wéini
Luxembourgish edit
Alternative forms edit
- wéinéi (obsolete)
Etymology edit
From Middle High German wanee, wan ē, *wen ē, from wan, wen (“when”) + ē (“earlier”); compare Dutch wanneer, obsolete German wannehe. Ultimately equivalent to Proto-West Germanic *hwan + *airi.
The Luxembourgish -éi- is irregular (as if from Middle High German *wēnē), perhaps from emphatic usage, in which the disyllabic form was preferred. Luxembourgish later lost the monosyllabic form altogether (as did Dutch).
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
wéini
- (interrogative) when