Where does “ja” come from?
ja (Norwegian Bokmål) comes from Old Norse já, from Proto-Germanic ja, from Proto-Indo-European yē — already.
ja (Norwegian Bokmål): yes
Ancestry of “ja”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Norse | já | yes |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | ja | yes; thus, so |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | yē | already |