warum

Forms

warum (interrogative and relative adverb, not inflected)^[2][1] The spelling warumb lasted into the second half of the 17th century.^[3][4] The first vowel long wavered between a and o (worumb, worum), until Adelung limited worum to the sense “about what”, which became the rule.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German warumbe, inherited from Old High German wārumbi, formed from Old High German wār (“where”) + umbi (“around, about”): the adverbs that became wo and um.^[5][3][6] The same compound is Middle Low German warumme, Middle Dutch waeromme and Old Frisian hwerumbe, now Dutch waarom.^[3][4] Unlike the modern word for “where”, it keeps the old long /aː/ and the final /r/ of the Old High German adverb.^[3] Wiktionary calls it a doublet of worum that kept the older vowel, and notes that the Dutch word has both meanings.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The compound appears only in late Old High German, first in Notker around 1000;^[4][3] Kluge dates it to the 11th century.^[5] Already in Middle High German the Central German sources assimilate it to warumme and shorten it to warumb, warum.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Warum nicht as a concession is recorded from the 15th century, warum nicht gar! as an expression of firm refusal or surprise from the middle of the 18th century, and the answer warum? – darum! from the 15th or 16th century; today it serves to refuse a reason.^[6] The noun das Warum “the reason” goes back to Middle High German;^[6] Schopenhauer called it the mother of all sciences.^[6]

Earlier warum was also used where worum is now usual, as in Lessing, and as a relative after a noun, as in Schiller's wegen des Geldes, warum ich sie ersuchte.^[6] Kanzlei language of the 16th and 17th centuries had a lengthened form warumben, and in the dialects the vowel was weakened or lost.^[4]

Timeline

• About 1000 – Late Old High German wārumbi in Notker.^[3][4]
• Middle High German – The shortened forms warumme, warum appear in Central German.^[4]
• 15th century – warum nicht as a concession.^[6]
• 15th–16th century – The answer warum? – darum!^[6]
• Second half of the 17th century – The spelling warumb gives way to warum.^[3][4]
• Mid-18th century – warum nicht gar!^[6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. (interrogative) why, for what reason, in direct and indirect questions: Warum kommst du so spät?;^[2][1] Ich verstehe nicht, warum sie gegangen ist.^[2][1]
2. (relative) For which reason: Der Grund, warum er absagte, blieb unklar.^[2][7]
3. (as a noun, das Warum) The reason: nach dem Warum fragen.^[2][6]

Related words

• wo
• um
• worum
• darum
• weshalb

Usage notes

Warum nicht gleich so? (colloquial) means “why not like that in the first place?”.^[2] Adelung held that strictly warum asks for a purpose and so suits only beings capable of intention, though he admits the rule is seldom kept.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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 e f g h i Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 27, 2188
5. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 972
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
7. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
8. ^ Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf, p. 4, 1392