Where does “Van Wie” come from?
Van Wie (Dutch) comes from Dutch Wie, from Middle Dutch wie, from Old Dutch wie, from Old Dutch wē, from Old Dutch hwē, from Proto-West Germanic hwaʀ, from Proto-Germanic hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European kʷos — The primary interrogative root.
Ancestry of “Van Wie”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Dutch | Wie | — |
| 2 | Middle Dutch | wie | who |
| 3 | Old Dutch | wie | who |
| 4 | Old Dutch | wē | — |
| 5 | Old Dutch | hwē | — |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | hwaʀ | who |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | hwaz | who, what; whose; whom |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷos | See *kʷis |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷ- | The primary interrogative root |