zwölf German · revision 35339

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /t͡svœlf/, [t͡sʋœlf]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

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

+ The two-syllable form ''zwelif'' lost its middle vowel in late Old High German, and Notker has both ''zwelef'' and ''zwelf''.^(DWB|32, 1432)

+ The rounding of the umlaut vowel to ''ö'' first appears in Alemannic in the 13th century, in a document of 1277; spellings with ''e'' and ''ö'' long competed.^(DWB|32, 1432)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|zwelf]], [[inh|goh|zwelif]], [[inh|gem-pro|*twalif|t=twelve]].^(Kluge 2011|1021)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same numeral is [[got|𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌹𐍆|tr=twalif]], [[non|tólf]], [[ang|twelf]], [[ofs|twelef]] and [[osx|twelif]], continued in [[nl|twaalf]], [[en|twelve]], [[sv|tolv]] and [[is|tólf]].^(Kluge 2011|1021)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Orel 2003)

+

+ It is a compound: the first part is the stem of [[zwei]], [[gem-pro|*twai|t=two]], from [[ine-pro|*dwóh₁|t=two]], and the second part is the same as in [[elf]].^(Kluge 2011|1021)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) That element, [[gem-pro|*-lif]], is usually explained as “left over”, so that the number is “two left over” once ten has been counted.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|32, 1432)^(Duden GWDS 1999) Pfeifer and the Grimms' dictionary connect it with [[bleiben]] and the root [[ine-pro|*leyp-]];^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|32, 1432) Kluge also allows the root of [[leihen]], [[ine-pro|*leykʷ-|t=to leave]].^(Kluge 2011|241)

+

+ Outside Germanic, [[lt|dvylika|alt=dvýlika|t=twelve]] is formed in the same way.^(Kluge 2011|1021)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Orel 2003) Some scholars take the Lithuanian and Germanic elements to be one word, assuming that the labiovelar of the second part became a labial after the /w/ of the first and then spread to the word for eleven;^(Kluge 2011|241)^(Pfeifer 1993) Kroonen, however, holds that the two branches used different roots, so that the formations arose separately.^(Kroonen 2013) Kluge sees in this way of counting a relic of a contrast between a system of tens and one of twelves.^(Kluge 2011|241)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''zwelif'' is first recorded in glosses of the last quarter of the 8th century, and then in the Benedictine Rule, the Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|412)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Duden notes the role of twelve in old systems of measure and coinage, as in the [[Dutzend]], and in astronomy, religion and popular belief.^(Duden 7 2020|961) The [[Zwölffingerdarm]] (duodenum), named in the mid-17th century, translates Greek ''dōdekadáktylos'', a term of the Alexandrian anatomist Herophilos for a gut twelve finger-breadths long.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) Two-syllable forms survive in the dialects of Alsace and the Trier area, and ''zwölef'' was used on the telephone to keep the number apart from ''elf''.^(DWB|32, 1432)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 8th century – Old High German ''zwelif'' appears in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 9th century – The ordinal ''zwelifto'' is recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * About 1000 – Notker has the one-syllable form ''zwelf''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|32, 1432)

+ * 1277 – The rounded form with ''ö'' appears in an Alemannic document.^(DWB|32, 1432)

+ * Mid-17th century – ''Zwölffingerdarm'' is coined.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Numeral===

+ # [[m|en|twelve]], the cardinal number 12: ''Ein Jahr hat zwölf Monate.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''die Zwölf'': the figure 12;^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE) ''(colloquial)'' the tram or bus of route 12.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[zwölfte]]

+ * [[Zwölffingerdarm]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[zwei]]

+ * [[elf]]

+ * [[en|twelve]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Es hat zwölf geschlagen'' (“it has struck twelve”) is used figuratively for “it is too late”.^(Duden GWDS 1999) Adelung notes that the numeral takes the dative ending ''-en'' only when it stands without a noun, as in ''vor zwölfen''.^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}