etwas

Forms

etwas (indeclinable pronoun, determiner and adverb; colloquially shortened to was)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German etewaʒ, inherited from Old High German eddeshwaz, the neuter of a lost pronoun eddeshwer (“someone”).^[2][3][4] The second part is the interrogative was; the first is a prefix eddes- (“some-”), which also forms etlich and etwa and is found only in German.^[5][2][3] Its origin is unclear: Kluge and Pfeifer think it may belong with the conjunction oder, Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌸𐌸𐌰𐌿 (aiþþau), and Wiktionary compares Proto-Germanic *ehþau (“or, otherwise”).^[5][2][1] The Duden and Wahrig suggest that the pronoun arose as a loan translation of Latin aliquid (“something”).^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German eddeshwaz is first recorded in glosses of the 8th century, and then in the Benedictine Rule, Otfrid and Notker, meaning “something, anything”; as an adverb, “a little, somehow”, it appears from Notker (about 1000) on.^[7][8][2]

Semantic evolution

Paul explains that Middle High German etewaz referred to a particular thing that one could not or would not name, while iht meant “anything at all”; in New High German the distinction was lost and etwas took over the role of iht.^[4] The masculine etwer “someone” became rare in the literary language in the 16th century but survived in Upper German dialects as epper, just as etwas became eppes.^[4][9]

In Middle High German etewaz governed a partitive genitive (etwas Gutes was originally “something of good”), but the genitive fell together with the nominative and is no longer felt.^[4][10] From the indefinite sense came “a little, some”, as in etwas Geld, and the adverb “somewhat”.^[3][2] The noun das Etwas appears in the mystics and spreads from the late 17th century;^[11][2][3] ein gewisses Etwas belongs to the popular philosophy of the 18th century.^[11][2][3] Modern Hebrew has epes “something, about”, listed among German loanwords.^[12]

Timeline

• 8th century – Old High German eddeshwaz appears in glosses.^[2][8]
• c. 1000 – Notker uses the adverb “a little”.^[8]
• 16th century – The masculine etwer “someone” becomes rare in literature.^[4]
• Mid-17th century – The adverbial phrase in etwas “to some degree” becomes common.^[2]
• Late 17th century – The noun Etwas spreads.^[2]
• 1764 – Hafner writes of ein gewisses Etwas that charms women.^[11]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. something, an unspecified thing: hast du etwas gehört?^[13][1]
2. Before a nominalised adjective: something …: etwas Neues.^[13]

Determiner

1. Some, a little: etwas Milch.^[1][13]

Adverb

1. somewhat, slightly: etwas müde.^[1][13]

Word family

• Etwas

Related words

• etwa
• etlich
• was

Usage notes

Das gewisse Etwas is an attractive quality that is hard to define.^[13] In colloquial German etwas is often replaced by was (ich muss dir was sagen).^[3][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 245
4. ^ a b c d e 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 Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 262
6. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
7. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 83
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
9. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 1185
10. ^ 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. 8, 2424
11. ^ a b c 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. 8, 2426
12. ^ Lehnwortportal Deutsch (2012–), Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, lwp.ids-mannheim.de
13. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag