How the word for Air has changed

The origin and history of some of the European / Indo-European words for air

B ← A indicates that the word in language B has evolved directly
from a word in language A, or at least a very similar language. For
example, Persian did not evolve directly from Avestan, but the Old
Persian texts lack the more extensive vocabulary of the similar
Avestan language. Alternatively, the word could be borrowed
from another language. English is full of words borrowed from
Old French.

Abbreviations at bottom of page
* = hypothetical, reconstructed

GERMANIC
WEST GERMANIC

English

air ← M.Eng. air (← O.Fr. air), lift ← O.Eng. lyft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Scots

air ← M.Sc. air (← O.Fr. air), lyft ← O.Eng. lyft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Frisian
   North Frisian
      (Island)

Locht ← O.Fris. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

   North Frisian
      (Helgoland)

Loch ← O.Fris. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

   North Frisian
      (Mainland)

luft ← O.Fris. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

   East Frisian

Luft ← O.Fris. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

   West Frisian

lucht ← O.Fris. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Dutch

lucht ← M.Du. lucht ← O.Du. *luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Afrikaans

lug ← Dutch lucht ← M.Du. lucht ← O.Du. *luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Plattdeutsch

Luft ← M.L.G. luft ← O.Sax. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

East Friesland Platt

Lücht ← M.L.G. luft ← O.Sax. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Kölsch (Cologne)

Luff ← M.L.G. luft ← O.Sax. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Luxemburgish

Loft ← M.H.G. luft ← O.H.G. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Moselle Platt Lorraine

Loft ← M.H.G. luft ← O.H.G. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Rhine Platt Lorraine

Loft ← M.H.G. luft ← O.H.G. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

German

Luft ← M.H.G. luft ← O.H.G. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Yiddish

luft ← M.H.G. luft ← O.H.G. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Alsace German

Luft ← M.H.G. luft ← O.H.G. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Swiss German

Luft ← M.H.G. luft ← O.H.G. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Swabian

Lufd ← M.H.G. luft ← O.H.G. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Bavarian

Luft ← M.H.G. luft ← O.H.G. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

NORTH GERMANIC

Icelandic

loft ← O.N. lopt ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Faroese

luft ← O.N. lopt ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Norwegian (Nynorsk)

luft ← M.L.G. luft ← O.Sax. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Norwegian

luft ← Rec.Dan. Luft ← M.L.G. luft ← O.Sax. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Danish

luft ← Rec.Dan. Luft ← M.L.G. luft ← O.Sax. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

Swedish

luft ← M.L.G. luft ← O.Sax. luft ← Pr.W.Gmc. *luftu ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

EAST GERMANIC

Gothic (extinct)

luftus ← Pr.Gmc. *luftuz

CELTIC
GOIDELIC

Irish

aer ← Rec.Ir. aer ← O.Ir. áer ← Lat. aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Scottish Gaelic

àile ← O.Ir. aél, áer ← Lat. aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Manx

aer ← O.Ir. áer ← Lat. aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

BRITTONIC

Welsh

awyr ← E.Mod.W. awyr ← M.W. awyr ← Lat. aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Cornish

ayr ← K.K. ayr ← Uni.C. ayr ← Lt.C. air ← M.C. ayr ← O.C. auir ← Lat. aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Breton

aer ← Rec.Br. aer ← M.Br. aer ← O.Br. aer ← Lat. aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

GAULISH

Gaulish (extinct)

- - - -

ROMANCE
WEST ROMANCE

Walloon

air ← O.Fr. air, aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Picard

air ← O.Fr. air, aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Guernsey French

aër ← O.N.F. air ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Jersey French

air ← O.N.F. air ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Gallo

ére ← O.Fr. air, aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

French

air ← O.Fr. air, aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Haitian Creole

lè ← French l’air, air ← O.Fr. air, aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Auvergnat

aer ← O.Pr. aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Gascon

aire ← O.Pr. aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Aranese

aire ← O.Pr. aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Aragonese

aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Asturian

aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Galician

ar ← O.Gal./Port. aar, aere ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Portuguese

ar ← O.Gal./Port. aar, aere ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Spanish

aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Valencian

aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Catalan

aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Occitan

aire ← O.Pr. aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Provençal

aire ← O.Pr. aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Francoprovençal

êr ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Romansch

aria ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

    Sursilvan Romansch

aria ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

    Sutsilvan Romansch

aria ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

    Surmiran Romansch

aria ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

    Upper Engadine Romansch

ajer ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

    Lower Engadine Romansch

ajer ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Ladin

aria ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Friulan

ajar ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Monégasque

ària ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Ligurian

äia ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Piedmontese

aria ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Lombard

ària ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Emilian

âria ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Venetian

aria ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

ITALO-ROMANCE

Italian

aria ← O.It. aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Corsican

ària ← O.It. aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Neapolitan

ària ← O.It. aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Sicilian

aria ← O.It. aire ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

DALMATIAN ROMANCE

Vegliot

   . . . .

