Gothic language

===Syntax===

==== Word order ====
The word order of Gothic is fairly free as is typical of other inflected languages. The natural word order of Gothic is assumed to have been like that of the other old Germanic languages; however, nearly all extant Gothic texts are translations of Greek originals and have been heavily influenced by Greek syntax.

Sometimes what can be expressed in one word in the original Greek will require a verb and a complement in the Gothic translation; for example, διωχθήσονται (''diōchthēsontai'', "they will be persecuted") is rendered:
:{|
|''wrakos''||''winnand''||(2 Timothy 3:12)
|-
|persecution-{{abbr|{{sc|pl}}|plural}}-{{abbr|{{sc|acc}}|accusative}}||suffer-{{abbr|{{sc|3pl}}|third person plural}}
|-
|colspan=3|"they will suffer persecution"
|}
Likewise Gothic translations of Greek noun phrases may feature a verb and a complement. In both cases, the verb follows the complement, giving weight to the theory that basic word order in Gothic is object–verb. This aligns with what is known of other early Germanic languages.<ref>{{cite book |last=Eythórsson |first=Thórhallur |editor-last1=Thráinsson |editor-first1=Höskuldur |editor-last2=Epstein |editor-first2=Samuel David |editor-last3=Peter |editor-first3=Stever |title=Studies in Comparative Germanic Syntax |volume=II |publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers |date=2001 |pages=109–10 |chapter=Functional Categories, Cliticization, and Verb Movement in the Early Germanic Languages |isbn=978-1-402-00294-6 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref>

However, this pattern is reversed in imperatives and negations:<ref name="Eythórsson 2001 110">{{cite book |last=Eythórsson |first=Thórhallur |editor-last1=Thráinsson |editor-first1=Höskuldur |editor-last2=Epstein |editor-first2=Samuel David |editor-last3=Peter |editor-first3=Stever |title=Studies in Comparative Germanic Syntax |volume=II |publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers |date=2001 |pages=110 |chapter=Functional Categories, Cliticization, and Verb Movement in the Early Germanic Languages |isbn=978-1-402-00294-6 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref>
:{|
|''waírþ''||''hráins''||(Matthew 8:3, Mark 1:42, Luke 5:13)
|-
|become-{{abbr|{{sc|imp}}|imperative}}||clean
|-
|colspan=3|"become clean!"
|}

:{|
|''ni''||''nimiþ''||''arbi''||(Galatians 4:30)
|-
|not||take-{{abbr|{{sc|3sg}}|third person single}}||inheritance
|-
|colspan=4|"he shall not become heir"
|}
And in a ''wh''-question the verb directly follows the question word:<ref name="Eythórsson 2001 110"/>
:{|
|''ƕa''||''skuli''||''þata''||''barn''||''waírþan''||(''Luke 1:66'')
|-
|what||shall-{{abbr|{{sc|3sg}}|third person single}}-{{abbr|{{sc|opt}}|optative}}||the-{{abbr|{{sc|neut}}|neuter}}||child||become-{{abbr|{{sc|inf}}|infinitive}}
|-
|colspan=6|"What shall the child become?"
|}

====Clitics====
Gothic has two [[clitic]] particles placed in the second position in a sentence, in accordance with [[Wackernagel's Law]].

One such clitic particle is -''u'', indicating a yes–no question or an indirect question, like Latin -''ne'':

:{|
|''ni-'''u'''''||''taíhun''||''þái''||''gahráinidái''||''waúrþun?''||(Luke 17:17)
|-
|not-'''{{abbr|{{sc|q}}|question}}'''||ten||that-{{abbr|{{sc|masc}}|masculine}}-{{abbr|{{sc|pl}}|plural}}||cleanse-{{abbr|{{sc|pp}}|past participle}}-{{abbr|{{sc|masc}}|masculine}}-{{abbr|{{sc|pl}}|plural}}||become-{{abbr|{{sc|3pl}}|third person plural}}-{{abbr|{{sc|pst}}|past}}
|-
|colspan=6|"Were there not ten that were cleansed?"
|}
:{|
|''ei''||''saíƕam''||''qimái-'''u'''''||''Helias''||''nasjan''||''ina''||(Matthew 27:49)
|-
|that||see-{{abbr|{{sc|1pl}}|first person plural}}||come-{{abbr|{{sc|3sg}}|third person singular}}-{{abbr|{{sc|opt}}|optative}}-'''{{abbr|{{sc|q}}|question}}'''||Elias||save-{{abbr|{{sc|inf}}|infinitive}}||he-{{abbr|{{sc|acc}}|accusative}}
|-
|colspan=7|"that we see whether or not Elias will come to save him"
|}

The prepositional phrase without the clitic -''u'' appears as ''af þus silbin'': the clitic causes the reversion of originally voiced fricatives, unvoiced at the end of a word, to their voiced form; another such example is ''wileid-u'' "do you ({{abbr|pl.|plural}}) want" from ''wileiþ'' "you ({{abbr|pl.|plural}}) want". If the first word has a [[preverb]] attached, the clitic actually splits the preverb from the verb: ''ga-u-láubjats'' "do you both believe...?" from ''galáubjats'' "you both believe".

Another such clitic is ''-uh'' "and", appearing as ''-h'' after a vowel: ''ga-h-mēlida'' "and he wrote" from ''gamēlida'' "he wrote", ''urreis nim-uh'' "arise and take!" from the imperative form ''nim'' "take".  After ''iþ'' or any indefinite besides ''sums'' "some" and ''anþar'' "another", -''uh'' cannot be placed; in the latter category, this is only because indefinite determiner phrases cannot move to the front of a clause. Unlike, for example, Latin -''que'', -''uh'' can only join two or more main clauses. In all other cases, the word ''jah'' "and" is used, which can also join main clauses.

More than one such clitics can occur in one word: ''diz-uh-þan-sat ijōs'' "and then he seized them ({{abbr|fem.|feminine}})" from ''dissat'' "he seized" (notice again the voicing of ''diz-''), ''ga-u-ƕa-sēƕi'' "whether he saw anything" from ''gasēƕi'' "he saw".<ref>{{cite book |last=Eythórsson |first=Thórhallur |editor-last1=Thráinsson |editor-first1=Höskuldur |editor-last2=Epstein |editor-first2=Samuel David |editor-last3=Peter |editor-first3=Stever |title=Studies in Comparative Germanic Syntax |volume=II |publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers |date=2001 |pages=117–18, 122 |chapter=Functional Categories, Cliticization, and Verb Movement in the Early Germanic Languages |isbn=978-1-402-00294-6 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref>