Where does “unspeaking” come from?
unspeaking (English) comes from English unspeak, from English Un-, from English still, from Old English stillan, from Proto-West Germanic stillijan, from Proto-West Germanic -jan, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti — he, she.
unspeaking (English): Silent, not talking; Mute, unable to speak for...
Definitions
- Silent, not talking; Mute, unable to speak for...
Ancestry of “unspeaking”, step by step
unspeaking traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English unspeak
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | unspeak | To retract what one has spoken, to unsay |
| 2 | English | Un- | not |
| 3 | English | still | Not moving; calm; Not effervescing; not... |
| 4 | Old English | stillan | become calm, abate, subside; calm, pacify,... |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | stillijan | to make still, quiet |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | -jan | Creates denominative verbs from nouns; Creates... |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 10 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |