![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F281%2F092%2F460%2F306%2F763%2Foriginal%2F5f58e0f9d82bf734.png\")
RE: https://toot.community/@yvanspijk/117281092866350025
In a parallel universe, English might've had *thede instead of 'people', which is a borrowing from Old French 'pueple'.
However, it could just as easily have been superseded by 'folk', which is what happened in Dutch with 'volk' and in German with 'Volk'.
Both languages did away with 'diet':
","summary":"","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk/117282761244831075","date_published":"2026-09-16T21:08:34+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":"21:08","date_timestamp":1789592914,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"97643022","content_html":"@svgeesus That's right!
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117281405009007791","date_published":"2026-09-16T15:23:39+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":"15:23","date_timestamp":1789572219,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97641492","content_html":"@bodhipaksa English 'diet' is unrelated: it comes from Ancient Greek 'díaita'.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117281285281867918","date_published":"2026-09-16T14:53:13+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":"14:53","date_timestamp":1789570393,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97640046","content_html":"2/
As space was limited, let’s add here that medieval Latin ‘theodiscus’ became Italian ’tedesco’ (German) and French ’thiois’ (Franconian) and ’tudesque’ (Germanic; via Old Italian).
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117281178846606601","date_published":"2026-09-16T14:26:09+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":"14:26","date_timestamp":1789568769,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97639174","content_html":"Why does ‘Dutch’ refer to the Low Countries, but ‘Deutsch’ to Germany?
It’s because their medieval ancestor denoted any vernacular continental West Germanic language.
Only later did their meanings specify, with the meaning of ‘Dutch’ evolving in a different way than that of ‘Deutsch’.
Zoom in on my new infographic to read more – and to learn how ‘Teuton’, ‘Theodoric’, ‘Terry’ and ‘Derek’ are related as well.
All of these stem from a word meaning “people; tribe”.
@salocin Interesting, I didn't know 'Soll' yet. It turns out to have been back-formed from 'sollen'.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117248548177998687","date_published":"2026-09-10T20:07:44+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":"2026-09-10 20:07","date_timestamp":1789070864,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97255353","content_html":"@juegodeartifice None, unfortunately. The only living descendant anywhere is Lithuanian 'skeléti' (\"to owe\").
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117243539467635729","date_published":"2026-09-09T22:53:57+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":"2026-09-09 22:53","date_timestamp":1788994437,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97254705","content_html":"Category is: 'words whose every meaning surprises me given their etymology':
![\"Greek](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F243%2F494%2F835%2F096%2F515%2Foriginal%2F7e8a063ebf663371.png\")
@jns English used to have 's(c)hildy', a cognate of 'schuldig'. The words 'guilt' and 'guilty' are of obscure origin.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117242737149600525","date_published":"2026-09-09T19:29:55+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":"2026-09-09 19:29","date_timestamp":1788982195,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97244175","content_html":"If it hadn’t been for French, the English word for “debt” would’ve been *shild, from Old English ‘sċyld’. It’s related to ‘shall’, whose original meaning was “to owe”.
Similarly, the word ‘debt’ itself is related to French ‘devoir’ and Spanish ‘deber’ (“to owe, must”).
In both Latin and Germanic, the word for “debt” was derived from a verb meaning “to owe”, a debt being something that is owed.
Graphic 1 tells you all about their relationships. Graphic 2 zooms in on ‘shall’ and its cognates.
