Where does “swæþer” come from?
swæþer (Old English) comes from Old English hwæþer, from Proto-West Germanic hwaþar, from Proto-Germanic hwaþeraz, from Proto-Indo-European kʷóteros, from Proto-Indo-European kʷos, from Proto-Indo-European kʷ- — The primary interrogative root.
swæþer (Old English): whichever
Ancestry of “swæþer”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | hwæþer | which; whether; used to introduce a question |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | hwaþar | which |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | hwaþeraz | which, what |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷóteros | which of two |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷos | See *kʷis |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷ- | The primary interrogative root |