Where does “spänna” come from?
spänna (Old Swedish) comes from Old Norse spenna, from Proto-Germanic spannijaną, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.
Ancestry of “spänna”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Norse | spenna | to tighten |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | spannijaną | to cause to stretch |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 6 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |
Words derived from “spänna”