manchmal German · revision 36167

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=16th century}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmançmaːl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''manchmal'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound [[af|de|manch|Mal]], the uninflected pronoun run together with the noun, recorded from the 16th century.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(DWB|12, 1533)^(Wiktionary) The first part is [[gmh|manec]], [[goh|manag]], [[gem-pro|*managaz]], first an adjective meaning “many, much”.^(Pfeifer 1993) The same word is [[got|𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌲𐍃|tr=manags|t=much]], [[ang|manig]] and [[en|many]], and outside Germanic it is compared with [[cu|мъного|tr=mŭnogo|t=much]] and [[sga|menicc|t=frequent]].^(Pfeifer 1993) The spelling with ⟨ch⟩ appeared first in Central German in the Middle High German period and became the rule in New High German, backed by Luther.^(Pfeifer 1993)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Pfeifer dates ''manchmal'' “now and then” to the 16th century, and the Early New High German dictionary gives both “sometimes” and “often”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(FWB) Stieler records it as meaning “several times, many times, at times”.^(DWB|12, 1533)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Beside it the form ''mannigmal'' was sometimes used, as by Rabener and Wieland, without becoming established as ''mannigfalt'' did.^(DWB|12, 1533) The German Wiktionary notes that the older sense “many times” lives on in Low German ''mennigmal''.^(Wiktionary DE) In modern German ''manchmal'' means “from time to time”, and is often set against ''oft'', as in Goethe.^(DWB|12, 1533)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 16th century – ''manchmal'' is first recorded.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1624 – Zinkgref writes ''ob manchmahl schon obsieget gewalt'' “though force sometimes wins”.^(DWB|12, 1533)

+ * 18th century – Wieland and Rabener use the variant ''mannigmal''.^(DWB|12, 1533)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|sometimes]], now and then, at irregular intervals: ''Manchmal fahre ich mit dem Rad zur Arbeit.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In some cases: ''Manchmal ist Schweigen die bessere Antwort.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[manch]]

+ * [[Mal]]

+ * [[mannigfaltig]]

+ * [[Menge]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}