langsam German · revision 36289

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 8th or early 9th century, Old High German glosses|origins=gem-pro *langaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈlaŋzaːm/, /ˈlaŋzam/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''langsam''' (strong nominative masculine singular langsamer, comparative langsamer, superlative am langsamsten)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|lancsam]], [[inh|goh|langsam]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*langasam|t=lengthy, long-lasting]], formed from [[lang]] with the suffix [[-sam]].^(Kluge 2011|559)^(Wiktionary)^(EWA|5, 1021) Beside [[osx|langsam]] there is [[ang|langsum]], so the adjective may already have been formed in West Germanic.^(Kluge 2011|559) [[dum|lancsam]] is the same word.^(AWB|5, 618)

+

+ Its first meaning was “long-lasting”.^(Kluge 2011|559)^(Duden GWDS 1999) The sense “slow” came from the neighbouring adjective [[goh|langseimi]], [[gmh|lancseim|t=hesitating, slow]], whose second part is Middle High German [[m|gmh|seine|t=sluggish]], related to [[non|seinn|t=late]] and to [[got|𐍃𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽|tr=sainjan|t=to delay]].^(Kluge 2011|559)^(EWA|5, 1021) The Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen explains that the compound took the sense “slow” under the influence of the simple adjective and passed it on to its similar-sounding neighbour; the compound then died out, and the adjective in -sam lost its old sense of duration.^(EWA|5, 1021)^(DWB|12, 179)

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+ The base adjective is [[gem-pro|*langaz]];^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD) Pfeifer traces it with [[la|longus]] to [[ine-pro|*dlongʰos]], from a root [[ine-pro|*del-|t=long]] also found without the nasal in [[grc|δολιχός|tr=dolikhós]] and [[cu|длъгъ|tr=dlŭgŭ]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Köbler AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''langsam'' first appears in two Alemannic glosses of the end of the 8th or beginning of the 9th century, and then in the Old High German Benedictine Rule, with the senses “long, long-lasting, extended, tedious”, translating Latin ''diuturnus'', ''longus'' and ''prolixus''.^(EWA|5, 1021)^(Schützeichel 2012|192)^(AWB|5, 618) In the Rule it describes the long probation of novices in the monastery.^(AWB|5, 618)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Early New High German the word meant “slow, unhurried”, with a positive shade (measured, steady) or a negative one (hesitant, sluggish), and also “late”, “for a long time”, “rarely” and “hardly”.^(FWB) Adelung still knew the sense “late” in common speech, especially in Lower Saxony, and noted that the biblical ''langsam zum Zorn'' “slow to wrath” (James 1:19) was going out of use.^(Adelung 1793)

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+ In modern German it also means “gradually”, and colloquially it marks that something has nearly reached a point: ''langsam reicht's''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) English has taken ''langsam'' as a musical direction.^(LWP)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 8th or early 9th century – Old High German ''langsam'' “long-lasting” in glosses.^(EWA|5, 1021)

+ * Middle High German – ''lancsam'' takes over the sense “slow” from ''lancseim''.^(EWA|5, 1021)^(DWB|12, 179)

+ * 1350–1650 – Early New High German senses “slow”, “late”, “rarely”.^(FWB)

+ * 1793 – Adelung records the regional sense “late”.^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|slow]], moving with little speed or taking a long time: ''ein langsamer Walzer'';^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary) ''langsam, aber sicher'' (“slowly but surely”).^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Slow-witted, ponderous, needing a long time for things: ''ein langsamer Arbeiter''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # [[m|en|gradual]]: ''die langsame Erholung der Wirtschaft''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Slowly; [[m|en|gradually]], little by little: ''Langsam wurde es dunkel.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' By now, it is getting to the point that: ''Langsam habe ich genug davon.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Langsamkeit]]

+ * [[verlangsamen]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lang]]

+ * [[Länge]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}