innerhalb

Forms

innerhalb^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German innerhalp, inherited from Old High German innerūnhalp, also ininhalb and innanhalb, literally “on the inner side”.^[2][3] The phrase joins an inflected form of the adjective innaro (“inner”) and halba (“side, direction”), the word in -halb and halb.^[2][3]

The adjective inner is a comparative formation to the adverb inne (“inside”), from the preposition in, which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *en (“in”), as in Ancient Greek ἐν (en) and Latin in.^[3][2] Formed the same way are außerhalb, oberhalb and unterhalb.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pfeifer dates Old High German innarūnhalb to about 1000;^[3][2] Kluge dates the word to the 11th century.^[3][2] Middle High German innerhalbe “inside, within, in the middle” appears from the second half of the 12th century.^[4] The Nibelungenlied has innerthalben as an adverb, and Hartmann's Iwein inrehalp dem tor “inside the gate” as a preposition with the dative.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The Grimms list three uses: an adverb of place, “on the inner side” (Maaler glosses innerthalb with Latin intrinsecus, intra), a rare adverb of time, “meanwhile”, used by Luther, and most often a preposition of place or of an abstract range, with the dative or the genitive.^[5] Early New High German shows the same adverb and preposition, also with an added dental, innerthalb.^[6]

Adelung gives the preposition with the genitive, both of place (innerhalb der Stadt) and of time: the time needed to finish something, or a coming period counted from now.^[7] He notes inner, innert and innerwärts as the Upper German equivalents and binnen as the Low German one.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – Old High German innarūnhalb is recorded.^[3]
• 2nd half of the 12th century – Middle High German innerhalbe appears in Himmelreich.^[4]
• c. 1200 – The Nibelungenlied uses innerthalben.^[5][4]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with genitive) within, inside: in a bounded space or area: innerhalb der Altstadt, innerhalb der Partei.^[8][1]
2. (with genitive) Within a period of time, in the course of: innerhalb eines Monats.^[8] With the dative when the genitive cannot be seen: innerhalb zwei Tagen.^[8][1]

Adverb

1. (with von) Inside, in the area of: innerhalb von Hamburg.^[8][1]
2. (with von) In the course of, within: innerhalb von drei Wochen.^[8][1]

Related words

• unterhalb
• oberhalb
• inner
• innen
• außerhalb
• binnen
• halb

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 445
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
5. ^ 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. 10, 2132
6. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
7. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
8. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag