Etymologically
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schon

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Pronunciation

  • /ʃoːn/, /ʃɔn/[1]

Forms

schon (adverb, particle)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German schōne (“beautifully, fittingly, completely”), inherited from Old High German scōno (“beautifully”), inherited from Proto-Germanic *skaunō, originally the adverb of the adjective that became schön.[2][3][1][4] The adverb kept its old vowel without umlaut, and so parted from the adjective, in the same way as fast beside fest.[4][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German scōno is used by Otfrid (863–871), and in Notker and the Physiologus, meaning “beautifully, splendidly, gloriously” and also “rightly, well”.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century the adverb became independent of the adjective.[2][4] Its meaning “in a fine way” passed to “in a fitting, proper way, so that nothing is lacking”, and then to “completely”.[3][4] With words such as bereit “ready” it could be understood in a temporal way: Middle High German eʒ ist alleʒ schōne bereit “everything is completely ready” became “everything is already ready”.[3][2] Paul finds the sense “already” in the Augsburg town book in the second half of the 13th century.[8] Wiktionary compares the development of English pretty.[1]

The old sense “beautifully” lived on in Early New High German;[5] Luther writes die fromen sollen jn schon preisen (“the righteous shall praise him well”, Psalm 33:1).[5] In some dialects it is still found, as in Bavarian schôn tuen.[5]

Timeline

  • 863–871 – Otfrid uses Old High German scōno “beautifully”.[6]
  • 13th century – The adverb becomes independent of the adjective schön.[2][3]
  • Second half of the 13th century – First use in the sense “already”, in the Augsburg town book.[8]
  • 16th century – Luther still uses schon for “beautifully”.[5]
  • 17th century – The form schone is still used by Logau.[8]
  • 1691 – Stieler records schon längst “long since”.[8]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. already: earlier or sooner than expected.[9][1]
  2. Already, as much as: more than expected (sie ist schon 90).[9]
  3. Even, just: less than expected is needed (schon ein Remis wäre ein Erfolg).[9]
  4. As early as: something is not new (schon Platon).[9]
  5. Before, ever: at some time in the past.[1]
  6. (in questions) yet.[1]

Particle

  1. Admittedly, surely: marks a concession or weighs arguments.[1]
  2. Adds positive emphasis, often when something else is denied.[1]

Word family

  • wennschon

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 824
  3. ^ a b c d e 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 d Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
  5. ^ 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. 15, 1459
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  7. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 291
  8. ^ a b c d 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 d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag