§§ i5°-i] The Semivowels 71 OHG. wolf, wolf-, wilts, OE. wlite, O.S. \vtttl, face, look, beauty; wraka, OE. wracu, revenge, persecution; swis-tar, OE. sweostor, OS. OHG. swester, sister; and similarly wahsjan, to grow; waírs, worse ; waúrd, word; wrikan, to persecute ; đwals, foolish ; twái, two ; twalif, twelve; þwahan, to wash. It also remained : (i) Medially before vowels, as fiđwōr, four; hawi, hay; nidwa, nest; siggwan, to sing; slawan, to be silent; sparwa, sparrow ; taíhswō, right hand; gen. kniwis, OE. cneowes, OHG. knewes, of a knee; mawi, girl; þiwi, maid-servant; tawida, he did; nom. pi. masc. qiwái, alive; fawái,/«i>; sniwan, to hasten. (2) Medially between a long vowel, diphthong, or consonant and a following j or s, as lēwjan, to betray; hnáiwjan, to abase; hnáiws, lowly; snáiws, snow; ufarskadwjan, to overshadow. (3) Finally after long vowels, diphthongs, and consonants, as lew, occasion; hláiw, grave; fráiw, seed; waárstw (cp. § 29), work. § 160. Germanic w became u after a short vowel with which it combined to form a diphthong: (i) Finally, as kniu, knee; tríu, wood; beside gen. kniwis, triwis; pret. snáu, he hastened, beside inf. sniwan. (2) Before consonants, as gen. máujōs, þiujōs, beside nom. mawi, girl; þiwi, maid-servant; inf. táujan, to do, beside pret. tawida; náus, corpse, beside nom. pi. naweis; siuns from *se(g)wnís, sight, face. It also became u before -s, older *z, after the loss of an intervening vowel, as skađus from *skadwaz, shadow, MOTH.—i. ie from older iw became ju in unaccented syllables, as nom. pi. sunjus from *suniu(i)z, older *sumwiz, *sunewes, sons. 2. For the Gothic treatment of 5w, ōwj, see §§ 8O, 81. §151. In a few instances medial -w- (or -ww- the origin of which is uncertain) after short vowels became-ggw-in Gothic and -ggv-, -gg- in O.Icel., whereas the West-Germanic lan-