Where does “hwȳ” come from?
hwȳ (Old English) comes from Proto-Germanic hwī, from Proto-Indo-European kʷey, from Proto-Indo-European kʷis — interrogative, relative stem; who, what;...
hwȳ (Old English): why
Ancestry of “hwȳ”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Proto-Germanic | hwī | how, with what, by what means; instrumental of... |
| 2 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷey | — |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷis | interrogative, relative stem; who, what;... |