The spelling of "wast mistaken" may seem odd, but it is actually a result of Old English language conventions. The "wast" portion is the archaic second person singular form of "be" and "mistaken" is the past participle of "mistake." In IPA phonetic transcription, "wast" can be written as /wɑːst/ and "mistaken" as /mɪˈsteɪkən/. While this spelling is no longer used in modern English, it provides insight into the historical development of the language.
The phrase "wast mistaken" is not a single word; it is a combination of two words: "wast" and "mistaken". Here is the etymology of each word:
1. Wast: "Wast" is the second-person singular form of the verb "to be" in past tense. "wǣre" (pronounced /ˈwæːrə/), which meant "were". Over time, the pronunciation and spelling of the word changed, and it eventually became "wast" in Middle English. The word can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic word "wēz" and the Indo-European root "bʰuH-", which means "to grow".
2. Mistaken: The word "mistaken" is the past participle of the verb "mistake".