Where does “un-” come from?
un- (Middle High German) comes from Old High German un-, from Proto-West Germanic un-, from Proto-Germanic un-, from Proto-Indo-European n̥-, from Proto-Indo-European ne — not.
Ancestry of “un-”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old High German | un- | un-; prefix of negation, absence or contrariness |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | un- | not, un- |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | un- | not, un- |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | n̥- | not, un- |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | ne | not |