Gothic language Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! {{short description|Extinct East Germanic language}} {{Infobox language | name = Gothic <!-- Do not bother to add a "native name" - there isn't an attested one, so your edit will just be reverted as misguided -->| region = [[Oium]], [[Dacia]], [[Pannonia]], [[Dalmatia (Roman province)|Dalmatia]], [[Italian Peninsula|Italy]], [[Gallia Narbonensis]], [[Gallia Aquitania]], [[Hispania]], [[Crimea]], [[North Caucasus]] | era = attested [[3rd century|3rd]]–[[10th century]]; [[Crimean Gothic|related dialects]] survived until [[18th century]] in Crimea | familycolor = Indo-European | fam2 = [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] | fam3 = [[East Germanic languages|East Germanic]] | dia1 = [[Crimean Gothic]] † | dia2 = [[Gepids#Language|Gepid]]? † | script = [[Gothic alphabet]] | iso2 = got | iso3 = got | lingua = 52-ADA | glotto = goth1244 | glottorefname = Gothic | notice = IPA }} {{Contains special characters |special=[[Gothic alphabet|Gothic]] characters |fix=Help:Multilingual_support#Gothic |characters=letters}} {{Germanic tribes (750BC-1AD)}} '''Gothic''' <!-- Do NOT specify endonyms without specifying a reliable source -->is an [[extinct language|extinct]] [[East Germanic languages|East Germanic language]] that was spoken by the [[Goths]]. It is known primarily from the ''[[Codex Argenteus]]'', a 6th-century copy of a [[4th-century]] [[Bible]] translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizeable [[text corpus]]. All others, including [[Burgundian language (Germanic)|Burgundian]] and [[Vandalic language|Vandalic]], are known, if at all, only from proper names that survived in historical accounts, and from [[loanword]]s in other, mainly [[Romance languages|Romance]], languages. As a Germanic language, Gothic is a part of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language]] family. It is the earliest Germanic language that is attested in any sizable texts, but it lacks any modern descendants. The oldest documents in Gothic date back to the fourth century. The language was in decline by the mid-sixth century, partly because of the military defeat of the Goths at the hands of the [[Franks]], the elimination of the Goths in Italy, and geographic isolation (in Spain, the Gothic language lost its last and probably already declining function as a church language when the [[Visigoths]] converted from [[Arianism]] to [[Nicene Christianity]] in 589).<ref>''Strategies of Distinction: Construction of Ethnic Communities, 300–800'' (''Transformation of the Roman World'', vol. 2) by Walter Pohl, {{ISBN|90-04-10846-7}} (pp. 119–121)</ref> The language survived as a domestic language in the [[Iberian peninsula]] (modern-day Spain and Portugal) as late as the eighth century. Gothic-seeming terms are found in manuscripts subsequent to this date, but these may or may not belong to the same language. A language known as [[Crimean Gothic]] survived in the lower [[Danube]] area and in isolated mountain regions in [[Crimea]] as late as the second half of the 18th century. Lacking certain sound changes characteristic of Gothic, however, Crimean Gothic cannot be a lineal descendant of (Bible) Gothic (but possible of another East Germanic language, or alternatively be originally a West Germanic language).{{sfn|Stearns|1978|p=118}}<ref name="Stearns-Dialektzugehörigkeit">MacDonald Stearns, ''Das Krimgotische''. In: Heinrich Beck (ed.), ''Germanische Rest- und Trümmersprachen'', Berlin/New York 1989, p. 175–194, here the chapter ''Die Dialektzugehörigkeit des Krimgotischen'' on p. 181–185</ref> The existence of such early attested texts makes it a language of considerable interest in [[comparative linguistics]]. ==History and evidence== [[File:Ambrosianus.jpg|thumb|240px|A leaf of the ''Codex Ambrosianus B'']] Only a few documents in Gothic have survived – not enough for a complete reconstruction of the language. Most Gothic-language sources are translations or glosses of other languages (namely, [[Koine Greek|Greek]]), so foreign linguistic elements most certainly influenced the texts. These are the primary sources: * The largest body of surviving documentation consists of various [[codices]], mostly from the sixth century, copying the [[Bible translation]] that was commissioned by the [[Arianism|Arian]] bishop [[Ulfilas]] (Wulfila, 311–382), leader of a community of [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] [[Christianity|Christian]]s in the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] province of [[Moesia]] (modern-day [[Serbia]], [[Bulgaria]]/[[Romania]]). He commissioned a translation into the Gothic language of the [[Greek Vulgate|Greek Bible]], of which translation roughly three-quarters of the [[New Testament]] and some fragments of the [[Old Testament]] have survived. The extant translated texts, produced by several scholars, are collected in the following codices and in one inscription: :*''[[Codex Argenteus]]'' ([[Uppsala]]), including the Speyer fragment: 188 leaves ::The best-preserved Gothic manuscript, dating from the sixth century, it was preserved and transmitted by northern [[Ostrogoths]] in modern-day Italy. It contains a large portion of the four [[gospel]]s. Since it is a translation from Greek, the language of the ''Codex Argenteus'' is replete with borrowed Greek words and Greek usages. The syntax in particular is often copied directly from the Greek. :*[[Codices Ambrosiani|''Codex Ambrosianus'']] ([[Milan]]) and the ''Codex Taurinensis'' ([[Turin]]): Five parts, totaling 193 leaves ::It contains scattered passages from the New Testament (including parts of the gospels and the [[Epistle]]s), from the [[Old Testament]] ([[Book of Nehemiah|Nehemiah]]), and some commentaries known as ''[[Skeireins]]''. The text likely had been somewhat modified by copyists. :*''[[Codex Gissensis]]'' ([[Gießen]]): One leaf with fragments of [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 23–24 (apparently a Gothic-Latin [[diglot]]) was found in an excavation in [[Faiyum|Arsinoë]] in Egypt in 1907 and was destroyed by water damage in 1945, after copies had already been made by researchers. :*''[[Codex Carolinus]]'' ([[Wolfenbüttel]]): Four leaves, fragments of [[Epistle to the Romans|Romans]] 11–15 (a Gothic-Latin [[diglot]]). :* ''Codex Vaticanus Latinus'' 5750 ([[Vatican City]]): Three leaves, pages 57–58, 59–60, and 61–62 of the ''Skeireins''. This is a fragment of [[Codices Ambrosiani|''Codex Ambrosianus E'']]. :*''Gothica Bononiensia'' (also known as the ''Codex Bononiensis''), a [[palimpsest]] fragment, discovered in 2009, of two folios with what appears to be a sermon, containing besides non-biblical text a number of direct Bible quotes and allusions, both from previously attested parts of the Gothic Bible (the text is clearly taken from Ulfilas' translation) and from previously unattested ones (e.g., [[Psalms]], [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]]).<ref>Carla Falluomini, 'Zum gotischen Fragment aus Bologna II: Berichtigungen und neue Lesungen', ''Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und Literatur'' 146.3 (2017) pp. 284–294.</ref> :* ''Fragmenta Pannonica'' (also known as the ''Hács-Béndekpuszta fragments'' or ''Tabella Hungarica''), which consist of fragments of a 1 mm thick lead plate with remnants of verses from the Gospels. :*The Mangup Graffiti: five inscriptions written in the Gothic Alphabet discovered in 2015 from the basilica church of [[Mangup]], [[Crimea]]. The graffiti all date from the mid-9th century, making this the latest attestation of the Gothic Alphabet and the only one from outside Italy or [[Pannonia]]. The five texts include a quotation from the otherwise unattested Psalm 76 and some prayers; the language is not noticeably different from Wulfila's and only contains words known from other parts of the Gothic Bible.<ref>*{{cite journal|first1=Andrey |last1=Vinogradov |first2=Maksim |last2=Korobov |title=Gothic graffiti from the Mangup basilica |journal=NOWELE. North-Western European Language Evolution |volume=71 |issue=2 |year=2018 |pages=223–235 |url=https://www.academia.edu/38082606 |doi=10.1075/nowele.00013.vin}}</ref> * A scattering of old documents: two deeds (the ''[[Naples]]'' and ''[[Arezzo]]'' deeds, on papyri), alphabets (in the ''Gothica Vindobonensia'' and the ''Gothica Parisina''), a calendar (in the ''Codex Ambrosianus A''), glosses found in a number of manuscripts and a few [[Gothic runic inscriptions|runic inscriptions]] (between three and 13) that are known or suspected to be Gothic: some scholars believe that these inscriptions are not at all Gothic.<ref>Braune/Ebbinghaus, ''Gotische Grammatik'', Tübingen 1981</ref> [[Wolfgang Krause|Krause]] thought that several names in an Indian inscription were possibly Gothic.<ref>{{cite book|last1= Krause|first1= Wolfgang|title= Handbuch des Gotischen|publisher= Niemeyer}}</ref> Reports of the discovery of other parts of Ulfilas' Bible have not been substantiated. Heinrich May in 1968 claimed to have found in England twelve leaves of a palimpsest containing parts of the [[Gospel of Matthew]]. Only fragments of the Gothic translation of the Bible have been preserved. The translation was apparently done in the Balkans region by people in close contact with Greek Christian culture. The Gothic Bible apparently was used by the [[Visigoths]] in southern France until the [[Battle of Vouillé|loss of Visigothic France]] at the start of the 6th century,<ref>Carla Falluomini, "Traces of Wulfila's Bible Translation in Visigothic Gaul", ''Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik'' 80 (2020) pp. 5–24.</ref> in Visigothic [[Iberian peninsula|Iberia]] until about 700, and perhaps for a time in Italy, the Balkans, and Ukraine until at least the mid-9th century. During the extermination of [[Arianism]], Trinitarian Christians probably overwrote many texts in Gothic as palimpsests, or alternatively collected and burned Gothic documents. Apart from biblical texts, the only substantial Gothic document that still exists – and the only lengthy text known to have been composed originally in the Gothic language – is the ''Skeireins'', a few pages of commentary on the [[Gospel of John]].{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} Very few medieval secondary sources make reference to the Gothic language after about 800. In ''De incrementis ecclesiae Christianae'' (840–842), [[Walafrid Strabo]], a Frankish monk who lived in [[Swabia]], writes of a group of monks who reported that even then certain peoples in [[Scythia]] ([[Dobruja]]), especially around [[Constanța|Tomis]], spoke a ''sermo Theotiscus'' ('Germanic language'), the language of the Gothic translation of the Bible, and that they used such a liturgy.<ref> Alice L. Harting-Correa, "Walahfrid Strabo's libellus de exordiis et incrementis quarundam in observationibus ecclesiasticis rerum. A translation and liturgical commentary", Leiden-New York-Köln: Brill, 1996 ({{ISBN|90 04 09669 8}}), pp. 72–73. Discussion between W. Haubrichs and S. Barnish in D. H. Green (2007), "Linguistic and Literary Traces of the Ostrogoths", ''The Ostrogoths from the Migration Period to the Sixth Century: An Ethnographic Perspective'', Sam J. Barnish and Federico Marazzi, eds., part of ''Studies in Historical Archaeoethnology'', Volume 7, Giorgio Ausenda, series ed. (Oxford: Boydell Press, {{ISBN|978-1-84383-074-0}}.), p. 409 and n1. </ref> Many writers of the medieval texts that mention the [[Goths]] used the word ''Goths'' to mean any Germanic people in eastern Europe (such as the [[Varangians]]), many of whom certainly did not use the Gothic language as known from the Gothic Bible. Some writers even referred to [[Slavic languages|Slavic]]-speaking people as "Goths". However, it is clear from Ulfilas' translation that – despite some puzzles – the Gothic language belongs with the Germanic language-group, not with Slavic. Generally, the term "Gothic language" refers to the language of [[Ulfilas]], but the attestations themselves date largely from the 6th century, long after Ulfilas had died.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} ==Alphabet and transliteration== {{Main|Gothic alphabet}} {{Cleanup lang|date=June 2022}} A few [[Gothic runic inscriptions]] were found across Europe, but due to early Christianization of the Goths, the Runic writing was quickly replaced by the newly invented Gothic alphabet. Ulfilas's Gothic, as well as that of the ''Skeireins'' and various other manuscripts, was written using an alphabet that was most likely invented by Ulfilas himself for his translation. Some scholars (such as Braune) claim that it was derived from the [[Greek alphabet]] only while others maintain that there are some Gothic letters of [[Runic]] or [[Latin]] origin. A standardized system is used for transliterating Gothic words into the [[Latin script]]. The system mirrors the conventions of the native alphabet, such as writing long {{IPA|/iː/}} as ''ei''. The Goths used their equivalents of ''e'' and ''o'' alone only for long higher vowels, using the digraphs ''ai'' and ''au'' (much as in [[French orthography|French]]) for the corresponding short or lower vowels. There are two variant spelling systems: a "raw" one that directly transliterates the original Gothic script and a "normalized" one that adds [[diacritic]]s ([[Macron (diacritic)|macron]]s and [[acute accent]]s) to certain vowels to clarify the pronunciation or, in certain cases, to indicate the [[Proto-Germanic]] origin of the vowel in question. The latter system is usually used in the academic literature. The following table shows the correspondence between spelling and sound for vowels: {|class="wikitable" ! Gothic letter<br />or [[digraph (orthography)|digraph]] ! Roman<br />equivalent ! "Normalised"<br />transliteration ! Sound ! Normal environment of occurrence <br />(in native words) ! Paradigmatically alternating sound<br />in other environments ! Proto-Germanic origin |- | rowspan="2" | {{lang|got|𐌰}} | rowspan="2" | ''a'' | ''a'' | {{IPA|/a/}} | Everywhere | — | {{IPA|/ɑ/}} |- | ''ā'' | {{IPA|/aː/}} | Before {{IPA|/h/}}, {{IPA|/hʷ/}} | Does not occur | {{IPA|/ãː/}} (before {{IPA|/h/}}) |- | rowspan="3" | {{lang|got|𐌰𐌹}} | rowspan="3" | ''ai'' | ''aí'' | {{IPA|/ɛ/}} | Before {{IPA|/h/}}, {{IPA|/hʷ/}}, {{IPA|/r/}} | ''i'' {{IPA|/i/}} | {{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/i/}} |- | ''ai'' | {{IPA|/ɛː/}} | Before vowels | ''ē'' {{IPA|/eː/}} | {{IPA|/ɛː/}}, {{IPA|/eː/}} |- | ''ái'' | {{IPA|/ɛː/}} | Not before vowels | ''aj'' {{IPA|/aj/}} | {{IPA|/ɑi/}} |- | rowspan="3" | {{lang|got|𐌰𐌿}} | rowspan="3" | ''au'' | ''aú'' | {{IPA|/ɔ/}} | Before {{IPA|/h/}}, {{IPA|/hʷ/}}, {{IPA|/r/}} | ''u'' {{IPA|/u/}} | {{IPA|/u/}} |- | ''au'' | {{IPA|/ɔː/}} | Before vowels | ''ō'' {{IPA|/oː/}} | {{IPA|/ɔː/}} |- | ''áu'' | {{IPA|/ɔː/}} | Not before vowels | ''aw'' {{IPA|/aw/}} | {{IPA|/ɑu/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌴}} | ''e'' | ''ē'' | {{IPA|/eː/}} | Not before vowels | ''ai'' {{IPA|/ɛː/}} | {{IPA|/ɛː/}}, {{IPA|/eː/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌴𐌹}} | ''ei'' | ''ei'' | {{IPA|/iː/}} | Everywhere | — | {{IPA|/iː/}}; {{IPA|/ĩː/}} (before {{IPA|/h/}}) |- | {{lang|got|𐌹}} | ''i'' | ''i'' | {{IPA|/i/}} | Everywhere except before {{IPA|/h/}}, {{IPA|/hʷ/}}, {{IPA|/r/}} | ''aí'' {{IPA|/ɛ/}} | {{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/i/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌹𐌿}} | ''iu'' | ''iu'' | {{IPA|/iu/}} | Not before vowels | ''iw'' {{IPA|/iw/}} | {{IPA|/eu/}} (and its allophone {{IPA|[iu]}}) |- | {{lang|got|𐍉}} | ''o'' | ''ō'' | {{IPA|/oː/}} | Not before vowels | ''au'' {{IPA|/ɔː/}} | {{IPA|/ɔː/}} |- | rowspan="2" | {{lang|got|𐌿}} | rowspan="2" | ''u'' | ''u'' | {{IPA|/u/}} | Everywhere except before {{IPA|/h/}}, {{IPA|/hʷ/}}, {{IPA|/r/}} | ''aú'' {{IPA|/ɔ/}} | {{IPA|/u/}} |- | ''ū'' | {{IPA|/uː/}} | Everywhere | — | {{IPA|/uː/}}; {{IPA|/ũː/}} (before {{IPA|/h/}}) |} Notes: * This "normalised transliteration" system devised by [[Jacob Grimm]] is used in some modern editions of Gothic texts and in studies of [[Proto-Germanic language|Common Germanic]]. It signals distinctions not made by Ulfilas in his alphabet. Rather, they reflect various origins in Proto-Germanic. Thus, ** <big>''aí''</big> is used for the sound derived from the Proto-Germanic short vowels ''e'' and ''i'' before {{IPA|/h/}} and {{IPA|/r/}}. ** <big>''ái''</big> is used for the sound derived from the Proto-Germanic [[diphthong]] ''ai''. Some scholars have considered this sound to have remained as a diphthong in Gothic. However, Ulfilas was highly consistent in other spelling inventions, which makes it unlikely that he assigned two different sounds to the same digraph. Furthermore, he consistently used the digraph to represent Greek {{lang|grc|αι}}, which was then certainly a [[monophthong]]. A monophthongal value is accepted by [[Eduard Prokosch]] in his influential ''A Common Germanic Grammar''.<ref name="Prokosch">Prokosch p. 105</ref> It had earlier been accepted by [[Joseph Wright (linguist)|Joseph Wright]] but only in an appendix to his ''Grammar of the Gothic Language''.<ref name="Wright">Wright (1910 edition) p. 362</ref> ** <big>''ai''</big> is used for the sound derived from the Common Germanic long vowel ''ē'' before a vowel. ** <big>''áu''</big> is used for the sound derived from Common Germanic diphthong ''au''. It cannot be related to a Greek digraph, since {{lang|grc|αυ}} then represented a sequence of a vowel and a spirant ([[fricative consonant|fricative]]) consonant, which Ulfilas transcribed as ''aw'' in representing Greek words. Nevertheless, the argument based on simplicity is accepted by some influential scholars.<ref name="Prokosch"/><ref name="Wright"/> *The "normal environment of occurrence" refers to native words. In foreign words, these environments are often greatly disturbed. For example, the short sounds {{IPA|/ɛ/}} and {{IPA|/i/}} alternate in native words in a nearly [[Allophone|allophonic]] way, with {{IPA|/ɛ/}} occurring in native words only before the consonants {{IPA|/h/}}, {{IPA|/hʷ/}}, {{IPA|/r/}} while {{IPA|/i/}} occurs everywhere else (nevertheless, there are a few exceptions such as {{IPA|/i/}} before {{IPA|/r/}} in ''hiri'', {{IPA|/ɛ/}} consistently in the [[reduplication|reduplicating]] syllable of certain past-tense verbs regardless of the following consonant, which indicate that these sounds had become phonemicized). In foreign borrowings, however, {{IPA|/ɛ/}} and {{IPA|/i/}} occur freely in all environments, reflecting the corresponding vowel quality in the source language. *Paradigmatic alterations can occur either intra-paradigm (between two different forms within a specific [[Linguistic paradigm|paradigm]]) or cross-paradigm (between the same form in two different paradigms of the same class). Examples of intra-paradigm alternation are {{lang|got-Latn|gawi}} {{IPA|/ɡa.wi/}} "district ({{abbr|nom.|nominative}})" vs. {{lang|got-Latn|gáujis}} {{IPA|/ɡɔː.jis/}} "district ({{abbr|gen.|genitive}})"; {{lang|got-Latn|mawi}} {{IPA|/ma.wi/}} "maiden ({{abbr|nom.|nominative}})" vs. {{lang|got-Latn|máujōs}} {{IPA|/mɔː.joːs/}} "maiden ({{abbr|gen.|genitive}})"; {{lang|got-Latn|þiwi}} {{IPA|/θi.wi/}} "maiden ({{abbr|nom.|nominative}})" vs. {{lang|got-Latn|þiujōs}} {{IPA|/θiu.joːs/}} "maiden ({{abbr|gen.|genitive}})"; {{lang|got-Latn|taui}} {{IPA|/tɔː.i/}} "deed ({{abbr|nom.|nominative}})" vs. {{lang|got-Latn|tōjis}} {{IPA|/toː.jis/}} "deed ({{abbr|gen.|genitive}})"; {{lang|got-Latn|náus}} {{IPA|/nɔːs/}} "corpse ({{abbr|nom.|nominative}})" vs. {{lang|got-Latn|naweis}} {{IPA|/na.wiːs/}} "corpses ({{abbr|nom.|nominative}})"; {{lang|got-Latn|triu}} {{IPA|/triu/}}?? "tree ({{abbr|nom.|nominative}})" vs. {{lang|got-Latn|triwis}} {{IPA|/tri.wis/}} "tree ({{abbr|gen.|genitive}})"; {{lang|got-Latn|táujan}} {{IPA|/tɔː.jan/}} "to do" vs. {{lang|got-Latn|tawida}} {{IPA|/ta.wi.ða/}} "I/he did"; {{lang|got-Latn|stōjan}} {{IPA|/stoː.jan/}} "to judge" vs. {{lang|got-Latn|stauida}} {{IPA|/stɔː.i.ða/}} "I/he judged". Examples of cross-paradigm alternation are Class IV verbs {{lang|got-Latn|qiman}} {{IPA|/kʷiman/}} "to come" vs. {{lang|got-Latn|baíran}} {{IPA|/bɛran/}} "to carry, to bear", {{lang|got-Latn|qumans}} {{IPA|/kʷumans/}} "(having) come" vs. {{lang|got-Latn|baúrans}} {{IPA|/bɔrans/}} "(having) carried"; Class VIIb verbs {{lang|got-Latn|lētan}} {{IPA|/leː.tan/}} "to let" vs. {{lang|got-Latn|saian}} {{IPA|/sɛː.an/}} "to sow" (note similar preterites {{lang|got-Latn|laílōt}} {{IPA|/lɛ.loːt/}} "I/he let", {{lang|got-Latn|saísō}} {{IPA|/sɛ.soː/}} "I/he sowed"). A combination of intra- and cross-paradigm alternation occurs in Class V {{lang|got-Latn|sniwan}} {{IPA|/sni.wan/}} "to hasten" vs. {{lang|got-Latn|snáu}} {{IPA|/snɔː/}} "I/he hastened" (expected *''snaw'', compare {{lang|got-Latn|qiman}} "to come", {{lang|got-Latn|qam}} "I/he came"). *The carefully maintained alternations between ''iu'' and ''iw'' suggest that ''iu'' may have been something other than {{IPA|/iu/}}. Various possibilities have been suggested (for example, high central or high back unrounded vowels, such as {{IPA|[ɨ] [ʉ] [ɯ]}}); under these theories, the spelling of ''iu'' is derived from the fact that the sound alternates with ''iw'' before a vowel, based on the similar alternations ''au'' and ''aw''. The most common theory, however, simply posits {{IPA|/iu/}} as the pronunciation of ''iu''. *Macrons represent long ''ā'' and ''ū'' (however, long i appears as ''ei'', following the representation used in the native alphabet). Macrons are often also used in the case of ''ē'' and ''ō''; however, they are sometimes omitted since these vowels are always long. Long ''ā'' occurs only before the consonants {{IPA|/h/}}, {{IPA|/hʷ/}} and represents [[Proto-Germanic]] nasalized {{IPA|/ãː(h)/}} < earlier {{IPA|/aŋ(h)/}}; non-nasal {{IPA|/aː/}} did not occur in Proto-Germanic. It is possible that the Gothic vowel still preserved the nasalization, or else that the nasalization was lost but the length distinction kept, as has happened with [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] {{lang|lt|ą}}. Non-nasal {{IPA|/iː/}} and {{IPA|/uː/}} occurred in Proto-Germanic, however, and so long ''ei'' and ''ū'' occur in all contexts. Before {{IPA|/h/}} and {{IPA|/hʷ/}}, long ''ei'' and ''ū'' could stem from either non-nasal or nasal long vowels in Proto-Germanic; it is possible that the nasalization was still preserved in Gothic but not written. The following table shows the correspondence between spelling and sound for consonants: {|class="wikitable" ! Gothic Letter !! Roman !! Sound (phoneme) !! Sound (allophone) !! Environment of occurrence !! Paradigmatically alternating sound, in other environments !! Proto-Germanic origin |- | rowspan=2 | {{lang|got|𐌱}} || rowspan=2|''b'' || rowspan=2|{{IPAslink|b}} || {{IPAblink|b}} || Word-initially; after a consonant || – || rowspan=2|{{IPA|/b/}} |- | {{IPAblink|β}} || After a vowel, before a voiced sound || {{IPA|/ɸ/}} (after a vowel, before an unvoiced sound) |- | rowspan=2 | {{lang|got|𐌳}} || rowspan=2|''d'' || rowspan=2|{{IPAslink|d}} || {{IPAblink|d}} || Word-initially; after a consonant || – || rowspan=2|{{IPA|/d/}} |- | {{IPAblink|ð}} || After a vowel, before a voiced sound || {{IPA|/θ/}} (after a vowel, before an unvoiced sound) |- | {{lang|got|𐍆}} || ''f'' || {{IPAslink|ɸ}} || {{IPAblink|ɸ}} || Everywhere except before a voiced consonant || {{IPA|/b/}} {{IPA|[β]}} || {{IPA|/ɸ/}}; {{IPA|/b/}} |- | rowspan=5 | {{lang|got|𐌲}} || rowspan=4|''g'' || rowspan=3|{{IPAslink|ɡ}} || {{IPAblink|ɡ}} || Word-initially; after a consonant || – || rowspan=3|{{IPA|/g/}} |- | {{IPAblink|ɣ}} || After a vowel, before a voiced sound || {{IPA|/ɡ/}} {{IPA|[x]}} (after a vowel, not before a voiced sound) |- | {{IPAblink|x}} || After a vowel, not before a voiced sound || {{IPA|/ɡ/}} {{IPA|[ɣ]}} (after a vowel, before a voiced sound) |- | {{IPAslink|n}} || {{IPAblink|ŋ}} || Before ''k'' {{IPA|/k/}}, ''g'' {{IPA|/ɡ/ [ɡ]}}, ''gw'' {{IPA|/ɡʷ/}}<br/>(such usage influenced by [[Greek language|Greek]], compare [[gamma (letter)|gamma]]) || – || {{IPA|/n/}} |- | ''gw'' || {{IPAslink|ɡʷ}} || {{IPAblink|ɡʷ}} || After ''g'' {{IPA|/n/}} {{IPA|[ŋ]}} || – || {{IPA|/ɡʷ/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌷}} || ''h'' || {{IPAslink|h}} || {{IPAblink|h}} || Everywhere except before a voiced consonant || {{IPA|/ɡ/}} {{IPA|[ɣ]}} || {{IPA|/x/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐍈}} || ''[[hwair|ƕ]]'' || {{IPAslink|ʍ|hʷ}} || {{IPAblink|ʍ|hʷ}} || Everywhere except before a voiced consonant || – || {{IPA|/xʷ/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌾}} || ''j'' || {{IPAslink|j}} || {{IPAblink|j}} || Everywhere || – || {{IPA|/j/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌺}} || ''k'' || {{IPAslink|k}} || {{IPAblink|k}} || Everywhere except before a voiced consonant || – || {{IPA|/k/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌻}} || ''l'' || {{IPAslink|l}} || {{IPAblink|l}} || Everywhere || – || {{IPA|/l/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌼}} || ''m'' || {{IPAslink|m}} || {{IPAblink|m}} || Everywhere || – || {{IPA|/m/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌽}} || ''n'' || {{IPAslink|n}} || {{IPAblink|n}} || Everywhere || – || {{IPA|/n/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐍀}} || ''p'' || {{IPAslink|p}} || {{IPAblink|p}} || Everywhere except before a voiced consonant || – || {{IPA|/p/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌵}} || ''q'' || {{IPAslink|kʷ}} || {{IPAblink|kʷ}} || Everywhere except before a voiced consonant || – || {{IPA|/kʷ/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐍂}} || ''r'' || {{IPAslink|r}} || {{IPAblink|r}} || Everywhere || – || {{IPA|/r/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐍃}} || ''s'' || {{IPAslink|s}} || {{IPAblink|s}} || Everywhere except before a voiced consonant || {{IPA|/z/}} || {{IPA|/s/}}; {{IPA|/z/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐍄}} || ''t'' || {{IPAslink|t}} || {{IPAblink|t}} || Everywhere except before a voiced consonant || – || {{IPA|/t/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌸}} || ''þ'' || {{IPAslink|θ}} || {{IPAblink|θ}} || Everywhere except before a voiced consonant || {{IPA|/d/}} {{IPA|[ð]}} || {{IPA|/θ/}}; {{IPA|/d/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐍅}} || ''w'' || {{IPAslink|w}} || {{IPAblink|w}} || Everywhere || – || {{IPA|/w/}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌶}} || ''z'' || {{IPAslink|z}} || {{IPAblink|z}} || After a vowel, before a voiced sound || {{IPA|/s/}} || {{IPA|/z/}} |} *{{IPA|/hʷ/}}, which is written with a single character in the native alphabet, is transliterated using the symbol ''[[hwair|ƕ]]'', which is used only in transliterating Gothic. *{{IPA|/kʷ/}} is similarly written with a single character in the native alphabet and is transliterated ''q'' (with no following ''u''). *{{IPA|/ɡʷ/}}, however, is written with two letters in the native alphabet and hence {{lang|got|𐌲𐍅}} (''gw''). The lack of a single letter to represent this sound may result from its restricted distribution (only after {{IPA|/n/}}) and its rarity. *{{IPA|/θ/}} is written ''þ'', similarly to other Germanic languages. *Although {{IPA|[ŋ]}} is the [[allophone]] of {{IPA|/n/}} occurring before {{IPA|/ɡ/}} and {{IPA|/k/}}, it is written ''g'', following the native alphabet convention (which, in turn, follows Greek usage), which leads to occasional ambiguities, e.g. {{lang|got-Latn|saggws}} {{IPA|[saŋɡʷs]}} "song" but {{lang|got-Latn|triggws}} {{IPA|[triɡɡʷs]}} "faithful" (compare English "true"). ==Phonology== It is possible to determine more or less exactly how the Gothic of Ulfilas was pronounced, primarily through comparative phonetic reconstruction. Furthermore, because Ulfilas tried to follow the original Greek text as much as possible in his translation, it is known that he used the same writing conventions as those of contemporary Greek. Since the Greek of that period is well documented, it is possible to reconstruct much of Gothic pronunciation from translated texts. In addition, the way in which non-Greek names are transcribed in the Greek Bible and in Ulfilas's Bible is very informative. ===Vowels=== {| | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" |+ Short vowels |- ! ! [[Front vowel|Front]] ! [[Back vowel|Back]] |- ! [[Close vowel|Close]] | {{IPA|i (y)}} | {{IPA|u}} |- ! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]] | | |- ! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]] | {{IPA|ɛ}} | {{IPA|ɔ}} |- ! [[Open vowel|Open]] | colspan="2" | {{IPA|a}} |} | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" |+ Long vowels |- ! ! [[Front vowel|Front]] ! [[Back vowel|Back]] |- ! [[Close vowel|Close]] | {{IPA|iː}} | {{IPA|uː}} |- ! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]] | {{IPA|eː}} | {{IPA|oː}} |- ! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]] | {{IPA|ɛː}} | {{IPA|ɔː}} |- ! [[Open vowel|Open]] | colspan="2" | {{IPA|aː}} |} |} * {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/u/}} can be either long or short.<ref>See also {{Cite book |author-link=Fausto Cercignani |first=Fausto |last=Cercignani |chapter=The Development of the Gothic Vocalic System |title=Germanic Dialects: Linguistic and Philological Investigations |editor1-first=Bela |editor1-last=Brogyanyi |editor2-first=Thomas |editor2-last=Krömmelbein |location=Amsterdam and Philadelphia |publisher=Benjamins |year=1986 |pages=121–151 |isbn=90-272-3526-0 }}</ref> Gothic writing distinguishes between long and short vowels only for {{IPA|/i/}} by writing ''i'' for the short form and ''ei'' for the long (a [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]] or ''false diphthong''), in an imitation of Greek usage (ει = {{IPA|/iː/}}). Single vowels are sometimes long where a historically present [[nasal stop|nasal consonant]] has been dropped in front of an {{IPA|/h/}} (a case of [[compensatory lengthening]]). Thus, the preterite of the verb ''briggan'' {{IPA|[briŋɡan]}} "to bring" (English ''bring'', Dutch ''brengen'', German ''bringen'') becomes ''brahta'' {{IPA|[braːxta]}} (English ''brought'', Dutch ''bracht'', German ''brachte''), from [[Proto-Germanic]] *''branhtē''. In detailed [[transliteration]], when the intent is more [[phonetic transcription]], length is noted by a macron (or failing that, often a [[circumflex]]): ''brāhta'', ''brâhta''. This is the only context in which {{IPA|/aː/}} appears natively whereas {{IPA|/uː/}}, like {{IPA|/iː/}}, is found often enough in other contexts: ''brūks'' "useful" (Dutch ''gebruik'', German ''Gebrauch'', Icelandic ''brúk'' "use"). * {{IPA|/eː/}} and {{IPA|/oː/}} are long [[close-mid vowel]]s. They are written as ''e'' and ''o'': ''neƕ'' {{IPA|[neːʍ]}} "near" (English ''nigh'', Dutch ''nader'', German ''nah''); ''fodjan'' {{IPA|[foːdjan]}} "to feed". * {{IPA|/ɛ/}} and {{IPA|/ɔ/}} are short [[open-mid vowel]]s.<ref>For the Gothic short vowels see also {{Cite journal |first=Fausto |last=Cercignani |title=The Development of the Gothic Short/Lax Subsystem |journal=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung |volume=93 |issue=2 |year=1979 |pages=272–278 }}</ref> They are noted using the digraphs ''ai'' and ''au'': ''taihun'' {{IPA|[tɛhun]}} "ten" (Dutch ''tien'', German ''zehn'', Icelandic ''tíu''), ''dauhtar'' {{IPA|[dɔxtar]}} "daughter" (Dutch ''dochter'', German ''Tochter'', Icelandic ''dóttir''). In transliterating Gothic, accents are placed on the second vowel of these digraphs ''aí'' and ''aú'' to distinguish them from the original diphthongs ''ái'' and ''áu'': ''taíhun'', ''daúhtar''. In most cases short {{IPA|[ɛ]}} and {{IPA|[ɔ]}} are allophones of {{IPA|/i, u/}} before {{IPA|/r, h, ʍ/}}.<ref>But see {{Cite journal |first=Fausto |last=Cercignani |title=The Enfants Terribles of Gothic "Breaking": hiri, aiþþau, etc. |journal=The Journal of Indo-European Studies |volume=12 |issue=3–4 |year=1984 |pages=315–344 }}</ref> Furthermore, the reduplication syllable of the reduplicating preterites has ''ai'' as well, which was probably pronounced as a short {{IPA|[ɛ]}}.<ref>See also {{Cite journal |first=Fausto |last=Cercignani |title=The Reduplicating Syllable and Internal Open Juncture in Gothic |journal=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung |volume=93 |issue=1 |year=1979 |pages=126–132 }}</ref> Finally, short {{IPA|[ɛ]}} and {{IPA|[ɔ]}} occur in loan words from Greek and Latin (''aípiskaúpus'' {{IPA|[ɛpiskɔpus]}} = {{lang|grc|ἐπίσκοπος}} "bishop", ''laíktjo'' {{IPA|[lɛktjoː]}} = ''lectio'' "lection", ''Paúntius'' {{IPA|[pɔntius]}} = ''Pontius''). * The Germanic diphthongs {{IPA|/ai/}} and {{IPA|/au/}} appear as digraphs written {{angle bracket|ai}} and {{angle bracket|au}} in Gothic. Researchers have disagreed over whether they were still pronounced as diphthongs {{IPA|/ai̯/}} and {{IPA|/au̯/}} in Ulfilas's time (4th century) or had become long open-mid vowels: {{IPA|/ɛː/}} and {{IPA|/ɔː/}}: ''ains'' {{IPA|[ains] / [ɛːns]}} "one" (German ''eins'', Icelandic ''einn''), ''augo'' {{IPA|[auɣoː] / [ɔːɣoː]}} "eye" (German ''Auge'', Icelandic ''auga''). It is most likely that the latter view is correct, as it is indisputable that the digraphs {{angle bracket|ai}} and {{angle bracket|au}} represent the sounds {{IPA|/ɛː/}} and {{IPA|/ɔː/}} in some circumstances (see below), and {{angle bracket|aj}} and {{angle bracket|aw}} were available to unambiguously represent the sounds {{IPA|/ai̯/}} and {{IPA|/au̯/}}. The digraph {{angle bracket|aw}} is in fact used to represent {{IPA|/au/}} in foreign words (such as ''Pawlus'' "Paul"), and alternations between {{angle bracket|ai}}/{{angle bracket|aj}} and {{angle bracket|au}}/{{angle bracket|aw}} are scrupulously maintained in paradigms where both variants occur (e.g. ''taujan'' "to do" vs. past tense ''tawida'' "did"). Evidence from transcriptions of Gothic names into Latin suggests that the sound change had occurred very recently when Gothic spelling was standardized: Gothic names with Germanic ''au'' are rendered with ''au'' in Latin until the 4th century and ''o'' later on (''Austrogoti'' > ''Ostrogoti''). The digraphs {{angle bracket|ai}} and {{angle bracket|au}} are normally written with an accent on the first vowel (''ái, áu'') when they correspond to Proto-Germanic {{IPA|/ai̯/}} and {{IPA|/au̯/}}. * Long {{IPA|[ɛː]}} and {{IPA|[ɔː]}} also occur as allophones of {{IPA|/eː/}} and {{IPA|/uː, oː/}} respectively before a following vowel: ''waian'' {{IPA|[wɛːan]}} "to blow" (Dutch ''waaien'', German ''wehen''), ''bauan'' {{IPA|[bɔːan]}} "to build" (Dutch ''bouwen'', German ''bauen'', Icelandic ''búa'' "to live, reside"), also in Greek words ''Trauada'' "Troad" (Gk. {{lang|grc|Τρῳάς}}). In detailed transcription these are notated ''ai, au''. * {{IPA|/y/}} (pronounced like German ''ü'' and French ''u'') is a Greek sound used only in borrowed words. It is transliterated as ''w'' (as it uses the same letter that otherwise denoted the consonant {{IPA|/w/}}): ''azwmus'' {{IPA|[azymus]}} "unleavened bread" ( < Gk. {{lang|grc|ἄζυμος}}). It represents an υ (y) or the diphthong οι (oi), both of which were pronounced {{IPA|[y]}} in the Greek of the time. Since the sound was foreign to Gothic, it was perhaps pronounced {{IPA|[i]}}. * {{IPA|/iu/}} is usually reconstructed as a falling diphthong ({{IPA|[iu̯]}}: ''diups'' {{IPA|[diu̯ps]}} "deep" (Dutch ''diep'', German ''tief'', Icelandic ''djúpur''), though this has been disputed (see [[#Alphabet and transliteration|alphabet and transliteration]] section above). * Greek diphthongs: In Ulfilas's era, all the diphthongs of Classical Greek had become simple vowels in speech (''[[monophthong]]ization''), except for αυ (au) and ευ (eu), which were probably pronounced {{IPA|[aβ]}} and {{IPA|[ɛβ]}} (they evolved into {{IPA|[av~af]}} and {{IPA|[ev~ef]}} in [[Modern Greek]].) Ulfilas notes them, in words borrowed from Greek, as ''aw'' and ''aiw'', probably pronounced {{IPA|[au̯, ɛu̯]}}: ''Pawlus'' {{IPA|[pau̯lus]}} "Paul" (Gk. {{lang|grc|Παῦλος}}), ''aíwaggelista'' {{IPA|[ɛwaŋɡeːlista]}} "evangelist" (Gk. {{lang|grc|εὐαγγελιστής}}, via the Latin ''evangelista''). * All vowels (including diphthongs) can be followed by a {{IPA|[w]}}, which was likely pronounced as the second element of a diphthong with roughly the sound of {{IPA|[u̯]}}. It seems likely that this is more of an instance of phonetic juxtaposition than of true diphthongs (such as, for example, the sound {{IPA|/aj/}} in the French word ''paille'' ("straw"), which is not the diphthong {{IPA|/ai̯/}} but rather a vowel followed by an [[approximant]]): ''alew'' {{IPA|[aleːw]}} "olive oil" ( < Latin ''oleum''), ''snáiws'' {{IPA|[snɛːws]}} ("snow"), ''lasiws'' {{IPA|[lasiws]}} "tired" (English ''lazy''). ===Consonants=== {|class="wikitable" style=text-align:center |- ! !colspan=2|[[Labial consonant|Labial]] !colspan=2|[[Dental consonant|Dental]] !colspan=2|[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] !colspan=2|[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] !colspan=2|[[Velar consonant|Velar]] !colspan=2|[[Labialized velar consonant|Labiovelar]] ![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]] |- ![[Nasal consonant|Nasal]] |colspan=2|''m'' {{IPA|[[/m/]]}} |colspan=2| |colspan=2|''n'' {{IPA|[[/n/]]}} |colspan=2| |colspan=2|''g, n'' {{IPA|[[/ŋ/]]}} |colspan=2| | |- ![[Stop consonant|Stop]] | ''p'' {{IPA|[[/p/]]}} | ''b'' {{IPA|[[/b/]]}} |colspan=2| | ''t'' {{IPA|[[/t/]]}} | ''d'' {{IPA|[[/d/]]}} |colspan=2| ''ddj'' {{IPA|/ɟː/}}?{{citation needed|date=August 2023|reason=See talk page.}} | ''k'' {{IPA|[[/k/]]}} | ''g'' {{IPA|[[/ɡ/]]}} | ''q'' {{IPA|[[kʷ|/kʷ/]]}} | ''gw'' {{IPA|[[ɡʷ|/ɡʷ/]]}} | |- ![[Fricative consonant|Fricative]] | ''f'' {{IPA|[[/ɸ/]]}} | ''b'' {{IPA|[[/β/]]}} | ''þ'' {{IPA|[[/θ/]]}} | ''d'' {{IPA|[[/ð/]]}} | ''s'' {{IPA|[[Voiceless alveolar sibilant|/s/]]}} | ''z'' {{IPA|[[/z/]]}} |colspan=2| | ''g, h'' {{IPA|[[Voiceless velar fricative|/x/]]}} | ''g'' {{IPA|[[/ɣ/]]}} |colspan=2| | ''h'' {{IPA|[[/h/]]}} |- ![[Approximant consonant|Approximant]] |colspan=2| |colspan=2| |colspan=2|''l'' {{IPA|[[/l/]]}} |colspan=2|''j'' {{IPA|[[/j/]]}} |colspan=2| | ''ƕ'' {{IPA|[[/ʍ/]]}} | ''w'' {{IPA|[[/w/]]}} | |- ![[Trill consonant|Trill]] |colspan=2| |colspan=2| |colspan=2|''r'' {{IPA|[[Voiced dental, alveolar and postalveolar trills|/r/]]}} |colspan=2| |colspan=2| |colspan=2| | |} In general, Gothic consonants are [[final devoicing|devoiced]] at the ends of words. Gothic is rich in fricative consonants (although many of them may have been [[approximant]]s; it is hard to separate the two) derived by the processes described in [[Grimm's law]] and [[Verner's law]] and characteristic of [[Germanic languages]]. Gothic is unusual among Germanic languages in having a {{IPA|/z/}} phoneme, which has not become {{IPA|/r/}} through rhotacization. Furthermore, the doubling of written consonants between vowels suggests that Gothic made distinctions between long and short, or [[gemination|geminated]] consonants: ''atta'' {{IPA|[atːa]}} "dad", ''kunnan'' {{IPA|[kunːan]}} "to know" (Dutch ''kennen'', German ''kennen'' "to know", Icelandic ''kunna''). ====Stops==== * The voiceless stops {{IPA|/p/}}, {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/k/}} are regularly noted by ''p'', ''t'' and ''k'' respectively: ''paska'' {{IPA|[paska]}} "Easter" (from the Greek {{lang|grc|πάσχα}}), ''tuggo'' {{IPA|[tuŋɡoː]}} "tongue", ''kalbo'' {{IPA|[kalboː]}} "calf". * The letter ''q'' is probably a [[labialized voiceless velar plosive|voiceless labiovelar stop]], {{IPA|/kʷ/}}, comparable to the Latin ''qu'': ''qiman'' {{IPA|[kʷiman]}} "to come". In later Germanic languages, this phoneme has become either a [[consonant cluster]] {{IPA|/kw/}} of a [[voiceless velar stop]] + a [[labio-velar approximant]] (English ''qu'') or a simple voiceless velar stop {{IPA|/k/}} (English ''c, k'') * The voiced stops {{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/d/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} are noted by the letters ''b'', ''d'' and ''g''. Like the other Germanic languages, they occurred in word-initial position, when doubled and after a nasal. In addition, they apparently occurred after other consonants,: ''arbi'' {{IPA|[arbi]}} "inheritance", ''huzd'' {{IPA|[huzd]}} "treasure". (This conclusion is based on their behavior at the end of a word, in which they do not change into voiceless fricatives, unlike when they occur after a vowel.) * There was probably also a [[voiced velar plosive|voiced labiovelar stop]], {{IPA|/ɡʷ/}}, which was written with the digraph ''gw''. It occurred after a nasal, e.g. ''saggws'' {{IPA|[saŋɡʷs]}} "song", or long as a regular outcome of Germanic *''ww'': ''triggws'' {{IPA|[triɡʷːs]}} "faithful" (English ''true'', German ''treu'', Icelandic ''tryggur''). The existence of a long [ɡʷː] separate from [ŋɡʷ], however, is not universally accepted.<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Magnús |last=Snædal |title=Gothic <ggw> |journal=Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis |volume=128 |year=2011 |pages=145–154 |doi=10.2478/v10148-011-0019-z |url=https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/634550.pdf}}</ref> * Similarly, the letters ''ddj'', which is the regular outcome of Germanic *''jj'', may represent a voiced palatal stop, {{IPA|/ɟː/}}:{{citation needed|date=August 2023}} ''waddjus'' {{IPA|[waɟːus]}} "wall" (Icelandic ''veggur''), ''twaddje'' {{IPA|[twaɟːeː]}} "two (genitive)" (Icelandic ''tveggja'').{{citation needed|date=August 2023}} ====Fricatives==== * {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/z/}} are usually written ''s'' and ''z''. The latter corresponds to Germanic *''z'' (which has become ''r'' or silent in the other Germanic languages); at the end of a word, it is regularly devoiced to ''s''. E.g. ''saíhs'' {{IPA|[sɛhs]}} "six", ''máiza'' {{IPA|[mɛːza]}} "greater" (English ''more'', Dutch ''meer'', German ''mehr'', Icelandic ''meira'') versus ''máis'' {{IPA|[mɛːs]}} "more, rather". * {{IPA|/ɸ/}} and {{IPA|/θ/}}, written ''f'' and ''þ'', are voiceless bilabial and voiceless dental fricatives respectively. It is likely that the relatively unstable sound {{IPA|/ɸ/}} became {{IPA|/f/}}. ''f'' and ''þ'' are also derived from ''b'' and ''d'' at the ends of words and then are devoiced and become fricatives: ''gif'' {{IPA|[ɡiɸ]}} "give (imperative)" (infinitive ''giban'': German ''geben''), ''miþ'' {{IPA|[miθ]}} "with" ([[Old English language|Old English]] ''mid'', [[Old Norse]] ''með'', Dutch ''met'', German ''mit''). The cluster {{IPA|/ɸl/}} became {{IPA|/θl/}} in some words but not others: ''þlauhs'' "flight" from Germanic ''*flugiz''; ''þliuhan'' "flee" from Germanic ''*fleuhaną'' (but see ''flōdus'' "river", ''flahta'' "braid"). This sound change is unique among Germanic languages.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} * {{IPA|/h/}} is written as ''h'': ''haban'' "to have". It was probably pronounced {{IPA|[h]}} in word-final position and before a consonant as well (not {{IPA|[x]}}, since {{IPA|/ɡ/}} > {{IPA|[x]}} is written ''g'', not ''h''): ''jah'' {{IPA|[jah]}} "and" (Dutch, German, Scandinavian ''ja'' "yes"). * {{IPA|[x]}} is an allophone of {{IPA|/ɡ/}} at the end of a word or before a voiceless consonant; it is always written ''g'': ''dags'' {{IPA|[daxs]}} "day" (German ''Tag''). In some borrowed Greek words is the special letter ''x'', which represents the Greek letter χ (''ch''): ''Xristus'' {{IPA|[xristus]}} "Christ" (Gk. {{lang|grc|Χριστός}}). * {{IPA|[β]}}, {{IPA|[ð]}} and {{IPA|[ɣ]}} are voiced fricative found only in between vowels. They are [[allophones]] of {{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/d/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} and are not distinguished from them in writing. {{IPA|[β]}} may have become {{IPA|/v/}}, a more stable labiodental form. In the study of Germanic languages, these phonemes are usually transcribed as ''ƀ'', ''đ'' and ''ǥ'' respectively: ''haban'' {{IPA|[haβan]}} "to have", ''þiuda'' {{IPA|[θiu̯ða]}} "people" (Dutch ''Diets'', German ''Deutsch'', Icelandic ''þjóð'' > English ''Dutch''), ''áugo'' {{IPA|[ɔːɣoː]}} "eye" (English ''eye'', Dutch ''oog'', German ''Auge'', Icelandic ''auga''). When occurring after a vowel at the end of a word or before a voiceless consonant, these sounds become unvoiced {{IPA|[ɸ]}}, {{IPA|[θ]}} and {{IPA|[x]}}, e.g. ''hláifs'' {{IPA|[hlɛːɸs]}} "loaf" but genitive ''hláibis'' {{IPA|[hlɛːβis]}} "of a loaf", plural ''hláibōs'' {{IPA|[hlɛːβoːs]}} "loaves". * ''ƕ'' (also transcribed ''hw'') is the labiovelar equivalent of {{IPA|/x/}}, derived from Proto-Indo-European *kʷ. It was probably pronounced {{IPA|[ʍ]}} (a voiceless {{IPA|[w]}}), as ''wh'' is pronounced in certain dialects of English and in Scots: ''ƕan'' {{IPA|/ʍan/}} "when", ''ƕar'' {{IPA|/ʍar/}} "where", ''ƕeits'' {{IPA|[ʍiːts]}} "white". ====Sonorants==== Gothic has three nasal consonants, one of which is an allophone of the others, all found only in [[complementary distribution]] with them. Nasals in Gothic, like most other languages, are pronounced at the same [[point of articulation]] as the consonant that follows them ([[assimilation (linguistics)|assimilation]]). Therefore, clusters like {{IPA|[md]}} and {{IPA|[nb]}} are not possible. * {{IPA|/n/}} and {{IPA|/m/}} are freely distributed and so can be found in any position in a syllable and form [[minimal pair]]s except in certain contexts where they are neutralized: {{IPA|/n/}} before a [[bilabial consonant]] becomes {{IPA|[m]}}, while {{IPA|/m/}} preceding a [[Dental consonant|dental stop]] becomes {{IPA|[n]}}, as per the principle of assimilation described in the previous paragraph. In front of a [[velar consonant|velar stop]], they both become {{IPA|[ŋ]}}. {{IPA|/n/}} and {{IPA|/m/}} are transcribed as ''n'' and ''m'', and, in writing, neutralisation is marked: ''sniumundo'' {{IPA|/sniu̯mundoː/}} ("quickly"). * {{IPA|[ŋ]}} is not a phoneme and cannot appear freely in Gothic. It is present where a nasal consonant is neutralised before a velar stop and is in a complementary distribution with {{IPA|/n/}} and {{IPA|/m/}}. Following Greek conventions, it is normally written as ''g'' (sometimes ''n''): ''þagkjan'' {{IPA|[θaŋkjan]}} "to think", ''sigqan'' {{IPA|[siŋkʷan]}} "to sink" ~ ''þankeiþ'' {{IPA|[θaŋkiːθ]}} "thinks". The cluster ''ggw'' sometimes denotes {{IPA|[ŋɡʷ]}}, but sometimes {{IPA|[ɡʷː]}} (see above). * {{IPA|/w/}} is transliterated as ''w'' before a vowel: ''weis'' {{IPA|[wiːs]}} ("we"), ''twái'' {{IPA|[twai]}} "two" (German ''zwei''). * {{IPA|/j/}} is written as ''j'': ''jer'' {{IPA|[jeːr]}} "year", ''sakjo'' {{IPA|[sakjoː]}} "strife". * {{IPA|/l/}} and {{IPA|/r/}} occur as in other European languages: ''laggs'' (possibly {{IPA|[laŋɡs]}}, {{IPA|[laŋks]}} or {{IPA|[laŋɡz]}}) "long", ''mel'' {{IPA|[meːl]}} "hour" (English ''meal'', Dutch ''maal'', German ''Mahl'', Icelandic ''mál''). The exact pronunciation of {{IPA|/r/}} is unknown, but it is usually assumed to be a [[Trill consonant|trill]] {{IPA|[r]}} or a [[Flap consonant|flap]] {{IPA|[ɾ]}}): ''raíhts'' {{IPA|[rɛxts]}} "right", ''afar'' {{IPA|[afar]}} "after". * {{IPA|/l/}}, {{IPA|/m/}}, {{IPA|/n/}} and {{IPA|/r/}} may occur either between two other consonants of lower sonority or word-finally after a consonant of lower sonority. It is probable that the sounds are pronounced partly or completely as [[syllabic consonant]]s in such circumstances (as in English "bottle" or "bottom"): ''tagl'' {{IPA|[taɣl̩]}} or {{IPA|[taɣl]}} "hair" (English ''tail'', Icelandic ''tagl''), ''máiþms'' {{IPA|[mɛːθm̩s]}} or {{IPA|[mɛːθms]}} "gift", ''táikns'' {{IPA|[tɛːkn̩s]}} or {{IPA|[tɛːkns]}} "sign" (English ''token'', Dutch ''teken'', German ''Zeichen'', Icelandic ''tákn'') and ''tagr'' {{IPA|[taɣr̩]}} or {{IPA|[taɣr]}} "tear (as in crying)". ===Accentuation and intonation=== Accentuation in Gothic can be reconstructed through phonetic comparison, [[Grimm's law]], and [[Verner's law]]. Gothic used a [[stress accent]] rather than the [[pitch accent]] of [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]. This is indicated by the shortening of long vowels {{IPA|[eː]}} and {{IPA|[oː]}} and the loss of short vowels {{IPA|[a]}} and {{IPA|[i]}} in unstressed final syllables. Just as in other Germanic languages, the free moving [[Proto-Indo-European accent]] was replaced with one fixed on the first syllable of simple words. Accents do not shift when words are inflected. In most compound words, the location of the stress depends on the type of compound: * In compounds in which the second word is a ''noun'', the accent is on the first syllable of the first word of the compound. * In compounds in which the second word is a ''verb'', the accent falls on the first syllable of the verbal component. Elements prefixed to verbs are otherwise unstressed except in the context of separable words (words that can be broken in two parts and separated in regular usage such as [[separable verb]]s in German and Dutch). In those cases, the prefix is stressed. For example, with comparable words from modern Germanic languages: * Non-compound words: ''marka'' {{IPA|[ˈmarka]}} "border, borderlands" (English ''march'', Dutch ''mark''); ''aftra'' {{IPA|[ˈaɸtra]}} "after"; ''bidjan'' {{IPA|[ˈbiðjan]}} "pray" (Dutch, ''bidden'', German ''bitten'', Icelandic ''biðja'', English ''bid''). * Compound words: ** Noun first element: ''guda-láus'' {{IPA|[ˈɡuðalɔːs]}} "godless". ** Verb second element: ''ga-láubjan'' {{IPA|[ɡaˈlɔːβjan]}} "believe" (Dutch ''geloven'', German ''glauben'' < [[Old High German]] ''g(i)louben'' by [[syncope (phonetics)|syncope]] of the unaccented ''i''). ==Grammar== ===Morphology=== ====Nouns and adjectives==== {{Main|Gothic declension}} Gothic preserves many archaic Indo-European features that are not always present in modern Germanic languages, in particular the rich Indo-European [[declension]] system. Gothic had [[nominative]], [[accusative]], [[genitive]] and [[dative case]]s, as well as vestiges of a [[vocative case]] that was sometimes identical to the nominative and sometimes to the accusative. The three [[grammatical gender|genders]] of Indo-European were all present. Nouns and adjectives were inflected according to one of two [[grammatical number]]s: the singular and the plural. Nouns can be divided into numerous declensions according to the form of the stem: ''a'', ''ō'', ''i'', ''u'', ''an'', ''ōn'', ''ein'', ''r'', etc. Adjectives have two variants, ''indefinite'' and ''definite'' (sometimes ''indeterminate'' and ''determinate''), with definite adjectives normally used in combination with the definite [[determiner (linguistics)|determiner]]s (such as the [[definite article]] ''sa''/''þata''/''sō'') while indefinite adjectives are used in other circumstances.,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ratkus |first1=Artūras |title=Weak adjectives need not be definite |journal=Indogermanische Forschungen |date=1 August 2018 |volume=123 |issue=1 |pages=27–64 |doi=10.1515/if-2018-0002|s2cid=172125588 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ratkus |first1=Artūras |title=This is not the same: the ambiguity of a Gothic adjective |journal=Folia Linguistica Historica |date=25 October 2018 |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=475–494 |doi=10.1515/flih-2018-0017|s2cid=150114192 }}</ref> Indefinite adjectives generally use a combination of ''a''-stem and ''ō''-stem endings, and definite adjectives use a combination of ''an''-stem and ''ōn''-stem endings. The concept of "strong" and "weak" declensions that is prevalent in the grammar of many other [[Germanic languages]] is less significant in Gothic because of its conservative nature: the so-called "weak" declensions (those ending in ''n'') are, in fact, no weaker in Gothic (in terms of having fewer endings) than the "strong" declensions (those ending in a vowel), and the "strong" declensions do not form a coherent class that can be clearly distinguished from the "weak" declensions. Although descriptive adjectives in Gothic (as well as superlatives ending in ''-ist'' and ''-ost'') and the [[past participle]] may take both definite and indefinite forms, some adjectival words are restricted to one variant. Some pronouns take only definite forms: for example, ''sama'' (English "same"), adjectives like ''unƕeila'' ("constantly", from the root ''ƕeila'', "time"; compare to the English "while"), comparative adjective and [[present participle]]s. Others, such as ''áins'' ("some"), take only the indefinite forms. The table below displays the declension of the Gothic adjective ''blind'' (English: "blind"), compared with the ''an''-stem noun ''guma'' "man, human" and the ''a''-stem noun ''dags'' "day": {| class="wikitable" |- ! rowspan="3" | Number ! rowspan="3" | Case ! colspan="5" | Definite/''an''-stem ! colspan="5" | Indefinite/''a''-stem |- ! rowspan="2" | Noun ! colspan="4" | Adjective ! rowspan="2" | Noun ! colspan="4" | Adjective |- ! style="height:58px;"| root ! {{abbr|masc.|masculine}} ! {{abbr|neut.|neuter}} ! {{abbr|fem.|feminine}} ! root ! {{abbr|masc.|masculine}} ! {{abbr|neut.|neuter}} ! {{abbr|fem.|feminine}} |- ! rowspan="4" | Singular | ''{{abbr|nom.|nominative}}'' || guma | rowspan="8" style="text-align:right; vertical-align:middle;" | blind- | -a || colspan="2" | -o || dags | rowspan="8" style="text-align:right; vertical-align:middle;" | blind- | -s || rowspan="2" | — / -ata || rowspan="2" | -a |- | ''{{abbr|acc.|accusative}}'' || guman || -an || -o || rowspan="2" | -on | dag || -ana |- | ''{{abbr|dat.|dative}}'' || gumin || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -in|| daga | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| -amma || -ái |- | ''{{abbr|gen.|genitive}}'' || gumins || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -ins | rowspan="3" | -ons || dagis | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| -is || áizos |- ! rowspan="4" | Plural | ''{{abbr|nom.|nominative}}'' || rowspan="2" | gumans | rowspan="2" | -ans || rowspan="2" | -ona || dagos | -ái || rowspan="2" | -a || rowspan="2" | -os |- | ''{{abbr|acc.|accusative}}'' | dagans || -ans |- | ''{{abbr|dat.|dative}}'' || gumam || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -am | -om || dagam | colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | -áim |- | ''{{abbr|gen.|genitive}}'' || gumane || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -ane | -ono || dage || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -áize | -áizo |} This table is, of course, not exhaustive. (There are secondary inflexions of various sorts not described here.) An exhaustive table of only the ''types'' of endings that Gothic took is presented below. * '''vowel declensions''': ** roots ending in ''-a'', ''-ja'', ''-wa'' (masculine and neuter): equivalent to the Greek and Latin second declension in ''‑us'' / ''‑ī'' and ‑ος / ‑ου; ** roots ending in ''-ō'', ''-jō'' and ''-wō'' (feminine): equivalent to the Greek and Latin first declension in ''‑a'' / ''‑ae'' and ‑α / ‑ας (‑η / ‑ης); ** roots ending in ''-i'' (masculine and feminine): equivalent to the Greek and Latin third declension in ''‑is'' / ''‑is'' ({{abbr|abl.|ablative}} {{abbr|sg.|singular}} ''‑ī'', {{abbr|gen.|genitive}} {{abbr|pl.|plural}} ''-ium'') and ‑ις / ‑εως; ** roots ending in ''-u'' (all three genders): equivalent to the Latin fourth declension in ''‑us'' / ''‑ūs'' and the Greek third declension in ‑υς / ‑εως; * '''''n''-stem declensions''', equivalent to the Greek and Latin third declension in ''‑ō'' / ''‑inis/ōnis'' and ‑ων / ‑ονος or ‑ην / ‑ενος: ** roots ending in ''-an'', ''-jan'', ''-wan'' (masculine); ** roots ending in ''-ōn'' and ''-ein'' (feminine); ** roots ending in ''-n'' (neuter): equivalent to the Greek and Latin third declension in ''‑men'' / ''‑minis'' and ‑μα / ‑ματος; * '''minor declensions''': roots ending in ''-r'', ''-nd'' and vestigial endings in other consonants, equivalent to other third declensions in Greek and Latin. Gothic adjectives follow noun declensions closely; they take same types of inflection. ====Pronouns==== {{Main|Gothic declension#Pronouns|l1=Gothic declension: Pronouns}} Gothic inherited the full set of Indo-European pronouns: [[personal pronoun]]s (including [[reflexive pronoun]]s for each of the three [[grammatical person]]s), [[possessive pronoun]]s, both simple and compound [[demonstrative pronoun|demonstratives]], [[relative pronoun]]s, [[interrogative pronoun|interrogatives]] and [[indefinite pronoun]]s. Each follows a particular pattern of inflection (partially mirroring the noun declension), much like other Indo-European languages. One particularly noteworthy characteristic is the preservation of the [[dual grammatical number|dual number]], referring to two people or things; the plural was used only for quantities greater than two. Thus, "the two of us" and "we" for numbers greater than two were expressed as ''wit'' and ''weis'' respectively. While proto-Indo-European used the dual for all grammatical categories that took a number (as did Classical Greek and [[Sanskrit]]), most Old Germanic languages are unusual in that they preserved it only for pronouns. Gothic preserves an older system with dual marking on both pronouns and verbs (but not nouns or adjectives). The simple demonstrative pronoun ''sa'' (neuter: ''þata'', feminine: ''so'', from the Indo-European root ''*so'', ''*seh<sub>2</sub>'', ''*tod''; cognate to the Greek article ὁ, ἡ, τό and the Latin ''is'''tud''''') can be used as an article, allowing constructions of the type ''definite article + weak adjective + noun''. The interrogative pronouns begin with ''ƕ-'', which derives from the proto-Indo-European consonant ''*kʷ'' that was present at the beginning of all interrogatives in proto-Indo-European, cognate with the ''wh-'' at the beginning of many English interrogative, which, as in Gothic, are pronounced with {{IPA|[ʍ]}} in some dialects. The same etymology is present in the interrogatives of many other Indo-European languages: ''w-'' {{IPA|[v]}} in [[German language|German]], ''hv-'' in [[Danish language|Danish]], the Latin ''qu-'' (which persists in modern [[Romance languages]]), the Greek τ- or π-, the [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] and [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indic]] ''k-'' as well as many others. ====Verbs==== {{Main|Gothic verbs}} The bulk of Gothic verbs follow the type of Indo-European conjugation called '[[thematic stem|thematic]]' because they insert a vowel derived from the reconstructed proto-Indo-European phonemes ''*e'' or ''*o'' between roots and inflexional suffixes. The pattern is also present in Greek and Latin: *Latin – ''leg-i-mus'' ("we read"): root ''leg-'' + thematic vowel ''-i-'' (from ''*o'') + suffix ''-mus''. *Greek – λύ-ο-μεν ("we untie"): root λυ- + thematic vowel -ο- + suffix -μεν. *Gothic – ''nim-a-m'' ("we take"): root ''nim-'' + thematic vowel ''-a-'' (from ''*o'') + suffix ''-m''. The other conjugation, called '[[athematic]]', in which suffixes are added directly to roots, exists only in unproductive vestigial forms in Gothic, just like in Greek and Latin. The most important such instance is [[Indo-European copula|the verb "to be"]], which is athematic in Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, and many other Indo-European languages. Gothic verbs are, like nouns and adjectives, divided into strong verbs and weak verbs. Weak verbs are characterised by [[preterite]]s formed by appending the suffixes ''-da'' or ''-ta'', parallel to past participles formed with ''-þ'' / ''-t''. Strong verbs form preterites by [[Indo-European ablaut|ablaut]] (the alternating of vowels in their root forms) or by [[reduplication]] (prefixing the root with the first consonant in the root plus ''aí'') but without adding a suffix in either case. This parallels the Greek and Sanskrit [[perfect (grammar)|perfects]]. The dichotomy is still present in modern Germanic languages: * weak verbs ("to have"): ** Gothic: ''haban'', preterite: ''habái'''da''''', past participle: ''habái'''þ'''s''; ** English: ''(to) have'', preterite: ''ha'''d''''', past participle: ''ha'''d'''''; ** German: ''haben'', preterite: ''hat'''te''''', past participle: ''gehab'''t'''''; ** Icelandic: ''hafa'', preterite: ''haf'''ði''''', past participle: ''haf'''t'''''; ** Dutch: ''hebben'', preterite: ''ha'''d''''', past participle: ''geha'''d'''''; ** Swedish: ''ha(va)'', preterite: ''ha'''d'''e'', supine: ''haf'''t'''''; * strong verbs ("to give"): ** Gothic: infinitive: ''g'''i'''ban'', preterite: ''g'''a'''f''; ** English: infinitive: ''(to) g'''i'''ve'', preterite: ''g'''a'''ve''; ** German: infinitive: ''g'''e'''ben'', preterite: ''g'''a'''b''; ** Icelandic: infinitive: ''g'''e'''fa'', preterite: ''g'''a'''f''; ** Dutch: infinitive: ''g'''e'''ven'', preterite: ''g'''a'''f''; ** Swedish: infinitive: ''g'''i'''va'' (''ge''), preterite: ''g'''a'''v''. Verbal conjugation in Gothic have two [[grammatical voice]]s: the active and the medial; three numbers: singular, dual (except in the third person) and plural; two tenses: present and preterite (derived from a former perfect); three [[grammatical mood]]s: [[indicative mood|indicative]], [[subjunctive mood|subjunctive]] (from an old [[optative mood|optative]] form) and [[imperative mood|imperative]] as well as three kinds of nominal forms: a present [[infinitive]], a present [[participle]], and a past [[passive voice|passive]]. Not all tenses and persons are represented in all moods and voices, as some conjugations use [[auxiliary verb|auxiliary forms]]. Finally, there are forms called 'preterite-present': the old Indo-European perfect was reinterpreted as present tense. The Gothic word ''wáit'', from the proto-Indo-European ''*woid-h<sub>2</sub>e'' ("to see" in the perfect), corresponds exactly to its Sanskrit cognate ''véda'' and in Greek to ϝοἶδα. Both etymologically should mean "I have seen" (in the perfect sense) but mean "I know" (in the preterite-present meaning). Latin follows the same rule with ''nōuī'' ("I have learned" and "I know"). The preterite-present verbs include ''áigan'' ("to possess") and ''kunnan'' ("to know") among others. ===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> ==Comparison to other Germanic languages== For the most part, Gothic is known to be significantly closer to Proto-Germanic than any other Germanic language{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}} except for that of the (scantily attested) [[Proto-Norse|Ancient Nordic]] runic inscriptions, which has made it invaluable in the reconstruction of Proto-Germanic{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}. In fact, Gothic tends to serve as the primary foundation for reconstructing Proto-Germanic{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}. The reconstructed Proto-Germanic conflicts with Gothic only when there is clearly identifiable evidence from other branches that the Gothic form is a secondary development.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}} ===Distinctive features=== Gothic fails to display a number of innovations shared by all Germanic languages attested later: * lack of [[Germanic umlaut]], * lack of [[Rhotacism (sound change)|rhotacism]]. The language also preserved many features that were mostly lost in other early Germanic languages: * dual inflections on verbs, * morphological passive voice for verbs, * reduplication in the past tense of Class VII strong verbs, * clitic conjunctions that appear in second position of a sentence in accordance with [[Wackernagel's Law]], splitting verbs from pre-verbs. ====Lack of umlaut==== Most conspicuously, Gothic shows no sign of morphological umlaut. Gothic {{lang|got-Latn|fotus}}, {{abbr|pl.|plural}} {{lang|got-Latn|fotjus}}, can be contrasted with English ''foot'' : ''feet'', German {{lang|de|Fuß}} : {{lang|de|Füße}}, Old Norse {{lang|non|fótr}} : {{lang|non|fœtr}}, Danish {{lang|da|fod}} : {{lang|da|fødder}}. These forms contain the characteristic change {{IPA|/u/}} > {{IPA|/iː/}} (English), {{IPA|/uː/}} > {{IPA|/yː/}} (German), {{IPA|/oː/}} > {{IPA|/øː/}} (ON and Danish) due to i-umlaut; the Gothic form shows no such change. ====Lack of rhotacism==== Proto-Germanic ''*z'' remains in Gothic as ''z'' or is devoiced to ''s''. In North and West Germanic, ''*z'' changes to ''r'' by [[Rhotacism (sound change)#Germanic languages|rhotacism]]: * Gothic {{lang|got-Latn|dius}}, [[genitive case|{{abbr|gen.|genitive}}]] {{abbr|sg.|singular}} {{lang|got-Latn|diuzis}} ≠ * Old English {{lang|ang|dēor}}, {{abbr|gen.|genitive}} {{abbr|sg.|singular}} {{lang|ang|dēores}} "wild animal" (Modern English ''deer''). ====Passive voice==== Gothic retains a morphological passive voice inherited from Indo-European but unattested in all other Germanic languages except for the single fossilised form preserved in, for example, Old English ''hātte'' or Runic Norse ({{circa|400}}) ''haitē'' "am called", derived from Proto-Germanic ''*haitaną'' "to call, command". (The related verbs ''heißen'' in modern German and ''heten'' in Dutch are both derived from the active voice of this verb but have the passive meaning "to be called" alongside the dated active meaning "to command".) The morphological passive in North Germanic languages (Swedish ''gör'' "does", ''görs'' "is being done") originates from the [[Old Norse]] [[Old Norse morphology#Suffixes and clitics|middle voice]], which is an innovation not inherited from Indo-European. ====Dual number==== Unlike other Germanic languages, which retained dual numbering only in some pronoun forms, Gothic has dual forms both in pronouns and in verbs. Dual verb forms exist only in the first and second person and only in the active voice; in all other cases, the corresponding plural forms are used. In pronouns, Gothic has first and second person dual pronouns: Gothic and Old English ''wit'', Old Norse ''vit'' "we two" (thought to have been in fact derived from ''*wi-du'' literally "we two"). ====Reduplication==== Gothic possesses a number of verbs which form their preterite by reduplication, another archaic feature inherited from Indo-European. While traces of this category survived elsewhere in Germanic, the phenomenon is largely obscured in these other languages by later sound changes and analogy. In the following examples the infinitive is compared to the third person singular preterite indicative: * Gothic ''saian'' "to sow" : '''''sai'''so'' * Old Norse ''sá'' : '''''se'''ri'' < Proto-Germanic *'''''se'''zō'' * Gothic ''laikan'' "to play" : ''lailaik'' * Old English ''lācan'' : '''''leo'''lc'', ''lēc'' ===Classification=== The standard theory of the origin of the Germanic languages divides the languages into three groups: [[East Germanic languages|East Germanic]] (Gothic and a few other very scantily-attested languages), [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]] ([[Old Norse language|Old Norse]] and its derivatives, such as [[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], and [[Faroese language|Faroese]]) and [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]] (all others, including [[Old English]], [[Old High German]], [[Old Saxon]], [[Old Dutch]], [[Old Frisian]] and the numerous modern languages derived from these, including [[English language|English]], [[German language|German]], and [[Dutch language|Dutch]]). Sometimes, a further grouping, that of the [[Northwest Germanic]] languages, is posited as containing the North Germanic and West Germanic languages, reflecting the hypothesis that Gothic was the first attested language to branch off. A minority opinion (the so-called '''Gotho-Nordic''' hypothesis) instead groups North Germanic and [[East Germanic languages|East Germanic]] together. It is based partly on historical claims: for example, [[Jordanes]], writing in the 6th century, ascribes to the Goths a Scandinavian origin. There are a few linguistically significant areas in which Gothic and Old Norse agree against the West Germanic languages. Perhaps the most obvious is the evolution of the [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] *''-jj-'' and *''-ww-'' into Gothic ''ddj'' (from Pre-Gothic ''ggj''?) and ''ggw'', and Old Norse ''ggj'' and ''ggv'' ("[[Holtzmann's Law]]"), in contrast to West Germanic where they remained as semivowels. Compare Modern English ''true'', German ''treu'', with Gothic ''triggws'', Old Norse ''tryggr''. However, it has been suggested that these are, in fact, two separate and unrelated changes.