An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/da

by Friedrich Kluge

da, adv., ‘there, then, since,’ from the equiv. MidHG. dâr, dâ, OHG. dâr; the loss of the final r (dar still remained in ModHG.; see dar) is seen also in other advs.: MidHG. sâ, from OHG. sâ, sâr, ‘soon, at once’ (cognate with E. soon), comp. wo. AS. þœ̂r, E. there, corresponds to OHG. dâr; Goth. þar (instead of the expected form *þêr). The adv. is formed from the OTeut. demonstr. pron. þa-, Gr. το-, described under der; the r of OHG. dâr and Goth. þar appears in OInd. tárhi, ‘at that time’ (hi is an enclitic particle like Gr. γέ); comp. also Sans. kárhi, ‘when,’ under wo. As to the variation of demonst. and relat. meanings in da, see der.