BALKAN ROMANCE

Romanian

aer ← Lat. aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

SOUTHERN ROMANCE

Sardinian

aera ← Lat. aera, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

GREEK

Greek

aéras ← Anc.Gk. aēr

ANATOLIAN

Hittite (extinct)

- - - -

ARMENIAN

Western Armenian

ot ← O.Arm. ōd ← Pr.I.E. *h₂ewh₁d^h-, *h₂weh₁-

Eastern Armenian

od ← O.Arm. ōd ← Pr.I.E. *h₂ewh₁d^h-, *h₂weh₁-

ALBANIAN

Albanian

ajër ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

Kosovo Albanian

ajr ← Lat. aerem, aer ← Anc.Gk. aēr

IRANIAN

Persian

havâ ← Arabic hawa, Av. vayu-

Kurdish

hewa ← Arabic hawa, Av. vayu-

Pashto

   . . . .

INDIC
NORTHERN INDIC

Nepali

hāwa ← Persian havâ ← Pa. vāta ← Skt. vāta-

WESTERN INDIC

Romani

balval ← Pa. vāta ← Skt. vāta-

Marathi

hawā ← Persian havâ ← Pa. vāta ← Skt. vāta-

CENTRAL INDIC

Hindi

havā ← Persian havâ ← Pa. vāta ← Skt. vāta-

Urdu

hava ← Persian havâ ← Pa. vāta ← Skt. vāta-

EASTERN INDIC

Bengali

batash ← Pa. vāta ← Skt. vāta-

SOUTHERN INDIC

Sinhalese

wataya ← Pa. vāta ← Skt. vāta-

SLAVIC
WEST SLAVIC

Kashubian

lëft ← M.L.G. luft ← O.C.S. vŭzduchŭ

Polish

powietrze ← O.Pol. powietrze ← O.C.S. vŭzduchŭ

Lower Sorbian

pówětš ← O.C.S. vŭzduchŭ

Upper Sorbian

powětr ← O.C.S. vŭzduchŭ

Czech

vzduch ← O.C.S. vŭzduchŭ

Slovak

vzduch ← O.C.S. vŭzduchŭ

SOUTH SLAVIC

Slovene

zrak ← O.C.S. vŭzduchŭ

Croatian

vazduh ← O.C.S. vŭzduchŭ

Bosnian

vazduh ← O.C.S. vŭzduchŭ

Serbian

vazduh ← O.C.S. vŭzduchŭ

Macedonian

vozduch ← O.C.S. vŭzduchŭ

Bulgarian

vŭzduch ← O.C.S. vŭzduchŭ

EAST SLAVIC

Russian

vozduch ← O.C.S. vŭzduchŭ

Belarusian

pavjetra ← O.C.S. vŭzduchŭ

Ukrainian

povitrja ← O.C.S. vŭzduchŭ

BALTIC

Lithuanian

oras

Latvian

gaiss

FINNO-UGRIAN

Estonian

õhk

Finnish

ilma ← Pr.Fi. *ilma

Sami

áibmu

Erzya

košt

Komi (Zyrian)

synöd

Mansi (Vogul)

  . . . .

Hungarian

levegő

BASQUE

Basque

aize

SEMITIC

Maltese

arja ← Sicilian aria

Arabic

hawa

Hebrew

avir ← O.T.H. ruaḥ

Aramaic

hawa ← N.T.A. oyar

Babylonian (extinct)

- - - -

TURKIC

Turkish

hava ← Arabic hawa

Azerbaijani

hava ← Arabic hawa

My other websites:
Languages of the World
New Nutshell
Christianity in a Nutshell

My wife's websites:
Meaning of Life
Bits

I’d like to share with you why I think Christianity is such a great religion. A person who lives to 70 has a life of 613,200 hours. Christianity promises that the next life will be in ideal surroundings with friendly, happy people. There will be perfect health and no crime. Of course you’re free to reject the offer of eternal life.

Isn’t it worth, though, spending at least part of one of your 613,200 hours just checking it out. Then if you reject it, at least you’ll have made an informed decision. Is it just possible that your world view could be wrong and Christianity might actually be true? Where would that leave you if you choose to turn down the offer of heaven?

Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen To Good People?
Your Race, Gender And Sexuality Are Irrelevant To God - True or False?
Near Death Experiences
Objections To Christianity
Some Parables and Sayings of Jesus
God Is Uncaring - True or False?
Pain and Injustice In The World
It’s Ok to Blame God For Floods and Famines - True or False?
My Favourite Bible Quotations
The Universe Was Created In Six Days - True or False?
What Makes Christianity Unique Among Religions?
Did God Betray My Trust?
God Allows So Much Suffering In The World - True or False?
The Easy Way To Pray
Who Jesus Is
The Appeal Of Being A Christian
What Faith Is
Does the God of Love Really Send People to Hell?
Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?

Quotations

These are some of my wife's thoughts and ideas:

Believe and Receive
Be Thankful
Change of Heart
Defining Hope
Endless Joy
Fork in the Road
God is not Deaf
Hurting World
Into the Light
Just say Yes
New Life
Put Him First
Ready for Anything
Salvation
Sheep and Lambs
The Best Gift
The Centre
The Gospels
The Reality of Jesus

What's Missing?

Jesus said, "Treat others in the same way that you would want
them to treat you."

Luke 6,31

ABBREVIATIONS

Anc.Gk. = Ancient Greek (700 B.C. - 450 A.D.)
Av. = Avestan (600 B.C. - 400 B.C.)
E.Mod.W. = Early Modern Welsh (1450 - 1600)
K.K. = Kernewek Kemmyn - "Common Cornish" (1986 - 2008)
Lat. = Latin (75 B.C. - 250 A.D.)
Lt.C. = Late Cornish (1600 - 1891)
Lt.I.E. = Late Indo-European (2,500 B.C. - 2,000 B.C.)
M.Br. = Middle Breton (1100 - 1650)
M.C. = Middle Cornish (1200 - 1600)
M.Du. = Middle Dutch (1150 - 1500)
M.Eng. = Middle English (1150 - 1450)
M.H.G. = Middle High German (1050 - 1350)
M.L.G. = Middle Low German (1200 - 1600)
M.Sc. = Middle Scots (1450 - 1700)
M.W. = Middle Welsh (1200 - 1450)
N.T.A. = New Testament Aramaic (1st century A.D.)
O.Arm. = Old Armenian (450 - 1050)
O.Br. = Old Breton (800 - 1100)
O.C. = Old Cornish (850- 1200)
O.C.S. = Old Church Slavonic (850 - 1050)
O.Dan. = Old Danish (1100 - 1536)
O.Du. = Old Dutch (450 - 1150)
O.Eng. = Old English (650 - 1150)
O.Fr. = Old French (750 - 1350)
O.Fris. = Old Frisian (750 - 1500)
O.Gal./Port. = Old Galician / Old Portuguese (775 - 1050)
O.H.G. = Old High German (400 - 1050)
O.Ir. = Old Irish (550 - 950)
O.It. = Old Italian (1150 - 1350)
O.N. = Old Norse (750 - 1350)
O.N.F. = Old Norman French (1000 - 1450)
O.Pol. = Old Polish (950 - 1550)
O.Pr. = Old Provençal (900 - 1400)
O.Sax. = Old Saxon (750 - 1150)
O.Sp. = Old Spanish (950 - 1400)
O.Sw. = Old Swedish (1225 - 1526)
O.T.H. = Old Testament Hebrew (1200 B.C. - 200 A.D.)
O.W. = Old Welsh (800 - 1200)
Pa. = Pali (50 B.C. - 400 A.D.)
Pr.Arm. = Proto-Armenian (c.1200 B.C.)
Pr.Brit. = Proto-Brittonic (500 B.C. - 550 A.D.)
Pr.Clt. = Proto-Celtic (1300 B.C. - 800 B.C.)
Pr.Fi. = Proto-Finnic (1200 B.C. - 800 A.D.)
Pr.Gmc. = Proto-Germanic (500 B.C. - 150 A.D.)
Pr.I.E. = Proto-Indo-European (4,500 B.C. - 2,500 B.C.)
Pr.It. = Proto-Italic (1,700 B.C. - 700 B.C.)
Pr.Ug. = Proto-Ugric (2000 B.C. - 1000 B.C.)
Pr.Ur. = Proto-Uralic (pre-2000 B.C.)
Pr.W.Gmc. = Proto-West Germanic (150 A.D. - 400 A.D.)
Rec.Br. = Recent Breton (pre-1941)
Rec.Dan. = Recent Danish (pre-1948)
Rec.Ir. = Recent Irish (pre-1947)
Skt. = Sanskrit (1,500 B.C. - 500 B.C.)
Uni.C. = Unified Cornish (1929 - 2008)
V.Lat. = Vulgar Latin (50 B.C. - 650 A.D.)

* = hypothetical, reconstructed

Back