etwa German · revision 34932

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 1000, Notker}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈɛtva/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''etwa''' (adverb and particle)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|etewā]], contracted [[m|gmh|etwā]], [[inh|goh|eddeshwār|t=somewhere]], [[af|goh|eddes-|hwār|t2=where]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary)^(DWB2|8, 2420) The second part is the adverb that became [[wo]];^(Kluge 2011|262)^(Pfeifer 1993) the first is the element marking indefiniteness that is also found in [[etlich]] and [[etwas]].^(Kluge 2011|262)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB2|8, 2420)

+

+ A parallel formation with the word for “when” was [[m|goh|eddeshwanne|t=at some time]], Middle High German [[m|gmh|etewenne]], which gave Early New High German [[etwan]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The two adverbs were mixed up already in Middle High German.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) The Grimms' dictionary took the modern adverb to be a shortening of the latter,^(DWB|3, 1181) but the revised dictionary explains it from the Middle High German form with /aː/: forms with /o/, the regular outcome of that vowel, were usual from the 14th century and dominant in the 15th, and the form with /a/ survived because it was felt to be a variant of the adverb in ⟨-an⟩.^(DWB2|8, 2420)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Notker, who died in 1022, uses ''eteuuâr'' “somewhere”.^(DWB2|8, 2420) Pfeifer dates Old High German ''eddehwār'' to about 1000 and ''eddeshwār'' to the 11th century.^(Pfeifer 1993) Middle High German ''etewā'', ''eteswā'' meant “somewhere, here and there”, and also “rather, very” and “sometimes, once”.^(Köbler MHD)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The adverb was local at first and became modal in Early New High German.^(Pfeifer 1993) Taking over the uses of ''etwan'', it meant “sometime” and “once, formerly”: Luther writes ''Jch aber lebete etwa on Gesetze'' (“but I once lived without the law”, Romans 7:9).^(Paul 2002) From the late 15th century it also meant “somehow”, and it has meant “perhaps” since the 18th century at the latest.^(Paul 2002) The sense “for example” is also old, and ''etwa'' later came to mean “approximately”.^(Paul 2002)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) By the end of the 18th century ''etwa'' had replaced ''etwan'' in the written language.^(DWB2|8, 2420)

+

+ The adjective ''[[etwaig]]'' “possible” appeared at the end of the 18th century in place of an older ''etwanig''.^(Pfeifer 1993) The phrase ''in etwa'' “roughly” was a fashionable expression in the middle of the 20th century, though Immermann already used it in the early 19th.^(Pfeifer 1993) In Switzerland ''etwa'' still means “now and then”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1022 – Notker uses ''eteuuâr'' “somewhere”.^(DWB2|8, 2420)

+ * 14th–15th century – The forms ''etwo'', ''ettewo'' prevail.^(DWB2|8, 2420)

+ * 1494 – Sebastian Brant's ''Narrenschiff'' uses ''etwan'' in the sense “somehow”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1702 – Kramer records ''etwa'' in the sense “perhaps”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * End of the 18th century – ''etwa'' fully replaces ''etwan'', and ''etwaig'' appears.^(DWB2|8, 2420)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * Mid-20th century – ''in etwa'' “roughly” becomes fashionable.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|approximately|alt=Approximately]], about: ''etwa zwanzig Minuten''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # For [[m|en|instance]], for example: ''große Städte wie etwa Köln''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Switzerland)'' [[m|en|sometimes|alt=Sometimes]], now and then.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ===Particle===

+ # [[m|en|perhaps|alt=Perhaps]], possibly, by any chance, stressing a possibility: ''falls sie etwa anruft''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In questions, expressing surprise or the expectation of a negative answer: ''Hast du etwa schon gegessen?''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # With ''nicht'', strengthening a denial: ''nicht etwa'' “by no means”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[etwaig]]

+ * [[in etwa]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[etlich]]

+ * [[etwas]]

+ * [[etwan]]

+ * [[wo]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}