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F242%2F623%2F489%2F778%2F255%2Foriginal%2Fa528bd3544c0c0d4.png\")
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F242%2F623%2F489%2F184%2F005%2Foriginal%2F1382714871fdbdff.png\")
\n@mirabilos Er wird als Übergangslaut zwischen „z“ und „r“ rekonstruiert. Der wahrscheinlichste Kandidat ist der „ř“-Laut im Tschechischen. Hier kannst du ihn dir anhören:
https://nl.forvo.com/word/dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k/#cs
@Klingsor Yeah, if I didn't already suffer from migraines he would've started the thing. 😁
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117225732758963963","date_published":"2026-09-06T19:25:28+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":"2026-09-06 19:25","date_timestamp":1788722728,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97070753","content_html":"@Odanaos Dat zou mijn wenst geweest zijn, maar daar doet deze uitgeverij helaas niet aan. :(
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117225611733838893","date_published":"2026-09-06T18:54:42+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":"2026-09-06 18:54","date_timestamp":1788720882,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97070736","content_html":"@Odanaos Dat was mijn hoop, totdat hij helemaal los ging toen ik hem erop wees dat het onzin was. Ik zou een nazi zijn. Op zijn profiel zag ik beelden van Isra*lische soldaten die Palestijnen onder schot hielden. Toen was het tijd voor de blokkeerknop.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117225610207027029","date_published":"2026-09-06T18:54:18+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":"2026-09-06 18:54","date_timestamp":1788720858,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97070709","content_html":"@Odanaos @jankatins Yes, either 'orgel' or 'orgle', but pronounced the same. 😁
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117225606835693655","date_published":"2026-09-06T18:53:27+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":"2026-09-06 18:53","date_timestamp":1788720807,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97067267","content_html":"RE: https://thecanadian.social/@MostlyHarmless/117219885511865572
Een moment om in rouw stil te staan bij alle streepjes die de corrector uit het manuscript van mijn te verschijnen boek 'Winter vol woorden' schrapte uit angst voor AI-beschuldigingen.
","summary":"","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk/117225198564975173","date_published":"2026-09-06T17:09:37+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":"2026-09-06 17:09","date_timestamp":1788714577,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"97062131","content_html":"@Eetschrijver Het werd nog mooier toen hij mij een nazi noemde. De achtergrondfoto op zijn Facebook-profiel is een Isra*lische soldaat die een groep Palestijnen onder schot houdt. Blokkerdiblok!
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117224656297573366","date_published":"2026-09-06T14:51:43+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":"2026-09-06 14:51","date_timestamp":1788706303,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97061561","content_html":"@Ralph I'm afraid no text-to-speach software can turn the dozens of historical and non-English words and IPA transcriptions into anything that would help a visually impaired person understand what this is about. Combined with the lack of necessary arrows to show the connections, people end up being presented with a long list of words that doesn't make sense. That's why I don't spend time on alt texts. 😊
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117224577801711997","date_published":"2026-09-06T14:31:45+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":"2026-09-06 14:31","date_timestamp":1788705105,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97060017","content_html":"@acb I wonder what it is that makes even people like him invoke the Phoenicians where the data give us no reason to do so. They try to use the language to prove a cultural connection they want to believe there was, instead of starting with the language and trying to explain the gaps using the well-established methods of historical linguistics.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117224367695553309","date_published":"2026-09-06T13:38:19+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":"2026-09-06 13:38","date_timestamp":1788701899,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97059813","content_html":"@permafreak Yes, I wouldn't want to call this theoretical construct a homogenous language indeed, but the daughter languages don't point to that much regional variation other than North-Sea Germanic and the rest. What I find unpractical about terms such as 'Franconian', 'Anglo-Frisian', 'Lombardic' when used for what was spoken between 100-500 AD, is that they prevent the reader from placing locating them in the bigger picture: the stage between Proto-Germanic and the daughter languages.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117224334477213591","date_published":"2026-09-06T13:29:52+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":"2026-09-06 13:29","date_timestamp":1788701392,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97059024","content_html":"2/
Whenever a tinfoil hat sees 'ur':
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F224%2F222%2F069%2F649%2F488%2Foriginal%2F0b7ef225d4f1fac4.jpg\")
@permafreak When this word was borrowed, West Germanic was still homogenous enough to speak of Proto-West Germanic. This lancuage of course had regional dialects, but in this case, the word would've been the same in every dialect. 'Francique' normally just indicates that it was the Franks that lent the word.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117224220839909886","date_published":"2026-09-06T13:00:58+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":"2026-09-06 13:00","date_timestamp":1788699658,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97058947","content_html":"@hanscees Nee, dat komt van een niet-verwant Oudgrieks woord.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117224211580268082","date_published":"2026-09-06T12:58:37+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":"2026-09-06 12:58","date_timestamp":1788699517,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97057756","content_html":"@jankatins No, the Germanic word Old English 'orgel' stemmed from went fully extinct. German 'Orgel' comes from Ancient Greek ὄργανον (musical instrument).
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117224069787419636","date_published":"2026-09-06T12:22:33+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":"2026-09-06 12:22","date_timestamp":1788697353,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"97056766","content_html":"Sometimes, borrowing a word can save it from extinction.
French ‘orgueil’ (pride) and its Romance cognates were borrowed from Germanic *uʀgōlī, a word that went extinct in all Germanic languages.
*Haifstiz (vehemence) only survives in Icelandic als ‘heift’ (rage), but thanks to a French borrowing, the word found its way back into all Germanic languages, becoming ‘haste’ in English.
Zoom in on my two new graphics for episode 1 of a series on Germanic words saved by the Romance languages.
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F223%2F933%2F381%2F548%2F536%2Foriginal%2F3e1913ba5a3aada1.png\")
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F223%2F933%2F380%2F323%2F558%2Foriginal%2Fb05f7d3b5af82fc0.png\")
\n@1024Bytes Het is voor jullie allebei en voor iedereen 'sa-la-mi'. Waar het hier om gaat, is de klemtoon. @VickForcella doelt op een klemtoonverschil tussen 'salámi' en 'sálami'. Die tweede variant is algemeen in gebruik in Vlaanderen.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117206483840839272","date_published":"2026-09-03T09:50:13+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":"2026-09-03 09:50","date_timestamp":1788429013,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"96850402","content_html":"@edgeofeurope @VickForcella @1024Bytes 🤣💯
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117203521751962425","date_published":"2026-09-02T21:16:55+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":"2026-09-02 21:16","date_timestamp":1788383815,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"96849056","content_html":"@edgeofeurope @VickForcella @1024Bytes
Al moeten veel Italianen lachen als ze horen dat wij 'salami' als enkelvoud gebruiken. 😁 Een oud-collega van de Universiteit Utrecht ging een keer helemaal los op onze salami. Toen hij over pepperoni begon, ging het dak er helemaal af.
(En ze zeggen 'grazie moltE'. 😊)
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117203410373664502","date_published":"2026-09-02T20:48:36+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":"2026-09-02 20:48","date_timestamp":1788382116,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"96848292","content_html":"@VickForcella @1024Bytes Dat je het over de uitspraak had, was onmiskenbaar. 😊
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117203359942592826","date_published":"2026-09-02T20:35:46+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":"2026-09-02 20:35","date_timestamp":1788381346,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"96847577","content_html":"@permafreak I didn't notice any bad English! 😊 And thanks for considering my readers!
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117203331414961530","date_published":"2026-09-02T20:28:31+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":"2026-09-02 20:28","date_timestamp":1788380911,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"96845949","content_html":"@VickForcella Doel je op de klemtoon? Hoorde je 'SAlami' in plaats van 'saLAmi'? In Nederland is 'saLAmi' de ingeburgerde uitspraak, maar in België is het meestal 'SAlami'. 😊
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117203223038940065","date_published":"2026-09-02T20:00:57+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":"2026-09-02 20:00","date_timestamp":1788379257,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"edit_url":null,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"96824925","content_html":"Going solo after a joint venture. That’s what the French verbs ‘noyer’ (to drown) and ‘nier’ (to deny) did!
Due to sound changes, the Latin verbs ‘necāre’ and ‘negāre’ both ended up as Old French ‘noiier’. Quite inconventient! Instead of driving each other out of business, either meaning started its own conjugation, selecting one of the two stem variants of ‘noiier’: ‘noi-’ and ‘ni-’.
My new infographic tells you the story of two verbs brought together by fate and going solo again to survive.
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F201%2F392%2F472%2F956%2F762%2Foriginal%2F0ea11910cb0c51fa.png\")
When you say ‘famly’, ‘vulnrable’ or ‘genral’, you’re performing syncope: deleting an unstressed vowel from the interior of the word, losing an entire syllable in the process.
The Romans did this a lot too. For instance, they turned ‘viridis’ (“green”) into ‘virdis’, a variant that was initially frowned upon. Yet it’s that syncopated form that birthed ‘verde’ in languages such as Italian.
Zoom in on my new infographic to learn all about syncope in Latin.
2/
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F178%2F853%2F777%2F691%2F918%2Foriginal%2Fc4597bd5f1e40470.png\")
Volgend jaar brengen grafisch vormgever en kaartenmaker Frans van der Vleuten en ik een boek uit met 100 kaarten over alledaagse taal en cultuur in Nederland – en daar kun jij aan bijdragen!
Vul onze enquêtes in en jouw data komen op de kaarten. 🗺️
Nu online: enquête 1:
https://studiovandervleuten.nl/boek-vraag/
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F157%2F103%2F636%2F074%2F189%2Foriginal%2F377877a5f2627180.png\")
A question for speakers and experts of Spanish:
When I hear Spanish – both European and American – I get the impression that there are people who, in rapid speech, pronounce the ue diphthong not as /we/ but as /wø/, with /ø/ being the vowel of French 'peu'.
Can anyone tell me more about this?
You see, if it is the case, it would tie in beautifully with what happened ... 1/
","summary":"","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk/117150587470784177","date_published":"2026-08-24T12:55:02+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":"2026-08-24 12:55","date_timestamp":1787576102,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"96265508","content_html":"A diabolical word preserved its form due to the church.
Undergoing the sound changes that turned Latin into Spanish, the word ‘diabolus’ (devil) should’ve become *yablo. However, due to the conservative ecclesiastical context this word was used in, the part ‘di-’ was preserved: ‘diablo’. The same goes for the other Romance words.
‘Devil’ comes from an early borrowing of ‘diabolus’, which itself was borrowed from Ancient Greek ‘diábolos’. This, in turn, was a loan translation of Hebrew ‘śāṭān’:
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F145%2F803%2F701%2F772%2F325%2Foriginal%2F91159990371a85d1.png\")
RE: https://toot.community/@yvanspijk/117133527700489858
Since I'm not trained in Celtic linguistics, I don't feel qualified to make posts about Celtic. This time, though, I did want to include Welsh, because it has three descendants of Latin 'sēcūrus' too:
'segur', 'sicr' and 'siwr/siŵr'.
Click yesterday's graphic to explore their word family:
","summary":"","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk/117139786086909097","date_published":"2026-08-22T15:08:06+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":"2026-08-22 15:08","date_timestamp":1787411286,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"96151658","content_html":"The word ‘sure’ has the same origin as ‘secure’: Latin ‘sēcūrus’.
‘Sure’ came through Old French, while ‘secure’ is a 16th-century borrowing from written Latin.
English even used to have a third borrowing: ‘sicker’. It evolved from a form adopted from spoken Latin more than 1500 years ago.
Click my new infographic to learn all about this word family, which includes Celtic words:
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F133%2F527%2F528%2F294%2F477%2Foriginal%2Fb72d6b18cc054621.png\")
RE: https://toot.community/@yvanspijk/117105574520230575
I had a lot of fun designing the little image to go with 'propaganda', inspired by the logo of a certain broadcasting channel.
","summary":"","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk/117116806060322595","date_published":"2026-08-18T13:43:59+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":"2026-08-18 13:43","date_timestamp":1787060639,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95866637","content_html":"What do ‘Miranda’, ‘legend’, and ‘agenda’ have in common?
They come from Latin gerundives: verbal forms that express obligation.
For instance, Latin ‘mīranda’ means “she who is to be admired”.
Zoom in on my new infographic to learn more about the gerundive, discover other gerundives in English, and explore the significant difference between the gerundive and the gerundio in Romance languages.
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F105%2F573%2F661%2F291%2F130%2Foriginal%2Fce9a4c75bd26875b.png\")
15 augustus wordt traditioneel halfoogst genoemd - niet omdat de oogst dan op de helft is, maar augustus.
Ons woord 'oogst' komt namelijk van het Latijnse 'augustus'.
Hoe dat precies zit, lees je hieronder in mijn boek 'Woord voor woord: de verleden tijd van taal', uitgegeven door @OnzeTaal:
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F100%2F795%2F949%2F967%2F994%2Foriginal%2F3df75500257aa1b5.png\")
Around 1500, spellings of 'beauty' and 'beautiful' included 'bewte' and 'bewteful'.
These made a lot of sense, because they spelled the individual sounds the words consisted of.
