Reconstruction:Proto-Finnic/kaiho

This Proto-Finnic 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-Finnic

Etymology

From Proto-Uralic *kajša-w (“sickness”).^[1]^[2]

Noun

*kaiho^[3]

harm, damage, loss
sorrow, grief

Inflection

Inflection of *kaiho

	singular	plural
Note: The Proto-Finnic declension system is yet to be reconstructed in detail. What is presented here is only one possibility.
nominative	*kaiho	*kaihot
accusative	*kaihon	*kaihot
genitive	*kaihon	kaihodën kaihoidën
partitive	*kaihoda	*kaihoida
inessive	kaihossa kaihohna	kaihoissa kaihoihna
elative	*kaihosta	*kaihoista
illative	*kaihohën	*kaihoihën
adessive	*kaiholla	*kaihoilla
ablative	*kaiholta	*kaihoilta
allative	kaiholën kaiholëk	kaihoilën kaihoilëk
essive	*kaihona	*kaihoina
translative	*kaihoksi	*kaihoiksi
instructive	*kaihon	*kaihoin
comitative	*kaihonëk	*kaihoinëk
abessive	*kaihotta	*kaihoitta

Descendants

Estonian: kahju
Finnish: kaiho
Ingrian: kaiho
- → Votic: kaiho
Karelian:
- North Karelian: kaiho
- South Karelian: kaiho
Livonian: ka’j
- ⇒ Livonian: ka’jtõ (“to harm, damage”)
  - → Latvian: kaitēt (“to harm, damage”)
Võro: kaih

References

^ Aikio, Ante: Studies in Uralic Etymology II: Finnic Etymologies Linguistica Uralica L 2014 1 [1]
^ Junttila, Santeri, Kallio, Petri, Holopainen, Sampsa, Kuokkala, Juha, Pystynen, Juho, editors (2020–), “kaiho”, in Suomen vanhimman sanaston etymologinen verkkosanakirja‎^[2] (in Finnish), retrieved 4 August 2025
^ Kallio, Petri (2020–), “*kaiho”, in Yhteissuomalainen sanasto [Common Finnic Vocabulary]‎^[3] (in Finnish)