ein German · revision 35425

+ {{homograph|1|one; a, an}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century|origins=ine-pro *h₁óynos}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /aɪ̯n/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Colloquial: /ən/, /n̩/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Austria: /aɛ̯n/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ein''' (masculine and neuter), '''eine''' (feminine); used alone '''einer''', '''eine''', '''ein(e)s'''.^(DWB2|7, 461) Before a noun the masculine and neuter nominative and the neuter accusative have no ending.^(DWB2|7, 461)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The numeral and article is [[inh|gmh|ein]], [[inh|goh|ein]], [[inh|gem-pro|*ainaz|t=one]].^(Kluge 2011|234)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[got|𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃|tr=ains]], [[non|einn]], [[ang|ān]] (whence [[en|one]]), [[ofs|ān]] and [[osx|ēn]].^(Kluge 2011|234)^(Kroonen 2013) It continues [[ine-pro|*h₁óynos|alt=*oi-no-|t=one]], a form limited to the European languages, also found in [[la|ūnus]], [[grc|οἴνη|tr=oínē|t=the one on a die]], [[sga|óen]], [[prg|ains]], [[lt|vienas]] and [[cu|инъ|tr=inŭ]]; [[sa|एक|tr=éka|t=one]] is formed from the same base.^(Kluge 2011|234)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Orel 2003)

+

+ Following Carruba, Kluge takes [[m|ine-pro|*oi-]] with a suffix to be the oldest Indo-European word for “one”: a pronominal and a deictic element, roughly “he, she, it here”, as against [[m|ine-pro|*sem-]], found above all in Greek and originally meaning “one of a group”.^(Kluge 2011|234) Pfeifer and Duden derive it from the pronominal stem [[m|ine-pro|*e-]], also seen in [[er]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ Its use as the indefinite article began before the written records, in German as in English.^(Kluge 2011|234) Old High German already used the numeral as an indefinite pronoun, “some, a certain”, from which the article developed in West and North Germanic alike; in the Gothic word this function is not yet established.^(EWA|2, 989) The counting form [[eins]] continues the strong neuter [[m|gmh|einez]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|2, 989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Recorded from the 8th century, Old High German ''ein'' was a numeral, an indefinite pronoun and the indefinite article, with senses such as “one, some, any, a certain, that, one and the same, only, alone”.^(EWA|2, 989)^(Schützeichel 2012|85) Köbler's earliest dated source is a gloss of 765.^(Köbler AHD) The weak form ''eino'' meant “alone, as the only one”, and as an adverb ''ein'' meant “only”.^(EWA|2, 989)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the sense of number came that of unity and agreement: Old High German ''ein sīn'' “to be of one mind”, ''ein werdan'' “to come to an agreement”; from the 15th century came ''eins sein'', ''eins werden'', probably with a genitive ''-s'', with the opposite ''uneins''.^(Pfeifer 1993) The weak form, often strengthened in Middle High German by ''al'', gave [[allein]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|2, 989) Duden dates the use as an indefinite pronoun (''einer'', ''die einen – die anderen'') to Middle High German, while Pfeifer and the EWA find it already in Old High German.^(Duden 7 2020)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(EWA|2, 989)

+

+ The noun ''Eins'' for the figure dates from the 18th century, and it later also named a school mark and a tram line.^(Pfeifer 1993) Paul records ''ein Uhr'' “one o'clock” from 1395.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 765 – Old High German ''ein'' appears in a gloss.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 1395 – First record of ''ein Uhr'' “one o'clock”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 15th century – ''eins sein'', ''eins werden'' “to agree” and ''uneins'' appear; the noun ''Einheit'' is formed.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+ * 18th century – ''Eins'' becomes the name of the figure 1.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 20th century – ''Einer'' comes to mean a single scull.^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Numeral===

+ # [[m|en|one]] (stressed).^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # One and the same: ''einer Meinung sein'' “to be of the same opinion”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # Someone, [[m|en|anyone]]: ''einer von euch'' “one of you”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # One, you (as an object form of [[man]]).^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ===Article===

+ # [[m|en|a]], an: the unstressed indefinite [[m|en|article]].^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[eins]]

+ * [[Einheit]]

+ * [[einen]]

+ * [[vereinen]]

+ * [[Verein]]

+ * [[einig]]

+ * [[einsam]]

+ * [[einst]]

+ * [[einzeln]]

+ * [[einzig]]

+ * [[einfach]]

+ * [[allein]]

+ * [[elf]]

+ * [[nein]]

+ * [[uneins]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|in, into (adverb)}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=14th century|origins=ine-pro *h₁én}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /aɪ̯n/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ein''' (adverb, invariable; mostly as a separable prefix).^(DWB2|7, 479)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adverb is [[inh|gmh|în]], [[inh|goh|īn]], the stressed and therefore lengthened form of [[in]].^(Kluge 2011|234)^(Duden 7 2020)^(DWB2|7, 479) In High German the adverb was set apart from the preposition only by this lengthening, which began in the 12th century, while Old English and Old Norse distinguished it by a long nasal ([[m|ang|inn]], [[m|non|inn]], as in [[got|𐌹𐌽𐌽|tr=inn]]), and Low German, Dutch and Frisian made no distinction.^(DWB2|7, 479) The EWA explains the long vowel either by stress or by analogy: after the preposition and the old adverb had fallen together, the adverb was remodelled after [[goh|ūf]] and [[m|goh|ūz]].^(EWA|5, 65)

+

+ Before the diphthongization the long form cannot be told apart in writing from the short one, but rhymes on long vowels prove it from the 14th century.^(Kluge 2011|234) Spelt ⟨ein⟩ after the diphthongization, it prevailed in the written language of the whole German area from the 16th century, although the western Middle German dialects kept the short form.^(DWB2|7, 479)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Middle High German ''în'' meant “in, into, inside”, as in ''herein'' and ''hinein''.^(Duden 7 2020)^(DWB2|7, 479)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Unlike the preposition, ''ein'' always marks a direction, as in [[herein]], [[hinein]], [[darein]], ''querfeldein'' and ''jahrein, jahraus''; it can stand alone beside ''aus'', as in ''nicht ein noch aus wissen'' “not to know which way to turn”, which the Grimms quote from Goethe.^(Duden 7 2020)^(DWB|3, 140) Above all it is a separable prefix of verbs that express putting into something (''einbauen'', ''eintreten'') or enclosing it (''einzäunen'', ''einfangen''), and it has many transferred meanings.^(Duden 7 2020)^(DWB2|7, 479) In a few words ''ein-'' means “inside” and has replaced Middle High German ''in-'', as in [[Eingeweide]] from ''ingeweide''.^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 12th century – The vowel of the stressed adverb begins to be lengthened in High German.^(DWB2|7, 479)

+ * 14th century – Rhymes prove the long form ''în''.^(Kluge 2011|234)

+ * 16th century – The spelling ''ein'' prevails throughout the written language.^(DWB2|7, 479)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''(now mainly in compounds)'' In, into: marks [[m|en|movement]] into something.^(Wiktionary)^(Duden 7 2020)

+ # ''(with aus)'' In: ''ein und aus''.^(DWB|3, 140)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[herein]]

+ * [[hinein]]

+ * [[darein]]

+ * [[Eingeweide]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[in]]

+ * [[en|one]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}