An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/wie

by Friedrich Kluge

wie, adverb, ‘how, in what way,’ from the equivalent Middle High German wie, Old High German wio, which is derived from *hwêu for *hewu, hwaiwô; the last form is indicated only by Gothic hwaiwa, ‘how.’ Based on the Teutonic pronominal stem hwa-, Aryan qe, qo. The formation of pre-Teutonic koiwô is identical with that of Sanscrit êvā̆, ‘in this manner,’ from the pronominal stem a, ‘this.’ Another form is preserved in English how, from the equivalent Anglo-Saxon hû (equivalent to Old Saxon and Teutonic hwô).