Oh (interjection)

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Oh is a common interjection of the German language.

etymology

The word is proven in the 10th century, it occurs without change to today's variant so in Middle High German, in Old High German, in Middle Low German and in Middle and New Dutch. A relationship to non-Germanic similar-sounding words, for example to the Lithuanian àk and Old Irish uch, och, ach (meaning “ach, weh”) and the Old English verb acan (“ to hurt ”) has not been clarified.

Classification and meaning

Oh is a so-called symptom injection, i.e. H. one expresses a certain sensation with it. As with many interjections, the exact meaning often depends on the intonation .

Oh is often a sigh or an exclamation of pain:

  • Oh, Peter!
  • I have now, ah! Philosophy (...) studied ( Goethe , Faust I , opening monologue)

With oh! one can also wonder ( oh? , oh what! ), disbelief ( you oh nine green! ) or express disinterest, often the interjection is also ironically used. Loriot has often laconicly used this interjection in his sketches to heighten the comedy of the situation; his exclamation Oh (what)! is now common property. An example and a theming of the word can be found in Loriot's sketch " Gentlemen in the bathroom ":

  • Müller-Lüdenscheidt: I like to sit in the tub without water.
  • Dr. Klöbner: Oh .
  • Müller-Lüdenscheidt: What does "ach" mean?
  • Dr. Klöbner: Oh. You said that you like to sit in the tub without water and I said "oh".
  • Müller-Lüdenscheidt: Aha.
  • Dr. Klöbner: I could also have said "aha". But I wanted to express my amazement that you would prefer to sit in the tub without water.

The interjection is also used as a substantive one, for example in all my Weh und Ach (meaning pain ) or in Mit Ach und Krach (originally with moaning and croaking ).

Ächzen is a verb formed from interjection.

Web links

Wiktionary: oh  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Kluge. Etymological dictionary of the German language . 24th edition. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2002, p. 12.
  2. Hermann Paul , Helmut Henne , Heidrun Kämper , Georg Objartel: German dictionary : history of meaning and structure of our vocabulary . M. Niemeyer, Tübingen, 2002, p. 48, books.google.de/books Ach. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 1 : A - Beer whey - (I). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1854 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).