neun German · revision 35309

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 800, Old High German Benedictine Rule|origins=ine-pro *h₁néwn̥}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /nɔʏ̯n/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

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

+ Used without a noun the numeral could be inflected: Old High German had ''niuni'', neuter ''niuniu'', Middle High German ''niune'', and New High German ''neune''.^(DWB|13, 679) Adelung gives the dative in ''einer aus neunen'' and the genitive ''neuner'', which he calls rare.^(Adelung 1793|3, 479)

+ The noun ''die Neun'' (plural ''Neunen'') names the digit.^(Wiktionary)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|niun]], [[inh|goh|niun]], [[inh|gem-pro|*newun|t=nine]].^(Kluge 2011|654)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013) The same word is [[got|𐌽𐌹𐌿𐌽|tr=niun]], which had two syllables, [[non|níu]], [[ang|nigon]], [[ofs|niugun]] and [[osx|nigun]]; it continues in [[nl|negen]], [[en|nine]] and [[sv|nio]].^(Kluge 2011|654)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Orel 2003) In Old Saxon, Old English, Old Frisian and Low German the /g/ arose from /w/ before /u/.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|6, 985) Kroonen explains this from a West Germanic form with a raised vowel, since the change only took place between two high vowels.^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ It continues [[ine-pro|*h₁néwn̥|t=nine]],^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) also found in [[sa|नव|tr=náva]], [[grc|ἐννέα|tr=ennéa]], [[la|novem]], [[sga|noí]], [[lt|devyni|alt=devynì]] and [[cu|девѧть|tr=devętĭ]].^(Kluge 2011|654)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Orel 2003) The Latin numeral took its /m/ from [[m|la|decem|t=ten]], and Baltic and Slavic changed the initial /n/ to /d/ after their word for ten.^(Kluge 2011|654)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ The numeral is often connected with [[neu]] “new”: if people counted on the fingers without the thumbs, eight used up both hands, and nine began a new set of four.^(Kluge 2011|654)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|582)^(Paul 2002) Wahrig calls this explanation not fully secured.^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) Kluge reports that more recent work finds “nine” in parallel cases to mean “ten minus one”, and so links it with [[ine-pro|*ēneu-|t=without]], “lacking one”, but judges these hypotheses rather involved.^(Kluge 2011|654)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The compound ''niungeldo'' “ninefold compensation” is recorded in the 8th century and the numeral itself from the 9th.^(Kluge 2011|654) Pfeifer and Köbler date ''niun'' to about 800, in the Old High German Benedictine Rule; it also appears in the Tatian, in Notker and in the charm ''Pro Nessia''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|238)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The ordinal ''neunte'' is Old High German ''niunto'' (8th century), Middle High German ''niunde''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|582) The fish name [[Neunauge]] “lamprey”, Old High German ''niunouga'', counts the seven gill openings as eyes beside the real eye and the nostril, and the shrike was called [[Neuntöter]] from the 16th century.^(Duden 7 2020|582)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ At skittles ''alle neune!'' is the cry when one throw knocks down all nine pins, and jokingly when things crash to the floor.^(Duden GWDS 1999) The exclamation ''ach, du grüne Neune!'' is of unclear origin; the Duden etymological dictionary suggests a Berlin dance hall of the 19th century at Blumenstraße 9, with its main entrance on the Grüner Weg, which was popularly called ''die grüne Neune'' and soon lost its good name.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden 7 2020|582)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – The compound ''niungeldo'' “ninefold compensation” is recorded.^(Kluge 2011|654)

+ * 8th century – The ordinal ''niunto'' “ninth” appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * c. 800 – Old High German ''niun'' is used in the Benedictine Rule.^(Köbler AHD)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 16th century – The bird name ''Neuntöter'' is recorded.^(Duden 7 2020|582)

+ * 19th century – A Berlin dance hall known as ''die grüne Neune'' may have given the exclamation ''ach, du grüne Neune!''.^(Duden 7 2020|582)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Numeral===

+ # [[m|en|nine]], the cardinal number between eight and ten (9): ''Das Kind ist neun Jahre alt.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''die Neun'': the [[m|en|digit]] or number 9.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''die Neun'': a [[m|en|playing card]] with nine pips.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''die Neun'' ''(colloquial)'': the tram or bus of route 9: ''Wir nehmen die Neun bis zum Rathaus.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[neunte]]

+ * [[neunzehn]]

+ * [[neunzig]]

+ * [[Neunauge]]

+ * [[Neuntöter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[neu]]

+ * [[November]]

+ * [[en|nine]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Older German inflected the numeral when it stood alone, and the forms ''neune'' and ''neunen'' survive in phrases such as ''alle neune''.^(DWB|13, 679)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}