Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/jā

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 *ja.

Particle

*jā[1]

yes
thus, so

Descendants

Old English: iā, ġēa; ġe
- Middle English: ȝea, ye, ya
  - Scots: ya, yea, ay, aye, yo
  - English: ya, yea, yo
Old Frisian: jē, gē; jā, jē, jō
- Saterland Frisian: ja, jee
- West Frisian: ja
Old Saxon: jā, giā; ge, gi, gie, gia
- Middle Low German: ja, jā
  - German Low German: ja
Old Dutch: jā
- Middle Dutch: jâ
  - Dutch: ja
    - Afrikaans: ja
  - Limburgish: jao
Old High German: jā; joh, ioh
- Middle High German: ja, jā; joch
  - Alemannic German: ja, jaa, jä
  - Bavarian:
    Cimbrian: ja
    Viennese: jå
  - German: ja (standard); jo, joa (informal); joch (dialectal)
  - Luxembourgish: jo
  - Yiddish: יאָ‎ (yo)

References

Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 216: “PWGmc *jā”

[1] Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 216: “PWGmc *jā”