Where does “jä” come from?
jä (Finnish) comes from Proto-Finno-Ugric *ja, from Proto-Germanic jahw, from Proto-Germanic -hw, from Proto-Germanic -hwe, from Proto-Indo-European -kʷe — and; Forms distributives from interrogatives.
jä (Finnish): ice
Ancestry of “jä”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Proto-Finno-Ugric | *ja | — |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | jahw | and, also |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | -hw | and; Forms distributives from interrogatives |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | -hwe | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -kʷe | and; Forms distributives from interrogatives |