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My guess is "Knöpfchen" (German for "little button"). The "chen" suffix is difficult to pronounce for English speakers, so it's replaced by the word "keys" (as
by wongarsu 2y ago
My guess is "Knöpfchen" (German for "little button"). The "chen" suffix is difficult to pronounce for English speakers, so it's replaced by the word "keys" (as in the buttons of a keyboard)
- master-lincoln 2y ago> The "chen" suffix is difficult to pronounce for English speakers, so it's replaced by the word "keys" (as in the buttons of a keyboard) Not quite. The -ke ending here is just another regional variant of the diminutive. The s at the end is a colloquial plural form. So the transformation from German to this weird german-english would be: Knöpfe - Knöpfchen - Knöppkes - Cnoeppkes
- sandbach 2y agoAnother detail you didn't mention: knopp or knoppe is a Low German (northern German) variant of Standard German Knopf. That's where the pf--pp alternation arises.
- nkmnz 2y agoKnopp is actually common in southern German dialects as well, including palatinate and hessian. Using -ke for diminutives is common across Westphalia, especially the Munster region.
- Pet_Ant 2y agoThat's interesting because in Polish it is "ek" and my great-grand mother was part of the diaspora there before the war.