Where does “gēn” come from?
gēn (Old Dutch) comes from Proto-West Germanic *jain, from Proto-Germanic jainaz, from Proto-Indo-European i- — that; he; a pronomial stem.
Ancestry of “gēn”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Proto-West Germanic | *jain | — |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | jainaz | that over there, yon |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | i- | that; he; a pronomial stem |