Ancestors

Toot

Written by Yoïn van Spijk on 2025-01-18 at 18:40

Words that are etymologically related don't have to look alike.

For instance, Portuguese 'nenhum' and German 'kein' (both meaning "not any; no") have the same origin.

'Nenhum' comes from Latin 'nec ūnus', 'kein' comes from Proto-Germanic *neh ainaz. These combinations both meant "not even one" and had the same Proto-Indo-European origins.

The infographic tells you more about them.

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Descendants

Written by Yoïn van Spijk on 2025-01-20 at 07:26

2/

Many people asked if Scandinavian 'ingen' (no; not any; no one) is related to German 'kein' and Dutch 'gein', as these two come from medieval 'enkein' and 'engheen'.

No! Looks are deceiving.

'Ingen' comes from Old Norse 'e(i)nginn', from 'einn' (one) plus '-gi' (no) plus an ending, so it isdifferent from the etymology of 'kein' and 'geen', as yesterday's graphic shows. ⬆️

Old Norse 'e(i)nngi' also had a neuter form: 'e(i)kki', from *eittgi, literally "not one thing".

This became ... 2/

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Written by Yoïn van Spijk on 2025-01-20 at 07:26

3/ ... Danish 'ikke', Swedish 'icke', Norwegian 'ikkje' - the modern words for "not".

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Written by 🇮🇱 El Murciélago 🦇 on 2025-01-18 at 19:17

@yvanspijk Is the French negation "ne...pas" a survivor of this "nec, neque"?

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Written by Yoïn van Spijk on 2025-01-18 at 19:29

@wahoonie No, 'ne ... pas' comes from the Latin words 'nōn' (not) and 'passum' (step). 'Nōn' became 'non', 'nen' and finally 'ne'.

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Written by (((Den som ikke vet))) on 2025-01-18 at 19:32

@yvanspijk And Scandinavian "ingen" from Middle Low Saxon? Or Middle Dutch?

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Written by Yoïn van Spijk on 2025-01-18 at 19:41

@klefstadmyr It's a different word altogether: it comes from Old Norse 'einginn', from 'einn' (one) and '-gi' (not), a particle unrelated to the ones depicted in the graphic. Its neuter form 'etki' (from *eittgi) became 'ikke'.

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Written by (((Den som ikke vet))) on 2025-01-18 at 19:47

@yvanspijk Aha!

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Written by Curious Carrot on 2025-01-18 at 20:21

@yvanspijk

Does this also apply to the English word "none"?

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Written by Yoïn van Spijk on 2025-01-18 at 20:24

@curious_carrot That one has a different origin:

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Written by Jos on 2025-01-18 at 20:55

@yvanspijk Misschien dialect, maar "geeneen", als synoniem voor "geen", hoor ik hier nog weleens in de buurt.

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Written by Yoïn van Spijk on 2025-01-18 at 20:56

@goleztrol 'Geen een' is een versterking van 'geen', ook in de standaardtaal: 'Er is geen een sporter die zo veel medailles heeft als ...'

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Written by 全知全能大先生 on 2025-01-19 at 06:59

@yvanspijk Looks like you ran out of space for modern Italian. Here we are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=-xHSNQi_V4sKAR_T&v=cWc7vYjgnTs&feature=youtu.be

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Written by Yoïn van Spijk on 2025-01-19 at 11:22

@shukugawarablog If 'nessun' were related, I would've added it. :)

As the part -ss- shows, 'nessun' has a different structure and can't stem from the Old Italian forms. Instead it comes from 'ne ipse ūnus' ("not even one at all"), not 'nec ūnus'.

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Written by Arturo Serrano 🇨🇴🤖👽🧙🦄 on 2025-01-20 at 05:55

@yvanspijk Small nitpick: Spanish "ninguno" must be written with no graphic accent.

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Written by Yoïn van Spijk on 2025-01-20 at 07:23

@carturo222 Thanks! I'll correct it.

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