Where does “ajvé” come from?

ajvé (Hungarian) comes from Yiddish אוי וויי, from Middle High German ōwē, from Middle High German wē, from Old High German wē, from Proto-West Germanic wai, from Proto-Germanic wai, from Proto-Indo-European wai — oh!; woe!.

ajvé (Hungarian): oy vey

Definitions

  1. oy vey

Ancestry of “ajvé”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Yiddishאוי ווייoh, ah, ugh, oy; oh no, woe is me; ouch
2Middle High Germanōwē—
3Middle High Germanwē—
4Old High Germanwēwoe
5Proto-West Germanicwaiwoe!, alas!
6Proto-Germanicwaiwoe! alas!
7Proto-Indo-Europeanwaioh!; woe!
Every word from Proto-Indo-European wai →Every word from Proto-Germanic wai →Every word from Proto-West Germanic wai →