βλασφημία

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Ancient Greek

Root

-bva

to come out, to issue forth; in the derived bvuma, to give voice, to assent

Blasphemia descends through phemi to the labial root of Shona bva, to issue forth

Confidence
34/100
Root language
Shona
Descent begins
βλασφημίαGreek

The consensus position

Mainstream comparative linguistics derives βλασφημία from βλάσφημος, a compound of an unexplained first element βλασ- plus -φημος from φημί "I speak", ultimately Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- "to speak". Chantraine and others call the first element's origin unknown, and no relationship to Shona or any Bantu language is recognised.

The working behind this.

The full descent — 9 links from the attested form down to the root — the segment-by-segment correspondences, the phonological breakdown and the case for the derivation are behind an account.

An account opens 10 entries in full, free.

Elsewhere in the corpus