n. (pl.)
Cl waʒeʒ; Pat wawes; WA waʒes, wawys, wawes, wawis
'waves'
(Modern English )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
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.