When I published yesterday's infographic about the origin of the word 'friend', people were surprised that it's related to the first part of 'Friday' and its cognates, such as German 'Freitag' and Dutch 'vrijdag'.
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When I published yesterday's infographic about the origin of the word 'friend', people were surprised that it's related to the first part of 'Friday' and its cognates, such as German 'Freitag' and Dutch 'vrijdag'. As my graphic explained, this part stems from the Proto-Germanic goddess name *Frijjō, which in Old Norse became 'Frigg'.
Several people expressed their disbelief and some even said I was wrong, claiming that 'Friday' contains 'Frey(j)a' instead. Sadly, that's a myth that's ... 1/
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When I published yesterday's infographic about the origin of the word 'friend', people were surprised that it's related to the first part of 'Friday' and its cognates, such as German 'Freitag' and Dutch 'vrijdag'. As my graphic explained, this part stems from the Proto-Germanic goddess name *Frijjō, which in Old Norse became 'Frigg'.
Several people expressed their disbelief and some even said I was wrong, claiming that 'Friday' contains 'Frey(j)a' instead. Sadly, that's a myth that's ... 1/
2/ ... propagated by non-linguistic sources written by people that go by the looks of words: "X looks like Y so X must descend from Y." It's the biggest pitfall when it comes to etymology.
My infographic explained that 'Frey(j)a' is completely unrelated to 'Friday'. The Old Norse name 'Freyja' comes from Proto-Germanic *fraujōn, which meant "lady". Old Norse regular sound changes made *au undergo i/j-umlaut, turning it into ey. Compare how *draumijanan became Old Norse 'dreyma'.
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2/ ... propagated by non-linguistic sources written by people that go by the looks of words: "X looks like Y so X must descend from Y." It's the biggest pitfall when it comes to etymology.
My infographic explained that 'Frey(j)a' is completely unrelated to 'Friday'. The Old Norse name 'Freyja' comes from Proto-Germanic *fraujōn, which meant "lady". Old Norse regular sound changes made *au undergo i/j-umlaut, turning it into ey. Compare how *draumijanan became Old Norse 'dreyma'.
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In Dutch and German, different sound changes operated. There, *fraujōn became 'vrouw(e)' and 'Frau'. Had these languages based their day name on *fraujōn, we would've ended up with **vrouwdag and **Frautag.
The sound string *-ij- in the Proto-Germanic genitive *Frijjōz became Dutch ij, regularly producing Middle Dutch 'vrīdag' and modern 'vrijdag'. Via Old High German 'frīatag', we get 'Freitag'. Compare how ... 3/
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In Dutch and German, different sound changes operated. There, *fraujōn became 'vrouw(e)' and 'Frau'. Had these languages based their day name on *fraujōn, we would've ended up with **vrouwdag and **Frautag.
The sound string *-ij- in the Proto-Germanic genitive *Frijjōz became Dutch ij, regularly producing Middle Dutch 'vrīdag' and modern 'vrijdag'. Via Old High German 'frīatag', we get 'Freitag'. Compare how ... 3/
4/ ... *frijaz ("free") became 'vrī' > 'vrij', and 'frī' > 'frei'.
Old Norse turned the double j of *Frijjō into gg, producing 'Frigg', just like *ajjan became 'egg' (which English borrowed).
It's knowledge of sound changes like these that allows us to distinguish look-alikes from real descendants. Without it, etymology becoming a guessing game that fosters wild claims.
As a historical linguist, I base my infographics on peer-reviewed scientific sources, among which ... 4/
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4/ ... *frijaz ("free") became 'vrī' > 'vrij', and 'frī' > 'frei'.
Old Norse turned the double j of *Frijjō into gg, producing 'Frigg', just like *ajjan became 'egg' (which English borrowed).
It's knowledge of sound changes like these that allows us to distinguish look-alikes from real descendants. Without it, etymology becoming a guessing game that fosters wild claims.
As a historical linguist, I base my infographics on peer-reviewed scientific sources, among which ... 4/
5/ ... an array of etymological dictionaries, such as that of Kroonen (2013), De Vaan (2008), Philippa et al. (2003-2009), and the Oxford English Dictionary.
If you're curious to hear how Proto-West Germanic *Frijjā dag ("Frigg's day") became Old English 'frīġedæġ' and eventually Modern English 'Friday', hree's a video I made in 2024:
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When I published yesterday's infographic about the origin of the word 'friend', people were surprised that it's related to the first part of 'Friday' and its cognates, such as German 'Freitag' and Dutch 'vrijdag'. As my graphic explained, this part stems from the Proto-Germanic goddess name *Frijjō, which in Old Norse became 'Frigg'.
Several people expressed their disbelief and some even said I was wrong, claiming that 'Friday' contains 'Frey(j)a' instead. Sadly, that's a myth that's ... 1/
@yvanspijk Ha, ik geloofde ook in die mythe dat vrijdag van Freya afkomstig was. Weer wat geleerd
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When I published yesterday's infographic about the origin of the word 'friend', people were surprised that it's related to the first part of 'Friday' and its cognates, such as German 'Freitag' and Dutch 'vrijdag'. As my graphic explained, this part stems from the Proto-Germanic goddess name *Frijjō, which in Old Norse became 'Frigg'.
Several people expressed their disbelief and some even said I was wrong, claiming that 'Friday' contains 'Frey(j)a' instead. Sadly, that's a myth that's ... 1/
@yvanspijk I used to believe that as well, coming from exactly the kind of people you later mention.
Then I, you know, read a book.
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