Where does “wablief” come from?
wablief (Dutch) comes from Dutch wat, from Middle Dutch wat, from Old Dutch wat, from Proto-West Germanic hwat, from Proto-Germanic hwat, from Proto-Indo-European kʷód, from Proto-Indo-European kʷós — who.
wablief (Dutch): I beg your pardon?
Ancestry of “wablief”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Dutch | wat | what: e.g. asking for a subject complement; ... |
| 2 | Middle Dutch | wat | what |
| 3 | Old Dutch | wat | what |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | hwat | what |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | hwat | nominative/accusative singular neuter of *hwaz |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷód | what |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷós | who |