es German · revision 34787

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 8th century, Old High German Isidor|origins=ine-pro *id}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Stressed: /ɛs/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Unstressed: /əs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''es''' ''n'' sg^(Wiktionary)

+ Middle High German had ''ëȥ'' and ''iȥ''; the spelling with ''s'' first appears in the last quarter of the 13th century in Alemannic manuscripts, while forms with ''i'' lasted in Central German texts into the first half of the 16th century.^(DWB2|8, 2379) In the 15th and 16th centuries ''esz'', ''isz'' and ''ehs'' are also found.^(DWB|3, 1104)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|ëȥ]], [[inh|goh|iȥ]], [[inh|gem-pro|*it]].^(Kluge 2011|252)^(Wiktionary)^(DWB2|8, 2379) The same word is [[got|𐌹𐍄𐌰|tr=ita]] and [[osx|it]], and it survives as [[nds|it]].^(DWB2|8, 2379)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|3, 1104) [[ang|hit]], the source of [[en|it]], and [[m|dum|het]] go back instead to a form with initial h-, [[gem-pro|*hit]].^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ It is the neuter of [[er]] and continues [[ine-pro|*id]], which is also [[la|id]]; [[sa|इदम्|tr=idám]] is formed from the same pronominal stem.^(Kluge 2011|252)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Orel 2003) The revised Grimm describes it as built with the pronominal ending -d on the zero grade of the stem [[ine-pro|*ei-]], but calls its further connections disputed.^(DWB2|8, 2379) In the North Germanic languages it was replaced by the demonstrative pronoun.^(DWB2|8, 2379)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''iz'' is recorded from the 8th century; the Old High German Isidor of the late 8th century already uses it for a neuter noun, “it”.^(DWB2|8, 2379)^(Köbler AHD) Notker writes ''iz ist lîeht'' “it is a light”.^(DWB2|8, 2379)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Besides standing for a neuter noun, ''es'' came to refer to a whole statement or to something given only by the situation (''es ist ein Junge'' “it's a boy”).^(Paul 2002) From this grew its use as the subject of impersonal verbs such as ''es regnet'' “it is raining”, where it first pointed to the situation and then became a mere formal subject.^(Paul 2002) Without ''es'' only some phrases with a dative or accusative in front survive, such as ''mich friert'' “I am cold”.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ The unstressed pronoun was shortened in Middle High German after verbs and pronouns (''ich binʒ'' “it is I”), as in modern ''ich bin's'' and ''gibs''.^(DWB|3, 1104)^(Wiktionary DE) The weakening of the final sound to ''s'' made the word look like the old genitive ''es'', which the Grimms regretted as a source of confusion.^(DWB|3, 1104) In 1923 Freud used ''das Es'', after Georg Groddeck, for the unconscious part of the psyche, and this [[Es]] gave the semantic loan [[la|id]] of psychoanalysis.^(DWB2|8, 2383)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 8th century – The Old High German Isidor uses ''izs'' for a neuter noun.^(DWB2|8, 2379)

+ * 1060–1080 – Middle High German ''ez'' is used in the Early Middle High German ''Genesis''.^(Köbler MHD)

+ * 1278 – A Basel charter has one of the first spellings ''es'' with ''s''.^(DWB2|8, 2379)

+ * First half of the 16th century – The last forms with ''i'' appear in Central German texts.^(DWB2|8, 2379)

+ * 1923 – Freud uses ''das Es'' as a term of psychology.^(DWB2|8, 2383)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # It; the third person singular neuter, nominative and accusative, standing for a neuter noun: ''es ist sehr spannend'' “it (the book) is very exciting”; also ''he'' or ''she'' for persons named by a neuter noun (''das Mädchen'').^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # It, so; standing for a [[m|en|predicate]] or a whole clause: ''er ist wütend, und sie ist es auch'' “he is angry, and so is she”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # Announcing a subject or clause that follows later in the sentence.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # It, there; as an empty grammatical subject of impersonal verbs and phrases: ''es regnet'' “it is raining”.^(Paul 2002)^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # As an empty grammatical object in some phrases.^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Es]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[er]]

+ * [[en|it]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In regional colloquial speech ''es'' or ''’s'' is also used for the article [[das]].^(Wiktionary) In Bavarian an old dual form ''es'' means “you” (plural), ''ihr'' in the standard language.^(FWB) Dialects often refer to a girl with ''es'' instead of ''sie''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}