sju (Norwegian Bokmål)
Where does "sju" come from?
The Norwegian word 'sju' traces its roots back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European root *septḿ̥. As it evolved through Proto-Germanic and Old Norse, it underwent sound changes to become the word used to count to seven today. Its remarkable history even suggests it may have been a nomadic 'culture word' shared through ancient contact between Indo-European and Semitic peoples.
Full etymology tree
- sju (Norwegian Bokmål), 'seven'
- inherited sjau (Old Norse), 'seven'
- inherited *sebun (Proto-Germanic), 'seven'
- inherited *sebunt (Proto-Germanic)
- inherited *septḿ̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'seven'
- influence *newun (Proto-Germanic), 'nine'
- influence *tehun (Proto-Germanic), 'ten'
- borrowed *šabʕ- (Proto-Semitic), 'seven'
- inherited *sṗɣ (Proto-Afroasiatic)
- inherited *septḿ̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'seven'
- inherited *sebunt (Proto-Germanic)
- inherited *sebun (Proto-Germanic), 'seven'
- inherited sjau (Old Norse), 'seven'
Ancestors
- sjau (Old Norse)
- *sebun (Proto-Germanic)
- *septḿ̥ (Proto-Indo-European)
Descendants and derived words
- sjukamp (Norwegian Bokmål)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris