Etymologically
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daher

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈdaːheːɐ̯/[1]

Forms

daher (adverb; in the chancery style of the 17th and 18th centuries also dahero)[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German dâher, formed from da and her, recorded since Middle High German and at first often written separately.[3][2][1] The same formation is Middle Low German dārhēr and the modern Dutch daarher.[3] Wiktionary traces it to a phrase Old High German dâr hera, though the Grimms found no Old High German example.[1][4][5]

The first part, dār (“there”), is a locative formation in /-r/ on the demonstrative stem Proto-Indo-European *to-, like Old English þǣr and Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐍂 (þar); the final /r/ was lost in unstressed words from Middle High German times.[6][7] The second, hera (“hither”), adds a suffix of direction to the pronominal stem that marks the speaker's place.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The revised Grimm dictionary's earliest quotation is from Heinrich von Veldeke's Eneide (1187/89), where it means “hither, to this place”.[3] In Middle High German the word was used only of space and time: “from there” (dâ her von Îrlande in the Gudrun) and “hither” (in Hartmann's Iwein and Wolfram's Parzival).[5]

Semantic evolution

The causal sense “therefore, for that reason” grew out of “from there” in the 16th century, and the chancery style wrote dahero.[2] Until Goethe and Schiller the word could, like da, be used as a relative, both of place and cause, as in Luther's des Gebirges Ephraim, daher ich bin.[2] The sense “hither” lasted into the 19th century, and into the 20th in Bavarian and Austrian German.[3] Early New High German also used it of time, “until now”.[9][2]

With verbs of motion, daher came to be used without reference to a particular place, “along”, as in dahergehen or daherbrausen; it is then stressed on her.[2]

Timeline

  • 1187/89 – Heinrich von Veldeke's Eneide uses dâ her “hither”.[3]
  • 13th century – The Gudrun uses dâ her “from there”.[5]
  • 16th century – The causal sense “therefore” develops.[2]
  • 17th century – Written together with present participles of verbs of motion.[3]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. From there, thence: Ich komme gerade daher.[10][1]
  2. (regional) Here, to this place.[10][4]
  3. From this source or cause, for this reason: Daher kommt seine schlechte Laune.[10]
  4. therefore, so: Er war krank und blieb daher zu Hause.[10][1]
  5. With verbs of motion, along.[1][2]

Word family

  • daherkommen
  • dahergelaufen
  • daherreden

Usage notes

In the causal sense the stress is on the first syllable; with verbs of motion (daherkommen) on the second.[10][2] Colloquially the parts can be separated: da kommt das her.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  3. ^ a b c d e f 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, 75
  4. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 679
  6. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 177
  7. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 2, 533
  8. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 410
  9. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  10. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag