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In Afrikaans - spoken in ZA (south africa) - that is pretty much the actual word :) "voetganger" "voet" - foot/feet "ganger" - someone who moves along using th

In Afrikaans - spoken in ZA (south africa) - that is pretty much the actual word :) "voetganger" "voet" - foot/feet "ganger" - someone who moves along using the former noun The Latin Root is what connects many European languages.

idontpost 8y ago
> The Latin Root is what connects many European languages. Not in this case. Proto-Germanic before the Norse languages split off would be the root that connects English, Dutch, and German with Norwegian.
thaumasiotes 8y ago
English "foot" (and the equivalent Germanic words) are cognate with the Latin word "pes" (= foot), but do not descend from it. It's not a Latin root.
- dmichulke 8y ago
  Not an etymologist, but I think they still have a common ancestor (proto Indo-European?). Lots of words in Latin with p have an equivalent with f in the Germanic languages: Pater - father Pes - foot Primus - first Note the English word is not necessarily the closest to the Latin one. P and f are also considered the same sound in a few word distance metrics such as Soundex for the very same reason.
  - idontpost 8y ago
    Yes, but Latin still isn't the root. PIE would be.
  - thaumasiotes 8y ago
    Yes, having a common ancestor is what "cognate" means. (Technically, in normal usage, "cognate" refers to words that (1) have a common ancestor and also (2) mean the same thing.) To use the familial metaphor, you descend from your mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and so on, but you are cognate with your niece, cousin, aunt, great-aunt, etc. "Foot" and "pes" both descend from the same Indo-European root, but the English word has no influence from the Latin one. Compare "pedestrian", which uses the Latin root directly.
  - smallnamespace 8y ago
    In fact, the pattern you noted is so distinctive of Germanic that linguists have actually given it a name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimm%27s_law#Examples https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimm%27s_law#Examples The first part of the law is a general stop to fricative pattern, so not just p->f, but also t->th, k->h, etc.
NicoJuicy 8y ago
Voetganger is the same in Dutch ;)
- chupasaurus 8y ago
  Afrikaans is a derivative of Dutch, so no surprise.
marton78 8y ago
However, there's nothing Latin about the present example...
Isn0gud 8y ago
Latin or Romance languages and Germanic languages are quite different though. So Spanish/French/Italian have a lot in common in terms of grammar and vocabulary. Same for Germanic languages like German/Norsk/Swedish/Dutch. These two roots mostly only have some words in common.

idontpost 8y ago

> The Latin Root is what connects many European languages. Not in this case. Proto-Germanic before the Norse languages split off would be the root that connects English, Dutch, and German with Norwegian.

thaumasiotes 8y ago

English "foot" (and the equivalent Germanic words) are cognate with the Latin word "pes" (= foot), but do not descend from it. It's not a Latin root.

dmichulke 8y ago
Not an etymologist, but I think they still have a common ancestor (proto Indo-European?). Lots of words in Latin with p have an equivalent with f in the Germanic languages: Pater - father Pes - foot Primus - first Note the English word is not necessarily the closest to the Latin one. P and f are also considered the same sound in a few word distance metrics such as Soundex for the very same reason.
- idontpost 8y ago
  Yes, but Latin still isn't the root. PIE would be.
- thaumasiotes 8y ago
  Yes, having a common ancestor is what "cognate" means. (Technically, in normal usage, "cognate" refers to words that (1) have a common ancestor and also (2) mean the same thing.) To use the familial metaphor, you descend from your mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and so on, but you are cognate with your niece, cousin, aunt, great-aunt, etc. "Foot" and "pes" both descend from the same Indo-European root, but the English word has no influence from the Latin one. Compare "pedestrian", which uses the Latin root directly.
- smallnamespace 8y ago
  In fact, the pattern you noted is so distinctive of Germanic that linguists have actually given it a name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimm%27s_law#Examples https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimm%27s_law#Examples The first part of the law is a general stop to fricative pattern, so not just p->f, but also t->th, k->h, etc.

NicoJuicy 8y ago

Voetganger is the same in Dutch ;)

chupasaurus 8y ago
Afrikaans is a derivative of Dutch, so no surprise.

marton78 8y ago

However, there's nothing Latin about the present example...

Isn0gud 8y ago

Latin or Romance languages and Germanic languages are quite different though. So Spanish/French/Italian have a lot in common in terms of grammar and vocabulary. Same for Germanic languages like German/Norsk/Swedish/Dutch. These two roots mostly only have some words in common.