Etymologically
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vielleicht

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Pronunciation

  • /fiˈlaɪ̯çt/, [fiˈlaɪ̯çt][1]

Forms

vielleicht[1] Frisch wanted the word written with one l, deriving it from the suffix -icht, and Gottsched wrote vieleicht.[2][3] Adelung rejected this, pointing to the stress on the second syllable.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German vil līhte (“very easily”), a phrase of vil (“much, very”) and līhte (“easily”), later written as one word.[4][5][6][3] The same compound is found in Low German villicht, Dutch wellicht and Saterland Frisian fielicht, beside Middle Dutch veellicht.[1][3]

The first part is viel, from Old High German filu and Proto-Germanic *felu-, related to Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌿 (filu), Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “much”) and Sanskrit पुरु (purú, “much”).[5][7] The second is the adverb of leicht, Old High German līhti, related to Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃 (leihts) and Latin levis (“light”).[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle High German vil līhte is recorded from the 12th century, and Kluge finds the modern meaning there from the start.[4] The Grimms' dictionary notes that the phrase also meant “very easily, without difficulty”, and that the older language still felt the link with leicht, so that it expressed a confident expectation or fear more than a mere possibility.[3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle High German and older New High German, līhte on its own also meant “perhaps”.[3] Because the stress lies on the second syllable, the vowel of the first was weakened, the connection with viel was no longer felt, and dialect forms even show the prefix ver- in its place.[3] The German Wiktionary dates the spelling as one word to the 15th century.[6]

Beside the sense “perhaps” the word came to mean “about, roughly” before numbers.[9][6] As an unstressed particle it gives emphasis to exclamations, makes a command sound impatient or threatening, marks a question that expects the answer “no”, and softens a polite request.[9][1] Pfeifer gives the meanings “possibly, perhaps, about” and “kindly” in requests.[5]

Timeline

  • 12th century – Middle High German vil līhte is recorded.[4]
  • 15th century – The phrase begins to be written as one word.[6]
  • 1540 – Alberus's dictionary glosses vileicht with Latin forte.[3]
  • 1793 – Braun's orthographical dictionary prescribes vielleicht, nicht vieleicht.[3]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. perhaps, maybe, possibly: Vielleicht regnet es morgen.[9][1]
  2. About, roughly, approximately, before a number: ein Mann von vielleicht sechzig Jahren.[9][6]

Particle

  1. (colloquial) In exclamations, stresses how great something is: Das war vielleicht ein Schreck![9][1]
  2. At the start of a command, adds an impatient or threatening tone: Vielleicht hörst du jetzt mal zu![9]
  3. In a yes–no question, shows that the speaker expects the answer “no”: Ist das vielleicht meine Schuld?[9]
  4. In polite questions, takes the place of bitte: Könnten Sie vielleicht das Fenster schließen?[1][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  3. ^ 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. 26, 236
  4. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 960
  5. ^ a b c d Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  6. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  7. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 3, 228
  8. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 569
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag