Where does “我” come from?
我 (Old Japanese) comes from Old Japanese れ — nominalizing suffix used to form pronouns, often from demonstratives: one, thing.
我 (Old Japanese): first-person personal pronoun: I, me;...
Definitions
- first-person personal pronoun: I, me;...
Ancestry of “我”, step by step
我 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Old Japanese れ
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old Japanese | れ | nominalizing suffix used to form pronouns, often from demonstratives: one, thing |
via Proto-Japonic wa
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Proto-Japonic | wa | I |