Where did the word yonder (as in way over yonder) originate ? It sounds a little Scandinavian or nordic to me
One of my gradmothers of English/irish extraction used to use the phrase & everyone back then was familiar with it & knew what it ment.
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ANSWERS: 2
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[https://www.etymonline.com/word/yonder] I quote from that site: "within sight but not near," c. 1300, from Old English geond "throughout, up to, as far as" (see yond) + comparative suffix -er (2). Cognate with Middle Low German ginder, Middle Dutch gender, Dutch ginder, Gothic jaindre. Now replaced except in poetic usage by ungrammatical that.
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The Online Etymology Dictionary is very useful for this sort of thing. The word descends from Old English for "beyond" or "over there". And since English and the Scandinavian languages are all related -- all Germanic tongues -- it's no wonder you feel that the word sounds Scandinavian.
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Angster Gangster Thank you for your insight. That maternal grandmother also used the 5 syllable English pronunciation for Aluminum .al u min i um I have no idea why as she was 2nd or 3rd generation American . She was my only grand parent born in the 20th century (1901) the other 3 were born in the late 1800's so I heard a lot of archaic English on holiday visits
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