Herz

BavarianEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle High German herze, from Old High German herza. Cognate with German Herz.

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /heɐ̯t͡s/

NounEdit

Herz n (plural Herzen or Herzn)

heart
(card games) hearts

InflectionEdit

Dat.Sg.: Herzen or Herz

GermanEdit

Alternative formsEdit

Herze, Hertz (obsolete)

EtymologyEdit

From Middle High German herze, from Old High German herza, from Proto-West Germanic *hertā, from Proto-Germanic *hertô (“heart”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱḗr (“heart”).

Cognate with Dutch hart, English heart, Danish hjerte, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍉 (hairtō).

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /hɛrts/, [hɛʁt͡s], [hɛɐ̯t͡s]
audio (Germany) (file)
audio (Austria) (file)
Homophone: Hertz

NounEdit

Herz n (weak, genitive Herzens or (very rare) Herzes, plural Herzen, diminutive Herzchen n or Herzlein n or ((also) Ruhrpöttisch) Herzken n)

Usage notesEdit

Herz has irregular singular declension and is the only noun of its kind.

The genitive singular takes the ending -ens: des Herzens. The form des Herzes is very rare and generally considered nonstandard.
The dative singular traditionally takes -en: dem Herzen. This form is still the only accepted standard form in many—more or less fixed—expressions, such as im Herzen, von Herzen, zu Herzen, Operation am offenen Herzen (“open-heart surgery”), mit halbem Herzen (“half-heartedly”), and others.

Only the bare form dem Herz is common when referring to a card suit, as a term of endearment, and in the phrase mit Herz (“good-hearted”)

Otherwise, the forms dem Herzen and dem Herz are both acceptable. The latter is predominant in speech, while the former remains the more established form in writing.

DeclensionEdit

Declension of Herz [neuter, weak]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Herz	die	Herzen
genitive	eines	des	Herzens, Herzes¹	der	Herzen
dative	einem	dem	Herzen, Herz²	den	Herzen
accusative	ein	das	Herz	die	Herzen