𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃

𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃¹ we

Etymology tree of 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃¹

inherited borrowed derived

Proto-Germanic *wīz

Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (weis)

Proto-West Germanic *wiʀ

Dutch wij

German wir

Old English wē

English we

Forms

𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (weis), the personal pronoun of the first person plural.^[1][2][3] The oblique cases are built on another stem: 𐌿𐌽𐍃 (uns) and 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌹𐍃 (unsis) "us".^[4][1] PROIEL counts the forms 𐌿𐌽𐍃 (uns, 122 times), 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (weis, 70), 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌹𐍃 (unsis, 65), the genitive 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌰𐍂𐌰 (unsara, five) and the spelling 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌶 (weiz, once); its lemma also includes one dual form, 𐌿𐌲𐌲𐌺𐌹𐍃 (uggkis).^[5]

Etymology

The word for "we" is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wīz (“we”),^[6][4][7] which is Old Norse vér in Old Norse, Old English wē in Old English, Old Frisian wī in Old Frisian, Old Saxon wī in Old Saxon and Old High German wir in Old High German.^[7][4][8] Lehmann derives it from Proto-Indo-European *wey-, to which a plural ending was added.^[9] Orel relates Hittite u̯ēš in Hittite.^[9][7] Feist compares the final -s with that of 𐌴𐌹𐍃 (eis, “they”) and contrasts the dual 𐍅𐌹𐍄 (wit, “we two”).^[8] The oblique stem goes back to Proto-Indo-European *n̥s, as does Latin nōs.^[4][7] Kroonen explains the longer dative by the singular datives of the other personal pronouns.^[4][7]

Attestation

Köbler counts 290 records, in the Bible, the Gothica Bononiensia and the Skeireins.^[1] The Wulfila project counts its forms under ik "I", together with the singular and the dual.^[10] PROIEL aligns 226 of its 264 tokens with Ancient Greek ἡμεῖς (hēmeîs) and 14 with Ancient Greek ἑαυτοῦ (heautoû); the first is at Matthew 6:11.^[5] Matthew 6:11 has the oblique form in 𐌲𐌹𐍆 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌼𐌰 𐌳𐌰𐌲𐌰 (gif uns himma daga), "give us this day".^[11]

Meanings

1. we; in the oblique cases us, for ἡμεῖς.^[1][2][4]

𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃² wise

Forms

𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (weis), an adjective of the a-stem class "wise", recorded only as the second part of compounds.^[12][13][14] Wiktionary gives it as an unattested form, *𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃.^[6]

Etymology

The word for "wise" is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wīsaz (“wise”),^[6][12][15] which is Old Norse víss in Old Norse and wīs in Old English, Old Frisian, Old Saxon and Old High German.^[15][16] It belongs to the root Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, know”) of 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (witan, “to know”).^[17][12][15] Feist reconstructs a participle in -to-, as in Latin vīsus (“seen”), while Orel starts from an s-stem.^[17][15]

Attestation

The compounds are 𐌿𐌽𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (unweis, “ignorant”), with five tokens in Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians, 𐍆𐌿𐌻𐌻𐌰𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (fullaweis, “mature”) at 1 Corinthians 14:20 and 𐌷𐌹𐌽𐌳𐌰𐍂𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (hindarweis, “deceitful”) at 2 Corinthians 11:13, both once.^[10][18][19] Lehmann adds unfaurweis "thoughtless" in the Skeireins and unhindarweis "sincere" in 2 Corinthians.^[19]

Meanings

1. wise, informed, only in compounds.^[12][20]

Word family

• 𐌷𐌹𐌽𐌳𐌰𐍂𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃𐌴𐌹 (hindarweisei, “deceit”)
• 𐌿𐌽𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (unfaurweis, “thoughtless”)
• 𐌿𐌽𐌷𐌹𐌽𐌳𐌰𐍂𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (unhindarweis, “sincere”)