Where does “lasten” come from?
lasten (Middle English) comes from Old English lǣstan, from Proto-West Germanic *laistijan, from Proto-Germanic laistijaną, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.
Ancestry of “lasten”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | lǣstan | to follow, help, serve, perform, do, carry out,... |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | *laistijan | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | laistijaną | to follow, to track; to pursue |
| 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 |