etwas German · revision 34859

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=8th century, Old High German glosses}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɛtvas/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''etwas''' (indeclinable pronoun, determiner and adverb; colloquially shortened to ''was'')^(Wiktionary)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|etewaʒ]], [[inh|goh|eddeshwaz]], the neuter of a lost pronoun [[m|goh|eddeshwer|t=someone]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|245)^(Paul 2002) The second part is the interrogative [[was]]; the first is a prefix [[m|goh|eddes-|t=some-]], which also forms [[etlich]] and [[etwa]] and is found only in German.^(Kluge 2011|262)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|245) Its origin is unclear: Kluge and Pfeifer think it may belong with the conjunction [[oder]], [[got|𐌰𐌹𐌸𐌸𐌰𐌿|tr=aiþþau]], and Wiktionary compares [[gem-pro|*ehþau|t=or, otherwise]].^(Kluge 2011|262)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The Duden and Wahrig suggest that the pronoun arose as a loan translation of [[la|aliquid|t=something]].^(Duden 7 2020|245)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''eddeshwaz'' is first recorded in glosses of the 8th century, and then in the Benedictine Rule, Otfrid and Notker, meaning “something, anything”; as an adverb, “a little, somehow”, it appears from Notker (about 1000) on.^(Schützeichel 2012|83)^(Köbler AHD)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Paul explains that Middle High German ''etewaz'' referred to a particular thing that one could not or would not name, while ''iht'' meant “anything at all”; in New High German the distinction was lost and ''etwas'' took over the role of ''iht''.^(Paul 2002) The masculine ''etwer'' “someone” became rare in the literary language in the 16th century but survived in Upper German dialects as ''epper'', just as ''etwas'' became ''eppes''.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|3, 1185)

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+ In Middle High German ''etewaz'' governed a partitive genitive (''etwas Gutes'' was originally “something of good”), but the genitive fell together with the nominative and is no longer felt.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB2|8, 2424) From the indefinite sense came “a little, some”, as in ''etwas Geld'', and the adverb “somewhat”.^(Duden 7 2020|245)^(Pfeifer 1993) The noun ''das Etwas'' appears in the mystics and spreads from the late 17th century;^(DWB2|8, 2426)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|245) ''ein gewisses Etwas'' belongs to the popular philosophy of the 18th century.^(DWB2|8, 2426)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|245) Modern Hebrew has ''epes'' “something, about”, listed among German loanwords.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''eddeshwaz'' appears in glosses.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD)

+ * c. 1000 – Notker uses the adverb “a little”.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 16th century – The masculine ''etwer'' “someone” becomes rare in literature.^(Paul 2002)

+ * Mid-17th century – The adverbial phrase ''in etwas'' “to some degree” becomes common.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * Late 17th century – The noun ''Etwas'' spreads.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1764 – Hafner writes of ''ein gewisses Etwas'' that charms women.^(DWB2|8, 2426)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|something]], an unspecified thing: ''hast du etwas gehört?''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Before a nominalised adjective: something …: ''etwas Neues''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ===Determiner===

+ # Some, a little: ''etwas Milch''.^(Wiktionary)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

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+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|somewhat]], slightly: ''etwas müde''.^(Wiktionary)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Etwas]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[etwa]]

+ * [[etlich]]

+ * [[was]]

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+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Das gewisse Etwas'' is an attractive quality that is hard to define.^(Duden GWDS 1999) In colloquial German ''etwas'' is often replaced by ''was'' (''ich muss dir was sagen'').^(Duden 7 2020|245)^(Pfeifer 1993)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}