weder German · revision 35489

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈveːdər/, [ˈveː.dɐ]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''weder'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|weder]], [[inh|goh|wedar|t=which of two]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*hwaþar]], [[inh|gem-pro|*hwaþeraz|t=which of two]], originally the neuter of an interrogative pronoun.^(Kluge 2011|974)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same pronoun is [[osx|hweðar]] and [[ang|hwæþer]], which became English [[m|en|whether]]; with another vowel grade it is [[got|𐍈𐌰𐌸𐌰𐍂|tr=ƕaþar]] and [[non|hvárr]].^(Kluge 2011|974)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013) Outside Germanic it corresponds to [[sa|कतर|tr=katará]], [[grc|πότερος|tr=póteros]], [[lt|katràs]] and [[ru|который|tr=kotóryj|t=which]], all from [[ine-pro|*kʷóteros|t=which of two]], formed with a contrastive suffix on the pronoun stem of [[wer]].^(Kluge 2011|974)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|923)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The pronoun could also be indefinite, “whichever of two”.^(Kluge 2011|974) Old High German [[m|goh|nihwedar]] meant “neither of the two”, and when it was paired with [[m|goh|noh|t=nor]] it became a conjunction.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|923)^(Duden GWDS 1999) Middle High German [[m|gmh|enweder]] could still be used in this way, but the negative particle was then dropped, leaving the modern pair.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|923)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''(h)wedar'' is recorded from about 765 in glosses, and in the Hildebrandslied, Isidor, Muspilli, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker, as a pronoun “who, which (of two)” and a conjunction “whether”;^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|375) ''ne wedar … noh'' already meant “neither … nor”.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|375)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Until the early 16th century ''weder'' introduced direct double questions, as in Walther von der Vogelweide's ''wedr ist ez übel, od ist ez guot?'' “which is it, bad or good?”^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) In Central and Northern German the form ''wider'' was common, and Luther used it until about 1530 before replacing it with ''weder''.^(DWB|27, 2834)

+

+ Older writers also paired ''weder … weder'' or ''weder … oder'': Goethe's Gretchen says ''bin weder Fräulein, weder schön''.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) From the second half of the 15th century to the 17th, especially in Alemannic and Swabian, ''weder'' also served as “than” after a comparative, as in Luther's ''Weisheit ist besser weder Gold''; it survives in dialects.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 765 – Old High German ''wedar'' in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * Middle High German – ''weder … noch'' without the negative particle.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * Second half of the 15th century – ''weder'' “than” after comparatives.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+ * c. 1530 – Luther replaces ''wider'' with ''weder''.^(DWB|27, 2834)

+ * Early 16th century – Last use to introduce direct questions.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # Only in ''weder … noch'': [[m|en|neither]] … [[m|en|nor]]: ''Sie trinkt weder Kaffee noch Tee.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' ''Weder noch'': neither the one nor the other, as a reply.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[entweder]]

+ * [[jeder]]

+ * [[wer]]

+ * [[en|whether]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}