Where does “spermkval” come from?
spermkval (Norwegian Nynorsk) comes from Norwegian Nynorsk kval, from Old Norse kvǫl, from Proto-Germanic kwalō, from Proto-Germanic kwaljaną, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.
spermkval (Norwegian Nynorsk): a sperm whale
Ancestry of “spermkval”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Norwegian Nynorsk | kval | a whale |
| 2 | Old Norse | kvǫl | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | kwalō | suffering, pain |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | kwaljaną | to make suffer, to hurt |
| 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 |