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This is great. When German, English, French and Dutch go through a tumbler and no easy logic can be seen explaining the different uses and spellings. Motief, mo
by wjnc 7y ago
This is great. When German, English, French and Dutch go through a tumbler and no easy logic can be seen explaining the different uses and spellings. Motief, motive, motiv, motif.
So motif [Eng] is based on motive [Fr] for repetitive (something). And motive [Eng] is similar in meaning to motief [NL], motive [Fr] and motiv [De]. All based on the same root in Latin.
- sailfast 7y agoAgreed - so interesting to see which words now have meanings tied to certain contexts in different languages (well, mostly English probably since it makes little sense at times!) over time. It was an interesting exploration.