The term nightingale has a long history and is not related to gale at all. In Middle English, it was written as nightingal, nyghtyngale, nyghtgale, nightegale, nittingale, and various other forms using the yogh letter to represent the voiceless velar fricative sound. The central n gradually became part of the word over time, although it was not originally present. The term originates from Old English nihtegale, which literally meant “night-singer” (referring to the sounds the male birds make, which can be heard during both day and night). The nihte portion is the source of the word “night,” tracing back to the Proto-Germanic root nahts, derived from the Proto-Indo-European nokts. On the other hand, gale was a form of the Old English word galon, meaning “to sing,” believed to have originated from the Proto-Indo-European ghel, meaning “to yell.”
