wake and waken

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

Last time I asked a question concerning 'wake', 'awake' and 'awaken'. Now I have another problem. Could you please explain the difference between 'wake' and 'waken'? I have consulted my dictionary:

wake: to (cause someone to) become awake and conscious after sleeping
I woke up with a headache.
Please wake me early tomorrow.
waken: to (cause to) wake from sleep:

I shook him but he didn't waken.
Waken me at 7, would you?
I wakened (up) early.

To me there isn't any difference between the two. Is that right?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[Anglika]

"waken" can mean "cause to wake" or "stop sleeping"

I waken at 6.00am = I stop sleeping at 6.00 am
I wakened early = I stopped sleeping early

Waken me at 6.00 am = [someone else] wake me up at 6.00am

This may not help you, but wake, awake and waken are an interesting survival of differing Middle English forms of the same word. So basically you can choose which you want to use!

[jiang]

Dear Anglika,
Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I see.

Jiang

Originally Posted by Anglika

"waken" can mean "cause to wake" or "stop sleeping"

I waken at 6.00am = I stop sleeping at 6.00 am
I wakened early = I stopped sleeping early

Waken me at 6.00 am = [someone else] wake me up at 6.00am

This may not help you, but wake, awake and waken are an interesting survival of differing Middle English forms of the same word. So basically you can choose which you want to use!