je German · revision 35121

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /jeː/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''je'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old High German had ''eo'', later ''io'', and Middle High German ''ie''; the form ''je'' arose from a shift of the syllable peak (''ié''), which took place first in Low German.^(EWA|5, 139)^(Kluge 2011|455)^(Paul 2002) Schottelius gives ''je'' in 1663, but the Silesian Baroque poets still wrote ''ie'', and Wieland still rhymes it with ''sie''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|ie]], [[inh|goh|io]], [[inh|gem-pro|*aiwin|t=always, ever]].^(Kluge 2011|455)^(Wiktionary) The same adverb is [[osx|eo]], [[non|æ]], [[ang|ā]] and [[got|𐌰𐌹𐍅|tr=aiw|t=ever (only after a negative)]].^(Kluge 2011|455)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(AWB|4, 1647) It is a fossilized case form, accusative or dative, of a noun meaning “time, eternity”, preserved in [[m|got|𐌰𐌹𐍅𐍃|tr=aiws|t=time, eternity]];^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|415) Kluge and Duden take this noun as an i-stem, [[gem-pro|*aiwiz]], while Wiktionary reconstructs [[m|gem-pro|*aiwaz]].^(Kluge 2011|455)^(Duden 7 2014|415)^(Wiktionary) The noun belongs with [[ewig]].^(Kluge 2011|455)^(Pfeifer 1993) A similar formation outside Germanic is [[grc|αἰεί|tr=aieí|t=always]],^(Kluge 2011|455) and Köbler and Wiktionary trace the group to [[ine-pro|*h₂óyu|t=life force, age]].^(Köbler AHD)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The adverb is also contained in [[immer]], [[nie]], [[irgend]], [[jeder]], [[jeglich]] and [[jemand]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|415)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''io'' is recorded from about 765 in glosses and in the Abrogans, and then in Isidor, the Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.^(Köbler AHD)^(EWA|5, 139) It meant “always, at all times, ever, at some time, each time”.^(EWA|5, 139)^(Schützeichel 2012|165)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle High German ''ie'' and ''iemer'' (now [[immer]]) both meant “ever, always”, ''ie'' referring to the past and ''iemer'' to the future;^(Paul 2002) New High German replaced this with a new division, ''immer'' “at every actual time”, ''je'' “at any supposed time”, so that ''je'' stands mostly in questions and conditions.^(Paul 2002) The old sense “always” survived longest in ''je und je'', as in Paul Gerhardt's ''der mich je und je geliebt'', which later also meant “now and then”.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ The distributive use with numbers (''je zwei'') and the correlative use with comparatives, ''je länger, je lieber'', are already Middle High German;^(Paul 2002)^(Lexer 1872|1, 1413) today ''je … desto'' and ''je … umso'' are usual.^(Paul 2002) Early New High German also used ''je'' as an emphatic particle, “certainly”, as in Luther's ''das ist je gewißlich wahr''.^(Paul 2002)^(FWB) The use as a preposition meaning “per” is modern.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * Middle High German – ''ie … ie'' with comparatives.^(Paul 2002)^(Köbler MHD)

+ * Late Middle High German – The form ''je'' arises by a shift of the syllable peak.^(Kluge 2011|455)

+ * 1663 – Schottelius gives the spelling ''je''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 18th century – Wieland still rhymes ''ie'' with ''sie''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|ever]], at any time: ''Hast du so etwas je gesehen?''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Each, apiece, with numbers: ''Die Gäste bekamen je zwei Gutscheine.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Each one taken separately: ''Die Bretter sind je zwei Meter lang.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''je nach'': [[m|en|depending]] on: ''je nach Wetter''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''seit je'', ''seit eh und je'': always, for as long as anyone remembers;^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''je und je'' ''(elevated, dated)'': now and then.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ===Preposition===

+ # [[m|en|per]], for each: ''zehn Euro je Teilnehmer''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # With two comparatives, ''je … desto'', ''je … umso'': the … the: ''je eher, desto besser''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''je nachdem'': depending on whether, it depends.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[jemals]]

+ * [[immer]]

+ * [[nie]]

+ * [[irgend]]

+ * [[jeder]]

+ * [[jeglich]]

+ * [[jemand]]

+ * [[jeweils]]

+ * [[Jelängerjelieber]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ewig]]

+ * [[en|aye]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two interjections of other origin are spelt the same way: ''je'' with a short vowel, a variant of [[ja]] expressing surprise or reluctant agreement (''je nun''),^(DWB|10, 2273) and ''je'' with a long vowel, short for ''Jesus'', in exclamations such as ''o je'' and ''herrje''.^(DWB|10, 2274)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}