Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/wihtą

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

Etymology

Cognate with Old Church Slavonic вещь (veštĭ), from Proto-Indo-European *wekti- (“thing”).

However, Kroonen also compares *weganą (“to carry, to move”) (cognate with Proto-Celtic *wextā (“time, course, run”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwix.tɑ̃/

Noun

*wihtą n

1. thing, creature

Inflection

neuter a-stemDeclension of *wihtą (neuter a-stem)
	singular	plural
nominative	*wihtą	*wihtō
vocative	*wihtą	*wihtō
accusative	*wihtą	*wihtō
genitive	*wihtas, *wihtis	*wihtǫ̂
dative	*wihtai	*wihtamaz
instrumental	*wihtō	*wihtamiz

Related terms

• *wihtiz

Descendants

• Old English: wiht; nāwiht, nōwiht
  • Middle English: wihht, wiȝt, wight
    • English: wight
    • Scots: wicht, wycht
• Old Dutch: *wiht
  • Middle Dutch: wicht, wecht
    • Dutch: wicht, niet (< nie + wicht), niets (< nie + wicht + s), iets (< ie + wicht + s).
      • Afrikaans: wig
• Old High German: wiht
  • Middle High German: wiht
    • German: Wicht
• Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄 (waiht), ni ... waiht (the neuter form waiht as well as the feminine form waihts occurs in Gothic, according to the book Glossarium der Gotischen Sprache, thus the form *wihtiz also existed in Proto-Germanic).