Etymology Explorer › Middle High German

Where does “ja” come from?

ja (Middle High German) comes from Old High German jā, from Proto-West Germanic jā, from Proto-Germanic ja, from Proto-Indo-European yē — already.

Ancestry of “ja”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old High Germanjā—
2Proto-West Germanicjāyes; thus, so
3Proto-Germanicjayes; thus, so
4Proto-Indo-Europeanyēalready

Words derived from “ja”

  • bejahen
  • jo
  • ja
  • Ja
  • jā
  • ja
  • ya
  • יאָ
  • ja
Every word from Proto-Indo-European yē →