Where does “managementspeak” come from?
managementspeak (English) comes from English speak, from Middle English speke, from Old English specan, from Old English sprecan, from Proto-West Germanic *sprekan, from Proto-Germanic sprekaną, from Proto-Indo-European spreg- — to make a sound, speak; to make a sound, utter,...
Ancestry of “managementspeak”, step by step
managementspeak traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
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,... |
via English management
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | management | Administration; the use of limited resources... |
| 2 | English | -ment | Used to form nouns from verbs, the nouns having... |
| 3 | Middle English | -ment | Forms nouns denoting a result or action from... |
| 4 | Old French | -ment | Used to form adverbs, most of the time equivalent... |
| 5 | Latin | -mentum | instrument, medium, or result of; e.g.... |
| 6 | Latin | -menta | nominative plural of -mentum; accusative plural... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -mn̥ | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs |