sa (Proto-Germanic)

Where does "sa" come from?

The Proto-Germanic term 'sa', meaning 'that', traces its roots back to the Proto-Indo-European demonstrative '*só'[1]. In earlier, animacy-based two-gender Proto-Indo-European, '*só' functioned as the animate demonstrative before the gender system was established[2].

Open questions

• The early role and forms of Proto-Indo-European demonstratives involve reconstructed stages of the ancient gender system. [2]

Full etymology tree

• *sa (Proto-Germanic), 'that'
  • inherited *só (Proto-Indo-European), 'this'

Ancestors

• *só (Proto-Indo-European)

Descendants and derived words

• *saī (Proto-Germanic)

Sources

1. sa (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
2. só (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris