adv.
Cl loʒe; WA law(e), loue
'low; lowly, humbly' (Modern English low)
PGmc Ancestor
*lēga-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
lágr ‘low’
(ONP lágr (adj.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Far lágur, Icel lágur, Norw låg, Dan lav, Sw låg
OE Cognate
Phonological and morphological markers
ON /ɑ:/ < PGmc */e:/ (1)
absence of palatalization of */ɡ/
Summary category
A1*
Widespread from early ME.
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Gaw 972, 2236; Pe 236, 547; Cl 798; WA 196, 495, 1012 etc.
Pe 547 is sometimes interpreted as loʒe (adj.) (thus Osgood, McGee). TPD identify the form <loue> as another instance of this adv., noting (369n) that 'the scribe apparently understood this as the verb 'praise you', or he would have altered it to lawe.