Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/wihti

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 1

From Proto-Germanic *wihtiz (“thing”).

Noun

*wihti f^[1]

thing, creature

Inflection

i-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*wihti
Genitive	*wihtī
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*wihti	*wihtī
Accusative	*wihti	*wihtī
Genitive	*wihtī	*wihtijō
Dative	*wihtī	wihtim, wihtijum
Instrumental	*wihtī	wihtim, wihtijum

Descendants

Old English: wiht
- Middle English: wight, wiȝt
  - English: wight, whit
  - Scots: wicht, wycht
Old Frisian: *wet (in compounds)
- Saterland Frisian: nit
Old Saxon: wiht
- Middle Low German: wicht, wucht
  - German Low German: Wicht
  - Dutch Low Saxon: wicht
    - Westphalian:
      Ravensbergisch-Lippisch: Wicht
      Sauerländisch: Weyht
      Westmünsterländisch: Wicht
Old Dutch: wiht
- Middle Dutch: wicht
  - Dutch: wicht
    - Afrikaans: wig
Old High German: wiht
- Middle High German: wicht
  - German: Wicht

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *wihtiz (“weight”).

Noun

*wihti f

weight

Inflection

i-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*wihti
Genitive	*wihtī
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*wihti	*wihtī
Accusative	*wihti	*wihtī
Genitive	*wihtī	*wihtijō
Dative	*wihtī	wihtim, wihtijum
Instrumental	*wihtī	wihtim, wihtijum

Descendants

Old English: wihte
Old English: wiht
- Middle English: weght, weghte, weighte, weihte, weit, wighte
  - English: weight
  - Scots: wecht, weicht
  - Yola: waaight
Old Frisian: wicht, wichte
- North Frisian: wecht
- Saterland Frisian: Wächte
Old Saxon: *wiht, *wihti
- Middle Low German: wicht, wichte
  - Low German: Wicht, Wucht
    - → German: Wucht
  - Plautdietsch: Wicht
  - → Danish: vægt
    - Norwegian: vekt
  - → German: Wicht
  - → Swedish: vikt
Old Dutch: *wiht
- Middle Dutch: wicht, wichte
  - Dutch: wicht
Old High German: *wihti
- Middle High German: wiht

References

^ Ringe, Donald, Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 337: “PWGmc *wihti”

[1] Ringe, Donald, Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 337: “PWGmc *wihti”

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