fast German · revision 34839

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 8th century, Old High German glosses|origins=gem-pro *fastuz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /fast/, /faʃt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fast''' (adverb, not comparable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|vaste]], [[inh|goh|fasto|t=firmly, securely; very]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*fastō]], the adverb without umlaut that belongs to the adjective [[fest]].^(Kluge 2011|279)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|257)^(Wiktionary) It corresponds to [[osx|fasto]], [[gml|vaste]], [[dum|vaste]] and [[ang|fæste]], and to [[en|fast]], whose sense in English became “quickly”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The adjective goes back to [[gem-pro|*fastuz|t=firm, fixed]], seen in [[non|fastr]], [[ang|fæst]] and [[nl|vast]].^(Kroonen 2013)^(Orel 2003)^(Wiktionary) Kroonen and Orel connect it with [[xcl|հաստ|tr=hast|t=firm]];^(Orel 2003)^(Kroonen 2013) Orel derives it from a form meaning “standing firm”, built on the root [[ine-pro|*steh₂-|t=to stand]], and Kroonen from a compound of [[ine-pro|*peh₂ǵ-|t=to become firm]] and that root.^(Orel 2003)^(Kroonen 2013) The older comparison with [[sa|पस्त्य|tr=pastyà|t=homestead]] is rejected by Kroonen.^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary)

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+ The adverb was formed with the ending /-o/, which did not cause umlaut, while the adjective had an ending with /i/, which did.^(DWB|3, 1348)^(Paul 2002) Most such pairs were later levelled to the umlauted form, but the old adverb survived in this word and in [[schon]] because their meanings had moved away from those of the umlauted adjectives.^(DWB|3, 1348)^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2020|257)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''fasto'' is first recorded in glosses at the end of the 8th century, translating Latin ''tenere'' “dearly”, and then in Otfrid, Notker and the Physiologus, meaning “firmly, strictly, securely, steadfastly” and “very”.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|97)^(DWB2|9, 187) Otfrid writes of Judas ''er iz fasto gihiaz'' “he firmly promised it”.^(DWB2|9, 187)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle High German ''vaste'' meant “firmly, closely; near; strongly, very”.^(Duden 7 2020|257)^(Pfeifer 1993) The intensifying sense “very” was common until the 17th century, and Luther uses it often: ''Gott ist fast mächtig in der Sammlung der Heiligen''.^(Paul 2002) Adelung, around 1800, considered it obsolete in High German, though he noted it in Opitz.^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ The modern sense “almost” arose in phrases such as ''fast alle'', ''fast nichts'', ''fast nicht'', where a strengthening adds nothing and the word could be taken as a sign of uncertainty; it also appears with numbers, as Luther's ''weil er fast hundertjährig war''.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|257) The change took place in the 16th and 17th centuries, and Georg Henisch still gave both senses side by side; the split between ''fast'' and ''fest'' is regarded as complete from the second half of the 18th century.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB2|9, 187) In this sense ''fast'' replaced the older [[schier]].^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 8th century – Old High German ''fasto'' appears in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)^(DWB2|9, 187)

+ * 863–871 – Otfrid uses ''fasto'' “firmly”.^(DWB2|9, 187)

+ * 16th century – ''fast'' is used with numbers and negations in the sense “nearly”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 16th–17th century – The sense shifts from “very” to “almost”.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB2|9, 187)

+ * Second half of the 18th century – The separation of ''fast'' from the adjective ''fest'' is complete.^(DWB2|9, 187)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|almost]], [[m|en|nearly]]: ''Der Zug ist fast leer.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(with a negative)'' [[m|en|hardly]]: ''fast nie'', ''fast niemand''.^(Wiktionary)^(Adelung 1793)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' Very, greatly.^(Wiktionary)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fest]]

+ * [[Fasten]]

+ * [[en|fast]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The older sense survives in Swiss German dialect in ''nicht so fast'' “not so very much”, which Paul still finds in Pestalozzi.^(Paul 2002) With a past subjunctive, ''fast'' says that something nearly happened: ''er wäre fast gestürzt''.^(Paul 2002)^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}