seit
Pronunciation
Forms
seit[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle High German sīt, inherited from Old High German sīd, inherited from Proto-Germanic *seiþiz (“later”), an old comparative adverb whose ending was regularly lost in West Germanic, so that the preposition properly meant “later than”.[2][3][4] The same word is Old Saxon sīð, Old English sīþ, Old Norse síðr (“less, hardly”) and the second element in Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌸𐍃 (þanaseiþs, “further, any more”).[2][3] The positive of the adjective, meaning “late”, is Proto-Germanic *sīþuz, kept in 𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌸𐌿𐍃 (seiþus, “late”).[1][3][4]
Outside Germanic the closest match is Latin sērus (“late”), which became a noun for “evening” as the Gothic phrase 𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌸𐌿 𐍅𐌰𐍂𐌸 (seiþu warþ, “it became late”) means “evening came”;[2][1] Kluge also compares Sanskrit सायम् (sāyám, “in the evening”).[2][1] Kluge derives these from a root Proto-Indo-European *sēi- (“to let go, cease”), through a sense “at the ceasing”;[2] Pfeifer likewise considers the root behind säen, in a secondary sense “let the hand drop, linger”, possible,[3] while Wiktionary starts from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“long, lasting”).[1] The dative after the preposition stands for the ablative that once followed a comparative.[3][5]
Earliest recorded meaning
Old High German sīd is first recorded about 800, in the Hildebrandslied, and appears also in the Muspilli, the Ludwigslied, Otfrid and Notker.[3][6] It was an adverb meaning “afterwards, later, since then”, a preposition “since, after” and a conjunction “since, after, because”.[6][7]
Semantic evolution
As a free adverb meaning “later” the word died out;[5] Paul cites Rückert's artificial revival of it.[5] With a dative, seit “later than” came to mean “from a given time until now” (seit ihrer Geburt), and then also counted a period (seit einem Jahr).[5][3] The causal sense “because”, supported in Middle High German by sīt daʒ, has been lost, and the coordinating use passed to seitdem (adverb about 1700, conjunction 18th century), probably shortened from a phrase such as Middle High German sīt dem māle “since the time”.[3][4] seither (16th century) goes back to Middle High German sīt her, influenced by the comparative sīder “later”.[3]
Timeline
- c. 800 – Old High German sīd is recorded.[3][8]
- 16th century – seither “since then” is first recorded.[3]
- c. 1700 – seitdem is used as an adverb.[3]
- 18th century – seitdem is used as a conjunction.[3]
Meanings
Preposition
- (with dative) since: from a point in time on, until now: seit dem Frühjahr.[9][1]
- (with dative) for, over a period up to now: Wir warten seit zwei Stunden.[9][1]
Conjunction
Word family
- seitdem
- seither
Related words
- sintemal
- säen
Usage notes
The fixed phrase seit eh und je means “for as long as anyone can remember, always”.[9] Paul notes that seit lange is found in Lenau and Grillparzer, while seit langem is the usual form.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 841
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 772
- ^ a b c d e Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
- ^ a b Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 279
- ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
- ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag