![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F765%2F477%2F748%2F125%2F672%2Foriginal%2F2b0f5ea2d5d753f7.jpg\")
Een daarom, lieve kijkbuiskinderen, moet je je werkje altijd even laten lezen door de juf of de meneer voordat je het laat afdrukken op een spandoek van twee bij vier meter.
@icg937 I've never understood why people want to call it a dead language. Latin never stopped living: it evolved into countless Romance languages. It's like saying that Germanic is a dead language, or Old English, or the English of 1900.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116747102238563612","date_published":"2026-06-14T06:43:26+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-14 06:43","date_timestamp":1781419406,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"92122150","content_html":"2/ ... 'ventulus' (\"breeze\"), the diminutive of 'ventus', the Latin cognate of 'wind'.
The word 'ventilator' was borrowed into English and given the meaning \"device for introducing fresh air\" in the 18th century by the English physicist, chemist and inventor Stephen Hales.
Many languages followed suit and made their own borrowing of 'ventilator', such as Spanish with 'ventilador'
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116744398368422275","date_published":"2026-06-13T19:15:48+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-13 19:15","date_timestamp":1781378148,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"92122124","content_html":"Linguistic fun fact
The word 'ventilator' already existed in Latin, but back in the day of the Romans, it wasn't a device for introducing fresh air or maintaining artificial respiration.
Latin 'ventilātor' meant \"winnower\", \"juggler\", and \"illusionist\".
The word was derived from the verb 'ventilāre', which had many meanings, including \"to toss in the air\", \"to winnow\", \"to expose to a draught\", \"to fan\", and \"to discuss in detail\".
'Ventilāre', in turn, was derived from ... 1/
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F744%2F392%2F588%2F522%2F672%2Foriginal%2Fa221bcfcb6bdd5bb.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F744%2F396%2F433%2F660%2F401%2Foriginal%2Fb28a4ab290f8a7e2.jpg\")
\n@ALoiteringFlaneur That's right!
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116739338359125511","date_published":"2026-06-12T21:48:59+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-12 21:48","date_timestamp":1781300939,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"92066796","content_html":"@ALoiteringFlaneur Even though they look alike, 'estación' has a different origin: it comes from Latin 'stātiōnem' (\"phase\"), which produced English 'station'.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116739018801315203","date_published":"2026-06-12T20:27:43+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-12 20:27","date_timestamp":1781296063,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"92041066","content_html":"@klefstadmyr No, nothing stupid about that! There's an awful lot to see, and you can't know that 'vår' is the same word as Old Norse 'vár'.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116737367416990871","date_published":"2026-06-12T13:27:45+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-12 13:27","date_timestamp":1781270865,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"92026882","content_html":"@klefstadmyr 'Vår' is related: it stems from the same Proto-Indo-European root as Latin 'vēr'. (Its Old Norse ancestor 'vár' in mentioned in the tiny box.)
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116736165575953167","date_published":"2026-06-12T08:22:06+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-12 08:22","date_timestamp":1781252526,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"92025314","content_html":"@tbzhg My pleasure!
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116736011605698655","date_published":"2026-06-12T07:42:57+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-12 07:42","date_timestamp":1781250177,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91999468","content_html":"@tbzhg No, because in Latin, v and b were very different sounds: /w/ and /b/. They never correspond in related words. Only much later, in Proto-Romance, v and b merged between vowels. Moreover, 'hi-' wouldn't have a meaning.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116733532135697812","date_published":"2026-06-11T21:12:23+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-11 21:12","date_timestamp":1781212343,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91985525","content_html":"The Spanish words ‘primavera’ (spring) and ‘verano’ (summer) both derive from Latin ‘vēr’ (spring).
Originally, ‘primavera’ was early spring, while ‘verano’ was late spring.
However, their meanings shifted to later in the year, and ‘estío’, the original word for summer, was dethroned.
That’s not the only interesting story the Romance words for the seasons have to tell. Click my new infographic to learn all about the four seasons in the five largest Romance languages.
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F732%2F831%2F222%2F753%2F907%2Foriginal%2F4704b8b38d66ece7.jpg\")
@mkoek Thanks! :)
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116732818852884453","date_published":"2026-06-11T18:10:59+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-11 18:10","date_timestamp":1781201459,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91570344","content_html":"@agturcz 'Guard' is unrelated; via French, it comes from the same Germanic root as German 'warten' (to wait). 'Garden' and 'ogród' are related!
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116696746326670250","date_published":"2026-06-05T09:17:16+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-05 09:17","date_timestamp":1780651036,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91544478","content_html":"@EregLoch Jazeker! Het Texelse 'tuun' betekent inderdaad \"afscheiding\", en je vindt die betekenis ook in bepaalde Nedersaksische en Brabantse dialecten, zo uit mijn hoofd.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116693612011820397","date_published":"2026-06-04T20:00:10+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-04 20:00","date_timestamp":1780603210,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91537508","content_html":"@pjakobs Their forms are incompatible: Latin t only corresponds to Germanic þ (th), not to d. 😊
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116692923887715220","date_published":"2026-06-04T17:05:10+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-04 17:05","date_timestamp":1780592710,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91536667","content_html":"@pjakobs 'Dachfirst' comes from *firstiz, \"ridgepole\", an unrelated word. 😊
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116692849437585457","date_published":"2026-06-04T16:46:14+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-04 16:46","date_timestamp":1780591574,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91536153","content_html":"@PKYo Oh, if time travelling were invented, that would be the first thing I'd do.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116692796404120655","date_published":"2026-06-04T16:32:45+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-04 16:32","date_timestamp":1780590765,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91535381","content_html":"2/
In the article on my Patreon (850 words, tier 1), I explain how the meanings of these nine words group diverged over time:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/unexpected-160144841
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116692721600765977","date_published":"2026-06-04T16:13:44+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-04 16:13","date_timestamp":1780589624,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91535364","content_html":"The word ‘town’ shares its origin with German ‘Zaun’ (fence) and Dutch ‘tuin’ (garden), even though their forms and meanings are quite different.
They all stem form Proto-Germanic *tūnan, whose meaning is reconstructed as “fenced area”.
Over the course of 2000 years, they’ve grown apart.
My new graphic shows nine unexpected but true cognates in English, German, Dutch, Frisian, and Swedish.
1/
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F692%2F719%2F841%2F051%2F039%2Foriginal%2Ffafbf30fc68c4fe4.png\")
@Earl That's a different word: it comes from Ancient Greek 'minthē'. 😊
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116665102683231241","date_published":"2026-05-30T19:09:52+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-30 19:09","date_timestamp":1780168192,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91227545","content_html":"@CafeJunkie 2/ ... certain bigger mechanisms, such as vowels that come too close and start diverging.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116665097461493404","date_published":"2026-05-30T19:08:33+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-30 19:08","date_timestamp":1780168113,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91227515","content_html":"@CafeJunkie They happen because there are always ever so slight variations in pronunciation. People accommodate their pronunciation to people they like, so when popular people have a small variation, others inconsciously copy them, spreading the small pronunciation change. If you add up all these small changes and zoom out, the result can be huge over multiple centuries.
Why it's sound change X that happens in a language and not Y, is mainly a matter of pure chance. However, there are ... 1/
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116665094112890100","date_published":"2026-05-30T19:07:42+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-30 19:07","date_timestamp":1780168062,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91211046","content_html":"Over the past few days, I’ve created two infographics on early Germanic loanwords from Latin: one on construction, with words such as ‘kitchen’ and ‘street’, and one on food, with ‘cheese’, ‘butter’ and others.
Today, I’m wrapping up the trilogy with an infographic on utensils. ‘Fork’, ‘pan’, ‘sack’, ‘mint’ and ‘chest’ – they were all borrowed into Proto-West Germanic, the ancestor of English, when the Romans controlled large parts of north-western Europe during the early first millennium AD.
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F663%2F772%2F724%2F545%2F343%2Foriginal%2F871bb07f06116e6d.png\")
@hans Nou, inderdaad! Volgend jaar brengen kaartenmaker Frans van der Vleuten en ik een boek uit waarin zulke regionale kwesties voorkomen - waaronder wat er op een frietje/patatje speciaal gaat. 😊
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116663330011860289","date_published":"2026-05-30T11:39:03+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-30 11:39","date_timestamp":1780141143,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91198878","content_html":"@vosje62 @hans @Zjaan Hallo! Ik weet er het fijne niet van, maar benamingen voor op elkaar lijkende etenswaren springen gemakkelijk over, en dat kan dan in regio X gebeuren terwijl regio Y de oude situatie behoudt. Zo betekent 'saucijs' in sommige streektalen \"snijworst\".
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116662567617626986","date_published":"2026-05-30T08:25:10+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-30 08:25","date_timestamp":1780129510,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91183086","content_html":"@seninha Actually, Italian 'carri' does stem from the nominative, while feminine plurals such as 'stelle' stem from the accusative.
This is shown by the presence and absence of patalisation: 'amici' can only come from 'amīcī', because otherwise it would've been *amichi, while 'amiche' is from 'amicās', since it's not *amice.
Moreover, unaccented '-os' became '-o':
- melius > *melios > meglio
- de post > *depos > dopo
- amābāmus > *-os > amavamo
- nōs/vōs > noi/voi > Old Italian enclitic 'no/vo'
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F660%2F519%2F114%2F282%2F556%2Foriginal%2F2331f33956a0ddf6.png\")
2/ ... jaar geleden is de oudste taalfoutenlijst van Italië geschreven die bewaard is gebleven: de Appendix Probi. De schrijver somt maar liefst 227 afgekeurde Latijnse woordvormen op, met daarachter steeds de voorgeschreven vorm: ‘vetulus, non veclus’. In deze lezing wordt uitgelegd dat de Appendix Probi van grote waarde is voor de historische taalkunde. De lijst was namelijk een voorbode van de Romaanse talen: in het Italiaans heeft ‘veclus’ aan de basis gelegen van ‘vecchio’, niet ‘vetulus’.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116651985880328096","date_published":"2026-05-28T11:34:06+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-28 11:34","date_timestamp":1779968046,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91071964","content_html":"Op 20 juni geef ik tijdens de Dag van Rome 2026 een lezing over het oudste taalfoutenlijstje van Italië: de Appendix Probi.
In taalfoutenlijstjes op internet worden allerlei woordvarianten aan de schandpaal genageld: ‘Je moet proprio zeggen, niet propio’, volgens Italiaanse lijstjes. Verandering wordt vaak gezien als verloedering, omdat mensen ... 1/
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@fiee It's quite uncommon. I see it almost exclusively used in 'vruchtwater' (amniotic fluid) and 'vruchtje' (the earliest form of the fetus after conception).
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116651231700264791","date_published":"2026-05-28T08:22:18+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-28 08:22","date_timestamp":1779956538,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91010571","content_html":"@ArtHarg Like 'fought', which comes from 'fuht-', which contained -uht- too. ^^
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116647076328827154","date_published":"2026-05-27T14:45:32+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-27 14:45","date_timestamp":1779893132,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"91009531","content_html":"After my infographic about words such as ‘wall’, ‘street’, and ‘kitchen’, which are very early Germanic borrowings from Latin, here’s a second one, this time about food.
While words such as ‘carnivore’, ‘cereal’, and ‘edible’ are late and obvious borrowings from Latin, words such as ‘cheese’, ‘pear’, and ‘wine ‘were adopted from that language 2000-1500 years ago, when the Romans occupied the parts of Europe where the ancestor of English was spoken.
Next episode: utensils!
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Words such as 'museum', 'formula' and 'ratio' instantly give away their Latin origin, but did you know 'wall', 'street', and 'kitchen' come from Latin too?
They were borrowed during the Roman occupation of the part of Europe where Proto-West Germanic was spoken, the ancestor of English and its West Germanic sister languages.
Today’s infographic about construction terms shows six of these early borrowings and their descendants in English, Dutch, and German. Next time: food words.
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‘Probably’ is often pronounced /probly/. The syllable ‘ba’ is deleted because it’s followed by another syllable starting with a b. This is called haplology – or haplogy if you will.
Some people have an issue with /probly/, but what they don’t know is that their beloved form ‘probably’ is the result of haplology too: in Middle English, it was ‘probablely’.
Haplology can be found in all ages and places. My new infographic shows cases from English, Latin, French, Greek, German, and Portuguese.
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Gisteravond presenteerde Kristel Doreleijers haar boek 'Superbrabants'. Ik was erbij. Van tevoren had ik het boek al mogen lezen – met heel veel plezier!
Het Brabants dreigt te verdwijnen, net als veel andere lokale talen. Steeds minder jongeren groeien ermee op, maar toch willen ze Brabants klinken. Met het overdreven hyperdialect waar ze soms mee aankomen, zijn oudere dialectsprekers niet altijd blij, maar voor de jongeren is het een manier om ... 1/
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The word ‘queen’ is distantly related to the first part of ‘gynaecology’ and the second part of ‘misogyny’.
It’s also related to Norwegian ‘kone’ (wife) and ‘kvinne’ (woman), but they’re not full cognates.
While ‘queen’ comes from Proto-Germanic *kwēniz (wife), ‘kone’ and ‘kvinne’ stem from *kwenōn (woman). In English, this became the disparaging – and now archaic – word ‘quean’ (ho).
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The word ‘dame’ is part of a huge word family.
It contains the same root as ‘damsel’, ‘domain’, ‘to dominate’, ‘danger’, ‘dome’, and ‘despot’.
In the Romance languages, it’s related to Spanish ‘don’ (Mr.), French ‘dimanche’ (Sunday), and Italian ‘duomo’ (cathedral).
All of these words were built on the foundations of a Proto-Indo-European word meaning “house”.
Click my new infographic to learn more:
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The word ‘king’ has a fascinating story to tell.
Its Proto-Germanic ancestor *kuningaz was derived from the word *kunjan, which became English ‘kin’. A king was a descendant of royal or divine kin.
The word *kunjan, in turn, stemmed from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning “to produce”. This root, through Latin and Greek, gave us many words, including ‘genre’, ‘nature’, ‘genital’, ‘genesis’, ‘pregnant’, and ‘gonorrhea’.
Zoom in on my new graphic to learn more:
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Voor een tekstje voor kinderen in groep 3 zat ik te worstelen met eenlettergrepige woorden met een f.
Ik vermijd LLM's als de pest, maar ik dacht: ach, laat ik toch maar eens de AI-modus van Google proberen.
Die begon te hallucineren als een papegaai aan de tramadol.
Ziehier:
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The English word ‘fabric’ is a notorious false friend of Spanish ‘fábrica’: a fabric is a material, while a fábrica is a factory.
However, these words are real cognates: they stem from the same Latin word: ‘fabrica’.
This Latin word even produced ‘forge’.
Click to learn all about these words. For those interested in how ‘fabrica’ could ever evolve into words such as ‘forge’, I described the sound changes step by step.
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The Old English word for a flower was ‘blōsma’.
While this word survived, becoming modern ‘blossom’, it gave up part of its meaning to a French loanword. Interestingly though, this loanword, spelled both ‘flour’ and ‘flower’ in Middle English, stems from the same root as ‘blossom’.
Moreover, it wasn’t until the 19th century that the spelling variants ‘flour’ and ‘flower’ were differentiated. Each was assigned one of the meanings: “finest part of ground grain” versus “blossom of a plant”.
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Dubbel goed nieuws! 🥳 Vandaag heb ik twee boekcontracten getekend bij Ambo/Anthos - een daarvan met Frans van der Vleuten als schrijfcompagnon.
Dit najaar verschijnt er een soloboek van mij vol met wetenswaardigheden over winterse woorden. Wist je bijvoorbeeld dat ons Nederlandse woord 'schaats' uit Noord-Frankrijk komt, dat 'rendier' niks met 'rennen' te maken heeft en dat ... 1/
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\nIt will come as no surprise that ‘to live’ is etymologically related to ‘life’ and ‘alive’.
However, these words are also related to ‘to leave’ and German ‘bleiben’ (“to stay”), which used to have an English cognate: ‘to belive’.
Even ‘lipo-’ in ‘liposuction’ is related, as are the parts ‘-lev-’ and ‘-lv-’ of the numerals ‘eleven’ and ‘twelve’.
All of these words stem from a common Proto-Indo-European root meaning “to stick”.
Click my new graphic to learn all about this word family:
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Eggs are oval. The word ‘egg’ is even etymologically related to ‘oval’.
‘Oval’ comes from Latin ‘ōvālis’ (egg-shaped), a derivative of ‘ōvum’ (egg), the ancestor of Spanish ‘huevo’, French ‘œuf’ and others.
Latin ‘ōvum’, in turn, was a distant cousin of Germanic *ajjan, the ancestor of Old Norse ‘egg’. This word was borrowed into Middle English and gradually displaced the native word ‘ey’.
Click my new infographic graphic to learn more.
See post 2 for an anecdote on ‘eggs’ and ‘eyren’.
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The geat were eating nit under the each.
‘Geat’, ‘nit’, ‘each’– this is what the original plural forms of ‘goat’, ‘nut’, and ‘oak’ would’ve looked like if they hadn’t been replaced by ‘goats’, ‘nuts’, and ‘oaks’.
How did plurals with a vowel alternation came to be, such as ‘man ~ men’ and ‘mouse ~ mice’?
What would the lost ones have sounded like if they’d been preserved?
My short video will tell you:
https://youtube.com/shorts/CTjYP8skREc
Waarom heeft 'zoeken' de vreemde verleden tijd 'zocht'?
Je ontdekt het in mijn nieuwe artikel - met uitstapjes naar het Engels, Duits, Brabants, Limburgs en Nedersaksisch.
Tussendoor kun je luisteren naar de gereconstrueerde uitspraak van historische woorden.
https://taalaandewandel.com/2026/03/29/zoeken-zocht-to-search/
","summary":"","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk/116313388535941982","date_published":"2026-03-29T16:24:20+00:00","author":{"name":"Yoïn van Spijk","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Faccounts%2Favatars%2F109%2F364%2F817%2F764%2F036%2F126%2Foriginal%2F592d8f8750770dc0.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"yvanspijk@toot.community"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-03-29 16:24","date_timestamp":1774801460,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"87156110","content_html":"Despite their similar meaning and appearance, the verbs ‘to search’ and ‘to seek’ don’t have any etymological relationship whatsoever.
‘To seek’ comes straight from the Proto-Germanic ancestor of English, while ‘to search’ was borrowed from a French word related to ‘circle’. Searching is going around looking for something.
Click my new infographic to learn all about these word families.
‘To seek’ has the highly irregular past tense ‘sought’. Why does the k become a silent gh? And why ... 1/
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The words ‘power’, ‘host’, ‘potential’, ‘impotent’, ‘possible’, ‘posse’, and ‘to possess’ all contain the same Proto-Indo-European word: *pótis, meaning “master”.
Click my new graphic to learn how they evolved through derivatives in Latin, sound changes in Romance, and borrowings into English:
The Indo-European word *pótis (“master”) also became Lithuanian ‘pàts’ (“husband”), Ancient Greek ‘pósis’ (“husband”), and Sanskrit ‘páti’ (“husband; master; lord”).
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Zojuist besefte ik dat 'zandwijk' de letterlijke Nederlandse tegenhanger is van 'sandwich'.
'Zandwijkspreid' klinkt toch een stuk confronterender dan 'sandwich spread'.
Eentje in de categorie 'Giuseppe Verdi = Joop Groenen'.
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F267%2F594%2F888%2F480%2F275%2Foriginal%2F3c0e823460922645.jpg\")
Zondagmiddag vertellen Kristel Doreleijers en ik over de taal van verschillende generaties.
Zoals je van mij gewend bent, neem ik je mee in ons verre taalverleden - 50 tot 150 generaties terug.
Ik laat zien dat taal altijd verandert, maar niet verloedert.
22 maart van 13.30 uur tot 15.30 uur
Huis van het Boek, Prinsessegracht 30- 31, 2514 AP Den Haag
€ 7,50 voor leden van Onze Taal en vrienden van Huis van het Boek;
€ 10,- voor andere geïnteresseerden
Kaartverkoop:
https://onzetaalwebwinkel.nl/diversen/ticket-de-taal-van-mijn-generatie
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