Where does “Zweitsprache” come from?

Zweitsprache (German) comes from German zweite, from German zwei, from Middle High German zwēne, from Old High German zwēne, from Proto-West Germanic twai-, from Proto-Germanic twai, from Proto-Indo-European dwóh₁ — two.

Zweitsprache (German): A learned second language

Definitions

  1. A learned second language

Ancestry of “Zweitsprache”, step by step

Zweitsprache traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German zweite

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanzweitesecond
2Germanzweitwo
3Middle High Germanzwēnetwo
4Old High Germanzwēnetwo
5Proto-West Germanictwai-two
6Proto-Germanictwaitwo
7Proto-Indo-Europeandwóh₁two

via German sprāche

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germansprāchelanguage body of words, and set of methods of combining them
2Middle High Germansprāche—
3Old High Germansprāhha—
4Proto-West Germanic*sprākuspeech, language

Words derived from “Zweitsprache”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European dwóh₁ →Every word from Proto-Germanic twai →Every word from Proto-West Germanic twai- →