du German · revision 34896

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=765, Old High German glosses|origins=ine-pro *túh₂}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Stressed: /duː/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Unstressed: /du/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Colloquial, unstressed: /də/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''du''' (personal pronoun, second person singular; genitive ''deiner'', dative ''dir'', accusative ''dich''; plural ''ihr'')^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|dū]], [[inh|goh|dū]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*þū]], [[inh|gem-pro|*þū]].^(Kluge 2011|219)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The vowel could be long or short, lengthening under stress;^(Kluge 2011|219)^(DWB2|6, 1458) Old and Middle High German had both, and modern German has the long vowel.^(Kluge 2011|219)^(DWB2|6, 1458) The same word is [[got|𐌸𐌿|tr=þu]], [[non|þú]], [[ang|þū]], [[ofs|thū]] and [[osx|thū]], and today archaic [[en|thou]], [[sv|du]] and [[is|þú]].^(Kluge 2011|219)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ It continues the Indo-European pronoun of the second person, [[ine-pro|*túh₂]], also found in [[ae|tū]], [[cu|ты|tr=ty]], [[lt|tù]], [[la|tū]], [[sga|tú]], [[sa|त्वम्|tr=tvám]] and [[grc|σύ|tr=sú]], beside [[m|grc|τύ|tr=tú]] in Doric.^(Kluge 2011|219)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) Kluge notes that the element /u/ also serves to mark contrasts, and that the stem /t/ resembles the demonstrative stem of [[m|de|der]].^(Kluge 2011|219) Kroonen suggests that the nominative may owe its form to the plural pronoun of the second person, since Hittite points to another vowel.^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ The dative [[dir]] and the accusative [[dich]] were formed from other ablaut grades of the stem with suffixes, while the genitive form comes from the possessive [[dein]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''dū'' is recorded in glosses of 765 and throughout the literature.^(Köbler AHD) In the older Old High German texts it was the only pronoun for addressing one person, used to anyone regardless of rank, as in Germanic tradition, classical Latin and the Bible.^(DWB2|6, 1458)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 9th century [[ihr]], the plural pronoun, was taken over from the Latin ''vos'' of Carolingian usage as a respectful address to a single person;^(DWB2|6, 1458) Otfrid (863–871) is the first to use it.^(DWB2|6, 1458) From the 12th century into Early New High German ''ihr'' was used to people of higher rank and among equals of the upper classes, spreading later to the townspeople and the lower orders.^(DWB2|6, 1458) From the 17th century the third person took over: first ''Er'' and ''Sie'' in the singular, then the plural ''Sie'', which Paul dates to the 17th century.^(DWB|2, 1463)^(Paul 2002) By around 1800 Adelung describes ''du'' as a mark of intimacy, of subordination or of contempt.^(Adelung 1793) Since the student movement of the late 1960s ''du'' has been spreading again at the expense of ''Sie''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ The noun ''das Du'' “the familiar form of address” is recorded in 1616 in the drinking phrase ''auff ein du'', and the verb [[duzen]] goes back to Middle High German ''duzen''.^(DWB2|6, 1460)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 765 – Old High German ''dū'' appears in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 863–871 – Otfrid uses ''ihr'' as a respectful address to one person beside ''du''.^(DWB2|6, 1458)

+ * 12th century – ''ihr'' becomes the usual address to people of higher rank.^(DWB2|6, 1458)

+ * 16th century – ''Duzbruder'' “someone one addresses as du” is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1616 – The noun ''du'' is recorded in a drinking toast.^(DWB2|6, 1460)

+ * 17th century – Address in the third person (''Er'', ''Sie'') spreads.^(DWB|2, 1463)^(Paul 2002)

+ * Late 1960s – ''du'' spreads among students.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|you]] ''(singular, familiar)'', used to relatives, friends and children, to God, and to animals and things addressed as persons: ''Du hast gewonnen!''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(generic)'' One, you: ''Bei diesem Lärm kannst du nicht arbeiten.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[duzen]]

+ * [[Duzbruder]]

+ * [[Du]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dein]]

+ * [[ihr]]

+ * [[en|thou]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Mit jemandem per du sein'' or ''auf Du und Du stehen'' is to be on familiar terms;^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(DWB2|6, 1460) ''jemandem das Du anbieten'' is to offer someone the familiar form.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(DWB2|6, 1460) The proverb ''wie du mir, so ich dir'' means “I'll treat you as you treat me”.^(Duden GWDS 1999) In letters the pronoun is often capitalised, ''Du''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}