Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/bittjan

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

Etymology

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

Verb

*bittjan

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

Inflection

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

Related terms

• *bītan
• *bitōn

Descendants

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