sich German · revision 34792

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=765, Old High German glosses|origins=ine-pro *se-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /zɪç/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sich''' (both accusative and dative)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|sich]], [[inh|goh|sih]], [[inh|gem-pro|*sek]].^(Kluge 2011|847)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same pronoun is [[got|𐍃𐌹𐌺|tr=sik]], [[non|sik]], [[ofs|sik]] and [[gml|sik]].^(Kluge 2011|847)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Orel 2003) It was built, like [[mich]] and [[dich]], on the reflexive pronoun [[ine-pro|*se-]], which also gave [[la|sē]], [[lt|-si]] and [[cu|сѧ|tr=sę]].^(Kluge 2011|847)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) Pfeifer adds [[grc|ἕ|tr=hé]], [[sa|स्वयम्|tr=svayám|t=self]] and [[ru|себя|tr=sebjá]], and traces all of them to pronominal stems whose first meaning was “apart, separately, by oneself”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ The pronoun was originally only an accusative.^(Kluge 2011|847)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|7, 1198) Gothic had a separate dative [[m|got|𐍃𐌹𐍃|tr=sis]], but Old High German no longer had one and used the dative forms of [[er]] instead.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|16, 709) Old English and Old Saxon gave up the reflexive pronoun altogether and used the personal pronoun.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|16, 709) [[nl|zich]] was borrowed from German.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|7, 1198) The pronoun has nothing to do with [[sicher]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''sih'' is recorded from the 8th century, first in glosses of about 765 and then in the Mondsee fragments, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.^(EWA|7, 1198)^(Köbler AHD) It meant “oneself” for all genders and both numbers, and ''durh sih'' meant “in itself, by itself, independently”.^(EWA|7, 1198)^(Schützeichel 2012|280) The ''Hildebrandslied'' and the ''Muspilli'' already use it.^(Schützeichel 2012|280)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle High German ''sich'' began to be used as a dative as well,^(EWA|7, 1198) at first only in the northern part of Central German.^(Wiktionary) The older use of the personal pronoun lasted long: Luther generally wrote ''ihm'', ''ihr'' and ''ihnen'' as reflexive datives (''Gott schuf den Menschen ihm zum Bilde'' “God created man in his own image”), and the ''sich'' of later Bible editions is not his.^(Paul 2002) A rare dative ''sir'', formed after [[mir]] and [[dir]], appeared in Early New High German, but the plural ''sich'' beside the merged forms [[uns]] and [[euch]] stood in its way.^(Wiktionary) The old genitive ''sein'' was replaced by ''seiner''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ With many verbs the reflexive pronoun lost its role as an object, and verb and pronoun together came to express a process affecting the subject: ''sich legen'' “to lie down”, ''sich setzen'' “to sit down”.^(Paul 2002) Some verbs are used only reflexively, such as ''sich schämen'' “to be ashamed”.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) Phrases with prepositions developed their own meanings: ''an sich'' “in itself”, ''für sich'' “on one's own”, ''vor sich gehen'' “to take place”.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) The philosophical phrase ''Ding an sich'' “thing in itself” passed into Hebrew.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 765 – Old High German ''sih'' is recorded in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 1060–1065 – Middle High German ''sich'' appears in Williram's commentary on the Song of Songs.^(Köbler MHD)

+ * 1220–1240 – [[m|nl|zich]] is first recorded in Dutch, borrowed from German.^(LWP)

+ * 16th century – Luther still uses ''ihm'', ''ihr'' and ''ihnen'' where modern German has the dative ''sich''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # The [[m|en|reflexive]] pronoun of the third person singular and plural, in the accusative and dative: ''himself, herself, itself, oneself, themselves''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # As a fixed part of reflexive verbs: ''sich freuen'' “to be glad”, ''sich schämen'' “to be ashamed”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # With [[lassen]], expressing what can be done: ''es lässt sich leicht öffnen'' “it can easily be opened”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # As a [[m|en|reciprocal]] pronoun: ''each other'', ''one another''.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # After prepositions: ''an sich'' “in itself, as such”, ''für sich'' “separately”, ''von sich aus'' “of one's own accord”, ''nicht ganz bei sich sein'' “not to be quite [[m|en|conscious]] or alert”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mich]]

+ * [[dich]]

+ * [[sein]]

+ * [[Sippe]]

+ * [[Sitte]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}