Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/-jan

This Proto-West 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-West Germanic

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *-janą.

Suffix

*-jan

2. Creates denominative verbs from nouns.
4. Creates factitive verbs from adjectives.

Inflection

Class 1 weak
Infinitive	*-jan
1st sg. past	*-idā
Infinitive	*-jan
Genitive infin.	*-jannjas
Dative infin.	*-jannjē
Instrum. infin.	*-jannju
Indicative	Present	Past
1st singular	*-ju	*-idā
2nd singular	*-isi	*-idēs, *-idōs
3rd singular	*-iþi	*-idē, *-idā
1st plural	*-jum	*-idum
2nd plural	*-iþ	*-idud
3rd plural	*-janþ	*-idun
Subjunctive	Present	Past
1st singular	*-jē	*-idī
2nd singular	*-jēs	*-idī
3rd singular	*-jē	*-idī
1st plural	*-jēm	*-idīm
2nd plural	*-jēþ	*-idīd
3rd plural	*-jēn	*-idīn
Imperative	Present
Singular	*-i
Plural	*-iþ
	Present	Past
Participle	*-jandī	*-id

Derived terms

Proto-West Germanic terms suffixed with *-jan (denominative)

Proto-West Germanic terms suffixed with *-jan (factitive)

Descendants

• Old English: -an (merged with strong verb ending), -ian (after r).
  • Middle English: -en, -ien
    • English: -y (only after r, as in ferry, herry, etc.)
• Old Frisian: -a (merged with strong verb ending), -ia (after r)
  • Saterland Frisian: -e, -je
  • West Frisian: -e, -je
• Old Saxon: -ian
  • Middle Low German: -en (merged with all other verbs)
    • German Low German: -en
• Old Dutch: -en, -ien (after r)
  • Middle Dutch: -en (merged with all other verbs)
    • Dutch: -en
• Old High German: -en, -ien (after r)
  • Middle High German: -en (merged with all other verbs)
    • German: -en