waweʒ

n. (pl.)

Cl waʒeʒ; Pat wawesWA waʒes, wawys, wawes, wawis

'waves'

(Modern English )

Etymology

The ME n. cannot descend straightforwardly from OE wǣg (m.) 'motion, water, flood, sea' (< PGmc *wēgaz, cp. Goth wēgs, OFris wēg, OS, OHG wāg; the n. is formed on the v. *wegan- 'to move') and has been explained instead by derivation from the ON cognate, cp. OIcel vágr 'wave, sea' (thus EVG). Alternatively, WGmc forms have been compared (Osgood notes MLG, MHG wage and Goll MLG wage​ 'movement, agitation'), suggesting perhaps (as MED and OED do explicitly) that a native form could lie behind the ME: MED suggests (the variant) pl wāga and OED suggests a lost feminine n. (*wagu or *wage) corresponding to MLG and MHG wage.

PGmc Ancestor

*wēg-az

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

vágr 'wave, sea'
(ONP vágr (sb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far vágur, Icel vogur, Norw våg, Dan vove, Sw dial våg

OE Cognate

wǣg 'motion, water, flood, sea'

Phonological and morphological markers

[absence of palatalization of */ɡ/] (may not be applicable)

[ON /ɑ:/ < PGmc */e:/ (1)] (may not be applicable)

Summary category

CC2a

Attestation

Attested in a range of ME texts (incl. Chaucer, Gower, Lydgate) from the late 13c. onwards. MED notes that some of its instances have spellings that could represent /v/ and should in that case be identified with the MnE n. wave < v. from OE wafian 'to wave'.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Pe 287; Cl 382, 404; Pat 142; WA 26, 1153, 1309, etc.

Bibliography

MED wau(e (n.) , OED waw (n.1) , HTOED , de Vries vágr, Mag. vogur, Orel *wēgaz ~ *wēgiz, Heid wega-