Where does “pianoforte” come from?
I need to analyze this etymology chain carefully, as it appears to have some issues.
Looking at the chain provided:
- Italian pianoforte
- Italian piano
- Latin fortis
- Ancient Greek πλάνος
- Latin fors
- Ancient Greek πλάνος
- Proto-Indo-European bʰer-
- Proto-Indo-European bʰer-
This chain seems problematic. The historical development of "pianoforte" should involve:
- Italian "pianoforte" (soft-loud) = Italian "piano" (soft) + Italian "forte" (loud)
- Not the mixing of Greek πλάνος (wandering/errant) with Latin fortis/fors
However, I must follow the instruction to "state only what the chain supports" and not invent. The chain as given doesn't make coherent etymological sense, but I
pianoforte (English): A piano
Ancestry of “pianoforte”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Italian | pianoforte | piano, pianoforte |
| 2 | Italian | piano | plane; flat, level; plain |
| 3 | Italian | -ano | Used with a stem to form the third-person plural... |
| 4 | Latin | -ant | third-person plural present active indicative of... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -āō | Forms primarily denominative verbs |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 9 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |
Words derived from “pianoforte”