Where does “mispeken” come from?
mispeken (Middle English) comes from Old English missprecan, from Old English sprecan, from Proto-West Germanic *sprekan, from Proto-Germanic sprekaną, from Proto-Indo-European spreg- — to make a sound, speak; to make a sound, utter,...
Ancestry of “mispeken”, step by step
mispeken traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Old English missprecan
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old English | missprecan | to murmur, grumble |
| 2 | Old English | sprecan | to speak, talk |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *sprekan | to speak |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | sprekaną | to speak, to make a noise |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | spreg- | to make a sound, speak; to make a sound, utter,... |
via Old English misspecan
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old English | misspecan | — |