Forums » RP Discussion » Why is it spelled answer?

Anyone ever wonder why you spell answer like you do?
Why not anser?

Because words are not just made up out of the blue, in most modern languages (at least, I believe so, please, correct me if I am wrong), but are amalgamations of other words cobbled together over time from where cultures and different languages meet, bump against each other, and influence each other, forming new words, ideas, and slang.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=answer

There is your answer on answer, though I'm sure an etymologist could give you a better one.

Posts like Tam's are why I wish RPR had a "like" feature.

Actually, although I know that the process is such, I still wonder what were the words, how they merged, how it sounded originally and transformed became the word "answer".
The link, however, is very cool and I shall take note of it (known as bookmark). Thank you, Tamarind!

A lot of those questions are answered by that link, it's just written so densely it's hard to see what it means. According to it, the original words were thought to be "and" (Which meant against) and "swaru" which meant an affirmation. So it was something you were affirming despite or against someone else's statement. A rebuttal.

They combined to be andswaru, and eventually antsvor (germanic) and over time the meaning and pronunciation of the word has evolved into our modern answer.

That's pretty cool!

I love the odd spellings still present in English, because they point back at the long histories of words and how many other cultures we should be thankful to for giving us such a rich palette of concepts.

I did note at the end of the post, that the link helped to answer them and that's why I thanked for it. I am sorry if I was a little unclear about it, I guess I should have said it more directly, not just "it's awesome, thank you."

I just said, that I wondered about that ever since I was 4 or 5, and back then, there were no such links I could check, even when my mom explained how words have merged trough the time. That's why, those questions stayed and I mentioned them at the post.

Because I live in country where language is very influenced by other languages of countries that have ruled over it trough the history, I have always found it very, very interesting thing. And as I learned more languages, it became even more interesting!

Ooh, sorry, I misread! You're right though, totally fascinating. I used to wonder about this stuff all the time as a kid, and wonder why we didn't just simplify spelling. But now as an adult I'd hate that, I'd feel like we lost so much of our history.

Yes, at least English does not have endless grammar rules about commas, behind commas, and between commas. I think it's strange how spelling and pronunciation turned out so different in English. In my language, what you read is what you say, maybe except one or two letter combinations.

And I still would like to see a 'little movie' of how the words merged, and why people began to form words that meant a certain thing, and exactly that sound not any other, and how it spread to be something so big as language, not just something within group of 2-3 people (when it gets to size of tribe, I can imagine it quite clearly further). But that would have to be about very, very, very ancient times.

I as a german would say, its spelled answer just to annoy me (and not answere) ....

Ich frage mich, nur um zu sehen, was yalls Antworten wäre. Ich weiß alles über sie.