fowe

Middle English

Noun

fowe

1. Alternative form of fou

Yola

Alternative forms

• how

Etymology

From Middle English wou, how, from Old English hū, from Proto-West Germanic *hwō. The initial f- is by analogy with fan (“when”), farthoo (“why”), etc. Cognate with Scots foo (“how”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɸuː/, /huː/
• Homophones: fho, howe

Adverb

fowe

1. how
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 14, page 90:

     Jaane got leigheen; shoo pleast aam all, fowe?

     Joan set them a laughing, she pleased them all, how?

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 90