man German · revision 35401

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /man/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''man''' (indefinite pronoun, nominative only; the other cases are supplied by ''ein'': ''einem'', ''einen'')^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|man]], [[inh|goh|man]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*mann]], [[inh|gem-pro|*mann-|t=person]]: the nominative singular of the noun [[Mann]] “man, human being”, weakened into an impersonal pronoun.^(Kluge 2011|597)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|530)^(Wiktionary) The same development took place in [[ang|man]] and [[ofs|ma]], and Pfeifer adds [[osx|man]], [[gml|man]] and [[nl|men]].^(Kluge 2011|597)^(Pfeifer 1993) The Grimms note that it had not yet happened in Gothic.^(DWB|12, 1520)

+

+ All the sources point to the parallel of [[fr|on]] “one”, from [[la|homō|t=man, human being]].^(Kluge 2011|597)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|530)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''man'' is used as a pronoun from the 8th century.^(Kluge 2011|597)^(Pfeifer 1993) Köbler records it in glosses and in Tatian.^(Köbler AHD) Pfeifer notes that the noun's sense “man, person” can still mostly be felt in Old High German, and only occasionally in Middle High German.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The pronoun first meant “some person”, then “any person”, and today it covers both singular and plural ideas.^(Duden 7 2020|530)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) Since Middle High German it has been used only in the nominative; from Early New High German the other cases have been taken from the indefinite pronoun [[ein]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|12, 1520) Older New High German sometimes still wrote it ''mann'', like the noun.^(DWB|12, 1520) Paul, following Adelung, dates the spelling of the noun with double ''n'' to the 16th century.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ In Early New High German ''man'' was also used to avoid addressing someone directly as ''du'', ''er'' or ''sie'', as in ''Man komme her'' “come here”; in 1802 Goethe called to the audience in the Weimar theatre ''Man lache nicht!'' “no laughing!”.^(Paul 2002) Dialects have the forms ''mer'' in East Central German and Bavaria and ''me'' in Alemannic.^(DWB|12, 1520) As a feminine counterpart, ''frau'' is sometimes used.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''man'' appears as an indefinite pronoun.^(Kluge 2011|597)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 16th century – The noun begins to be spelled ''Mann'', with double ''n''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1802 – Goethe calls ''Man lache nicht!'' to the audience in the Weimar theatre.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|one|alt=One]], you: anyone, taken as standing for everyone: ''von dort oben hat man eine herrliche Aussicht'' “from up there one has a splendid view”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Someone, some people, often in place of a [[m|en|passive]]: ''man hat die Kirche wieder aufgebaut'' “the church has been rebuilt”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # People in general, the [[m|en|public]]; also someone who keeps to social [[m|en|convention|alt=conventions]]: ''so etwas tut man nicht'' “that is not done”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # I, we, when the speaker merges with people in general.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # You, he, she, to keep a distance and avoid a direct address: ''hat man sich gut erholt?'' “did we have a good rest?”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Mann]]

+ * [[jemand]]

+ * [[niemand]]

+ * [[en|man]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In northern colloquial German a different ''man'' means “just, only”, as in ''lass es man gut sein'' “just leave it”.^(Duden 7 2020|530)^(Wiktionary) It comes from [[gml|man]] “only”, which Kluge traces to [[osx|newan]] “only, except”, a fusion of the negation with ''wan''; it is recorded from the 18th century.^(Kluge 2011|597)^(Wiktionary) Writers from the north, such as Matthias Claudius, occasionally brought it into the written language.^(DWB|12, 1524)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}