dagegen

Forms

dagegen (adverb and conjunction; invariable); older and regional dargegen^[1] Luther writes dagegen in the Bible, but dargegen is used by Hans Sachs, Maaler, Schupp and Stieler.^[2] Da- alone has prevailed since the end of the 18th century.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German dargegen, inherited from Old High German daragagan (“against it, on the other hand”), a compound of dara (“there, thither”) and gagan (“against, towards”).^[3][4][5] From early Middle High German its parts were felt as da and the preposition gegen.^[3] The same compound is Middle Low German darjegen, Middle Dutch daerjegen and Middle English þer ʒein.^[3] It was a new formation of Notker's time beside the older synonym daentgegen, which it replaced from the 16th century.^[3]

The first element continues Proto-West Germanic *þǣr (“there”), a locative of the demonstrative stem Proto-Indo-European *to-; its final ⟨r⟩ dropped in Middle High German except before a vowel, as in daran.^[6] The preposition goes back to Proto-Germanic *gagna-, also in Old Norse gagn and Old English geagn, which has no clear relatives outside Germanic.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German daragagan is first found in Notker (about 1000) and in 10th-century glosses, meaning “against it, on the contrary, on the other hand”, and also “thither”.^[4][3] Notker uses it often;^[3][5] Middle High German adopted it only slowly, from the Anegenge of about 1173.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The oldest use is spatial: movement towards a goal, as in Wolfram's Parzival, where hunger makes the boy turn dergegene, towards the house.^[2][3] The figurative senses of opposition and refusal grew out of it; since the beginning of the 18th century dagegen sein and etwas dagegen haben express an objection.^[9][2] It is also used for something given in exchange, where dafür is often possible, and for comparison.^[2][10] As an adversative conjunction, “on the other hand, whereas”, like hingegen, it goes back to Middle High German.^[9]

In northern German speech the parts are often separated: da habe ich nichts gegen.^[10] A noun das Dagegen is found in Stefan Zweig in 1942.^[11]

Timeline

• 10th century – daragagan in Old High German glosses.^[4]
• c. 1000 – Notker uses daragagan often.^[3]
• c. 1173 – Middle High German dagegen in the Anegenge.^[5]
• 16th century – dagegen increases rapidly as daentgegen declines.^[3]
• Early 18th century – dagegen sein “to be opposed” comes into use.^[9]
• End of the 18th century – da- finally replaces dar-.^[3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Against it, against that place or object: Er lehnte das Fahrrad dagegen.^[10][1]
2. Against it, in opposition or defence: dagegen sein, etwas dagegen haben “to object”.^[10][1]
3. In comparison, by contrast with it.^[10][12]
4. In exchange for it.^[10]

Conjunction

1. However, on the other hand, whereas: Im Norden regnet es, im Süden dagegen scheint die Sonne.^[10][1]

Word family

• Dagegen

Related words

• da
• gegen
• hingegen
• dafür

Usage notes

The conjunction is stressed on the second syllable, while the adverb may also be stressed on the first, dágegen, for emphasis.^[10][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 2, 676
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. 6, 64
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
6. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 177
7. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 340
8. ^ Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
9. ^ a b c Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
11. ^ 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. 6, 70
12. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org