Where does “kys” come from?
kys (Middle English) comes from Middle English kissen, from Old English cyssan, from Proto-West Germanic *kussijan, from Proto-Germanic kussijaną, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.
Ancestry of “kys”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | kissen | — |
| 2 | Old English | cyssan | to kiss |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *kussijan | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | kussijaną | to kiss |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 8 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |