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Author: Curt
Date: 2005-04-03 12:29:12
Subject: Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced?
Peter,
Please forgive me for not responding till now.
Old English wice includes among its many definitions "witch elm," indicating some connection, somewhere, to wicce. Additionally, among the many definitions of wica, waca, etc. are awakening and enlightenment, turned into an adjective "awakened" or "awake" in Old Norse vaka. I find two wica homonyms in Old English: one from Latin, meaning road, village, etc., and one of unknown origin meaning duty, officer, awakening, week, a mystical power, etc. I suspect that the definition for wica (wise) given by writers sixty years ago derives from Old Norse vaca "awakened" confused with Old English waca "awakening," and Old Norse vika, a variant of vaka, confused with Old English wica, a variant of waca. In modern (sort of) Scottish, wice is a spelling of "wise."
As for sound changes, you and Mr. Christ both state that they are not random, but aren't there ANY exceptions to the rule? I observe them in modern English all the time, and some of them eventually take hold. Also, since the writers of Old English didn't have standardized spelling, couldn't they have blundered just as happily as the rest of us?
| Messages in this thread | Name | College/University | Date |
| How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | curt | 2005-02-17 01:17:43 | |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Sean Crist | Swarthmore College | 2005-02-17 07:34:52 |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Curt | 2005-02-17 11:55:25 | |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Sean Crist | Swarthmore College | 2005-02-17 18:10:50 |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Curt | 2005-02-18 01:18:42 | |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Curt | 2005-02-18 01:39:03 | |
| much/mucho (Re: How is Gothic 'weihs'...) | Sean Crist | Swarthmore College | 2005-02-19 18:47:21 |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Sean Crist | Swarthmore College | 2005-02-19 19:22:18 |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Peter Tunstall | 2005-02-22 16:40:19 | |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Sean Crist | Swarthmore College | 2005-02-25 21:36:40 |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Peter | 2005-02-26 10:22:37 | |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Curt | 2005-04-03 11:53:41 | |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Curt | 2005-04-03 12:29:12 | |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Curt | 2005-04-03 14:49:07 | |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Curt | 2005-04-04 12:15:10 | |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Peter | 2005-04-08 16:11:26 | |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Peter | 2005-04-08 20:10:57 | |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Sean Crist | Swarthmore College | 2005-04-10 12:15:51 |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Curt | 2005-04-10 16:02:49 | |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Curt | 2005-04-10 16:06:01 | |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Sean Crist | Swarthmore College | 2005-05-07 18:10:38 |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Sean Crist | Swarthmore College | 2005-05-07 18:15:52 |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Curt | 2005-05-09 02:02:30 | |
| Re: How is Gothic 'weihs' pronounced? | Brian Lewis | Campbell University | 2010-07-07 00:43:06 |