kaum German · revision 34956

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 830, Tatian|origins=gem-pro *kūmaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kaʊ̯m/, [kʰaʊ̯m]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''kaum'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Early New High German had extended forms such as ''kaumet'' and ''kaumend'' (16th century).^(Pfeifer 1993) The Early New High German dictionary also lists ''kaumlich'', ''kaumerlich'' and monophthongized ''kam'', ''kom''.^(FWB)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|kūme]], [[inh|goh|kūmo|t=with difficulty, hardly]], the adverb of the adjective [[gem-pro|*kūmaz|t=weak, miserable]].^(Kluge 2011|483)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary) The same adverb is [[gml|kūme]] and [[dum|cume]]; the adjective survives in [[nds|küm|t=weak, frail]], in [[ang|cȳme|t=fine, lovely]] and in [[m|goh|kūmīg|t=sick, feeble]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|11, 352) The word is limited to the continental West Germanic languages.^(Duden 7 2020)^(DWB|11, 352)

+

+ Kluge takes the basic sense to be “pitiful”, since the words belong with [[m|goh|kūmen|t=to lament]] and [[osx|kūmian|t=to mourn]].^(Kluge 2011|483) Pfeifer, Duden and Kroonen link them, as with [[Kauz]] and [[Köter]], to an imitative root [[ine-pro|*gewH-|t=to call, cry]], also in [[grc|γοάω|tr=goáō|t=to wail]] and [[lt|gaũsti|t=to resound]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Kroonen 2013) The development “sickly, weak” → “only with effort” → “almost not” matches Latin [[m|la|aegrē|t=hardly]] beside [[m|la|aeger|t=sick]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''kūmo'' appears in the Tatian (about 830), Otfrid and Notker and in glosses, glossing Latin ''vix'' and ''aegre'' and meaning “hardly, with difficulty, unwillingly”.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|185)^(EWA|5, 872)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From “with difficulty” the meaning shifted between “almost not” and “not quite”;^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) Middle High German and Middle Low German also used the word ironically for “not at all”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) The temporal use “only just, no sooner than” arose in Early New High German and Middle Low German, as did the use expressing the speaker's doubt, “probably not”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ Paul notes intensified forms that are no longer used, such as ''kaum kaum'' in Schiller and ''kaum und kaum'' in Lessing.^(Paul 2002) ''Kaum dass'' was very common in the 18th century, as in Goethe's ''kaum daß hie und da ein Sternchen durchblinkt'' “hardly a little star shines through here and there”, and only later became a conjunction.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 9th century – Old High German ''kūmo'' is recorded.^(Kluge 2011|483)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * c. 830 – The Tatian uses the word.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 16th century – Extended forms ''kaumet'', ''kaumend'' appear, and the temporal sense develops.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 18th century – ''kaum dass'' becomes very frequent.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|hardly|alt=Hardly]], [[m|en|barely]], almost not: ''Sie hat die ganze Nacht kaum geschlafen'';^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''kaum jemand'' “hardly anyone”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Only with difficulty: ''Das kann man kaum glauben''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Probably not: ''Er wird jetzt kaum noch anrufen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # Just, no sooner than: ''Kaum waren wir draußen, begann es zu regnen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated)'' In ''kaum dass'': no sooner than; or barely, only just.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Kauz]]

+ * [[Köter]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}