DJO-in ['dʑowɪn]
Historisch taalkundige, leraar Nederlands als tweede taal, schrijver van 'Die goeie ouwe taal' en vaste auteur bij Onze Taal
Historical linguist, Dutch teacher, writer
photo: Dirk-Jan van Dijk
| Linktree | https://www.linktr.ee/yvanspijk |
| All my infographics on Tumblr | https://www.tumblr.com/yvanspijk |
| Support me on Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/yvanspijk |
2/
In small letters I also included the English word 'lettuce', because it, too, is related to 'latte' and 'galaxy'. It comes from the plural-turned-singular of Old French 'laitue', which stemmed from Latin 'lactūca'. It was so called beause of the milky juice that comes out of the plant when cut.
Its Romance cognates include Spanish 'lechuga', Portuguese 'leituga' (which now denotes different plants), Catalan 'lletuga' and Italian 'lattuga'.
2/
In small letters I also included the English word 'lettuce', because it, too, is related to 'latte' and 'galaxy'. It comes from the plural-turned-singular of Old French 'laitue', which stemmed from Latin 'lactūca'. It was so called beause of the milky juice that comes out of the plant when cut.
Its Romance cognates include Spanish 'lechuga', Portuguese 'leituga' (which now denotes different plants), Catalan 'lletuga' and Italian 'lattuga'.
The English words 'galaxy' and 'latte' are etymologically related.
'Galaxy' stems from the Ancient Greek word for "milk", 'gála', which has the same Proto-Indo-European ancestor as Latin 'lactem', which became 'latte' in Italian.
The Milky Way was named after its milky glowing band in the night sky. 'Galaxy' used to mean "Milky Way", but it became a word for any star system when it turned ours is not the only one in the universe.
The English words 'galaxy' and 'latte' are etymologically related.
'Galaxy' stems from the Ancient Greek word for "milk", 'gála', which has the same Proto-Indo-European ancestor as Latin 'lactem', which became 'latte' in Italian.
The Milky Way was named after its milky glowing band in the night sky. 'Galaxy' used to mean "Milky Way", but it became a word for any star system when it turned ours is not the only one in the universe.
Toen Twitter nog Twitter heette en leuk was, schreef #JeroenWijnendaele een mooi draadje over Alarik. Hier is een vertaling.
The English word 'slim' means "slender; tiny", while Dutch 'slim' means "smart". And then there's German 'schlimm', meaning 'bad". What's going on here?
Despite their wildly different meanings, these words all have the same ancestor, which is reconstructed to mean "slanted; tilted".
Over the centuries, the meanings of its descendants underwent pejoration, getting more negative meanings, or amelioriation, getting more positive meanings.
My new graphic shows how it went.
The English word 'slim' means "slender; tiny", while Dutch 'slim' means "smart". And then there's German 'schlimm', meaning 'bad". What's going on here?
Despite their wildly different meanings, these words all have the same ancestor, which is reconstructed to mean "slanted; tilted".
Over the centuries, the meanings of its descendants underwent pejoration, getting more negative meanings, or amelioriation, getting more positive meanings.
My new graphic shows how it went.
Na de nominatie voor de Taalboekenprijs 2025 ben ik nu wéér blij verrast door een bericht over mijn boek 'Die goeie ouwe taal': Miet Ooms heeft een prachtige recensie geschreven in het tijdschrift De Lage Landen.
Ze recenseert ook drie andere mooie taalboeken, waaronder 'Grenze(n)loze taal' van Jos Swanenberg en Kristel Doreleijers:
https://www.de-lage-landen.com/article/we-moeten-naar-de-nieuwe-schoenen
Short linguistic fun fact:
'The ingredients of the cake' sounds fancier than 'what goes into the cake', but their literal meanings are almost identical.
'Ingredient' comes from Latin 'ingredientem', literally "going into".
It's a participle of 'ingredī':
'in' (into) + 'gradī' (to go).
The stem 'grad-' also gave us the words below, ... 1/
2/
some of which are derived from the past participle stem 'grass-'. When there was a prefix, the a became an e in early Latin:
- grade < gradus (step)
- to progress < prōgredī (to go forth)
- to transgress < trānsgredī (to go beyond)
- aggression < aggredī (to go towards)
- congress < congredī (to go together)
- egression < ēgredī (to go out)
- regression < regredī (to go back)
- retrograde < retrōgradī (to go backwards)
- gradation < gradātiōnem (literally something like "a stepping")
Jona lendering