Etymologically
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denn

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Pronunciation

  • /dɛn/, [dɛn][1]
  • Modal, particle: /dən/, /dn̩/, /n/[1]

Forms

denn (conjunction; also adverb and modal particle)[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German denne, inherited from Old High German denne, the umlauted variant of danne, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *þan.[3][4][1] Until the 18th century it did not differ in function from dann, so Kluge treats it as a word of its own only from then on.[5][3]

Umlauted forms also occur elsewhere in West Germanic, as in Middle Low German denne, Old Frisian thenne and Old English þænne, while Old Saxon thanna, Middle Dutch danne, Old Norse þá and Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌽 (þan) have none.[3] The English counterparts are then and than.[3][1] Kluge and Pfeifer derive the Germanic adverb from the demonstrative stem Proto-Indo-European *to- of der and da, with a suffix in /n/ that marked time, extended in West Germanic by a further nasal.[6][3][4] Wiktionary calls this origin disputed and also mentions a derivation from the accusative Proto-Indo-European *tóm, the source of Latin tum (“then”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest uses of the particle are as a comparative particle “than” and as a temporal conjunction and adverb.[6] Old High German thanne and thenni are recorded from the 8th century,[3] and denne renders Latin tunc deinceps “then, thereafter” in the 9th-century Carmen ad Deum.[4]

Semantic evolution

In the older language denn and dann were used side by side for the same temporal, causal and comparative senses.[3][7] Luther, who never wrote dann, used denn constantly for Latin nam and enim “for”.[7] The division of labour fixed in the second half of the 18th century gave dann the adverb of time and left denn the causal conjunction, the comparative use after a comparative (now formal, as in mehr denn je) and the exception in es sei denn.[4][3][8] Wiktionary notes that grammarians prescribed the split.[1] English separated than and then in the same century.[3]

As an adverb denn now mostly gives emphasis to questions and statements.[3][2] The old temporal sense “then” survives in the colloquial speech of northern and Central Germany, as in na, denn nicht “well, never mind then”.[3][2][4]

Timeline

  • 8th century – Old High German thanne, thenni are recorded.[3]
  • 9th century – denne “then” appears in the Carmen ad Deum.[4]
  • 16th century – Luther uses denn for “for” and never writes dann.[7]
  • Mid-18th century – denn and dann are clearly separated in the written language.[4][8]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. for, because, introducing a main clause that gives a reason: Wir gingen früh, denn es wurde kalt.[2][1]
  2. (after a comparative; formal or dated) than, used especially to avoid a doubled als: eher Forscher denn Lehrer.[2][1]

Adverb

  1. (rare; mainly in es sei denn) unless.[2][1]
  2. (northern Germany, colloquial) then, in that case.[2][1]

Particle

  1. (unstressed, in questions) Expresses interest, impatience or doubt: Wo bleibt sie denn?[2][1]
  2. (unstressed, in statements) Reinforces a conclusion: so, then.[2]
  3. (stressed, after an interrogative) Else, otherwise: Nicht im Keller? Wo denn?[2]

Word family

  • dann
  • wann
  • English then
  • English than

Usage notes

Fixed phrases are es sei denn “unless”, mehr denn je “more than ever” and wenn schon, denn schon “if you're going to do it, do it properly”.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g 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, 668
  5. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 190
  6. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 181
  7. ^ 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, 945
  8. ^ a b Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer