v. (st.)
Gaw past. sg. gef, gafe; pp. geuen Pe pres. 3 sg. subj. gyue, gef, imper. gyf, past 3 sg. gef, gaue, pp. gyuen; Cl pres 3 sg. giues, past sg gef, pp. geuen; Pat pres. 3 sg. subj. gef; Erk infin. gyfe, past 3 sg. gefe; WA geue, gefe, gyfe, pres. 3 sg. geuys, geues, gyfez, imp. sg. geue, geffe, imp. pl. gefes, pres. pl. gefe, past sg. gafe, gaffe, gaue, past pl. gafe, geuyn, gefyn, pp. geuyn
‘to give, grant; surrender; wish; show, make clear’ (Modern English give)
PGmc Ancestor
*geƀan-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
gefa 'to give'
(ONP gefa (vb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Far geva, Icel gefa, Norw giva, Dan runic gaf (past sg.), giƀu (pres. 1st sg.), Dan give, Sw giva
OE Cognate
OE Angl gefan, gifan, WS giefan, gifan, gyfan 'to give, bestow'
Phonological and morphological markers
absence of palatalization of */ɡ/
[ON /ɑ:/ < PGmc */e:/ (1)] (possibly diagnostic)
Summary category
A1*c
Forms of the v. with unambiguous initial velar, first attested in Orrm, are mainly preferred in the N and EM throughout the ME period (see further LAEME dot maps 13558201 and 13558202, LALME dot maps 424–7). Alliteration is often the guiding criteria in the choice between gif, apparently preferred in Gaw (cp. also Erk, where as McGee (437) notes both instances alliterate), and the native-derived ʒef (see further McGee 332, TGD 1964n).
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Gaw 288, 297, 365 etc.; Pe 174, 270, 543 etc.; Cl 259, 753 1326 etc.; Pat 204, 226; Erk 276, 282; WA 181, 813, 1035 etc.