Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/ja

This Proto-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-Germanic

Alternative forms

*jai

Etymology

Ideophonic for paralingual expression of agreement, compare typologically Arabic يَه (yah) developed with the exact same meaning at the Yemenite Red Sea coast. Attempts to give this term an Indo-European etymon have been made (for more details on this see *jainaz).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /jɑ/

Particle

*ja

yes (confirmation particle)
thus, so

Derived terms

*jai
*jabai
*jahw, *jah

Descendants

Proto-West Germanic: *jā
- Old English: ġēa, iā; ġē
  - 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, jâ
    - German Low German: ja
- Old Dutch: *jā
  - Middle Dutch: jâ
    - Dutch: ja, (obsolete) jae
      - Afrikaans: ja
        → English: ja
        → Portuguese: iá, yá, ya
      - Berbice Creole Dutch: ja
      - Jersey Dutch: jâ
      - Negerhollands: ja, ju
      - Skepi Creole Dutch: ja
      - → Indonesian: ya (probably)
      - → Malay: ya (probably)
      - → Saramaccan: jahái, jaái
    - Limburgish: jao
- Old High German: jā
  - Middle High German: ja, jā
    - Alemannic German: ja, jaa, jòò, jä
    - Bavarian:
      Cimbrian: ja
      Viennese: jå
    - German: ja (standard); jo, joa (informal)
      - → English: ya
      - → Polish: jo
    - Luxembourgish: jo
    - Yiddish: יאָ (yo)
Old Norse: já
- Icelandic: já
- Faroese: ja
- Norwegian Nynorsk: ja
- Norwegian Bokmål: ja
- Old Swedish: iā
  - Swedish: ja
  - → Finnish: jaa
- Danish: ja, jo
Gothic: 𐌾𐌰 (ja), 𐌾𐌰𐌹 (jai)