mein German · revision 34805

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century|origins=ine-pro *mei}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /maɪ̯n/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mein''' (possessive determiner and pronoun, ''mein'', ''meine'', ''mein''; used alone ''meiner'', ''meine'', ''mein(e)s'')^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|mīn]], [[inh|goh|mīn]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*mīn]], [[inh|gem-pro|*mīnaz|t=my, mine]].^(Kluge 2011|613)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[got|𐌼𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃|tr=meins]], [[osx|mīn]], [[ofs|mīn]], [[ang|mīn]] and [[non|minn]], and today [[nl|mijn]], [[en|mine]] and [[sv|min]].^(Kluge 2011|613)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ Pfeifer explains it as an adjective formed with the suffix [[ine-pro|*-nos]] from [[ine-pro|*mei|t=at me]], the locative of the stem of the oblique cases of the first person pronoun, seen in [[mir]] and [[mich]]: it first meant “being with me”, then “belonging to me”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) Kluge similarly sees a formation of belonging, starting from a locative suffix [[m|ine-pro|*-nē]] added to the originally enclitic pronoun stem [[m|ine-pro|*-mei]], which is also found in [[hit|-mi]].^(Kluge 2011|613)

+

+ A case form of the possessive also served in Germanic as the genitive of [[ich]], as in [[m|got|𐌼𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰|tr=meina]].^(Pfeifer 1993) The longer genitive [[meiner]] was formed on the model of [[unser]] and [[euer]] and spread from Central German in the 13th and 14th centuries.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''mīn'' is recorded from the 8th century, both as a possessive “my, mine” and as the genitive “of me”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|613)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Used predicatively, especially with ''sein'' and ''werden'', it expresses belonging, as in the Middle High German love verse ''Du bist min, ich bin din'' “you are mine, I am yours”.^(Paul 2002) In poetry it could follow its noun, and in popular narrative it was put before the name of a person the speaker is concerned with.^(Paul 2002) In address it has faded to a courtesy (''meine Damen'', ''mein Herr''), and in the 16th century it was often used with personal names, as in ''mein Hans''.^(Paul 2002) The bare word then became a call for attention, imitated in literature by Goethe.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ The adverbs [[meinethalben]] and [[meinetwegen]] go back to Middle High German phrases with the dative plural: ''von mînen halben'' “from my sides”, with loss of the preposition and an inserted /t/.^(Paul 2002) English has taken over ''mein Gott'' (recorded 1838) and, as a jocular or ironic address to a German, ''mein Herr'' (1922).^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''mīn'' is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|613)

+ * 13th–14th century – The genitive is extended to ''mīner'', first in Central German.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 16th century – ''mein'' is often used with personal names (''mein Hans'').^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1838 – ''Mein Gott'' is recorded in English.^(LWP)

+ * 1922 – English uses ''mein Herr'' as a jocular address.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Determiner and pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|my]]: belonging or relating to the speaker: ''mein Fahrrad'', ''meine Schwester''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' The usual one, the one the speaker is used to: ''Heute habe ich meinen Bus verpasst.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # In polite address, with faded meaning: ''meine Damen und Herren''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+ # ''(without a noun)'' [[m|en|mine]]: ''Der rote Schirm ist meiner.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' In ''oh du mein!'' and ''ach du mein!'', an exclamation of surprise or alarm.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(dated)'' Genitive of [[ich]]: of me, as in ''gedenke mein''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[meinerseits]]

+ * [[meinesgleichen]]

+ * [[meinethalben]]

+ * [[meinetwegen]]

+ * [[meinetwillen]]

+ * [[meinige]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ich]]

+ * [[mir]]

+ * [[mich]]

+ * [[dein]]

+ * [[sein]]

+ * [[en|mine]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A different word, [[goh|mein|t=false]], with a noun meaning “crime, wickedness”, from [[gem-pro|*mainaz]], survives only in [[Meineid]] “perjury”.^(Schützeichel 2012|218)^(Orel 2003)^(DWB|12, 1912) The Grimms' dictionary records the formula ''main und mord'' until the 16th century.^(DWB|12, 1912)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}