Where does “det var en gång” come from?
det var en gång (Swedish) comes from Swedish en gång, from Swedish gång, from Middle High German ganc, from Old High German gang, from Proto-Germanic *gang, from Proto-Germanic gangaz, from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰongʰ-o-s, from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰengʰ- — to walk; to step.
det var en gång (Swedish): once upon a time, there was
Definitions
- once upon a time, there was
Ancestry of “det var en gång”, step by step
det var en gång traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Swedish en gång
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swedish | en gång | once |
| 2 | Swedish | gång | walk, path, trail; a maintained, usually quite... |
| 3 | Middle High German | ganc | procession |
| 4 | Old High German | gang | A path, course, way, journey; a going |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | *gang | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | gangaz | pace, step, gait; walk; way, course |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰongʰ-o-s | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰengʰ- | to walk; to step |
via Swedish vår
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swedish | vår | our; belonging to us; spring; the season between... |
| 2 | Old Swedish | var | — |
| 3 | Old Norse | vár | spring |
| 4 | Old Norse | vás | toil, fatigue, from bad weather |
| 5 | Proto-Norse | ᚹᚨᛋ | was |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | was | first/third-person singular past active... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂wes- | to dwell, live, reside; to stay, spend the night |
via Swedish det
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swedish | det | It; third-person singular, referring to nouns of... |
| 2 | Old Swedish | þæt | it; that |
| 3 | Old Norse | þat | it; that |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | þat | nominative/accusative singular neuter of *sa |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | tód | demonstrative pronoun; that; it |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | to- | it; that; the, that |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | só | this; that |