nämlich
Pronunciation
Forms
nämlich (no predicative form, strong nominative masculine singular nämlicher, not comparable)[1] Older spellings are nemlich, and, by association with nehmen, nähmlich and nehmlich;[2] Swabian and Alemannic usually have namlich without umlaut.[2]
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle High German nemelīche, also namelīche, the adverb of namelich (“named, known, explicit”),[3][4][2] inherited from Old High German namalīh (“important, known”), formed from Old High German namo + -līh.[5][3] The parts are Name and -lich.[1] Kluge treats it as the same word as namentlich, with umlaut after the suffix syllable was shortened; the other form took a secondary ⟨t⟩ in the 15th century.[6][3] The meaning is thus “expressly named”, which is why the word now introduces a closer specification.[6]
Old High German namo is the common Germanic word for “name”, the same as Gothic 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 (namō) and English name, and related to Latin nōmen and Ancient Greek ὄνομα (ónoma).[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
The adverb namalīhho “by name” is recorded in Old High German glosses of the 9th century;[5][3] Notker (about 1000) has the adjective namalīh “known, important”.[5][3] Pfeifer also cites neminlīh from the 10th century.[3]
Semantic evolution
In Middle High German the adverb meant “expressly, by name; above all; truly; in the same way”.[7][2] The adjective meant “named and specified”, as in a 1521 court order summoning someone auff einem nähmlichen tag “on a named day”, and “well known, notable”; both senses are now gone.[2][3] After der or dieser Central German used it for “the one just named”, from which came the adjective der nämliche “the very same”, first in Aler's dictionary;[2] Gottsched and Adelung objected to it.[2]
The Early New High German dictionary already shows the modern uses, “namely, that is to say” and “especially, above all”.[8] The causal use, giving the reason for what was just said, is now the most frequent, and it often fades into a mere filler.[4]
Timeline
- 9th century – Old High German namalīhho “by name” in glosses.[5]
- 10th century – neminlīh.[3]
- c. 1000 – namalīh in Notker.[5][3]
- 13th century – Middle High German name(n)līche.[6][9]
- 15th century – namentlich with ⟨t⟩ splits off.[3]
- 1521 – auff einem nähmlichen tag in a court order.[2]
Meanings
Adverb
- Since, you see (giving a reason, placed after the verb): Ich komme heute nicht, ich bin nämlich krank.[4][1]
- namely, that is to say: zweimal im Monat, nämlich am ersten und am fünfzehnten.[4][1][9]
Adjective
Related words
- Name
- namentlich
- namhaft
Usage notes
In speech the word is often reduced to /ˈnɛm(l)ɪç/.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 13, 345
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
- ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
- ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
- ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 648
- ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
- ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
- ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org