zwei German · revision 35397

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century, Old High German|origins=ine-pro *dwóh₁}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /t͡svaɪ̯/, [t͡sʋaɪ̯], /t͡svo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''zwei''' (cardinal number; genitive ''zweier'', dative ''zweien'' when the case is not otherwise shown)^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002)

+ Until the 18th century, and in poets even later, three genders were distinguished: masculine ''zween'', feminine ''zwo'', neuter ''zwei''.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|zwei]], [[inh|goh|zwei]], [[inh|gem-pro|*twai|t=two]].^(Kluge 2011|1019)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The Old High German form was the neuter of an inflected numeral whose masculine was [[m|goh|zwēne]] and feminine [[m|goh|zwō]] or [[m|goh|zwā]].^(Kluge 2011|1019)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The masculine form is a West Germanic distributive numeral, which Kluge reconstructs as [[gmw-pro|*twajina-]], also in [[ang|twēgen]] and [[ofs|twēne]].^(Kluge 2011|1019)^(Pfeifer 1993) The same numeral is [[got|𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌹|tr=twai]], [[non|tveir]] and [[osx|twēne]], and it survives in [[nl|twee]], [[en|two]] and [[sv|två]].^(Kluge 2011|1019)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ It goes back to a dual form [[ine-pro|*dwóh₁]], which Kluge writes [[m|ine-pro|*dwōu]].^(Wiktionary)^(Kluge 2011|1019) The same numeral is [[grc|δύο|tr=dúo]], [[la|duo]], [[sga|dá]], [[cy|dau]], [[lt|du|alt=dù]], [[ru|два|tr=dva]] and [[txb|wi]].^(Kluge 2011|1019)^(Pfeifer 1993) Duden thinks the prefix [[zer-]] probably belongs to it.^(Duden 7 2020|958)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''zwēne'', ''zwō'', ''zwei'' is recorded from the 8th century.^(Kluge 2011|1019)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD) The ''Hildebrandslied'', the Isidor translation, the Benedictine Rule and Notker use it for “two” and “both”;^(Schützeichel 2012|412) ''untar zwein'' meant “in doubt”.^(Schützeichel 2012|412)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ New High German kept the three genders until the 18th century, and writers mixed them: Paul quotes ''zwo Händ' und zwo Beine'' from Goethe and ''zwoer Herzen'' from Schiller.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) Adelung recommended the neuter form, which finally prevailed.^(Paul 2002) The feminine ''zwo'' was revived for all genders on the telephone and in business, to avoid confusion with [[drei]];^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|958) Paul dates this to the First World War, Pfeifer to the early 20th century.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|958)

+

+ In the 14th century the ordinal [[zweite]] replaced the older [[ander]] “second”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|958) Many words were formed from the numeral, such as [[Zweifel]] (originally “twofold possibility”), [[Zweig]] (“forked branch”), [[Zwilling]], [[Zwirn]] (“twofold thread”) and [[zwölf]] (“two over ten”).^(Duden 7 2020|958) The adjective [[zweideutig]] was coined by Harsdörffer in 1641 for Latin ''aequivocus'', and [[Zweikampf]] by Zesen in 1645 for Latin ''duellum''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''zwēne'', ''zwō'', ''zwei'' is first recorded.^(Kluge 2011|1019)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 14th century – The ordinal ''zweiter'' replaces ''ander''.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1641 – Harsdörffer coins ''zweideutig''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1645 – Zesen coins ''Zweikampf''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 17th century – The adverb [[zweitens]] appears.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 18th century – The neuter ''zwei'' becomes the form for all genders.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * Early 20th century – ''zwo'' is revived on the telephone.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Numeral===

+ # [[m|en|two|alt=Two]], the number 2.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' Two o'clock; two years old.^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[zweite]]

+ * [[zweitens]]

+ * [[Zwei]]

+ * [[entzwei]]

+ * [[zweideutig]]

+ * [[Zweikampf]]

+ * [[zwanzig]]

+ * [[zwölf]]

+ * [[Zweifel]]

+ * [[Zweig]]

+ * [[Zwilling]]

+ * [[Zwirn]]

+ * [[zwischen]]

+ * [[Zwist]]

+ * [[Zwitter]]

+ * [[Zuber]]

+ * [[zwie-]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[zer-]]

+ * [[Duo]]

+ * [[en|two]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Für zwei'' means “for two, a great deal”: ''er isst für zwei'' “he eats enough for two”.^(Duden GWDS 1999) The noun ''Zwei'' is the figure 2, and in German schools the mark “good”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}