Etymologically
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deutlich

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Forms

deutlich (strong nominative masculine singular deutlicher, comparative deutlicher, superlative am deutlichsten)[1] Middle High German and Early New High German also had diutelich, deutelich, with a linking vowel, and in the 16th and 17th centuries an adverb in -en (deutelichen).[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German diutlīche, first only an adverb, formed from Middle High German diuten + -lich, now deuten and -lich: “what can easily be interpreted”.[4][1][5] Related formations are Middle Low German dǖdelik, Dutch duidelijk, Danish tydelig and Swedish tydlig.[2][3]

The verb is Old High German diuten (“to interpret, explain, translate”), also Middle Low German dǖden, Old English geþēodan (“to translate”) and Old Norse þýða (“to interpret, explain”).[4][2][6] Pfeifer and the Duden take it as a verb derived from Proto-Germanic *þeudō (“people”), seen in Gothic 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰 (þiuda) and in deutsch, with a first sense “to explain before the assembled people”.[2][7] Kluge objects that semantically it cannot simply be derived from the word for “people”, though it was later associated with it, since Old High German zi diuta meant “in the vernacular”; he points out that the base of that adjective also meant “strength”, and that “strength” often gives words for “meaning”, as in Ancient Greek δύναμις (dúnamis, “power; meaning”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adverb is recorded in Middle High German, for example in Lichtenstein's daz tet er tiuticlîch bekant “he made it clearly known”; it is not found in Old High German.[8] The revised Grimm dictionary's first quotation is from Johannes von Frankenstein (about 1300), and Kluge dates the word to the 14th century.[3][4] It meant “precisely, clearly, intelligibly”.[9][3]

Semantic evolution

In Early New High German the word was used of clear, precise speech and, more rarely, in the sense “symbolic, figurative”.[9] Luther wrote in 1519 that, to speak deutlich and plainly, God's name is dishonoured in two ways.[3] It applied both to what is seen or heard and to what is understood: the Grimms list distinct outlines and clear pronunciation beside clear speech and ideas.[8]

In philosophy, Christian Wolff (1720) contrasted God, who knows everything deutlich, with man, who knows much indistinctly, and Kant distinguished making a clear concept from making a concept clear.[3][8] The modern language adds the sense “noticeable, considerable” (deutlich mehr) and the colloquial deutlich werden “to speak bluntly”.[10][1] The verb verdeutlichen dates from the 18th century.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – dûtlich is used by Johannes von Frankenstein.[3]
  • 14th century – Kluge's date for the word.[4]
  • 1519 – Luther uses deutlich “plainly”.[3]
  • 1720 – Christian Wolff contrasts deutlich and undeutlich knowledge.[3]
  • 18th century – verdeutlichen “to make clear” appears.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. clear, distinct, easy to perceive: eine deutliche Stimme, deutlich schreiben.[10][1]
  2. Noticeable, considerable: deutlich kälter, ein deutlicher Rückgang.[10][1]
  3. Unmistakable, explicit: eine deutliche Warnung;[10] deutlich werden “to speak bluntly”.[10]

Word family

  • verdeutlichen
  • Deutlichkeit
  • undeutlich

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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, 806
  4. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 194
  5. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 2, 696
  7. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  8. ^ 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, 1041
  9. ^ a b 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 Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag