Chance German · revision 35081

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1807|origins=la cadō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈʃãːs(ə)/, /ˈʃɔ̃ːs(ə)/, /ˈʃaŋs(ə)/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Austria: /ˈʃɒːs(ɛ)/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Chance''' ''f'' (genitive Chance, plural Chancen)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|chance|t=luck, prospect, possibility]], borrowed at the beginning of the 19th century according to Pfeifer, Paul and the Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)^(DFWB) Kluge and the Duden date the borrowing to the 17th century.^(Kluge 2011|169)^(Duden 7 2020|181) The French noun, Old French [[m|fro|cheance]], first meant the fall of the dice in a game, and goes back to [[la-vul|*cadentia|t=a falling]], a derivative of the present participle of [[la|cadō|t=to fall]].^(Kluge 2011|169)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|181) The same Latin verb is the source of [[Kadenz]], [[Kasus]], [[Kadaver]], [[Dekadenz]] and [[Okzident]].^(Duden 7 2020|181)

+

+ Kluge points out that the word came into German as a term of horse racing, a sport shaped by English, and so assumes a borrowing through [[en|chance]] with a return to the French form.^(Kluge 2011|169) The Wortgeschichte digital also allows for English influence.^(WGd) The same word is [[nl|kans]], [[sv|chans]] and [[no|sjanse]].^(Kluge 2011|169)

+

+ The Old French word had already been borrowed around 1200 as [[gmh|schanze|t=lucky throw, turn of fortune]], which survives in the archaic [[Schanze]] “chance”, in [[zuschanzen]] and in [[Mummenschanz]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)^(DFWB)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record in the Deutsches Fremdwörterbuch is from 1807, where ''Chance'' stands beside ''Fortüne'' for outward good luck, as opposed to true happiness.^(DFWB) Paul cites Petri's dictionary of foreign words (5th edition, 1828) as an early record.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Since its borrowing the word has mainly meant a favourable [[m|en|opportunity]] and the prospect of success, less often a [[m|en|probability]] or plain luck.^(WGd)^(DFWB) The sense of probability appears in writing on the calculus of probability in 1835.^(DWB2|5, 1092) By the end of the 19th century at the latest it was used for the prospects of disadvantaged groups and their share in society, and this use led to [[Chancengleichheit]] “equality of opportunity”, a slogan of education policy in the 1970s.^(WGd)^(Paul 2002) ''Die Chance des Lebens'' “the chance of a lifetime” is recorded from the mid-20th century, in Brecht.^(DWB2|5, 1092)

+

+ The older loan ''Schanze'' in the sense “lucky throw, good fortune” was in use from the 15th to the 18th century, and survives in the phrase ''(sein Leben) in die Schanze schlagen'' “to risk (one's life)”, recorded from the mid-16th century.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DFWB) The German word was passed on to Hungarian as ''sansz'' (1854) and to Czech as ''šance''.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – Old French ''cheance'' is borrowed as Middle High German ''schanze''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * Mid-16th century – The phrase ''in die Schanze schlagen'' “to risk” is recorded.^(DFWB)

+ * 1807 – First record of ''Chance'' in German.^(DFWB)

+ * 1831 – Pückler-Muskau writes of officers who may now ''eine Chance finden''.^(DWB2|5, 1092)

+ * 1835 – ''Chance'' is used for a probability.^(DWB2|5, 1092)

+ * 1854 – Hungarian ''sansz'' is recorded, borrowed from German.^(LWP)

+ * 1971 – Bourdieu and Passeron's book appears in German as ''Die Illusion der Chancengleichheit''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A favourable [[m|en|opportunity]], the possibility of achieving something: ''eine zweite Chance bekommen'' “to get a second chance”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+ # A [[m|en|prospect]] of success: ''ihre Chancen auf den Titel sind gering'' “her chances of the title are slim”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' With ''bei'', a prospect of winning someone's affection: ''bei ihr hat er keine Chance''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+ # The [[m|en|likelihood]] of an event.^(Wiktionary DE)^(DWB2|5, 1092)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Chancengleichheit]]

+ * [[Bildungschance]]

+ * [[Chancenlosigkeit]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Schanze]]

+ * [[zuschanzen]]

+ * [[Kadenz]]

+ * [[Kasus]]

+ * [[en|chance]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The word is pronounced in the French way, [ˈʃãːsə] or [ʃãːs], and its plural is ''Chancen''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}