Where does “swǣtan” come from?
swǣtan (Old English) comes from Proto-Germanic swaitijaną, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.
Ancestry of “swǣtan”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Proto-Germanic | swaitijaną | to sweat |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 5 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |