Where does “johan” come from?
johan (Malay) comes from Classical Persian جهان, from Old Saxon gehan, from Proto-Germanic *jehan, from Proto-Indo-European yek- — to utter.
johan (Malay): world; champion, hero
Ancestry of “johan”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Classical Persian | جهان | — |
| 2 | Old Saxon | gehan | to confess; to explain |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | *jehan | — |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | yek- | to utter |