Where does “lax vowel” come from?
lax vowel (English) comes from English lax, from Middle English lax, from Old English leax, from Proto-West Germanic lahs, from Proto-Germanic lahsaz, from Chinese 拉薩, from Tibetan ལྷ་ས, from Old Tibetan ར་ས.
lax vowel (English): A vowel produced with relatively little...
Definitions
- A vowel produced with relatively little...
Ancestry of “lax vowel”, step by step
lax vowel traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English lax
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | lax | A salmon; Lenient and allowing for deviation; not... |
| 2 | Middle English | lax | salmon |
| 3 | Old English | leax | a salmon |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | lahs | salmon |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | lahsaz | salmon |
| 6 | Chinese | 拉薩 | — |
| 7 | Tibetan | ལྷ་ས | Lhasa |
| 8 | Old Tibetan | ར་ས | — |
via English vowel
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | vowel | A sound produced by the vocal cords with... |
| 2 | Old French | vouel | Alternative form of voyeul |
| 3 | Old French | voyeul | vowel |
| 4 | Latin | vōcālis | uttering a voice, having a voice; speaking, sounding, sonorous, speaking, crying, singing, melodious; vocal |
| 5 | Latin | vōx | voice |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | wōks | voice |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | wṓkʷs | voice, speech |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | wekʷ- | to speak, to sound out |