Mädchen
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
German
[edit]![](http://178.128.105.246/content-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/M%C3%A4dchen_1.jpg/220px-M%C3%A4dchen_1.jpg)
![](http://178.128.105.246/content-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Bundesarchiv_Bild_194-0109-24A%2C_Urdenbach%2C_Betreuung_von_Fl%C3%BCchtlingskindern.jpg/220px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_194-0109-24A%2C_Urdenbach%2C_Betreuung_von_Fl%C3%BCchtlingskindern.jpg)
Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle High German magedichīn, meidichīn, from Old High German *magadihhīn or calqued from Middle Low German mēgedeken, megedekīn, both from Proto-West Germanic *magaþukīn. Equivalent to Magd + -chen.
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /ˈmɛːtçən/ (prescriptive standard; used naturally in western Germany and Switzerland)
- IPA(key): /ˈmeːtçən/ (overall more common; particularly northern and eastern regions)
Audio: (file) Audio: (file) - Rhymes: -ɛːtçən
Noun
[edit]Mädchen n (strong, genitive Mädchens, plural Mädchen)
Usage notes
[edit]- Since Mädchen is a grammatically neuter noun, all preceding articles, determiners, and adjectives take neuter forms: ein kleines Mädchen (“a little girl”). This rule is followed throughout all registers of German.
- There is more variation concerning pronouns referring back to Mädchen. These are usually neuter within the same sentence: Das Mädchen, das eben hier war, hat seine Tasche vergessen. – “The girl who was just here, forgot her purse.” (But feminine ihre would be acceptable in colloquial usage.) It is quite common, however, to use feminine pronouns in following sentences: Siehst du das Mädchen, das da steht? Kennst du die? – “Do you see the girl who [neuter] is standing there? Do you know her [feminine]?” (But neuter es would be acceptable in literary usage.)
- Mädchen is typically used to refer to young women up to the age of 30. Past this age it is uncommon (unlike English girl) – the related term Mädel is more widely used colloquially for adult women.
Declension
[edit]Declension of Mädchen [neuter, strong]
Synonyms
[edit]Antonyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “Mädchen” in Duden online
- “Mädchen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- Friedrich Kluge (1883) “Mädchen”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891
Categories:
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German terms calqued from Middle Low German
- German terms derived from Middle Low German
- German terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms suffixed with -chen
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- Rhymes:German/ɛːtçən
- Rhymes:German/ɛːtçən/2 syllables
- German lemmas
- German nouns
- German neuter nouns
- German diminutiva tantum