FromOld FrenchGascoigne, fromMedieval LatinGasconia, fromVulgar LatinWasconia, fromLatinVasconia, fromVascones +-ia, fromAncient GreekΟὐασκώνων(Ouaskṓnōn) attested inStrabo's 1st-centuryGeographica, Book III,[1] variously derived fromαἴξ(aíx,“goat”) (literally “he-goat people”) or a variant ofAusci (perhaps related toEuskara). Cognate withBasque,Gascon, andVascon. Equivalent toGascon +-y.
For sound changes: /w/ → /v/ occurred in the change from Latin to Proto-Romance, while /w/ → /g/ (in loan words starting with /w/) common in (non-Iberian) Romance languages, notably French; comparewarranty andguarantee,William andGuillaume. By contrast, /v/ developed into /b/ and /β̞/ in Spanish and Gascon (SpanishVasco, /ˈbasko/), hence the divergence.
Gascony
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