nur German · revision 35395

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=11th century}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /nuːɐ̯/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nur''' (adverb, particle and conjunction; not inflected)^(Wiktionary)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ Early New High German had many variants: ''nuer'', ''nuwer'', ''newer'', ''neur'', ''nurt''.^(Kluge 2011|661)^(Paul 2002) The spelling ''nuhr'' (1557) still shows the long vowel.^(Paul 2002)^(DWB|13, 998)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|nūr]], a Central German form, contracted from older [[m|gmh|newære]], [[inh|goh|niwāri]], literally “it were not”.^(Kluge 2011|661)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The Old High German phrase joins the negative particle [[m|goh|ni]] to [[m|goh|wāri]], the past subjunctive of [[m|goh|sīn|t=to be]], and meant “unless, except”, attached at first mostly to a negative main clause.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Kluge 2011|661) The present-tense phrase [[m|goh|ni sī]] was formed in the same way and survives without its negation in ⟨es sei denn⟩ “unless”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|13, 998)

+

+ The phrase was fused and shortened step by step: in the 12th century to [[m|gmh|niwâr]], in the 13th, with the stress moved to the negation, to [[m|gmh|niwer]] and [[m|gmh|nüwer]], and then, as /iw/ and /uw/ merged into a single vowel, to [[m|gmh|niur]] (Bavarian ⟨neur⟩), ⟨nûer⟩ and Central German ⟨nûr⟩.^(DWB|13, 998) Pfeifer dates the first ⟨nūr⟩ to the beginning of the 14th century; this Central German form is the one the standard language took over.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|13, 998)

+

+ The other West Germanic languages shortened the same phrase: [[ang|ne wǣre]] became [[m|ang|nǣre]], [[ofs|ne wēre]] became [[m|ofs|nēre]], and [[dum|newaer]], after losing its negation, became [[nl|maar|t=but]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|13, 998)^(Wiktionary) [[osx|ni wāri]] was instead replaced by [[gml|man|t=only]], from [[m|osx|newan]].^(Pfeifer 1993) The same word is [[yi|נאָר|tr=nor]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Old High German and early Middle High German the phrase meant “unless, except”, as a condition attached to a negative clause.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) Köbler records the conjunction ''newære'' “unless” in Williram of Ebersberg's commentary on the Song of Songs (1060–1065).^(Köbler MHD) An early printed Bible still uses this sense in Genesis 32:26: ''ich lasse dich nit, nur du gesegnest mich'' (“I will not let you go unless you bless me”), where Luther wrote ''du segenest mich denn''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “nothing but, no more than” is already Middle High German; it too stood at first after a negation, which was gradually dropped, so that ''ich war nur einmal bei ihm'' “I was there only once” goes back to a sentence of the type “I was not there, except once”.^(Paul 2002) From late Middle High German on ''nur'' pushed back the older word for “only”, [[m|gmh|niwan]].^(Paul 2002) Weakened in meaning, it became a modal particle that gives force to requests, questions and wishes (''nur Mut!'' “courage!”).^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ As a conjunction it adds a restriction to the preceding clause (“only, however”); subordinating ''nur daß'' “except that” has been in use since the 15th century, and the paired conjunction ''nicht nur … sondern auch'' “not only … but also” since the 16th.^(Pfeifer 1993) In the 16th to 18th centuries ''nur'' was also used in the temporal sense of [[nun]], “just now”, as in Rädlein's ''er ist nur weg gegangen'' “he has only just left”.^(DWB|13, 1008)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1060–1065 – The conjunction ''newære'' “unless” in Williram of Ebersberg.^(Köbler MHD)

+ * 12th century – The fused form is shortened to ''niwâr'', ''newâr''.^(DWB|13, 998)

+ * 13th century – Forms with the stress on the first syllable: ''niwer'', ''newer'', ''nüwer''.^(DWB|13, 998)

+ * Early 14th century – First record of Central German ''nūr''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 15th century – Subordinating ''nur daß'' “except that”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1482 – ''nur'' in the ''Vocabularius Teutonico-Latinus''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 16th century – ''nicht nur … sondern auch'' “not only … but also”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|only]], [[m|en|merely]]: nothing more than what is named.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # No more than a stated amount: ''ich brauche nur zwei Minuten'' “I only need two minutes”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # Exclusively, nothing other than: ''nur der Fachmann kann das beurteilen'' “only the expert can judge that”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # ''(chiefly colloquial)'' [[m|en|but]], [[m|en|however]]: restricts what the preceding clause says.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Particle===

+ # Gives emphasis to a question, statement, request or wish: ''was hat sie sich dabei nur gedacht?'' “whatever was she thinking?”^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # [[m|en|ever]], at all, in relative clauses: ''die Kinder bekommen alles, was sie nur wollen'' “the children get whatever they want”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Reassures or encourages in statements and commands: ''geh nur zu ihm'' “just go to him”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nurmehr]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nun]]

+ * [[sein]]

+ * [[nl|maar]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In south-eastern German ''nur mehr'' is used where other regions say ''nur noch'' “only … still, no more than”.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}