Where does “hvis” come from?
hvis (Norwegian Bokmål) comes from Middle Low German wes, from Old Saxon hwes, from Proto-Germanic hwes, from Proto-Germanic hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European kʷos, from Proto-Indo-European kʷ- — The primary interrogative root.
hvis (Norwegian Bokmål): if; whose
Ancestry of “hvis”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle Low German | wes | whose, of whom; whose, of what |
| 2 | Old Saxon | hwes | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | hwes | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | hwaz | who, what; whose; whom |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷos | See *kʷis |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷ- | The primary interrogative root |