Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/ga-

This Proto-West Germanic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-West Germanic

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ga-.

Prefix

*ga-[1]

used as an intensifier for verbs, indicating completeness or perfectivity
forms nouns or adjectives of association or similarity; co-
forms nouns and verbs with the sense of "result" or "process"
forms past participles or participle adjectives from verbs

Reconstruction notes

Because of its perfective sense, it eventually became used as a marker of the past participle in the West Germanic languages.

Derived terms

Proto-West Germanic terms prefixed with *ga-

Descendants

Old English: ġe-
- Middle English: ȝe-, i-, y-
  - English: a-, y-, i- (obsolete)
Old Frisian: ge-, gi-, je-, ie-, e-, i-, a-
- Saterland Frisian: ge-
- West Frisian: ge-
Old Saxon: gi-, i-, ge-, ga-
- Middle Low German: ge-
  - Low German: ge-, e-, je-
Old Dutch: gi-, ge-
- Middle Dutch: ghe-, ge-, (West-Flanders) i-, y-
  - Dutch: ge-
    - Afrikaans: ge-
  - West Flemish: ge-, e-
Old High German: gi-, ga-, ki-, ka-
- Middle High German: ge-
  - Alemannic German: g- or ge- (euphonic)
  - German: ge-
  - Luxembourgish: ge-
  - Vilamovian: gy-
  - Yiddish: גע־‎ (ge-)

References

Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 206: “PWGmc. *ga-”

[1] Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 206: “PWGmc. *ga-”