Where does “もしも” come from?

もしも (Japanese) comes from Japanese も, from Old Japanese も, from Proto-Japonic mə, from Arabic مَن — who?; who.

もしも (Japanese): even if

Definitions

  1. even if

Ancestry of “もしも”, step by step

もしも traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese も

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1JapaneseもUsed to form the conjectural form of verbs,...
2Old Japaneseもnon-unique topic marker: also, even
3Proto-Japonicmənon-unique topic marker: also, even, too, as well
4Arabicمَنwho?; who

via Japanese もし

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japaneseもしif; supposing; 模試 a mock exam
Every word from Arabic مَن →Every word from Proto-Japonic mə →Every word from Old Japanese も →