Where does “seilen” come from?
seilen (Middle English) comes from Old English siġlan, from Proto-West Germanic siglijan, from Proto-Germanic siglijaną, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.
Ancestry of “seilen”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | siġlan | to sail |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | siglijan | to sail |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | siglijaną | to sail |
| 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 |