Mann German · revision 34924

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 765, Old High German glosses|origins=gem-pro *mann-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /man/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Mann''' ''m'' (strong or mixed, genitive Mannes or Manns, plural Männer or (rare or poetic) Mannen or (obsolete) Mann, diminutive Männchen n or Männlein n or Männle n or Mannli n or Männeken n or Mandl n or Manderl n, feminine Männin)^(Wiktionary)

+ Middle High German had the unchanged plural ''man'' beside ''manne'' and ''mannen'';^(Lexer 1872|1, 2021) the umlauted plural appears from the 15th century.^(Paul 2002)^(Lexer 1872|1, 2021) The old plural without ending survives after numbers and in the seamen's command ''alle Mann an Deck''.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|man]], [[inh|goh|man]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*mann]], [[inh|gem-pro|*mann-|t=man, person]].^(Kluge 2011|599)^(Wiktionary) Kluge sets up an n-stem [[gem-pro|*manōn-|t=man, human being]], which in some cases lost the vowel of its suffix and so gave the stem with double /nn/.^(Kluge 2011|599) The same word is [[got|𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰|tr=manna]], [[non|maðr]], [[ang|mann]], [[ofs|mon]] and [[osx|man]], and today [[nl|man]], [[en|man]] and [[sv|man]].^(Kluge 2011|599)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ Its further origin is disputed.^(Kluge 2011|599)^(Pfeifer 1993) Pfeifer and the Duden compare [[sa|मनु|tr=mánu|t=man, mankind]] and the name [[la|Mannus]], the ancestor of the Germanic peoples in Tacitus, and reconstruct [[ine-pro|*manu-]] or [[m|ine-pro|*monu-]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) They connect this most often with the root [[ine-pro|*men-|t=to think]] of [[mahnen]], so that the man would be named as “the thinking being”, but also mention [[m|ine-pro|*men-|t=to rise, tower]], which would make him “the one who walks upright”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) Kluge instead takes the Germanic word as a by-form of [[gem-pro|*gumōn-|t=man]], the source of the second part of [[Bräutigam]], from an ablaut form [[m|gem-pro|*gmanōn]] whose initial cluster was simplified; [[lt|žmonės|t=people]] would be a parallel formation.^(Kluge 2011|599) Kroonen follows this view, and Wiktionary gives both explanations.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''man'' is first recorded in glosses of about 765 and then throughout the Old High German texts, from the Hildebrandslied, the Benedictine Rule and Otfrid to Notker.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|214) It meant “human being” as well as “man, servant, warrior”, and in phrases such as ''mannes sunu'' “the Son of Man”.^(Schützeichel 2012|214)^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The general sense “human being” was still common up to Luther, and it survives in the indefinite pronoun [[man]] and in [[jemand]] and [[niemand]].^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) The Grimms explain the narrowing to “adult male” by the old legal view in which only a man had the full standing of a person.^(DWB|12, 1553) In Middle High German the word also meant “husband”, “son”, “servant” and “vassal”.^(Köbler MHD)^(Pfeifer 1993) The feudal sense lives on in the plural ''Mannen'' “followers, retainers”, which was revived in the 18th century and is now used ironically or in sports writing.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ Many phrases date from early modern German: ''Not am Mann'' from the 17th century, ''mit Mann und Maus'' “with all on board, completely” from the 18th, and ''etwas an den Mann bringen'' “to sell or pass something on” from Klopstock.^(Paul 2002) ''Selbst ist der Mann'' is recorded from the 16th century.^(Paul 2002) ''Der kleine Mann'' for the ordinary person became fixed through Hans Fallada's novel ''Kleiner Mann – was nun?'' (1932).^(Paul 2002) As the second part of words for occupations (''Kaufmann'', ''Seemann'', ''Zimmermann'') ''-mann'' has since the 1970s often been paired with or replaced by ''-frau''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 1060–1065 – Middle High German ''man'' is used by Williram.^(Köbler MHD)

+ * 15th century – The plural ''Männer'' (''menner'') appears.^(Lexer 1872|1, 2021)^(Paul 2002)

+ * 16th century – ''Selbst ist der Mann'' is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 17th century – The phrase ''Not am Mann'' is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 18th century – ''Mit Mann und Maus'' is recorded,^(Paul 2002) and the plural ''Mannen'' “retainers” is revived.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1932 – Fallada's novel ''Kleiner Mann – was nun?'' fixes ''kleiner Mann'' for the ordinary person.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An adult male [[m|en|person]], a [[m|en|man]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|husband]]: ''Ihr Mann arbeitet in Kiel.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(plural'' Mannen'', historical or humorous)'' [[m|en|vassal|alt=Vassals]], followers, retainers; also the members of a team.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+ # ''(plural'' Mann'', after numbers)'' Used to count people: ''Die Mannschaft zählt elf Mann.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' An exclamation of surprise or annoyance: ''Mann, ist das kalt!''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[männlich]]

+ * [[mannhaft]]

+ * [[Mannschaft]]

+ * [[Männchen]]

+ * [[Mannsbild]]

+ * [[bemannen]]

+ * [[entmannen]]

+ * [[ermannen]]

+ * [[übermannen]]

+ * [[jedermann]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[man]]

+ * [[Mensch]]

+ * [[jemand]]

+ * [[niemand]]

+ * [[Bräutigam]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Ein Mann, ein Wort'' is said of a man who keeps his promises, and ''seinen Mann stehen'' means to prove oneself.^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''Der Mann im Mond'' is the figure people see in the dark patches of the moon.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}