mir German · revision 34812

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /miːɐ̯/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Colloquial: /mɐ/, /mə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mir''' (dative singular of the personal pronoun [[ich]]; also the reflexive dative of the first person singular)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ Middle High German also wrote ''mier'', ''mire'' and, in Central German, ''mer'';^(Lexer 1872|1, 2158) ''mi'' is also found.^(Lexer 1872|1, 2158)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|mir]], [[inh|goh|mir]], [[inh|gem-pro|*miz]].^(Kluge 2011|625)^(Pfeifer 1993) The same form is [[got|𐌼𐌹𐍃|tr=mis]] and [[non|mér]], and [[ang|mē]], [[ofs|mī]] and [[osx|mī]] probably go back to it as well, with the loss of the final consonant in unstressed position.^(Kluge 2011|625)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Orel 2003) In High German the Germanic /z/ became /r/.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ The stem is [[ine-pro|*me-]], used for the oblique cases of the first person, also in [[sa|मह्यम्|tr=máhyam]], [[grc|ἐμοί|tr=emoí]] and [[la|mihi]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|625) Germanic added a dative ending /z/ of uncertain origin, which Kluge takes as a case ending originally indifferent to number.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|625) The nominative [[ich]] comes from a different stem.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Kluge dates the first record to the 8th century.^(Kluge 2011|625) Old High German ''mir'' is the dative of ''ih'' “I”, which appears in glosses from about 765.^(Köbler AHD)^(DWB|10, 2017)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Besides its plain use, the dative served already in Middle High German as an ethic dative, which only marks the speaker's involvement and makes the speech livelier.^(DWB|10, 2017)^(FWB) Early New High German had phrases such as ''so mir got'' “so help me God” and ''mir ist'' “I think”, and the 16th and 17th centuries had elliptic ''mir nicht'' “far be it from me”, used by Fischart and Logau.^(FWB)^(DWB|12, 2247) Alemannic ''mir an'', ''mira'' means “as far as I am concerned”, and Hebel used it.^(DWB|12, 2247)

+

+ The phrase ''mir nichts, dir nichts'', “without further ado”, is explained as an ellipsis of two clauses, “it harms me nothing, it harms you nothing”.^(Duden GWDS 1999) Several Yiddish phrases with ''mir'', such as ''oi wez mir'' “woe is me”, passed into Modern Hebrew.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''mir'' is recorded.^(Kluge 2011|625)

+ * Middle High German – Use as an ethic dative is frequent.^(DWB|10, 2017)

+ * 15th and 16th centuries – ''mir'' for ''wir'' is common in Upper and Central German texts.^(DWB|12, 2248)

+ * 16th and 17th centuries – Elliptic ''mir nicht'' “far be it from me” is used.^(DWB|12, 2247)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # Dative of [[ich]]: to me, for me: ''Gib mir bitte den Schlüssel!''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Reflexive dative of the first person: ''Ich putze mir die Zähne.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' Ethic dative, showing the speaker's involvement: ''Grüß mir deine Schwester!''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(DWB|10, 2017)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' In ''mir nichts, dir nichts'': without further ado, just like that.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(dialectal or colloquial)'' [[m|en|we]].^(Wiktionary)^(DWB|12, 2248)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ich]]

+ * [[mich]]

+ * [[mein]]

+ * [[dir]]

+ * [[en|me]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Mir'' for ''wir'' “we” was frequent in Upper and Central German texts of the 15th and 16th centuries and is still widespread in Alemannic, Bavarian, Franconian, Hessian and Thuringian dialects.^(DWB|12, 2248)^(FWB) Wiktionary explains it from verb forms ending in ''-m'' before ''wir'', which were then divided anew, a development that may go back to Old High German;^(Wiktionary) Yiddish ''mir'' and Luxembourgish ''mir'' “we” are the same form.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}