Sohn

German

Etymology

From Middle High German sun, from Old High German sunu, from Proto-West Germanic *sunu, from Proto-Germanic *sunuz, from Proto-Indo-European *suHnús.

Compare German Low German Söhn, from Middle Low German sone, from Old Saxon sunu. Compare Dutch zoon, English son, Danish søn, Norwegian Bokmål sønn, Norwegian Nynorsk son, Swedish son, Yiddish זון (zun), Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌿𐍃 (sunus).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zoːn/
• IPA^(key): /soːn/ (Austria)
• Rhymes: -oːn

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Noun

Sohn m (strong, genitive Sohnes or Sohns, plural Söhne, diminutive Söhnchen n or Söhnlein n)

1. son
   • 1774, Der Teutsche Merkur vom Jahr 1774. Achter Band, Weimar, page 42:

     Biß muthig, Sohn; […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1790, Patriotisches Archiv für Deutschland. Zwölfter und lezter Band, Mannheim and Leipzig, page 438:

     Lieber Sohn!
     Biß göttsfürchtig, beth Morgens und Abends fleißig, gedenk in all deim Thun an Gott.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Declension of Sohn [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Sohn	die	Söhne
genitive	eines	des	Sohnes, Sohns	der	Söhne
dative	einem	dem	Sohn, Sohne1	den	Söhnen
accusative	einen	den	Sohn	die	Söhne

¹Now rare, see notes.

Further reading

• “Sohn” in Duden online
• “Sohn” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• Friedrich Kluge (1883), “Sohn”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Hunsrik

Etymology

From Middle High German sun, from Old High German sunu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /soːn/

Noun

Sohn m (plural Sehn)

1. son

Further reading

• Boll, Piter Kehoma (2021), “Sohn”, in Dicionário Hunsriqueano Riograndense–Português, 3rd edition (overall work in Portuguese), Ivoti: Riograndenser Hunsrickisch