The Latin-Germanic Origins of Body Part Names

Dr. Erica Brozovsky of the PBS series Otherwords explained the etymological origins of body part names in English, noting how consonant differences between Latin and Germanic languages turned the original words into what we use today.

A lot of these linguistic quirks were noticed as late as the 19th Century, which explains why the study of feet is known as podiatry and the study of the head is known as craniology.

In the 19th century, some linguists began to notice a pattern between Latin and Germanic languages. Words that had a ‘p’ a sound in Latin languages, instead had a ‘f’ sound in Germanic languages…Several other sound patterns were also identified, like the Latin ‘k,’ and the Germanic ‘h,’… And why Latin question words like “quis,” “quid” and “quo” start with a ‘qu’,’ while English question words like “what,” “where” and “when” start with a ‘wh.’