lange

Forms

lange^[1] Comparative länger, superlative am längsten; colloquially also lang.^[2][1] Early New High German also had a comparative leng, as in Burkard Waldis.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German lange, also langen, inherited from Old High German lango (“for a long time, long ago”), the adverb of the adjective lang.^[4][5][1] The adjective is lang, from Proto-Germanic *langaz (“long”), the same word as Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌲𐍃 (laggs), Old Norse langr, Old English lang, Old Frisian lang and Old Saxon lang, and today Dutch lang and English long.^[6][4][7]

Kluge compares it in the first place only with Latin longus (“long”).^[6] Other words for “long”, such as Ancient Greek δολιχός (dolikhós), Sanskrit दीर्घ (dīrghá), Old Church Slavonic дльгъ (dlĭgŭ) and Lithuanian ìlgas, rest on a base without a nasal; a common source *dlongh- would fit both, but Kluge calls the connection problematic and disputed.^[6] Pfeifer accepts it and derives the whole group from a nasalised extension of Proto-Indo-European *del- (“long”), adding Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌻𐌲𐌿𐍃 (tulgus, “firm, steadfast”).^[4][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German lango is recorded from the 8th century, meaning “for a long time, long ago, long since”.^[4][9] It occurs in the Tatian, Otfrid, Notker, Williram, the Benedictine Rule and the Ludwigslied, and a form lange in Isidor and the Monsee fragments.^[9] Otfrid's dedication to King Louis asks: lango, liobo druhtin mîn, lâʒ imo thie dagâ sîn “dear Lord, let his days be long”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the start the adverb was temporal, and modern German keeps it apart from the adjective, which also covers length in space.^[3][5] Adelung, around 1800, notes that lange is used of time only where no noun of time is present (lange schreiben beside lange Zeit).^[10] It goes with verbs of lasting, staying and living, as in Luther's auf das du lang lebest im lande (Exodus 20:12) and the proverb ehrlich währt am längsten.^[3]

With a following nicht it means “by far, not nearly”: lange nicht so gut.^[2] The line lang, lang ist's her comes from the German version of Thomas Haynes Bayly's English song “Long, long ago”.^[2] Related adverbs come from the genitive of the adjective: längs (a preposition since the 14th century), and with a secondary /t/ längst “long since” and unlängst “recently”, from 15th-century unlang(e)s.^[4][5]

Timeline

• 8th century – Old High German lango.^[4]
• 9th century – Otfrid uses lango in his dedication to King Louis.^[3][9]
• 14th century – längs, the genitive of the adjective, becomes a preposition.^[4]
• 15th century – unlang(e)s, the source of unlängst.^[4]
• 1793 – Adelung restricts lange to time where no noun of time is used.^[10]

Meanings

Adverb

1. For a long time: wir haben lange auf den Bus gewartet;^[2][1] schon lange “for a long time now”;^[2][1] es ist lange her “it was long ago”.^[2][1]
2. (colloquial, ironic) da kannst du lange warten: that will never happen.^[2]
3. With a following nicht: by far, not nearly: das reicht noch lange nicht.^[2]

Related words

• lang
• längst
• längs
• unlängst
• Länge
• English long

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
3. ^ a b c d e Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 12, 162
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
5. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
6. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 558
7. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 5, 1009
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
9. ^ a b c Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 192
10. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf