während

Forms

während (preposition with the genitive, colloquially also with the dative; conjunction)^[2][1]

Etymology

It arose in the 18th century from the present participle of währen “to last”.^[3][4][5] In phrases where the participle agreed with a noun in the genitive, meaning “in the time of the lasting war” and the like, it was reinterpreted as a preposition governing that case; the Grimms' dictionary sees French pendant as the model.^[4][6][1] The conjunction developed from the preposition, and its sense of contrast grew out of that of simultaneity, as with other conjunctions.^[3][4]

The verb is Middle High German wern, Old High German werēn, Old Saxon weron, Old English werian (“to remain”), a durative verb formed to wesan (“to be, stay”) (see Wesen), with the change of /s/ to /r/ known as grammatical change; it thus first meant “to be lasting”.^[3][4][5] Köbler gives the root as Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to dwell, stay”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pfeifer traces it to phrases such as in währender Zeit from the 17th century.^[4] Gottsched already knew the prepositional use but rejected it, arguing that nobody says dauernd der Zeit; the first dictionary to list it is Nieremberger's of 1753.^[6]

Semantic evolution

As a conjunction it grew from während dessen and während dem, daß in the first half of the 18th century, through shortened während daß (from 1760), to plain während around 1800.^[4] Adelung considered it most usual as a preposition with the genitive and condemned the dative, common in Upper German, as well as combinations such as unter währender Mahlzeit.^[8] The dative is still colloquial today, and in Switzerland the preposition is also used with dauern.^[2] As a participle it survives in compounds such as immerwährend.^[8]

Timeline

• 17th century – in währender Zeit is in use.^[4]
• First half of the 18th century – während dessen and während dem, daß appear.^[4]
• 1753 – Nieremberger lists während as a preposition.^[6]
• 1760 – während daß is recorded.^[4]
• c. 1800 – Plain während becomes usual as a conjunction.^[4]

Meanings

Preposition

1. During, in the course of: während der Ferien.^[2][1]

Conjunction

1. While, at the same time as: Während er kochte, deckte sie den Tisch.^[2][1]
2. Whereas, expressing a contrast.^[2][1]

Related words

• währen
• Währung
• Wesen
• langwierig

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
3. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 968
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
5. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 917
6. ^ a b c Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 27, 807
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf