Where does “d-” come from?

d- (Wailaki) comes from Proto-Athabaskan də-, from Proto-Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit *də-.

d- (Wailaki): The d-classifier, one of several classifiers which obligatorily appear in every Wailaki verb, used to form middle, detransitive, reciprocal, reflexive, passive, and reversative verbs

Definitions

  1. The d-classifier, one of several classifiers which obligatorily appear in every Wailaki verb, used to form middle, detransitive, reciprocal, reflexive, passive, and reversative verbs

Ancestry of “d-”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-Athabaskandə-the *də- classifier or valence-change prefix, a [[transitivize
2Proto-Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit*də-—
Every word from Proto-Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit *də- →
d- — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer