neben

Forms

neben (preposition with the dative for position and the accusative for direction; also an adverb)^[2][1] Middle High German also had nebent, with a secondary /t/, which survives in Alemannic nebend and nebet.^[3][4] Forms with -s and -st, nebens and nebenst, gave rise to nebst.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German neben, inherited from Old High German neben, shortened from Middle High German eneben and Old High German ineben.^[6][4][7] That form grew out of the phrase Old High German in eban, made of in and the adjective eben “level, equal”, so that it first meant “in the same way, on the same level”.^[6][8][7] The Duden dictionaries trace it to an adverbial phrase with the noun ebanī (“equality”).^[9][2] The same phrase is Old Saxon an eban and Old English on efen, which survives in the older English anent, and the shortened form is also Middle Low German nēven and Dutch neven.^[4][6][1]

The initial vowel was lost by aphaeresis as early as Notker.^[3] Unlike gegen, from engegen, which lost the whole syllable, the word kept its /n/ because the consonant attached to the stressed vowel.^[3] Because the adjective governed the dative, the phrase at first took only that case; once its origin was obscured, it was treated like the other prepositions of place and took the accusative for direction, first in Rhenish and Central German texts of the 12th century.^[8][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German in eban and ineben “side by side, on the same level” are recorded around 1000, and Notker already has the shortened neben.^[4][3] Kluge dates the word to the 11th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Paul explains that the word first meant “on the same level”, in contrast to über and unter, and then, with reference to the human body, “at the side”, in contrast to vor and hinter.^[8] From space it was transferred to rank, putting one person on a par with another, and to simultaneity, “in addition to”.^[8][2]

In compounds neben usually expresses subordination, as in Nebensache, first recorded in Schottel (1641), Nebenfrau and Nebenrolle (Goethe); more rarely it expresses equality, as in Nebenbuhler.^[8][9][4] Compounds such as Nebenmensch and Nebenchrist, “fellow man, fellow Christian”, have been replaced by forms with Mit-.^[8] The preposition nebst “together with” arose in the 17th century from nebenst and has been the only usual form since the 18th century.^[4][9]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – Old High German in eban and ineben are recorded.^[4]
• 11th century – Notker uses the shortened neben.^[3][6]
• 12th century – Rhenish and Central German texts use the accusative after it.^[3][4]
• End of the 15th century – The form nebens appears.^[4]
• 1641 – Schottel records Nebensache.^[4][8]
• First half of the 17th century – nebenst appears, which gives nebst.^[4]
• End of the 17th century – nebensächlich is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with dative) beside, next to, right by: Die Lampe steht neben dem Bett.^[2][1]
2. (with accusative) To a place beside: Sie setzte sich neben ihren Vater.^[2]
3. (with dative) In addition to, besides, apart from: Neben dem Studium arbeitet er in einem Café.^[2][1]
4. (with dative) Compared with: Neben ihr wirkt er klein.^[2][1]

Adverb

1. (rare, literary) Next to it, alongside.^[2]

Word family

• nebenan
• nebenbei
• nebeneinander
• nebenher
• nebst
• Nebensache
• nebensächlich
• Nebenbuhler

Related words

• eben
• Ebene
• in
• English anent

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 f g Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 13, 490
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
5. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
6. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 650
7. ^ a b Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
8. ^ a b c d e f g Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
9. ^ a b c Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 579