“Family of Two”
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Hallo beste Deutschlerner der Welt,
German learning Advent Calendar day number 18, and today I want to show you another one of the extended family tree entries that I have recently added to my dictionary.
The family of “two”
If you use the dictionary (aka the site’s search) you probably know that I usually give an overview over related German words as well as the root the family comes from.
And for these roots I have started writing little overviews over what branches came from it and how these branches and the words in them tie in to the original core theme of the family.
And the most important thing is – I’m doing it with a focus on English words in the family.
Because what makes looking at the family and origin of words useful are the connections we can find. All these little tie ins can help a lot with learning and retaining vocabulary because our brains have a much easier time to “store” new information if it can connect it to something that’s already there.
So yeah, I really think these entries are actually quite useful, but chances are you will miss out on many of them because I don’t really “announce” the new content.
That’s why I have decided to share one here in the calendar again, so more of you actually see it :).
So here you go – an excerpt straight from my dictionary.
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The core idea of this root was:
two
And there are basically four big branches we can identify. The first one is duo, and here the sense of two is pretty obvious.
- duet
- dual
- double
- doubt (“on two sides)”
- dubious (“two faced”)
- duplicity (“two faced”)
- …
The next branch is around the syllables: di-, dia-. In some words in this branch the idea of two is pretty clear. Others are about a theme of through which is probably an extension of the idea of from one side to the other.
- carbon dioxide (“carbon with two oxygen”)
- diploma (originally “official paper folded twice”)
- diabetes (“passing through”, referred to excessive peeing)
- diarrhea (“flowing through”, referred to.. well… you know)
- diagram (“marked/bordered by lines”)
The third branch is bi-.
Here, the theme of two is also very strong, but sometimes it’s fairly obscured.
- binary
- binocular (“two eyes”)
- biscuit (“cooked twice”)
- combine (“make two, put together”)
- balance (originally “scale with two pans”)
Last but not least, we have the Germanic branch of two, twi- and zw(e)i.
Besides the actual numbers, this branch has a quite a few words that are about coming from two sides.
- two, zwei, twelve, zwölf, twenty, zwanzig
- twilight (“double light”)
- between (“by/within two”)
- twine, twist (probably originally about “twisting two threads together for a rope”)
- twig, Zweig (branch splitting up “two ways”)
- Zweifel (“on two sides”)
- zwicken (to pinch – “pinch between two”)
- zwingen, Zwang (to force – “pinch between two”)
The connection of “Zweck” was an assumption in etymological sources for a while, but it’s not supported by newer research. Still, I decided to include it here.
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If you want to see the full entry, including the list of German relatives, you can find it here:
Let me know in the comments, either here or over at the entry itself, if you think these entries are helpful and if you’d want me to actually somehow let you know if I add a new one.
Have a great day and I’ll see you tomorrow.
By the way:
!!! If you signed up for the free Lingopie 7 trial a few days ago –
do not forget to cancel, or you’ll get a paid account !!!
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These root word discussions are my favorites! Words are so interesting. I teach young children, and I am always telling parents and coworkers about how English spelling is logical and helpful and points to the meaning (rather than the pronunciation.) I often use „two“ as my example! Children are usually just asked to memorize the three spelling to-too-two, instead of being offered understanding. Thanks for adding „twilight „ to my examples:-).
Sehr interessant! Ich finde das ganz hilfreich! Viel dank!!
Jeez super interesting! So many things connected to two that I never would have imagined. Like Zweifel/Doubt… and those make yet another pair of surprising cousins across language families (like dis-cover and ent-decken)
Wow and diarrhea and durchfall as surprising cousins too?!
I think it was helpful simply because it was so entertaining!!
(Just a quick note that the link on the home page to this entry doesn’t seem to be active: I checked both on my mobile phone and desktop browser, and it was still hidden on both. I guess all of the commenters below have come via the email link.)
I know, I have to update these manually and I don’t always have time at the moment. It’s the one thing I like the least about the calendar… updating the front page archive :D
Where do people here get/make your funny avatars? Is there a Daily German avatar generator hiding somewhere? Thanks
They’re based on the email address and get auto generated.
You seem to have an account with WordPress.com or gravatar and that’s where your profile pic is coming from. Only people who don’t have that will get this random pic :)
OK, verstanden, danke. Die Avatare sind ziemlich niedlich ;)
Bruder, ich bin in Deutschland, München
Ich weiß nicht, was ich tun soll. Ich werde in Panik geraten hilf mir lol
Kauf ein Bier!
Ich bin 17 cychjfvhj
You can drink beer from 16 in Germany.
Keine Lust
Auch gut!
Hallo,
One lil’ typo:
“useful are the connection we can find” (useful are the connections we can find)
In my opinion, these entries are very helpful, as we (at least I) do memorise vocab a lot better when we can make connections. And yes, it would be useful if you gave us a heads up when you add a new one!
Bis morgen!
It goes in bursts, but I think there are about 100 more detailed root descriptions up by now. Not all of them are this detailed, but I try to be somewhat comprehensive when I do them.
Maybe once a month (or even quarterly) update running down all the changes and additions to the entries? I’m thinking of how programs drop “patch notes” which many people ignore but give those with the patience to shift through them a much better overall experience.