I can't understand "beziehungsweise" in the context of its two parts, "beziehen" and "weise".
What is the logic behind its meaning?
asked Mar 5, 2012 at 19:36
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2 Answers
The trick that leads us to understand the logic of "beziehungsweise" is knowing that the first part is not derived from the verb "beziehen" (to refer to) but from the noun "Beziehung".
If we translate "Beziehung" with "respect" then building an adverb with the suffix "-weise" follows a similar logic in English, and in German:
English: Respect -> respectively
German: Beziehung -> beziehungsweise
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4just for completion... beziehungsweise has broadened its meaning and respectively is just one of the possibilities. I have to add that I myself perceive the example at Pons.de (dictionary... just enter the word there) a tad bit odd and I would use "und" in that situation. Either way... beziehungsweise can also be "or rather"/"or better" and a mere "or" (which is kinda close to respectively now that I think about it :)– EmanuelCommented Mar 5, 2012 at 21:21
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It's not really helpful to seek a direct translation for 'beziehungsweise', because it's more of a stylistic tic than anything. Takkat's comparison with 'respectively' is correct, but the only times I've seen 'respectively' used that way in English is as a translation of 'beziehungsweise', where the idiomatic English would really be 'or', or occasionally 'or, where appropriate,'.
Idiomatic uses of 'respectively' in English are in my opinion limited to cases where the speaker is aligning two lists: 'junior, intermediate and senior generals have one, two or three stars respectively'.
