Etymologically
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eigentlich

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈaɪ̯ɡəntlɪç/, [ˈʔaɪ̯ɡ(ə)ntlɪç], [ˈʔaɪ̯(ɡ)ŋ̍tlɪç][1]
  • Often: /ˈaɪ̯ŋ(k)lɪç/, /ˈaɪ̯ntlɪç/, /ˈaɪ̯ŋɪç/[1]

Forms

eigentlich[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German eigenlich, a derivative with the suffix -lich of the adjective eigen “own” or of the noun eigen (“property”).[2][1][3] The /t/ is a glide consonant between /n/ and /l/: it is found in Central German from the end of the 13th century, became general in Upper German by about 1500 and was firmly established from the middle of the 16th century, although Alemannic forms without it last into the early 17th century.[3][4] The same glide appears in öffentlich, ordentlich and wesentlich.[4]

The same formation is Middle Low German ēgentlik, Middle Dutch eigenlijc, Dutch eigenlijk, Old Frisian ēinlik, Old Norse eiginligr and Icelandic eiginlegur; Danish egentlig and Swedish egentlig were taken over from Middle Low German.[2][3]

The base adjective was originally the past participle of an old preterite-present verb, common to the Germanic languages, meaning “to have, own”: Old High German eigan, Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (aigan), Old Norse eiga and Old English āgan, the source of English own.[5][6] Pfeifer traces the verb to a root Proto-Indo-European *ēik̑- or *eik̑- “to own, be able”, also behind Tocharian B aik- (“to know”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Kluge dates the word to the 12th century and the form with /t/ to the 13th.[2] In Middle High German it is found both in the original sense “owned, belonging to one” and in the senses “peculiar, express, definite”;[2] Konrad von Würzburg wrote of “his own child”.[7][4] Like most Middle High German formations in -lich from adjectives, it served at first chiefly as the adverb of its base.[3]

Semantic evolution

Until the middle of the 17th century eigentlich alternated with a competing form eigentlichen.[3] In Early New High German the adverb often meant “exactly, accurately, in detail”, as when Luther says he has had something enquired into and learned eigentlich;[7] this sense faded at the end of the period.[3] The old sense “own, in one's possession”, even “bound as a serf”, survived into the 17th century, with Leibniz and Spener, and Opitz called proper names eigentliche Namen in 1624.[4][7] Adelung (1774) already marked the possessive sense as long obsolete in High German.[8]

From the 18th century, as the word became independent of eigen in meaning, it was used more and more as an attributive adjective, though the adverb remained the main use.[3] The present meaning grew out of “making up the core or essence” of something:[2] Adelung opposed the eigentliche Bedeutung of a word, its literal sense, to the figurative one,[8] and the adverb came to mean “in reality, strictly speaking”, and then to soften an objection or a question.[9][1]

Timeline

  • 12th century – First record, in Middle High German.[2]
  • 1298 – A Hessian charter has the form with the glide consonant, eigentliche.[3]
  • 1482 – The Vocabularius Teutonico-Latinus records Eygentlich.[4]
  • c. 1500 – The form with /t/ prevails in Upper German.[3]
  • 1624 – Opitz uses eigentlicher Name for a proper name.[4]
  • Mid-17th century – The competing form eigentlichen drops out.[3]
  • 18th century – Attributive use as an adjective becomes common.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. actual, real, true: what really underlies or matters in something, as opposed to a pretext or a secondary aspect: der eigentliche Anlass ihres Anrufs.[9][1]
  2. Literal, original: die eigentliche Bedeutung of a word is its literal sense, not a figurative one.[9]
  3. (mathematics) Ein eigentlicher Bruch is a proper fraction.[9]

Adverb

  1. In reality, as opposed to what appears: Er heißt eigentlich Schulze.[9][1]
  2. Basically, strictly speaking, on the whole: Eigentlich hat sie recht.[9][1]
  3. Marks a half-hearted objection or an intention already given up: Eigentlich wollten wir heute an den See fahren.[9]
  4. In questions, adds casual curiosity, often on a new topic: Wie alt bist du eigentlich?[1][10]

Usage notes

The written abbreviation is eigtl.[9][1] In speech the word is often reduced, to forms such as /ˈaɪ̯ŋ(k)lɪç/ or /ˈaɪ̯ntlɪç/.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 233
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. 7, 419
  4. ^ a b c d e f Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  5. ^ a b Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  6. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  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. 3, 102
  8. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
  10. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org