<ref>{{Cite book |first=J. B. |last=Voyles |title=Early Germanic Grammar |year=1992 |location=San Diego |publisher=Academic Press |pages=25–26 |isbn=0-12-728270-X}} </ref> A number of other posited similarities exist (for example, the existence of numerous inchoative verbs ending in -''na'', such as Gothic ''ga-waknan'', Old Norse ''vakna''; and the absence of gemination before ''j'', or (in the case of old Norse) only ''g'' geminated before ''j'', e.g. Proto-Germanic *''kunją'' > Gothic ''kuni'' (kin), Old Norse ''kyn'', but Old English ''cynn'', Old High German ''kunni''). However, for the most part these represent [[Comparative method#Terminology|shared retentions]], which are not valid means of grouping languages. That is, if a parent language splits into three daughters A, B and C, and C innovates in a particular area but A and B do not change, A and B will appear to agree against C. That shared retention in A and B is not necessarily indicative of any special relationship between the two. Similar claims of similarities between [[Old Gutnish]] (''Gutniska'') and [[Old Icelandic]] are also based on shared retentions rather than shared innovations. Another commonly-given example involves Gothic and Old Norse verbs with the ending ''-t'' in the 2nd person singular preterite indicative, and the West Germanic languages have ''-i''. The ending ''-t'' can regularly descend from the Proto-Indo-European perfect ending ''*-th₂e'', while the origin of the West Germanic ending ''-i'' (which, unlike the ''-t''-ending, unexpectedly combines with the zero-grade of the root as in the plural) is unclear, suggesting that it is an innovation of some kind, possibly an import from the optative. Another possibility is that this is an example of independent choices made from a doublet existing in the proto-language. That is, Proto-Germanic may have allowed either ''-t'' or ''-i'' to be used as the ending, either in [[free variation]] or perhaps depending on dialects within Proto-Germanic or the particular verb in question. Each of the three daughters independently standardized on one of the two endings and, by chance, Gothic and Old Norse ended up with the same ending. Other [[isogloss]]es have led scholars to propose an early split between East and [[Northwest Germanic]]. Furthermore, features shared by any two branches of Germanic do not necessarily require the postulation of a [[proto-language]] excluding the third, as the early [[Germanic languages]] were all part of a [[dialect continuum]] in the early stages of their development, and [[language contact|contact]] between the three branches of Germanic was extensive. Polish linguist [[Witold Mańczak]] argued that Gothic is closer to German (specifically [[Upper German]]) than to Scandinavian and suggested that their ancestral homeland was located in the southernmost part of the Germanic territories, close to present-day Austria, rather than in Scandinavia. [[Frederik Kortlandt]] has agreed with Mańczak's hypothesis, stating: "I think that his argument is correct and that it is time to abandon Iordanes' classic view that the Goths came from Scandinavia."{{sfn|Kortlandt|2001}} == Influence == The reconstructed [[Proto-Slavic]] language features several apparent [[Proto-Slavic borrowings|borrowed words]] from East Germanic (presumably Gothic), such as {{lang|sla-x-proto|*xlěbъ}}, "bread", vs. Gothic {{lang|got-Latn|hlaifs}}.<ref> {{cite journal | last1 = Holzer | first1 = Georg | author-link1 = Georg Holzer | title = Germanische Lehnwörter im Urslavischen: Methodologisches zu ihrer Identifizierung |trans-title= Germanic word-borrowings in proto-slavic: towards a methodology of their identiification | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LNthAAAAMAAJ | journal = Croatica, Slavica, Indoeuropaea | language = de | publisher = Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften | date = 1990 | volume = 8 | issue = Ergänzungsband | pages = 59–67 | isbn = 9783700117742 | access-date = 2014-01-07 }} </ref> The [[Romance languages]] also preserve several loanwords from Gothic, such as [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] {{lang|pt|agasalho}} (warm clothing), from Gothic {{lang|got|*𐌲𐌰𐍃𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰}} (*{{transliteration|got|gasalja}}, “companion, comrade”); {{lang|pt|ganso}} (goose), from Gothic {{lang|got|*𐌲𐌰𐌽𐍃}} ({{transliteration|got|*gans}}, "goose"); {{lang|pt|luva}} (glove), from Gothic {{lang|got|𐌻𐍉𐍆𐌰}} ({{transliteration|got|lōfa}}, “palm of the hand”); and {{lang|pt|trégua}} (truce), from Gothic {{lang|got|𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐌰}} ({{transliteration|got|triggwa}}, “treaty; covenant”). Other examples include the [[French language|French]] ''broder'' (to embroider), from Gothic *𐌱𐍂𐌿𐌶𐌳𐍉𐌽 (''*bruzdon'', "to embroider"); ''gaffe'' (gaffe), from Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍆𐌰𐌷 (''gafāh'', "catch; something which is caught"); and the Italian ''bega'' (quarrel, dispute), from Gothic *𐌱𐌴𐌲𐌰 (''*bēga'', "quarrel"). == Use in Romanticism and the Modern Age == ===J. R. R. Tolkien=== Several linguists have made use of Gothic as a creative language. The most famous example is "{{transliteration|got|[[Bagme Bloma]]}}" ("Flower of the Trees") by [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], part of ''[[Songs for the Philologists]]''. It was published privately in 1936 for Tolkien and his colleague [[E. V. Gordon]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shippey|first1=Tom|title=The road to Middle-earth: Revised and Expanded edition|year=2003|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|isbn=0-618-25760-8|pages=26}}</ref> Tolkien's use of Gothic is also known from a letter from 1965 to Zillah Sherring. When Sherring bought a copy of [[Thucydides]]' ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War]]'' in Salisbury, she found strange inscriptions in it; after she found his name in it, she wrote him a letter and asked him if the inscriptions were his, including the longest one on the back, which was in Gothic. In his reply to her he corrected some of the mistakes in the text; he wrote for example that {{transliteration|got|hundai}} should be {{transliteration|got|hunda}} and {{transliteration|got|þizo boko}} ("of those books"), which he suggested should be {{transliteration|got|þizos bokos}} ("of this book"). A semantic inaccuracy of the text which he mentioned himself is the use of {{transliteration|got|lisan}} for read, while this was {{transliteration|got|ussiggwan}}. Tolkien also made a [[calque]] of his own name in Gothic in the letter, which according to him should be {{transliteration|got|Ruginwaldus Dwalakoneis}}.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bellet|first1=Bertrand|last2=Babut|first2=Benjamin|title=Apostil to Thucydides|url=http://www.jrrvf.com/~glaemscrafu/english/thucydide.html|website=Glæmscrafu}}</ref> Gothic is also known to have served as the primary inspiration for Tolkien's [[invented language]], Taliska<ref>J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Comparative Tables", ''Parma Eldalamberon'' 19, p. 22</ref> which, in [[Tolkien's legendarium|his legendarium]], was the language spoken by the race of Men during the [[First Age]] before being displaced by another of his invented languages, [[Adûnaic]]. {{As of|2022|}}, Tolkien's Taliska grammar has not been published. ===Others=== On 10 February 1841, the {{lang|de|Bayerische Akademie für Wissenschaften}} published a reconstruction in Gothic of the Creed of [[Ulfilas]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Gelehrte Anzeigen |url=https://archive.org/details/GelehrteAnzeigen12/mode/2up |year=1841 |location=Munich |publisher=Bayerisch Akademie für Wissenschaften}}</ref> The Thorvaldsen museum also has an alliterative poem, "{{transliteration|got|Thunravalds Sunau}}", from 1841 by [[Hans Ferdinand Massmann|Massmann]], the first publisher of the Skeireins, written in the Gothic language. It was read at a great feast dedicated to Thorvaldsen in the Gesellschaft der Zwanglosen in [[Munich]] on July 15, 1841. This event is mentioned by [[Ludwig von Schorn]] in the magazine {{lang|de|Kunstblatt}} from the 19th of July, 1841.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Massmann|first1=Hans Ferdinand|title=Thunravalds Sunau|url=http://arkivet.thorvaldsensmuseum.dk/dokumenter/m32,nr.97|website=Thorvaldsen museum}}</ref> Massmann also translated the academic [[commercium song]] {{lang|la-x-medieval|[[Gaudeamus]]}} into Gothic in 1837.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/view/bsb10800718?page=2|title='Das gothische Gaudeamus' – Digitalisat | MDZ|website=www.digitale-sammlungen.de}}</ref> In 2012, professor Bjarne Simmelkjær Hansen of the [[University of Copenhagen]] published a translation into Gothic of {{lang|la|[[Adeste Fideles]]}} for [[Roots of Europe]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Simmelkjær Hansen|first1=Bjarne|title=qimandau triggwai|url=http://rootsofeurope.ku.dk/streaming/f2012/gotisk/Gotiske_sange.pdf|website=Roots of Europe|access-date=2016-09-29|archive-date=2017-10-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011141627/http://rootsofeurope.ku.dk/streaming/f2012/gotisk/Gotiske_sange.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> In {{lang|fr|Fleurs du Mal}}, an online magazine for art and literature, the poem {{lang|nl|Overvloed}} of Dutch poet Bert Bevers appeared in a Gothic translation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fleursdumal.nl/mag/bert-bevers-overvloed-translation-6|title = Fleurs du Mal Magazine » BERT BEVERS: OVERVLOED (TRANSLATION 6)}}</ref> ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'' has been translated into Gothic ({{transliteration|got|Balþos Gadedeis Aþalhaidais in Sildaleikalanda}}) by David Carlton in 2015 and is published by [[Michael Everson]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/mad-challenge-translating-alices-adventures-wonderland-180956017/|title = The Mad Challenge of Translating "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://evertype.com/books/alice-got.html|title = Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland – in Gothic}}</ref> == Examples == {|border="0" |+The [[Lord's Prayer]] in Gothic |- ! Gothic || Transliteration || Word-for-word translation || [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] transcription |- | {{lang|got|𐌰𐍄𐍄𐌰 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌰𐍂 𐌸𐌿 𐌹𐌽 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌼}} || {{lang|got-Latn|atta unsar þu in himinam}} || Father our, thou in heaven, || {{IPA|/ˈatːa ˈunsar θuː in ˈhiminam}} |- | {{lang|got|𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌹 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽}} || {{lang|got-Latn|weihnai namo þein}} || be holy name thy. || {{IPA|ˈwiːhnɛː ˈnamoː θiːn}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌵𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌹 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌹𐌽𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌿𐍃 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃}} || {{lang|got-Latn|qimai þiudinassus þeins}} || Come kingdom thy, || {{IPA|ˈkʷimɛː ˈθiu̯ðinasːus θiːns}} |- | {{lang|got|𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌹 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃}} || {{lang|got-Latn|wairþai wilja þeins}} || happen will thy, || {{IPA|ˈwɛrθɛː ˈwilja θiːns}} |- | {{lang|got|𐍃𐍅𐌴 𐌹𐌽 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐌰 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌰𐌽𐌰 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌹}} || {{lang|got-Latn|swe in himina jah ana airþai}} || as in heaven also on earth. || {{IPA|sweː in ˈhimina jah ana ˈɛrθɛː}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌽𐌰 𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌰 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌽 𐌲𐌹𐍆 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌼𐌰 𐌳𐌰𐌲𐌰}} || {{lang|got-Latn|hlaif unsarana þana sinteinan gif uns himma daga}} || Loaf our, the daily, give us this day, || {{IPA|hlɛːɸ ˈunsarana ˈθana ˈsinˌtiːnan ɡiɸ uns ˈhimːa ˈdaɣa}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌰𐍆𐌻𐌴𐍄 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌴𐌹 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌽𐍃 𐍃𐌹𐌾𐌰𐌹𐌼𐌰}} || {{lang|got-Latn|jah aflet uns þatei skulans sijaima}} || and forgive us, that debtors be, || {{IPA|jah aɸˈleːt uns ˈθatiː ˈskulans ˈsijɛːma}} |- | {{lang|got|𐍃𐍅𐌰𐍃𐍅𐌴 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 𐌰𐍆𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌼 𐌸𐌰𐌹𐌼 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌼 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌼}} || {{lang|got-Latn|swaswe jah weis afletam þaim skulam unsaraim}} || just as also we forgive those debtors our. || {{IPA|ˈswasweː jah ˈwiːs aɸˈleːtam θɛːm ˈskulam ˈunsarɛːm}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌽𐌹 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍃 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌹𐌽 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌿𐌱𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌹}} || {{lang|got-Latn|jah ni briggais uns in fraistubnjai}} || And not bring us in temptation, || {{IPA|jah ni ˈbriŋɡɛːs uns in ˈɸrɛːstuβnijɛː}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌰𐌺 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌴𐌹 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌰𐍆 𐌸𐌰𐌼𐌼𐌰 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌻𐌹𐌽}} || {{lang|got-Latn|ak lausei uns af þamma ubilin}} || but loose us from the evil. || {{IPA|ak ˈlɔːsiː uns aɸ ˈθamːa ˈuβilin}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌴 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰 𐌹𐍃𐍄 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌹 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃}} || {{lang|got-Latn|unte þeina ist þiudangardi jah mahts}} || For thine is kingdom and might || {{IPA|ˈunteː ˈθiːna ist ˈθiu̯ðanˌɡardi jah mahts}} |- | {{lang|got|𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍅𐌿𐌻𐌸𐌿𐍃 𐌹𐌽 𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌹𐌽𐍃}} || {{lang|got-Latn|jah wulþus in aiwins}} || and glory in eternity. || {{IPA|jah ˈwulθus in ˈɛːwins/}} |} ==See also== * [[Geats]] * [[Gutes]] * [[List of Germanic languages]] * [[Modern Gutnish]] * [[Name of the Goths]] * [[Old Gutnish]] * [[Thurneysen's law]] == References == {{reflist}} == Sources == * G. H. Balg: ''A Gothic grammar with selections for reading and a glossary''. New York: Westermann & Company, 1883 ([https://archive.org/details/gothicgrammarwi00braugoog/page/n9 archive.org]). * G. H. Balg: ''A comparative glossary of the Gothic language with especial reference to English and German''. New York: Westermann & Company, 1889 ([https://archive.org/details/comparativegloss00balguoft/page/n1 archive.org]). * {{cite book|last=Bennett|first=William Holmes|year=1980|title=An Introduction to the Gothic Language|location=New York|publisher=Modern Language Association of America}} * W. Braune and E. Ebbinghaus, ''Gotische Grammatik'', 17th edition 1966, Tübingen ** 20th edition, 2004. {{ISBN|3-484-10852-5}} (hbk), {{ISBN|3-484-10850-9}} (pbk) * [[Fausto Cercignani]], "The Development of the Gothic Short/Lax Subsystem", in ''Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung'', 93/2, 1979, pp. 272–278. * [[Fausto Cercignani]], "The Reduplicating Syllable and Internal Open Juncture in Gothic", in ''Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung'', 93/1, 1979, pp. 126–132. * [[Fausto Cercignani]], "The ''Enfants Terribles'' of Gothic 'Breaking': ''hiri, aiþþau'', etc.", in ''The Journal of Indo-European Studies'', 12/3–4, 1984, pp. 315–344. * [[Fausto Cercignani]], "The Development of the Gothic Vocalic System", in ''Germanic Dialects: Linguistic and Philological Investigations'', edited by Bela Brogyanyi and Thomas Krömmelbein, Amsterdam and Philadelphia, Benjamins, 1986, pp. 121–151. * N. Everett, "Literacy from Late Antiquity to the early Middle Ages, c. 300–800 AD", ''The Cambridge Handbook of Literacy'', ed. D. Olson and N. Torrance (Cambridge, 2009), pp. 362–385. * [[Carla Falluomini]], "Traces of Wulfila's Bible Translation in Visigothic Gaul", ''Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik'' 80 (2020) pp. 5–24. *{{cite journal |last1=Kortlandt |first1=Frederik |title=The origin of the Goths |journal=Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik |date=2001 |volume=55 |pages=21–25 |doi=10.1163/18756719-055-01-90000004 |url=https://kortlandt.nl/publications/art198e.pdf}} * W. Krause, ''Handbuch des Gotischen'', 3rd edition, 1968, Munich. * Thomas O. Lambdin, ''An Introduction to the Gothic Language'', Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2006, Eugene, Oregon. * {{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=D. Gary |title=The Oxford Gothic Grammar |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0198813590}} * F. Mossé, ''Manuel de la langue gotique'', Aubier Éditions Montaigne, 1942 * [[Eduard Prokosch|E Prokosch]], ''A Comparative Germanic Grammar'', 1939, The Linguistic Society of America for Yale University. * Irmengard Rauch, ''Gothic Language: Grammar, Genetic Provenance and Typology, Readings'', Peter Lang Publishing Inc; 2nd Revised edition, 2011 * C. Rowe, "The problematic Holtzmann’s Law in Germanic", ''Indogermanische Forschungen'', Bd. 108, 2003. 258–266. * {{cite book|last=Skeat|first=Walter William|author-link=Walter William Skeat|year=1868|title=A Moeso-Gothic glossary|url=https://archive.org/details/amoesogothicglo00skeagoog|location=London|publisher=Asher & Co.}} *{{cite book|last1=Stearns|first1=MacDonald|title=Crimean Gothic. Analysis and Etymology of the Corpus|date=1978|publisher=Anma Libri|location=Saratoga, California|isbn=0-915838-45-1}} * [[Wilhelm Streitberg]], ''Die gotische Bibel '', 4th edition, 1965, Heidelberg * [[Joseph Wright (linguist)|Joseph Wright]], ''[http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~kurisuto/germanic/goth_wright_about.html Grammar of the Gothic language]'', 2nd edition, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1966 ** 2nd edition, 1981 reprint by Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|0-19-811185-1}} ==External links== {{InterWiki|code=got}} {{wiktionarycat|type=Gothic language|category=Gothic language}} {{Wikibooks|Gothic}} {{wikisourcelang|la|Patrologia Latina Vol 18 Ulfilas|Patrologia Latina vol. 18}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050324024538/http://reimar.de/gotisch.html Gotisch im WWW] Portal for information on Gothic (in German) * [http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~kurisuto/germanic/aa_texts.html Germanic Lexicon Project] – early (Public Domain) editions of several of the references. * Texts: ** [http://wikisource.org/wiki/Die_gotische_Bibel The Gothic Bible in Latin alphabet] ** [http://wikisource.org/wiki/Gothic_Bible_in_Ulfilan_Gothic_Script The Gothic Bible in Ulfilan script (Unicode text) from Wikisource] ** [http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/texte2.htm#got Titus] has Streitberg's ''Gotische Bibel'' and Crimean Gothic material after Busbecq. ** [http://www.wulfila.be/ Wulfila Project] ** [http://www.gotica.de/skeireins/ Skeireins Project] A website with the Skeireins including translations in Latin, German, French, Swedish, English, Dutch, Greek, Italian and Icelandic. * [https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/gotol Gothic Online] by Todd B. Krause and Jonathan Slocum, free online lessons at the [https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/lrc Linguistics Research Center] at the [[University of Texas at Austin]] * [http://robert-pfeffer.net/gotica/englisch/index.html Gothic Readings] Video clips in Gothic language * [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=new100&morpho=0&basename=new100\ier\grm&limit=-1 Gothic basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database] * [http://www.gotica.de/bononiensia.html Gotica Bononiensa] A page with information about the discovered Bononiensa fragment from 2013 * [https://spw.uni-goettingen.de/projects/aig/lng-got.html glottothèque – Ancient Indo-European Grammars online], an online collection of introductory videos to Ancient Indo-European languages produced by the University of Göttingen {{Germanic languages}} {{Germanic peoples}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Gothic Language}} [[Category:Gothic language| ]] [[Category:East Germanic languages]] [[Category:Extinct languages of Europe]] [[Category:Extinct languages of Spain]] [[Category:Gothic writing]] [[Category:Languages attested from the 4th century]] [[Category:Languages of France]] [[Category:Languages of Italy]] [[Category:Languages of Poland]] [[Category:Languages of Portugal]] [[Category:Languages of Romania]] [[Category:Languages of Russia]] [[Category:Languages of Slovakia]] [[Category:Languages of the Czech Republic]] [[Category:Languages of Ukraine]] [[Category:Medieval languages]] Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Templates used on this page: Gothic language (edit) Template:Abbr (edit) Template:Angle bracket (edit) Template:As of (edit) Template:Authority control (edit) Template:Catalog lookup link (edit) Template:Circa (edit) Template:Citation needed (edit) Template:Cite book (edit) Template:Cite journal (edit) Template:Cite web (edit) Template:Cleanup lang (edit) Template:Contains special characters (edit) Template:DMCA (edit) Template:Fix (edit) Template:Germanic languages (edit) Template:Germanic peoples (edit) Template:Germanic tribes (750BC-1AD) (edit) Template:IPA (edit) Template:IPAblink (edit) Template:IPAslink (edit) Template:ISBN (edit) Template:Infobox language (edit) Template:InterWiki (edit) Template:Lang (edit) Template:Main (edit) Template:Main other (edit) Template:Reflist (edit) Template:Reflist/styles.css (edit) Template:Sc (edit) Template:Sfn (edit) Template:Short description (edit) Template:Transliteration (edit) Template:Trim (edit) Template:Wikibooks (edit) Template:Wikisourcelang (edit) Template:Wiktionarycat (edit) Template:Yesno (edit) Template:Yesno-no (edit) Template:Yesno-yes (edit) Module:Arguments (edit) Module:Catalog lookup link (edit) Module:Check for unknown parameters (edit) Module:Check isxn (edit) Module:Citation/CS1 (edit) Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (edit) Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (edit) Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (edit) Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (edit) Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (edit) Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (edit) Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (edit) Module:Footnotes (edit) Module:Footnotes/anchor id list (edit) Module:Footnotes/anchor id list/data (edit) Module:Footnotes/whitelist (edit) Module:Format link (edit) Module:Hatnote (edit) Module:Hatnote/styles.css (edit) Module:Hatnote list (edit) Module:Labelled list hatnote (edit) Module:String (edit) Module:Unsubst (edit) Module:Yesno (edit) Discuss this page