Where does “Policespeak” come from?
Policespeak (English) comes from English police, from Middle French police, from Latin polītīa, from Ancient Greek πολιτεία, from Ancient Greek πολῑ́της, from Ancient Greek -της, from Proto-Hellenic -tāts, from Proto-Indo-European -teh₂ts — Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems.
Policespeak (English): A constructed language for police and emergency service cooperation at the Channel Tunnel, using a limited vocabulary drawn from French and English
Definitions
- A constructed language for police and emergency service cooperation at the Channel Tunnel, using a limited vocabulary drawn from French and English
Ancestry of “Policespeak”, step by step
Policespeak traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English police
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | police | A civil force granted the legal authority for law... |
| 2 | Middle French | police | governance; management |
| 3 | Latin | polītīa | state, government, administration |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | πολιτεία | the relation in which a citizen stands to the... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | πολῑ́της | citizen |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -της | Forms nouns representing a state of being; Added... |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | -tāts | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ts | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -teh₂ | Used to form nouns representing state of being |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -tós | Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems |
via English speak
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | speak | To communicate with one's voice, to say words out... |
| 2 | Middle English | speke | — |
| 3 | Old English | specan | Alternative form of sprecan; to speak |
| 4 | Old English | sprecan | to speak, talk |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | *sprekan | to speak |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | sprekaną | to speak, to make a noise |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | spreg- | to make a sound, speak; to make a sound, utter,... |