2 ms·

'verstehen' in German. 'stehen' = to stand; perhaps not too surprising given the relationship between English and German, but interesting that it is the same in

'verstehen' in German. 'stehen' = to stand; perhaps not too surprising given the relationship between English and German, but interesting that it is the same in the African languages you mentioned. A counter example would be French (and some other Romance languages), se comprendre, which is derived from a Latin verb meaning 'to grasp'

notahacker 8y ago
Another counterexample common in Romance languages is entender, derived from a Latin word originally meaning "to stretch out" or "to focus/aim" and the origin of the English "intend".