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Fun fact: In German the words for knowledge ('Wissen') and wit/joke ('Witz') share the same root.
by rrr_oh_man 3y ago
Fun fact: In German the words for knowledge ('Wissen') and wit/joke ('Witz') share the same root.
- jacquesm 3y agoIt's fun, and they share the two first letters but it's not a fact: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wissen#German https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wissen#German From Middle High German and Old High German wizzan, from Proto-West Germanic witan, from Proto-Germanic witaną, from Proto-Indo-European wóyde (“to see, to know”). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Witz#Etymology https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Witz#Etymology From Middle High German witz, from Old High German wizzi, from Proto-West Germanic witi, from Proto-Germanic witją from Proto-Indo-European weyd- (“see, know”). Cognate to English wit, archaic Dutch wit, akin to Old Saxon giwit. So they share the same concepts ('to see, to know') but not the same roots! Very closely related though.
- poorlyknit 3y agoThen you click on wóyde and see that it's the > Root stative of the root *weyd-. :)