Where does “dat” come from?
dat (Central Franconian) comes from Middle High German dat, from Old High German dat, from Proto-West Germanic dādi, from Proto-Germanic dēdiz, from Proto-Indo-European dʰéh₁tis, from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁- — to do, put, place.
Ancestry of “dat”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle High German | dat | — |
| 2 | Old High German | dat | that |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | dādi | deed |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | dēdiz | deed, act; doing, able to do, active |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰéh₁tis | act of putting, placement |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰeh₁- | to do, put, place |