What is it about?
The etymology of English ay(e) 'yes', a word that is recorded for the first time in the late 16th century, has remained unsolved, despite many efforts. It has not been noted yet that the word is already found in 15th-century Frisian. Therefore, 'ay(e) may well be a Frisian loanword in English.
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Why is it important?
The discovery of Old Frisian 'ay' (yes) adds yet another word to the many Anglo-Frisian lexical parallels. Since the Frisian attestation precedes English ay by almost 150 years, the English word may well be a Frisian loanword.
Perspectives
I was thrilled to make this discovery. English ay, familiar all over the world because of the many movies dealing with seafaring is not alone, but has a Frisian predecessor.
Dr Rolf H. Bremmer Jr
Universiteit Leiden
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Late Old Frisian ay "Yes", NOWELE North-Western European Language Evolution, April 1989, John Benjamins,
DOI: 10.1075/nowele.13.07bre.
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