Here's a reconstruction of their pronunciation:
","summary":"","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk/117096003362846845","date_published":"2026-08-14T21:33:35+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":"2026-08-14 21:33","date_timestamp":1786743215,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95708846","content_html":"Beautiful hasn’t always been ‘beautiful’. In Old English, one of the words for it was ‘sċēne’.
This word became ‘sheen’, but as an adjective, it’s all but dead.
The Germanic cognates of ‘sheen’ include Dutch ‘schoon’ (which also means “clean”), German ‘schön’, and Swedish ‘skön’. German ‘schon’ (“already”) is also related.
These words derive from a verb related to ‘show’. Their original meaning appears to have been “watchable”.
Click my new infographic to learn all about this word family.
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F088%2F977%2F742%2F643%2F902%2Foriginal%2F2446e9cddeb3b0cb.png\")
The word ‘island’ contains the same element as ‘Jersey’, ‘Scandinavia’, and ‘Batavia’. This element stems from Proto-Germanic *agwī, a word meaning “land in or close to a body of water”.
*Agwī was derived from *ahwō (“body of water”), a distant cousin of Latin ‘aqua’.
Despite its looks, ‘island’ isn’t etymologically related to ‘isle’ at all, but because people thought it was, its spelling was influenced by it.
Zoom in on my new infographic to learn all about this word family.
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F066%2F161%2F648%2F689%2F478%2Foriginal%2F80cda02fdf4bfb80.png\")
RE: https://toot.community/@yvanspijk/117059934337342101
Maar ach, twee van de drie restaurants serveren ook 'vitello tonato', oftewel \"gedonderd kalf\".
","summary":"","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk/117060184862196339","date_published":"2026-08-08T13:44:28+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":"2026-08-08 13:44","date_timestamp":1786196668,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95402378","content_html":"Als Albert Heijn aandacht had besteed aan een grammaticA fantasticA, dan was dit wannabe-Italiaans niet zo'n fiascO fantasticO geweest.
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F059%2F934%2F235%2F334%2F164%2Foriginal%2Fca99c2ac8802a04f.jpg\")
The word ‘scissors’ is completely unrelated to the words for this tool in the sister languages of English, such as German ‘Schere’ and Dutch ‘schaar’.
Their English cognate is ‘shears’ instead.
Unlike ‘scissors’ and ‘shears’, the words ‘Schere’ and ‘schaar’ are used as singular nouns.
However, ‘Schere’ and ‘schaar’ stem from a Proto-Germanic dual form meaning “pair of blades” – one of the very few Proto-Germanic dual nouns its daughter languages enable us to reconstruct.
Here's more:
1/
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F054%2F969%2F649%2F422%2F949%2Foriginal%2Fda5d8e9fad2afe88.png\")
The Germanic ancestor of ‘thing’ and its cognates, such as German ‘Ding’ and Swedish ‘ting’, meant “folk assembly”.
The Latin ancestor of the Romance words for “thing”, such as French ‘chose’ and Spanish ‘cosa’, meant “legal case”.
Both the Germanic and the Latin word underwent a long series of meaning shifts resulting in the modern meanings “matter; thing”. My infographic shows how.
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F117%2F038%2F148%2F828%2F666%2F327%2Foriginal%2Fb52d75e1ccebfd5e.png\")
Nu de media geen genoeg krijgen van Ceuta, is het aardig om stil te staan bij de uitspraak.
De Spaanse uitspraak kun je benaderen met 'Seeuwta' en 'Theeuwta' (met de Engelse th van 'thick').
De uitspraak 'Seejoeta' die je continu hoort (laat staan 'Koejoeta'), lijkt er in de verste verte niet op.
","summary":"","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk/117031617449843083","date_published":"2026-08-03T12:39:24+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":"2026-08-03 12:39","date_timestamp":1785760764,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"94686073","content_html":"It won’t be too big of a surprise that the words ‘of’ and ‘off’ come from the same Old English word: ‘of’.
However, if we go further back in time, it turns out they’re part of a huge word family that includes ‘after’, ‘ebb’, German ‘von’ (“of”), ‘aber’ (“but”), and Ancient Greek ‘apó’ (“away from”).
All of these words can be traced back to the same Proto-Indo-European ancestor.
Click my new infographic to explore this family:
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F986%2F503%2F251%2F851%2F890%2Foriginal%2F7b4a80f9fa2fc368.png\")