Yoïn van Spijk

DJO-in ['ʤowɪn]

Taalkundige, polyglot, projectmedewerker streektaal bij Erfgoed Brabant, redacteur

Linguist, polyglot, project officer for regional languages at the Brabantian heritage organisation Erfgoed Brabant, editor

Ik toot in het Engels en Nederlands.
I toot in Dutch and English.

To toot ~ teet ~ tooten

Public Key

npub13azglv6csfulqza2yztjpl00n2r2ff83f3qq2f590uf8j09vfulqag8k34

NIP-05 Address

yvanspijk_at_toot.community@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsg73y0kdvgy70spw4zp9eqlhhe4p4y5nc5csq9y6zh7yne8jky70srnk50p

Author Public Key

npub13azglv6csfulqza2yztjpl00n2r2ff83f3qq2f590uf8j09vfulqag8k34

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Last Notes

2024-10-24 17:49:28

Portuguese C in 'cidade' (city) has the same [s] sound as the S in 'solteiro' (single).
However, originally these sounds were different.
The same goes for the [z]'s of 'fazer' (to do) and 'riso' (laughter): they used to differ too.
Listen below to how these words evolved.
Latin C, a [k] sound, became [ts] before E and I in Old Portuguese-Galician: 'cīvitātem' > 'cidade'.
This was also true for Old Spanish 'cibdad', Old Catalan 'ciutat', Old French 'citet' and others.
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https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/363/659/113/279/077/original/724bb7f72c466851.mp4

2024-10-18 11:15:50

The fact that 'Worcester' is pronounced 'Wusster' is wild.
But have you ever seen the five-syllable Old English name it stems from?
'Weogornaċeaster'.
It meant "fortified settlement of the Weogoran (a Saxon tribe)".
Click to hear a reconstruction of its pronunciation:
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/328/135/255/903/053/original/d36dc585f668d548.mp4

2024-10-17 18:40:03

The word 'choice' comes from Old French 'chois', but it has an /oi/ diphthong while modern French 'choix' has /wa/.
Is English /oi/ due to spelling pronunciation? No!
English 'choice' is closer to the Old French pronunciation than French 'choix' itself is.
Listen for more examples:
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/324/221/754/290/493/original/b23fcd7ecb07ff40.mp4

2024-10-13 18:46:44

The words 'jealous' and 'zealous' have the same origin.
They stem from Latin 'zēlōsus', which had both meanings.
'Jealous' was borrowed from Old French 'gelos' (now 'jaloux'), which descended from Latin.
'Zealous' was borrowed directly from Latin.
Click the graphic for more:
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/301/597/650/103/788/original/1b2632aba50f3e69.png

2024-09-01 18:11:43

'Butter' has the same origin as French 'beurre' but unlike numerous English words, it wasn't borrowed from French.
Instead, it was inherited from a West Germanic borrowing of the Latin word that also became French 'beurre'.
This Latin word itself came from Ancient Greek 'βούτῡρον' (boútūron), literally "cow cheese".
Click the infographic to learn more.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/063/643/714/953/144/original/e58d669c25b193ff.png

2024-08-20 15:43:02

Begin 2025 ligt mijn eerste boek in de winkel! 🥳
Vandaag heb ik het contract getekend bij uitgeverij Ambo/Anthos.
Het wordt een boek voor iedereen die van taal houdt, met korte stukken boordevol verrassende feiten over de herkomst van het Nederlands.
Binnenkort meer details! 😃
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/112/995/111/727/715/039/original/83d28408d36105b8.jpg

2024-08-18 16:25:17

- reply

@npub1lgy…aefg Heb je misschien een LinkedIn-pagina? Dan weten we elkaar makkelijk te vinden mocht het ooit nodig zijn. 😊
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvanspijk

2024-08-18 16:17:06

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@npub1lgy…aefg O, dat is heel fijn om te weten! 😃 Dank je wel!

2024-08-18 16:13:51

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@npub1lgy…aefg O, zo; sorry voor het misverstand! Je hoeft niks voor me te doen, hoor! Het kunnen helpen is wat me plezier geeft en ik dank je voor je dank en het hart. :)

2024-08-18 15:59:18

- reply

@npub1lgy…aefg (Kan het zijn dat je een afbeelding wilde sturen? Die is dan namelijk niet meegekomen.)

2024-08-18 15:47:45

- reply

@npub1lgy…aefg My pleasure! :)

2024-08-06 17:22:03

Regarding yesterday's video':
https://toot.community/@yvanspijk/112910659395968486
'Neighbour' stems from a Germanic compound consisting of two words.
The first one, *nēhwaz, is the ancestor of English 'nigh'. The other one, *gabūraz, meant "inhabitant".
So etymologically, a neighbour was a "nigh dweller".
The Old English descendant of *gabūraz was 'ġebūr', but it didn't survive. It would've become *bower.
However, English does have 'boor' (peasant), a borrowing from Dutch 'boer' (farmer), itself ... 1/

2024-08-01 20:48:43

A language can change a lot in the course of two millennia.
During the evolution of Latin to French, many words lost half of their syllables.
Click the video and turn on your sound to hear how eight words changed from Latin into Old French and ultimately into Modern French:
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https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/112/888/728/759/951/892/original/26661bf3a22b9790.mp4

2024-07-29 18:09:16

What do the words 'fairy', 'prophet', 'fabulous', 'to blaspheme' and 'fatal' have in common?
They're all derived from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to speak".
The f-words came to us via Latin, the ph-words via Ancient Greek.
I gave either group its own graphic:
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https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/112/871/114/835/795/006/original/ebef3b2616d3e470.png
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/112/871/114/845/481/318/original/c3cd34dc1cdb25b4.png

2024-07-26 17:51:23

The word 'fairy' is related to 'infantry' and 'professor'.
And that's not all: these words are also related to 'fate', 'fatal', 'fame', 'fable', and 'to confess'.
They all come from Latin words derived from a stem meaning "to speak".
Click the infographic to learn how:
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/112/854/058/270/450/228/original/0e795966604394c1.png

2024-07-18 19:28:02

The word 'welcome' may be interpreted as 'well-come', like 'well-received' and 'well-deserved'.
However, it stems from a Germanic word meaning "desired guest".
Perhaps under the influence of French 'bienvenu' ("welcome", literally "well-come"), the perception and the form of the English word and its Germanic cognates were altered. The infographic shows how.
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https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/112/809/140/583/825/058/original/14db9f3c09d0209c.png

2024-07-15 17:17:55

A language I love is Proto-Germanic. It's the reconstructed ancestor of all Germanic languages, such as Swedish, English, and Dutch.
What do we know about it? And what do I love about it?
You'll find out in the podcast episode Danny Bate and I recorded:
https://dannybate.com/2023/09/04/introducing-a-language-i-love-is/
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/112/791/644/083/208/041/original/534270942c33930a.webp

2024-07-11 08:45:51

I want you to know that all of my infographics are made under the watchful eye of Ms. Stoffer, editor in chief of 'Taal aan de wandel'.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/112/766/979/203/585/532/original/48f42e98b3e5bea0.jpg

2024-07-09 17:52:12

The English word 'ecclesiastical' is derived from Ancient Greek 'ekklēsíā', which meant "assembly, congregation", and later "church".
You wouldn't say it at first glance, but it's 'ekklēsíā' that became French 'église', Italian 'chiesa', Spanish 'iglesia', Portuguese 'igreja' – and many more.
Click the infographic to learn more.
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https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/112/757/802/937/588/106/original/d48cae0378f264cb.png

2024-06-16 19:21:50

The origin of the word 'cat' is unknown.
There are similar words in many related languages, such as French 'chat', Welsh 'cath', and Polish 'kot', but also in unrelated languages, e.g. Arabic 'qiṭṭa' and Turkish 'kedi'.
However, none of these languages can be identified as the source language.
See the infographic to learn more about it.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/112/627/915/892/806/747/original/6363c4cb4221a813.png

2024-06-13 18:15:42

'Hag' is closely related to 'hex', German 'Hexe' and Dutch 'heks', meaning "witch".
'Hag' comes from a shortening of Old English 'hægtesse'. This word had the same Proto-West Germanic origin as Old High German 'hagzissa', which became 'Hexe'.
English 'hex' is a borrowing of this German word.
Click the infographic for more:
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/112/610/675/019/233/213/original/fd1713f46f7a9f02.png

2024-06-02 16:02:04

'Sin' is distantly related to 'sooth'.
They stem from two different derivatives of a present participle meaning "being".
German 'Sünde', Dutch 'zonde', and Scandinavian 'synd' (all meaning "sin") come from another derivative of this participle.
Click the infographic to learn how it went.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/112/547/864/260/731/124/original/ca689163540f021b.png

2024-05-31 16:10:39

The word 'enough' has the same origin as German 'genug' and Dutch 'genoeg'.
However, unlike these words, 'enough' doesn't start with a g-. Moreover, contrary to what its spelling suggests, it ends with an /f/ sound.
When did these changes happen?
Click the video to listen to a reconstruction of how this word evolved over the past 2300 years.
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https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/112/536/573/162/391/612/original/f9336d0c3b19a3f4.mp4

2024-02-10 18:34:20

The words 'year', 'hour' and 'horoscope' all derive from the same root.
'Year' was inherited from a Proto-Germanic word that came from the same Proto-Indo-European root as Ancient Greek 'hōrā' (year; time; hour).
Via Latin and Old French, 'hōrā' became 'hour'.
Here's the whole story:
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/111/908/621/843/734/729/original/786da4f95cb00ad2.png