dass
Pronunciation
- /das/, /dɑs/[1]
Forms
dass (subordinating conjunction)[2] Until the spelling reform of 1996 the standard spelling was daß.[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle High German daz, inherited from Old High German daz, inherited from Proto-Germanic *þat (“that”), and is historically the same word as the neuter nominative singular of the demonstrative pronoun, modern das (see der).[3][4][5] The two were first distinguished in spelling in the 16th century.[3][4][5] The same pronoun is Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌰 (þata), Old Norse þat, Old English þæt, Old Frisian thet and Old Saxon that, going back to Proto-Indo-European *tód; as conjunctions it gave Middle Low German dat, Dutch dat and English that.[6][5][1]
The conjunction grew out of a pronoun pointing forward to the following clause: “ich höre das: er kommt” (“I hear that: he is coming”) was reinterpreted as “ich höre, dass er kommt”, the pronoun passing into the second clause.[3][4][5] This happened in all the Germanic languages and in many of their Indo-European relatives, and the stage of early Old High German already shows it.[3][4]
Earliest recorded meaning
Old High German daz as a conjunction is recorded in glosses of 765 and is frequent in all the literary texts, meaning “that, so that, because”.[7] Pfeifer notes that its use as a conjunction is already fully developed in Old High German.[4]
Semantic evolution
The oldest use is the clause that stands for a subject or object (mich dünkt, daß er ein Narr ist), which originally had to follow the main clause; a preceding dass-clause (daß er kommt, glaube ich nicht) became possible only after the pronoun sense had been forgotten.[8] Clauses with dass then attached to other cases of the pronoun (er rühmt sich dessen, daß …), and dass joined other words to form compound conjunctions such as ohne dass, als dass and so dass.[8][2] It can also introduce a main clause expressing a wish, a threat or regret: dass mir keine Klagen kommen![2]
The spelling daß was established gradually from the middle of the 16th century and remained standard until the reform of 1996, which introduced dass.[8][1]
Timeline
- 765 – Old High German daz as a conjunction in glosses.[7]
- 16th century – The conjunction begins to be spelled differently from the pronoun das.[3][4]
- 1996 – The spelling reform replaces daß with dass.[1]
Meanings
Conjunction
- that: introduces a clause serving as subject, object or complement: er weiß, dass du ihn nicht leiden kannst.[2][1]
- Introduces a clause attached to a noun: die Tatsache, dass er hier war.[2]
- Introduces a clause of reason or consequence: er schlug zu, dass es krachte.[2]
- Introduces a clause of purpose, so that: hilf ihm doch, dass er fertig wird.[2][1]
- With other words, forms compound conjunctions: ohne dass, als dass, statt dass, so dass.[2]
- Introduces a main clause expressing a wish, threat or regret: dass es so weit kommen musste![2]
Word family
- sodass
Related words
- das
- der
- English that
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
- ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 181
- ^ a b c d e f Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
- ^ a b c d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag
- ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
- ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
- ^ 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