ähnlich

== German == === Etymology === From Middle High German anelich, enlich (“alike”), from Old High German *analīh (attested in derivatives), a contraction of anagilīh, from Proto-Germanic *anagalīkaz, from *ana (“on”) + *galīkaz (“like”), that is “almost identical”. Compare German angleichen. Cognate with Middle Dutch aenlijck, English alike, Old Norse álíkr. The contemporary form is possibly from a merger of Middle High German anelich with East Central German einlich, but it is uncertain whether the latter is from ein (“one”) +‎ -lich (“-ly”) or merely an alteration of the former. The form may also have been reinforced by interpretation as Ahn (“ancestor”) +‎ -lich; this noun is not originally related, but semantically close. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈɛːnlɪç/, [ˈʔɛːn.lɪç], [ˈʔeːn-], (southern also) [-liç], (Switzerland also) [-liχ] Hyphenation: ähn‧lich === Adjective === ähnlich (strong nominative masculine singular ähnlicher, comparative ähnlicher, superlative am ähnlichsten) similar, alike, resembling [with dative or wie (+ case of preceding noun) ‘to someone/something’] 2017, Neuer Zürcher Zeitung, (headline), 6 April: Sie ist mir ähnlich. / Sie ist ähnlich wie ich. ― She is similar to me. Sie sind sich ähnlich. ― They are similar to each other. (sich = reciprocal dative) Wir haben ähnliche Probleme. ― We have similar problems. auf ähnliche Weise ― in a similar manner ==== Usage notes ==== Often used with expletive so: Sie ist so ähnlich wie ich. However, this is not possible when construed with a dative. (Sie ist mir so ähnlich is grammatical, but only with so in the general sense of “so, to such an extent”.) Compare moreover in the third example: Wir haben so ähnliche Probleme (“Our problems are similar to those in question”), ruling out the reading “Your problem and mine are similar to each other”. ==== Declension ==== ==== Derived terms ==== === Further reading === “ähnlich” in Duden online “ähnlich” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache