Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/hwaþar

This Proto-West Germanic entry contains reconstructed words 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 *hwaþeraz.

Determiner

*hwaþar[1]

which (of two, interrogative)

Inflection

This determiner needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

*gahwaþar

Descendants

Old English: hwæþer, hƿæþer
- Middle English: whether
  - Scots: quhether, quhither, whedder
  - English: whether
- ⇒ Old English: ǣġhwæþer, ǣġþer
  - Middle English: either, æȝþer, ethir, eiþer, outher
    - Scots: aither
    - English: either
Old Frisian: hweder
Old Saxon: hwēthar
Old Dutch: *wether
- Middle Dutch: weder
  - Dutch: weder, weer
    - Afrikaans: weer
  - Limburgish: wieër
Old High German: wedar
- Middle High German: weder
  - Alemannic German: weder
  - Cimbrian: bèdar
  - German: weder

References

Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 147: “PWGmc *hwaþar”

[1] Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 147: “PWGmc *hwaþar”