Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/bittjan

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This Proto-West Germanic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-West Germanic

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Etymology

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Uncertain, but likely from *biti (bite) +‎ *-jan, with the semantic development: "to bite" > "to grind one's teeth" > "to moan".

Verb

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*bittjan

  1. to grind
  2. to moan, rumble, chatter, rant

Inflection

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Class 1 weak
Infinitive *bittjan
1st sg. past *bittā
Infinitive *bittjan
Genitive infin. *bittjannjas
Dative infin. *bittjannjē
Instrum. infin. *bittjannju
Indicative Present Past
1st singular *bittju *bittā
2nd singular *bitisi *bittēs, *bittōs
3rd singular *bitiþi *bittē, *bittā
1st plural *bittjum *bittum
2nd plural *bitiþ *bittud
3rd plural *bittjanþ *bittun
Subjunctive Present Past
1st singular *bittjē *bittī
2nd singular *bittjēs *bittī
3rd singular *bittjē *bittī
1st plural *bittjēm *bittīm
2nd plural *bittjēþ *bittīd
3rd plural *bittjēn *bittīn
Imperative Present
Singular *biti
Plural *bitiþ
Present Past
Participle *bittjandī *bitt
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Descendants

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  • Old English: *bittan
    • Middle English: bitten, bytten (variant of Middle English biten (to bite))
  • Old Dutch: bitten
  • Old High German: bizzen