niemand German · revision 35372

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=8th century, Old High German}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈniːmant/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''niemand'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|nieman]], [[inh|goh|nioman|t=nobody]], the negative of [[jemand]].^(Kluge 2011|655)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The Old High German word is compounded of the negative particle [[goh|ni|t=not]], [[m|goh|io|t=ever]] (as in [[je]]) and [[m|goh|man|t=man, person]], literally “not any man”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary DE)^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) The same word is [[osx|neoman]], [[gml|nēmant]], [[dum|nieman]] and [[nl|niemand]].^(Kluge 2011|655)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The final ⟨d⟩ is secondary, added from the 14th century, as in the positive pronoun, [[Dutzend]] and [[irgend]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)^(Kluge 2011|456)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''nioman'' “nobody, no one” is first recorded in glosses of perhaps after 765 and then often in the Benedictine Rule, Otfrid, the Tatian, Notker and the ''Muspilli''.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|238)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The case forms varied: Old High German had the genitive ''niomannes'' and accusative ''niomannan''; the accusative ''niemand'' is recorded in 1518 in Geiler von Kaysersberg and ''niemanden'' in Steinbach's dictionary of 1734, while the dative ''niemandem'' dates from the 18th century, and uninflected forms remain frequent.^(Paul 2002) Adelung, around 1800, gave the genitive ''niemands'' and both ''niemand'' and ''niemanden'' for the dative and accusative.^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ Used as a noun, ''ein Niemand'' is a person of no importance;^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) Lessing wrote ''Ich bin dieser Niemand''.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999) The compound [[Niemandsland]] arose in the First World War for the ground between the front lines.^(Paul 2002) German ''niemand'' was borrowed into Czech as ''nýmand'' and into Hungarian as ''nímand''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''nioman'' is recorded.^(Kluge 2011|655)^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 14th century – The form with final ''-d'' (''niemant'') appears.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1518 – The accusative ''niemand'' is recorded in Geiler von Kaysersberg.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 18th century – The dative ''niemandem'' comes into use.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1914–1918 – ''Niemandsland'' is coined in the First World War.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|nobody|alt=Nobody]], no one, not a single person: ''Niemand hat angerufen.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Not one of a given group: ''Wir haben alle gefragt, aber niemand wusste Bescheid.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''ein Niemand'': a nobody, a person of no importance.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Niemandsland]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[jemand]]

+ * [[nie]]

+ * [[Mann]]

+ * [[man]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In the dative and accusative both the inflected forms ''niemandem'', ''niemanden'' and the uninflected ''niemand'' are used.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}