Etymograph

English

speech

Speech comes from Old English spǣċ, sprǣċ ‘speech, language’, from Proto-West Germanic *sprāku, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *spereg- ‘to make a sound’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spereg-‘to make a sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sprākī‘talkative; speaking’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*sprāku‘speech, language’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sprǣċ‘speech, language’
  5. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150spǣċ‘speech’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500speche‘speaking, speech’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1542speech

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spereg-‘to make a sound’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sprākī‘talkative; speaking’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*sprāku‘speech, language’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sprǣċ‘speech, language’
  5. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150spǣċ‘speech’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500speche‘speaking, speech’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1542speech

Earliest quotation: 1542, Andrew Boorde: “The speche of Englande is a base speche to…”

Linked words

through Old English sprǣċ

spoke, 1 more

through Old English spǣċ ‘speech, discourse, language’

spake, 1 more

Today it means

noun The ability to speak; the faculty of uttering words or articulate sounds and vocalizations to communicate.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *spereg- / speech

Shirt and support for this word