Where does “erbarmen” come from?
erbarmen (Middle Dutch) comes from Old High German irbarmēn, from German armēn, from Proto-Germanic armāną, from Proto-Germanic -āną, from Proto-Germanic -ajaną, from Proto-Indo-European -oyéti, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé- — he, she.
Ancestry of “erbarmen”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old High German | irbarmēn | to take pity, have mercy on |
| 2 | German | armēn | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | armāną | to pity |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | -āną | Creates factitive verbs from adjectives, later... |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -ajaną | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -oyéti | Creates factitive verbs from adjectives |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 9 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |