*wīz

Reconstruction

The nominative is *wīz in Kroonen, Ringe and Wiktionary,^[1][2][3] with an unstressed variant *wiz.^[2] Orel heads it *wez,^[4] Köbler *wiz, *wez, *wēz, *weiz.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *wéy (“we”), extended with the plural ending: Ringe derives it from *wéy-es, Kroonen from *ueies.^[2][1][3]

Morphology

The first person plural personal pronoun.^[1] The nominative went with an oblique form *uns or *unse, from PIE *ns.^[1] West Germanic could mark the accusative with *-ike, and North and East Germanic made a dative with *-iz, *unsiz.^[1] Ringe gives the plural as *wīz ~ *wiz, oblique *uns, dative *unsiz.^[6] Reduction of the vowel in unstressed position gave *wiz.^[2]

Evidence

The pronoun is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (weis) in Gothic, Old Norse vér in Old Norse, and Old English wē, Old Saxon wī and Old High German wir in West Germanic.^[1] Nielsen cites a runic Swedish form ⟨uiz⟩.^[7] Its cognates include Hittite wēš, Tocharian B wes and Avestan vaēm.^[4][8]

Competing analyses

Ringe takes Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (weis) from *wīz and Old Norse vér, Old English wē and Old High German wir from the reduced *wiz.^[2] Fulk holds that only Gothic and Old East Norse reflect *wīz, while the other languages reflect *wez, raised to *wiz when unstressed and lengthened when stressed again; he sees no compelling basis for taking either form as the older, and argues that the Old West Norse form cannot come from *wīz.^[8] Orel considers the final *-z secondary, after the plural forms.^[4] Boutkan takes the Old High German form as the reflex of the enclitic, unstressed form *wiz.^[9]

Meanings

1. we^[1][4][3]

The pronoun was also the model for *jīz "you", which the Northwest Germanic languages made from *jūz on the pattern of *wīz.^[10]

Derivatives

• *unseraz "our", the possessive, which Wiktionary calls the genitive of *wīz;^[11] Orel derives *unseraz from *uns- with a comparative suffix.^[12]
• *wit "we two", the dual, in Kroonen and Köbler.^[13][14]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (weis, “we”)^[15][16]
• Old Norse: vér (“we”)^[17]
• Old English: wē (“we”)^[18]
• Old Frisian: wī (“we”)^[19]
• Old Saxon: wī (“we”)^[20]
• Old Dutch: wī (“we”), in Köbler's list^[5]
• Old High German: wir (“we”)^[21]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 590
2. ^ a b c d e Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 233
3. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wīz
4. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *wez
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *wiz
6. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 235
7. ^ Nielsen, Hans Frede (2000), The Early Runic Language of Scandinavia: Studies in Germanic Dialect Geography, Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins
9. ^ Boutkan, Dirk (1995), The Germanic 'Auslautgesetze', Leiden Studies in Indo-European 4, Amsterdam / Atlanta: Rodopi
10. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 275
11. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *unseraz
12. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *unseraz
13. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 589
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *wit
15. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 333
16. ^ Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. W53
17. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 654
18. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wē
19. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. wī
20. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wī
21. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wir