Mitte German · revision 35226

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=9th century, Old High German|origins=ine-pro *médʰyos}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmɪ.tə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Mitte''' ''f'' (genitive Mitte, plural Mitten)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|mitte]], [[inh|goh|mittī]], [[inh|gem-pro|*midjǭ|t=middle]].^(Kluge 2011|627)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) Old High German also had a neuter noun [[m|goh|mitti]], used by Otfrid and in the Tatian.^(EWA|6, 520)^(Pfeifer 1993) The same noun is [[osx|middia]], [[gml|midde]], [[ang|midde]] and [[non|miðja]].^(Kluge 2011|627)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Orel 2003)

+

+ The noun is an abstract formed from the adjective [[gem-pro|*midjaz|t=middle]], which is [[got|𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌹𐍃|tr=midjis]], [[non|miðr]], [[ang|midd]] and the Old High German adjective of the same form as the neuter noun.^(Kluge 2011|627)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) It continues [[ine-pro|*médʰyos|t=middle]], also found in [[sa|मध्य|tr=mádhya]], [[grc|μέσος|tr=mésos]] and [[la|medius]].^(Kluge 2011|627)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) Pfeifer adds Balto-Slavic words for things lying in the middle as a boundary, such as [[lt|medis|t=tree, wood]] and [[ru|межа|tr=mežá|t=boundary]];^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Orel 2003) Orel compares [[sla-pro|*medja|t=boundary]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Orel 2003)

+

+ The adjective has died out as an independent word in modern German, but survives in [[mitten]], a frozen dative plural, and in [[Mittag]], [[Mitternacht]] and [[Mittwoch]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2014|567)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Old High German adjective ''mitti'' “middle” is recorded from the 8th century, the neuter noun from the 9th, and the feminine ''mittī'' around 1000, in Notker.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|6, 516) Schützeichel finds the neuter only in Otfrid.^(Schützeichel 2012|226)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Until the 17th century, and in literature until the 19th, ''Mitte'' could also be inflected as a weak noun (''in der Mitten'').^(Paul 2002) The Grimms note that Middle and New High German long let it give way to the neuter ''Mittel'', and that the modern language took it up again after that word had aged in these uses.^(DWB|12, 2378) Besides the point or part in the middle, it came to mean the waist, the middle of a period of time (''Mitte des Monats''), a state between two extremes, and the [[m|en|centre]] in politics, between left and right;^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''Reich der Mitte'' renders the Chinese name for China.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) The call ''ab durch die Mitte!'' “off with you!” comes from stage directions.^(Duden 7 2014|567)^(Paul 2002) Upper Silesian Polish has ''mita'' “middle” from German.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – The Old High German adjective ''mitti'' is recorded.^(EWA|6, 516)^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 9th century – The neuter noun ''mitti'' appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * Around 1000 – Notker uses the feminine ''mittī''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 17th century – Weak inflection goes out of ordinary use.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|middle]] or [[m|en|centre]], the point or part equally distant from the ends or edges: ''Der Tisch steht in der Mitte des Raums.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A point or period halfway between two limits: ''Mitte Juli'', ''Mitte dreißig'' (aged about 35).^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # A position between two extremes: ''die goldene Mitte'', the golden mean.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # A group of people: ''in unserer Mitte'', among us.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # ''(politics)'' The parties or groups between left and right.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(dated)'' The [[m|en|waist]].^(Wiktionary DE)^(EWA|6, 520)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Jahrhundertmitte]]

+ * [[Stadtmitte]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Mittag]]

+ * [[Mitternacht]]

+ * [[Mittwoch]]

+ * [[mitten]]

+ * [[Mittel]]

+ * [[Medium]]

+ * [[en|mid]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}