zwar

Forms

zwar (adverb, not inflected)^[1] Dialect and older forms include zwaren, Central German zwarten, used by Luther, and Low German twars.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German zwāre, a contraction of ze wāre (“in truth”), inherited from Old High German zi wāre (“truly, indeed”).^[3][4][1] The phrase consists of the preposition zu and the neuter of wahr used as a noun, as in fürwahr.^[3][4][5] The same phrase is Middle Low German twāre.^[4][1]

The concessive use developed first in Middle Low German: an assurance of truth was followed by an objection.^[4][1] Kluge notes that a confirmation is a common starting point for a concession, as with gewiss.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German zi wāre is recorded from the 8th century, meaning “in truth, truly, indeed, certainly”.^[4][6] Adelung cites the form ziuuare from Isidor.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German zewāre, from Lamprecht's Alexander (1150–1170) on, still meant “truly, certainly”.^[8] The contracted zwar is found in Early New High German from the 15th century.^[4] The Grimms' dictionary shows the passage from assurance to concession in 16th-century texts; once an objection followed, zwar became a concessive word answered by aber, doch or allein.^[2][9] Adelung, around 1800, still recognized the older sense of assurance as the first one.^[7]

Und zwar, introducing a closer description, dates from the 16th century.^[9] Goethe once separated the two words: ist die Nacht das halbe Leben, und die schönste Hälfte zwar.^[9] With ob it formed the conjunction obzwar.^[9]

Timeline

• 8th century – Old High German zi wāre “in truth” is recorded.^[4]
• 1150–1170 – Middle High German zewāre is used in Lamprecht's Alexander.^[8]
• 15th century – Contracted zwar appears.^[4]
• 16th century – zwar is used as a concessive, and und zwar appears.^[2][9]

Meanings

Adverb

1. With aber or doch: admittedly, it is true that: das Hotel ist zwar teuer, aber sehr schön.^[10][1]
2. In und zwar: namely, to be precise: ich komme morgen, und zwar um acht.^[10][1]
3. In und zwar: adds force to a request or order: räum dein Zimmer auf, und zwar sofort!^[1]

Word family

• obzwar

Related words

• wahr
• zu
• fürwahr

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 32, 949
3. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 1018
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
5. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 958
6. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
7. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag