es sei denn
German
Etymology
From Middle High German ez ne sî denne[1], a stereotypical negatively exceptive sentence literally meaning "unless it be the case then". The simple negation ne had been gradually vanishing since medieval times and had been dropped entirely by Luther's time. Since the disappearance of ne, the negative function has been assumed by denn (or dann), meaning "then" (i.e. "at that time"), which was originally facultative but gradually came to serve as the standard marker for this type of exception clause.
Early New High German examples of this transitional syntax are:
| Darumb soltu niemant nichts verheißen, du seist dann gewiß das ze halten | Thus do not promise anything to anyone, unless you are certain to keep it. |
| es triegend dann mich alle meine sinne | unless all my senses fool me |
By the modern day however, es sei denn does not evoke this usage of denn, as it is no longer understood through the meaning of its constituent parts.
Conjunction
- unless
- Ich bin um 8 Uhr da, es sei denn, der Zug hat Verspätung / dass der Zug Verspätung hat.
- I'll be there at 8 a.m. unless the train is late.
See also
References
- ^ § 338 in Hermann Paul: Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik19. Bearbeitet von F. Saran, E. Gierach, O. Behagel, L. E. Schmitt und Walther Mitzka. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag 1963.