sonst

Forms

sonst^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German sunst, older sus, inherited from Old High German sus (“so, thus”), and first meant “so”.^[2][3][1] The same word is Old Saxon sus, continued in Dutch zus.^[2][3][4] Beside it stand forms with a different initial: thus, Old English þus and Old Frisian thus, continued in English thus and Dutch dus.^[2][3]

Its origin is unclear, though the pronoun stems of so and der certainly took part in it.^[2] Pfeifer and Paul take it from the demonstrative stem Proto-Indo-European *to-, with the initial altered under the influence of that adverb;^[3][5] the Grimms' dictionary, following Sievers, calls it a German remodelling of Proto-West Germanic *þus.^[6] The EWA sees in it a combination of the pronoun stems.^[4]

The final /t/ was added later (sust, until the 16th century), and the /n/ is an irregular nasalization from the 14th century, as in seit; the /u/ became /o/ before the nasal from the 16th century.^[2][3] Duden and Wahrig explain the modern form instead as a contraction of the phrase sō ne ist (“if it is not so”), influenced by the older adverb; the Central German form with /o/ spread through Luther's Bible.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German sus is recorded from the 8th century, in glosses and in the Hildebrandslied, Isidor, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker, meaning “so, in this way, as follows”.^[9][10][4]

Semantic evolution

Old and Middle High German sus meant “so, to such a degree, in such a way”, and survived until the 15th century.^[3][11] The present meaning developed from Middle High German on, by way of “but so, but now, if not” after conditions, requests and wishes.^[3] Kluge places the change in elliptical threats: “do A, so (as things stand) I do B” was understood as “do A, otherwise I do B”.^[2] The old sense lasted longest in the pairing with so: Luther writes so und sonst for “this and that, thus and thus”.^[5]

From “in the other case” came the temporal sense “at other times, usually”, a dated “formerly”, and, closely tied to a noun or pronoun, “besides, else”.^[5][12] The extended form sonsten is recorded from the 15th century and was very common in the 17th and 18th, and ansonsten spread from the 18th century.^[7][5] The colloquial retort sonst geht's dir gut? (“you must be mad!”) is recorded in Berlin in 1897.^[5] Umsonst comes from Middle High German umbe sus, “for a so”, that is, for nothing.^[3][7]

Timeline

• 8th century – Old High German sus “so” is recorded.^[2][9]
• 14th century – The nasalized form sunst appears.^[2][3]
• 15th century – sus “so” goes out of use;^[3][7] sonsten is first recorded.^[3][7]
• 16th century – The spelling with o, sonst, becomes established.^[3]
• 18th century – ansonsten and the adjective sonstig spread.^[7][3]
• 1897 – The retort sonst geht's dir gut? is recorded in Berlin.^[5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. At other times, usually, normally: Er kommt sonst immer pünktlich.^[12][1]
2. (dated) Formerly, once.^[12]
3. Besides, else, apart from what is mentioned: Wer war sonst noch dort?^[12][1]
4. otherwise, or else: Beeil dich, sonst verpasst du den Zug.^[12][1]

Word family

• sonstig
• umsonst
• ansonsten
• sonstwie
• sonstwo

Related words

• so
• English thus

Usage notes

Sonst noch was? and Sonst geht's dir gut? are slangy retorts expressing indignant refusal.^[12][5] With indefinite words it marks something unspecified or special: sonst wer “anybody at all” or “somebody important”, sonst wo “somewhere else entirely”.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 858
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 8, 1452
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 16, 1730
7. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
8. ^ Wahrig-Burfeind, Renate, ed., Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch, Gütersloh / München: Wissen Media Verlag; online edition at wissen.de
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
10. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 323
11. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 2, 1327
12. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag