nichts German · revision 34907

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=13th century, late Middle High German|origins=goh niowiht}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * [nɪçt͡s], /nɪx(t)s/, /nɪks/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nichts''' (indefinite pronoun, not inflected)^(Wiktionary)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ The fuller form ''nichtes'' was used until the beginning of the 18th century.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|13, 718) Colloquial and regional forms include ''nix'', ''nischt'' and ''nichs''.^(Wiktionary)^(DWB|13, 718)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|nihtes]], the genitive of [[m|gmh|niht|t=nothing; not]], the ancestor of [[nicht]].^(Kluge 2011|655)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|591) Paul and the Duden derive it from the reinforced Middle High German phrase [[m|gmh|nihtes niht|t=nothing at all]], literally “nothing of nothing”, from which the second word was dropped once it was understood as the negative particle;^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2014|591)^(Duden GWDS 1999) Kluge thinks that this phrase may have contributed.^(Kluge 2011|655) The genitive was then reinterpreted as a nominative and accusative,^(Kluge 2011|655) helped by the many verbs whose genitive objects became accusatives, so that the pronoun after a verb such as [[vergessen]] continues a Middle High German genitive.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ The base word is [[m|goh|niowiht]], put together from [[m|goh|ni|t=not]], [[m|goh|io|t=ever]] (modern [[je]]) and [[m|goh|wiht|t=creature, thing]] (modern [[Wicht]]): “not any thing”.^(Pfeifer 1993) It corresponds to [[ang|nōwiht]] (English [[m|en|nought]]) and to the Gothic phrase [[m|got|𐌽𐌹 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄|tr=ni waíht|t=nothing]].^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Kluge dates ''nichts'' to the 13th century.^(Kluge 2011|655) The Grimms' dictionary finds the bare genitive from the 14th century, in Konrad von Megenberg (''dâ wil ich nihts von sprechen'') and in a city chronicle of 1368 (''nichtes ze tun noch ze schaffen'').^(DWB|13, 718)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The phrase ''nichtsnicht'' long continued beside the new pronoun.^(DWB|13, 718) Older German still used ''nichts'' as a genitive, as in Luther's ''dich soll nichts gelüsten'', and with comparatives, where it survives in [[nichtsdestoweniger]] (late 15th century);^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) [[nichtswürdig]] “base, contemptible” dates from the 17th century, and the joking blend [[nichtsdestotrotz]] combines ''nichtsdestoweniger'' and ''trotzdem''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|591) ''Mir nichts, dir nichts'' “without more ado” is recorded by Stieler in 1691.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ The noun [[Nichts]] “nothingness, void” appeared in the 16th century.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|591) In the proverb ''Nichts ist gut für die Augen'', ''Nichts'' stands for an older ''Nicht'' “zinc oxide”, used for the eyes, taken from Greek-Latin ''onychitis'': the saying is a pun.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|13, 727) American English picked up ''nix'' in phrases such as ''nix come arous'' (1844) and ''mox nix'' (1954).^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – ''nichts'' appears in late Middle High German.^(Kluge 2011|655)

+ * 1368 – ''nichtes'' is used in a city chronicle.^(DWB|13, 718)

+ * Late 15th century – ''nichtsdestoweniger'' appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 16th century – The noun ''Nichts'' appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|591)

+ * 17th century – ''nichtswürdig'' appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1691 – ''mir nichts, dir nichts'' is recorded by Stieler.^(Paul 2002)

+ * Early 18th century – The form ''nichtes'' goes out of use.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1844 – American English ''nix come arous'' is recorded.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # Not anything, [[m|en|nothing]]: ''er hat heute nichts gegessen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(before an adjective used as a noun, or with sonst, weiter)'' No thing: ''nichts Besonderes'', ''sonst nichts''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Nichts]]

+ * [[nichtsdestoweniger]]

+ * [[nichtsdestotrotz]]

+ * [[nichtswürdig]]

+ * [[Nichtsnutz]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nicht]]

+ * [[Wicht]]

+ * [[je]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Nichts da!'' (colloquial) means “out of the question!”, and ''wie nichts'' “in no time”.^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''Aus nichts wird nichts'' and ''von nichts kommt nichts'' are proverbs.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}