![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F986%2F503%2F251%2F851%2F890%2Foriginal%2F7b4a80f9fa2fc368.png\")
@jorijn @mirabilos @AllEndlessKnot @jodystillwrites Thank you very much for this - and for all you've done over the past years! 😊
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117013380709675351","date_published":"2026-07-31T07:21:33+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":"2026-07-31 07:21","date_timestamp":1785482493,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94936363","content_html":"@mirabilos @AllEndlessKnot @jodystillwrites Yes, thank you for the heads up! It's very sad, but I fully understand @jorijn 's reasons. I'll look for a new server. It's a pity that my past interactions will be gone, but that's life.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/117011081005443375","date_published":"2026-07-30T21:36:43+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":"2026-07-30 21:36","date_timestamp":1785447403,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94748172","content_html":"@jet @Andres4NY 'Bakfiet' is actually the usual English form. The s of the Dutch borrowing 'bakfiets' was reanalysed as a plural ending and deleted.
Likewise, English 'skate' comes from Dutch 'schaats'.
'Bak' (\"container\") comes from Old French 'bac' (\"vessel; tray\"), while 'bucket' comes from Old French 'buc', a borrowing from the ancestor of Dutch 'buik' (\"abdomen\"). 😊
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116993295110251672","date_published":"2026-07-27T18:13:31+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":"2026-07-27 18:13","date_timestamp":1785176011,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94724944","content_html":"@baszoetekouw Die gelijkenis is toeval: 'over' komt van het Proto-Germaanse *uberi, dat verwant is aan het Griekse 'hyper'.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116991263367316292","date_published":"2026-07-27T09:36:49+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":"2026-07-27 09:36","date_timestamp":1785145009,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94724702","content_html":"@headword In hindsight, I should've tried fitting in the *aftran branch too. 🫤
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116991238255792619","date_published":"2026-07-27T09:30:26+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":"2026-07-27 09:30","date_timestamp":1785144626,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94722355","content_html":"@mterburg Nee, die komen via het Proto-Germaanse *ūt van het Proto-Indo-Europese *úd, dat \"naar buiten, omhoog\" moet hebben betekend.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116990930265780966","date_published":"2026-07-27T08:12:07+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":"2026-07-27 08:12","date_timestamp":1785139927,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94696482","content_html":"@wahoonie Ah, with an interesting meaning. 🤣
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116987587734454512","date_published":"2026-07-26T18:02:04+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":"2026-07-26 18:02","date_timestamp":1785088924,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94690028","content_html":"@mees Om de verbazing nog groter te maken: ons 'of' is dan weer verwant aan het Engelse 'if'. 😋 Je gebruikt ze in één soort zin op dezelfde manier:
- Ik weet niet of hij er is.
- I don't know if he's there.
@acb Slavic 'po' is related (and mentioned), but Swedish 'på' comes from Old Norse 'upp á' (upon).
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116986588246504639","date_published":"2026-07-26T13:47:53+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":"2026-07-26 13:47","date_timestamp":1785073673,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"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:
@elnecesario @MLE_online I did, but thanks for tagging me! 😊
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116971253293118217","date_published":"2026-07-23T20:48:00+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":"2026-07-23 20:48","date_timestamp":1784839680,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94535932","content_html":"@notsoloud @MLE_online @burningTyger Yes, 'mid(dle)', 'Mitte' and 'mit' are all related, but extremely distantly: they stem from the same Proto-Indo-European root (5000 years ago). Thanks for the chart suggestion! A very good one.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116970583586410920","date_published":"2026-07-23T17:57:41+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":"2026-07-23 17:57","date_timestamp":1784829461,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94508706","content_html":"@androcat Mmh, I can't find 'foyeur' in my French dictionary. 'Foyer' comes from 'focārium' (hearth).
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116968429774168836","date_published":"2026-07-23T08:49:56+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":"2026-07-23 08:49","date_timestamp":1784796596,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94507555","content_html":"@fiee Oh, yes! I think you're up for the Nobel Prise of Etymology!
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116968353966621421","date_published":"2026-07-23T08:30:40+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":"2026-07-23 08:30","date_timestamp":1784795440,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94506658","content_html":"@0xabad1dea I would not be surprised at all! 😔
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116968272493890935","date_published":"2026-07-23T08:09:56+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":"2026-07-23 08:09","date_timestamp":1784794196,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94506031","content_html":"4/
He sounds like that guy from 'My big fat Greek wedding':
youtu.be/jXt0VCPKfQ4
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F968%2F200%2F132%2F861%2F177%2Foriginal%2F3ab06a7c06f152cc.jpg\")
@RGBes Oh, yes, don't get me started on ChatGPT! 🫠
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116968198929059849","date_published":"2026-07-23T07:51:14+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":"2026-07-23 07:51","date_timestamp":1784793074,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94505509","content_html":"3/
Oh my, this one attracts a lot of mushroom smokers.
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F968%2F117%2F725%2F697%2F756%2Foriginal%2F0ee64e98c728db9c.jpg\")
@lnkvt That's the healthy way of approaching it. :)
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116967909827744633","date_published":"2026-07-23T06:37:43+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":"2026-07-23 06:37","date_timestamp":1784788663,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94502825","content_html":"@wahoonie Yup! But *durī is one of the very few duals we can reconstruct for Proto-Germanic. It probably wasn't a functional category anymore.
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116967805294895842","date_published":"2026-07-23T06:11:08+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":"2026-07-23 06:11","date_timestamp":1784787068,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94484649","content_html":"2/
Ah, yes, and I come from that 35-year old bloke from Kazachstan who has the same hair colour as me. And he's got fingers and a nose too!
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F965%2F760%2F186%2F759%2F392%2Foriginal%2F49e4c119ea5576b4.jpg\")
The word ‘foreign’ is etymologically related to ‘door’.
‘Foreign’ comes from Latin ‘forānus’ (outsider), a derivative of ‘forīs’ (outside). It got its silent g because people believed it had something to do with ‘reign’ – which it doesn’t. English ‘door’ is a distant cousin of ‘forīs’.
Within Germanic, it’s related to German ‘Tür’ and Swedish ‘dörr’, but words do stem from slightly different Proto-Germanic words. My infographic tells you more.
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F964%2F846%2F660%2F544%2F518%2Foriginal%2F3471a2b8f47b843e.png\")
What if you could recover how words sounded thousands of years ago, and even hear the sounds of languages that have vanished from the face of the earth?
Colin Gorrie wrote a brilliant article about reconstructing languages:
https://www.deadlanguagesociety.com/p/how-to-reconstruct-dead-languages
","summary":"","url":"https://toot.community/@yvanspijk/116963316416788448","date_published":"2026-07-22T11:09:33+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":"2026-07-22 11:09","date_timestamp":1784718573,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"93983081","content_html":"@mirabilos Ja, hoe krijgen ze het voor elkaar. 😁
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116918396296429388","date_published":"2026-07-14T12:45:46+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":"2026-07-14 12:45","date_timestamp":1784033146,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"93978536","content_html":"@vosje62 Aha! Het gekke is dat de andere kant wel helemaal in de stijl van deze apotheek is.
En inderdaad, haat aan de plastic zakjes...
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116918004835523530","date_published":"2026-07-14T11:06:13+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":"2026-07-14 11:06","date_timestamp":1784027173,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"93977968","content_html":"@venite Hahaha, jaaa! 🤣
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116917951911839590","date_published":"2026-07-14T10:52:45+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":"2026-07-14 10:52","date_timestamp":1784026365,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"93977673","content_html":"Dat is goed. Ik zal \"MIJN APOTHEEK\" wel raadplegen.
Dit medicijnenzakje doet me denken aan de misboekjes bij familieleden die een uitvaart hadden in de rooms-katholieke kerk:
'Vandaag gedenken wij \"NAAM OVERLEDENE\", die op \"DATUM\" van ons heengegaan is.'
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F917%2F922%2F334%2F637%2F467%2Foriginal%2F36f2d7b1d179ad67.jpg\")
@sjaakkeuvelaar @Eetschrijver @OnzeTaal
Ahhh!
@sjaakkeuvelaar @Eetschrijver @OnzeTaal Is dat daar anders, ja? Dat is de regio waar ook Duits gesproken wordt, toch?
","url":"https://toot.community/users/yvanspijk/statuses/116914744294249958","date_published":"2026-07-13T21:17:01+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":"2026-07-13 21:17","date_timestamp":1783977421,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"93877150","content_html":"The Spanish way of saying “from where” is ‘de donde’. However, to speakers living a thousand years ago, that would’ve meant “from from from where”.
In Old Spanish, “from where” was simply ‘onde’, a descendant of Latin ‘unde’. However, this word would end up getting reinforced by ‘de’ (“from”) twice because of an interesting series of ambiguities.
Click my new infographic to see how it happened.
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F907%2F357%2F160%2F727%2F038%2Foriginal%2F796a30292433c7e7.png\")
Je hoort vaak dat het woord 'vrijdag' afgeleid is van de godinnennaam 'Freya', maar dat klopt niet. Hoe zit het wel, en wat heeft dat te maken met Venus en 'vrouw'?
Je leest het in mijn infographic voor het juli-nummer van @OnzeTaal - weer meesterlijk vormgegeven door Yolanda Huntelaar:
![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F890%2F972%2F137%2F267%2F743%2Foriginal%2Fcc9e2359cc6377e5.png\")
Nee, Rabobank, deze saldo is niet aan het dalen.
![\"Tekst](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F883%2F624%2F305%2F486%2F081%2Foriginal%2F5e828df145ef3fd6.png\")
Naarstig op zoek naar winterse woorden die met sw- beginnen, liet ik me tegen mijn principes in verleiden om het even aan Google AI te vragen. Ach, we hebben in ieder geval weer gelachen.
![\"Antwoord](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.toot.community%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F116%2F873%2F080%2F000%2F926%2F260%2Foriginal%2Fba8bbf5501f27721.png\")
Spanish ‘usted’ and Portuguese ‘você’, words meaning “you”, don’t look much alike, but they have the same origin: Latin ‘vostram mercēdem’, literally “your mercy”.
Click my new graphic to learn how ‘vostram mercēdem’, a reverential way of addressing someone indirectly, gradually became the pronouns ‘você’, ‘usted’, and Catalan ‘vostè’ – a fascinating history in which no Arabic was involved, contrary to a persistent myth.
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‘Chez moi’ is the French way of saying “at my place”. The preposition ‘chez’ has a fascinating origin: it comes from the same word as Spanish ‘casa’ (house): Latin ‘casa’.
‘Casa’ originally meant “hut”, but it became the common word for “house” in most Romance languages.
What was the original Latin word for “house” and what happened to it? And where does French ‘maison’ come from?
My new infographic tells you all about it and shows a wide selection of Romance descendants of Latin ‘casa’.
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The word ‘quick’ has many surprising relatives.
It’s related to ‘vital’, ‘vivid’, and Spanish ‘vivir’ (to live) via Latin, and to ‘bio-‘ and ‘zoo’ via Ancient Greek.
Germanic relatives include Dutch ‘kweken’ (to grow; to foster) and German ‘keck’ (sassy).
Zoom in on my new infographic to learn how these words are related:
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The English word ‘young’ has surprising cognates in other languages in its Indo-European family.
Irish ‘óg’ and Welsh ‘ifanc’ mean “young” but don’t resemble ‘young’ at all, while Italian ‘giovenco’ means “young bull”.
More distantly, ‘young’ is related to ‘youth’, ‘juveline’, ‘junior’, Spanish ‘joven’, French ‘jeune’, and more.
Click my new graphic to discover more about this word family.
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The French words ‘est’ and ‘ouest’ look a lot like English ‘east’ and ‘west’.
That’s because they were borrowed from Old English, along with other nautical terms, which points to naval contacts. French then passed on ‘est’ and ‘ouest’, as well as ‘nord’ and ‘sud’, to the other Romance languages.
My new graphic tells you how we know Old English was the donor language, how ‘east’ is related to ‘Aurora’, and why ‘west’ may have orignally meant “where the sun sets”.
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The French words ‘nord’ and ‘sud’ look a lot like English ‘north’ and ‘south’.
That’s not a coincidence: it’s because Old French borrowed these words from Old English ‘norþ’ and ‘sūþ’ – along with ‘est’ and ‘ouest’, which come from ‘ēast’ and ‘west’.
My new infographic tells you all about the fascinating theories about the history of ‘north’, ‘south’ and their cognates.
Next time: east and west.
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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.
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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/
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\nThe 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.
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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.
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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.
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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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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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