Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/witaną

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

From Proto-Indo-European *wóyde (“to have seen, known”).^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈwi.tɑ.nɑ̃/

Verb

*witaną

to know

Usage notes

This verb was probably used with facts and pieces of information, and likely had a meaning not unlike "to be aware of". For the verb associated with knowing how to do something as well as being familiar with people, places, concepts, skills and such, see *kunnaną.

Inflection

Conjugation of *witaną (preterite-present)

present tense	indicative	subjunctive	imperative	indicative	subjunctive
	active voice			passive voice
1st singular	*wait	*witį̄	—	—	—
2nd singular	*waist	*witīz	—	—	—
3rd singular	*wait	*witī	—	—	—
1st dual	*witū	*witīw	—	—	—
2nd dual	*witudiz	*witīdiz	—	—	—
1st plural	*witum	*witīm	—	—	—
2nd plural	*witud	*witīd	—	—	—
3rd plural	*witun	*witīn	—	—	—

past tense	indicative	subjunctive
1st singular	*wissǭ	*wissēdį̄
2nd singular	*wissēz	*wissēdīz
3rd singular	*wissē	*wissēdī
1st dual	*wissēdū	*wissēdīw
2nd dual	*wissēdudiz	*wissēdīdiz
1st plural	*wissēdum	*wissēdīm
2nd plural	*wissēdud	*wissēdīd
3rd plural	*wissēdun	*wissēdīn

	present	past
participles	*witandz	*wissaz

Related terms

Descendants

Proto-West Germanic: *witan
- Old English: witan, weotan
  - Middle English: witen, wete, weten, wetyn, wite, witenn, witten, wyett, wyt, wyte, wyten, woten
    - English: wit, weet
    - Scots: wit
- Old Frisian: wita
  - Saterland Frisian: wíete
  - West Frisian: wite, witte
- Old Saxon: witan
  - Middle Low German: wēten, wetten
    - German Low German: wetten, wieten
- Old Dutch: witan
  - Middle Dutch: wēten
    - Dutch: weten
      - Afrikaans: weet
    - Limburgish: weite, wiete
- Old High German: wizzan
  - Middle High German: wizzen
    - Alemannic German: wüsse
    - Cimbrian: bizzan
    - Central Franconian: wesse, wösse, wosse (Eifel)
      Hunsrik: wisse
      Luxembourgish: wëssen
    - German: wissen
    - Vilamovian: wysa
    - Yiddish: וויסן (visn)
- → Old French: guier (see there for further descendants)
- → Old Occitan: guidar
  - Catalan: guidar
  - Occitan: guidar
  - → Basque: gidatu
  - → Asturian: guiar
  - → Old French: guide (see there for further descendants)
  - → Italian: guidare
  - → Piedmontese: guidé
  - → Old Galician-Portuguese: guiar
    - Galician: guiar
    - Portuguese: guiar
  - → Spanish: guiar
Proto-Norse: *ᚹᚨᛁᛏ (*wait)
- Old Norse: vita
  - Icelandic: vita
  - Faroese: vita
  - Norwegian Nynorsk: vita, veta (dialectal) væta, vætæ, vata, våtå, vytå, vøtå, voto, veita, vessta
  - Elfdalian: witå
  - Old Swedish: vita, ᚠᛁᛏᛆ (Runic)
    - Swedish: veta
  - Old Danish: witæ
    - Danish: vide
      - Norwegian Bokmål: vite
    - Scanian: veda
  - Gutnish: vite
Gothic: 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (witan)

References

^ Guus Kroonen (2013) “*witan-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 589

[1] Guus Kroonen (2013) “*witan-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 589

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