Where does “slechten” come from?
slechten (Middle Dutch) comes from Old Dutch slihten, from Proto-West Germanic slihtijan, from Proto-Germanic slihtijaną, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.
Ancestry of “slechten”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old Dutch | slihten | to smoothen, make even |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | slihtijan | to smoothe, to even out |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | slihtijaną | to smoothe, to even out |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 7 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |