wa

Forms

wā (indeclinable); also wǣ and wei^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *wai, from Proto-Germanic *wai (“woe”).^[1][3] The interjection is shared by Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹 (wai), Old Norse vei, Old Saxon wē and Old High German wē.^[3][4][5] Kroonen and Köbler set up an Indo-European interjection Proto-Indo-European *wai.^[3][6] Orel notes that similar cries are found in many languages, Indo-European and others, such as Latin vae and Lithuanian vaĩ.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded from the end of the ninth century: the Pastoral Care in Hatton 20, written between 890 and 897, quotes the prophet with Wa ðæm ðe willað under ælcne elnbogan lecggean pyle “woe to those who will lay a pillow under every elbow”, the interjection with a dative of the person.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller divide the uses into an adverb, “ill”, with a dative of the person who suffers (him wæs ǣghwǣr wā “it was ill with him everywhere”) and often a genitive of the cause, and an interjection, “woe, alas”, with the dative, rendering Latin “vae” and “heu”.^[9][6] Klaeber notes that in prose it is generally an interjection, while in Beowulf it may be read as a noun “woe, misery” or as the adverb.^[5] Combined with lā it gave wā lā and wā lā wā “alas”.^[9]

It was continued as Middle English wo “misery, distress”, now English woe;^[10][11] Etymonline takes the noun to be a use of the interjection.^[10][11]

Timeline

• 890×897 – Wa ðæm ðe willað “woe to those who will” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[7][8]
• s. x¹ or x²/⁴ – the adverb with a dative and genitive, the people suffering from both of two evils, in the Old English Orosius.^[12][9]
• s. x in. or xi¹ – Wala wa: þæt is sarlic “alas, that is grievous” in the Old English Bede (Tanner 10).^[13][8]
• s. x/xi – the adverb or noun “woe” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[14][5]
• mid-13th century – Middle English woe as a noun, beside the older wei.^[11]

Meanings

Interjection

1. woe!, alas!, with the dative of the person.^[9][6]

Adverb

1. ill, badly (him is wā “it is ill with him”).^[9][2]
2. (poetic) as a noun: woe, misery, affliction.^[5][6]

Word family

• wālāwā

Descendants

• Middle English wo (→ English woe; Middle Scots wa)^[1]

Usage notes

The spelling wǣ is the Northumbrian form, found in the Lindisfarne and Rushworth glosses.^[9][11] Holthausen derives the form wei from Old Norse vei.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 220
3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 566
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 440
5. ^ a b c d Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. wā
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wā
7. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
8. ^ a b c Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
9. ^ a b c d e f Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1147
10. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
11. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 249
13. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 531
14. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344
15. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 388