Where does “wiskæ” come from?
wiskæ (Old Danish) comes from Middle Low German wischen, from Old Saxon *wiskian, from Proto-Germanic wiskijaną, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.
Ancestry of “wiskæ”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle Low German | wischen | — |
| 2 | Old Saxon | *wiskian | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | wiskijaną | to sweep; to sweep away, to clean; to erase |
| 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 |