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Is "nämlich so" (or something spelled in a similar way) an abbreviation for an old way of saying "in particular"? The context I am working with seems to suggest that "in particular" might be the intended meaning.

Context:

I'm translating a paper that is from 100 or so years ago. It says:

Nun kann man einsehen, dass das Integral E die Stetigkeitseigenschaft hat, dass aus lim_{n\rightarrow \infty} B_{n}=R fuer die zugehoerigen E folgt lim_{n\rightarrow \infty} E_{n}=E_{R}

Naemlich so. Ist ein Bereich B in einem zweiten B' enthalten, so gilt fuer die zugehoerigen Integrale EF^{2} und E'(F')^{2} die Beziehung EF^{2} < E'(F')^{2}.....

So, the sentence with the two limit statements is saying that the regions B_{n} converge to the disk R, and that the integrals E_{n} converge to the E for the disk R. The second statement seems to be saying, "In particular, when B is a subset of B', then the following inequality holds...." Am I wrong?

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    Could you please give the context?
    – Gerhard
    Jul 11, 2015 at 23:34
  • "Naemlich so. Ist ein Bereich B in einem zweiten B' enthalten, so gilt fuer die zugehoerigen Integrale EF^{2} und E'(F')^{2} die Beziehung EF^{2} < E'(F')^{2}....."
    – Sinister Cutlass
    Jul 11, 2015 at 23:44
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    grammarist.com/usage/to-wit
    – Carsten S
    Jul 12, 2015 at 3:18
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    The relevant part is: Man kann xy einsehen. Nämlich so: Erklärung, wie man es einsehen kann.
    – Carsten S
    Jul 12, 2015 at 3:23
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    The literal translation would be "namely (like this)". But other translations work as well, of course - it is a statement, that something is explained in the following text.
    – Gerhard
    Jul 12, 2015 at 9:08

2 Answers 2

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No. If you are precise "nämlich" has nothing to do with "in particular". "Nämlich" has to do with "naming" and making explicit.

Es ist wirklich jemand gestorben, nämlich Kurt.

Someone did indeed die and that someone is Kurt.

or

Someone did indeed die, namely Kurt.

"In particular", in my opinion at least, is closer to "especially". Like here:

The musicians were impressive, the strings in particular.

Die Musiker waren beeindruckend, besonders die Streicher.

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  • Noted. In my (limited) experience with upper level mathematics, though, the use of "in particular" appears muddled and perhaps not quite the same as the English usage. Thanks for the clarification.
    – Sinister Cutlass
    Jul 13, 2015 at 16:57
  • Schön, wie die ursprüngliche Bedeutung eingearbeitet ist.
    – Carsten S
    Jul 14, 2015 at 9:46
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Meyers Konversationslexikon from the end of 19th century as well as Brockhaus frequently use namentlich for stating that relation, as in

Absterben einzelner Glieder, eine eigentümliche Erscheinung, wobei die äußersten Körperteile, namentlich Finger und Zehen, leichenhaft blaß, kalt und empfindungslos werden.

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