Where does “zotmem” come from?
zotmem (Mauritian Creole) comes from Mauritian Creole zot, from French autres, from French autre, from Middle French aultre, from Old French autre, from Old French vie, from Old French viḍe, from Latin vitam — to live.
zotmem (Mauritian Creole): yourselves; themselves
Ancestry of “zotmem”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Mauritian Creole | zot | you, y'all; they, them |
| 2 | French | autres | plural of autre; the other guys |
| 3 | French | autre | other; another |
| 4 | Middle French | aultre | other; another; someone else; another person |
| 5 | Old French | autre | Alternative form of altre; other |
| 6 | Old French | vie | life |
| 7 | Old French | viḍe | — |
| 8 | Latin | vitam | accusative singular of vīta |
| 9 | Latin | vīta | — |
| 10 | Latin | vīvō | — |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | gʷīwō | live, be alive |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷíh₃weti | to live, to be alive |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷih₃wós | alive, living |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷeih₃w- | to live |