Where does “slakken” come from?
slakken (Middle English) comes from Old English slacian, from Proto-Germanic slakōną, from Proto-Germanic -ōną, from Proto-Indo-European -eh₂yéti, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.
Ancestry of “slakken”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old English | slacian | to slacken, make slack |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | slakōną | to become weak; to become slow |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | -ōną | Creates denominative verbs from nouns; Creates... |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 7 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |