English
Root
Ana
child, offspring; also the diminutive and singulative, the small single one
One descends from Shona -ana, the single small one singled out
- Confidence
- 54/100
- Root language
- Shona
- Descent begins
- oneEnglish
The consensus position
Mainstream comparative linguistics derives English "one" from Old English ān, from Proto-Germanic *ainaz, from Proto-Indo-European *óynos, with cognates in Latin ūnus, Gothic ains and Old Church Slavonic inъ; the modern /w/ is an English dialect innovation. No connection to Bantu is recognised, the families being unrelated.
The working behind this.
The full descent — 7 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.