sechs German · revision 35027

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century, Old High German|origins=ine-pro *swéḱs}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Germany: /zɛks/^(Wiktionary)

+ * /sɛks/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Austria, Southern-Germany, Switzerland: [z̥ɛɡ̥s]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sechs''' (cardinal number)^(Wiktionary)

+ As a noun it is ''die Sechs'', plural ''Sechsen''.^(Wiktionary)^(Duden GWDS 1999) The older written language also used the form ''sechse'', which Adelung still recorded and which survives regionally.^(DWB|15, 2780)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|sehs]], [[inh|goh|sehs]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*sehs]], [[inh|gem-pro|*sehs|t=six]].^(Kluge 2011|837)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Wiktionary) The same numeral is [[got|𐍃𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍃|tr=saíhs]], [[non|sex]], [[ang|siex]], [[ofs|sex]] and [[osx|sehs]], and today [[nl|zes]], [[en|six]] and [[sv|sex]].^(Kluge 2011|837)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Orel 2003)^(EWA|7, 1036)

+

+ It is the Indo-European word for “six”.^(Orel 2003)^(Kluge 2011|837) A form [[ine-pro|*seḱs]] is continued in [[sa|षष्|tr=ṣáṣ]], [[xto|ṣäk]], [[txb|ṣkas]], [[la|sex]], [[lt|šeši|alt=šešì]] and [[cu|шесть|tr=šestĭ]], while [[ae|xšuuaš]], [[grc|ἕξ|tr=héx]] (dialectal [[m|grc|ϝέξ|tr=wéx]]), [[sga|sé]], [[cy|chwech]] and [[xcl|վեց|tr=vecʿ]] presuppose [[m|ine-pro|*sweḱs]].^(Kluge 2011|837)^(Orel 2003)^(Wiktionary) Since neither form can be derived from the other, the original shape is disputed: Kluge lists a simplification of the second, a blend of [[m|ine-pro|*weḱs]] with the first, and a starting point [[m|ine-pro|*ksweḱs]], and concludes that no further etymology is possible.^(Kluge 2011|837) Pfeifer also reckons with several variants, the Slavic form requiring [[m|ine-pro|*kseḱs]]; the Old Church Slavonic word is an abstract noun, properly “a set of six”.^(Pfeifer 1993) Kroonen takes [[m|ine-pro|*ueks]] as the oldest form, because of the ordinal [[prg|uschts]], and thinks the initial /s/ was taken over from the word for “seven”.^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ The Germanic /x/ before /s/, still written ⟨ch⟩, has been pronounced /k/ since early times, as in [[Fuchs]] and [[Ochse]];^(DWB|15, 2774) Old High German already wrote ⟨x⟩ now and then.^(DWB|15, 2774)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''sehs'' is recorded from the 8th century, first in the Abrogans glossary and then in Isidor, the Benedictine Rule, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.^(Kluge 2011|837)^(EWA|7, 1036)^(Schützeichel 2012|275) It stayed uninflected before a noun, but was declined as an i-stem when it followed its noun or stood alone.^(EWA|7, 1036)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From Luther's ''sechs tage soltu erbeiten'' (Exodus 20:9) came ''sechs Tage'' for a working week, and ''sechs Monate'' meant half a year.^(Paul 2002) Six on the dice and in cards was a common use, and today ''sechs Richtige'' are six correct numbers in the lottery.^(Paul 2002) The noun ''die Sechs'' served in mild oaths, ''bei meiner Sechs'', recorded by Adelung and used by Goethe, and it is the worst mark in German schools.^(DWB|15, 2780)^(Paul 2002)^(Wiktionary) ''Sechser'' was a coin worth six pfennigs from the end of the 15th century, and in Berlin later the five-pfennig piece.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ In ''sechzehn'' and ''sechzig'' the final -s merged early with the initial z- of ''zehn'' and ''-zig'', though Schiller still wrote ''sechszehn'' and ''sechszig''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) The spelling ''sex'' became more frequent from the 14th century, and a form ''ses'' appears as a gamblers' word under Romance influence.^(DWB|15, 2774)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''sehs'' appears in the Abrogans glossary.^(Kluge 2011|837)^(EWA|7, 1036)

+ * 9th century – The ordinal ''sehsto'' and ''sehszug'' “sixty” are recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * c. 1000 – ''Seh(s)zehan'' “sixteen” is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1497 – The spelling ''sex'' in a Rhenish legal record.^(DWB|15, 2774)

+ * End of the 15th century – ''Sechser'' names a six-pfennig coin.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 19th century – The card game ''Sechsundsechzig'' is named after the points needed to win.^(Duden 7 2020|769)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Numeral===

+ # [[m|en|six]]; also six o'clock: ''wir treffen uns um sechs''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The figure 6.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A playing [[m|en|card]] with six pips, or a six thrown with a [[m|en|die]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # The lowest mark in German schools, “insufficient”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' The tram or bus of route 6.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sechste]]

+ * [[Sechstel]]

+ * [[Sechser]]

+ * [[sechzehn]]

+ * [[sechzig]]

+ * [[Sechsundsechzig]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|six]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}