•surely, certainly, admittedly Signals a concession and in the following clause a counterpoint usually headed by men (“but”), stressing that the speaker is aware of the contradiction, but that it does not invalidate the statement.
köken: From Middle High German zwāre, contraction of ze wāre (“verily, indeed”), from Old High German zi wāre (8th c.). Equivalent to zu + wahr. The concessive use developed first in cognate Middle Low German twâre. Compare Czech sice.
aile: und zwar
Franz Kafka, Amerika
Dieser Rock ist zwar teuer, aber ich kaufe ihn trotzdem.
Wir hatten zwar viele Probleme, aber letztlich hat es sich auf jeden Fall gelohnt.
köken: From að (“concerning”) + vísu (“sure”, dative singular neuter strong of vís). Compare to be sure (“admittedly”).
Ég hef reynt að vísu að láta hann sofa í sínu eigin rúmi, en hann vaknar yfirleitt eftir nokkrar mínútur.
Hann fékk að vísu sveppasýkingu en það kom klútunum ekkert við. Ég skipti bara um bossakrem og þá hvarf það.
Etimoloji
Partly from Old Swedish visselika, partly from Middle Low German wisseliken. The -r- is due to the analogical influence of adverbs like innerligen (“innerly”) and veterligen (“as far as one knows”). By surface analysis, viss (“certain”) + -lig (adjectival suffix) + -en (adverbial suffix).