinden bis zu 10 000 Einwohnern.^[2]

Conjunction

1. Until: ich bleibe, bis er kommt.^[2][1][8]
2. Between two numbers: to: zwei bis drei Pfund.^[8][1]

Word family

• bisher
• bislang
• bisweilen
• bis auf

Related words

• bei
• zu

Usage notes

The Latin bis “twice” is used in music, written over a passage to have it repeated or called out to ask for an encore.^[9] An unrelated older bis was the imperative “be!” of sein, which Luther and 17th-century poets still used (bis willkommen!).^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. 5, 290
4. ^ a b c d e Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 42
5. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 126
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Duden. Das Fremdwörterbuch (2007), 9th ed., Duden vol. 5, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
10. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 41