A Gothic Grammar With Selections For Reading and a Glossary

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The main object of this Gothic Grammar is to render service to academic instruction, as a basis for lectures and Gothic exercises; it is intended, at the same time, to afford the student sufficient aid in acquiring a practical knowledge of the Gothic language and thus enable him to follow more advantageously the lectures on historical and comparativ grammar. For this purpose the Gothic Fonology and Inflection ar, as far as possibl, set forth by themselves, without resorting to Comparativ Grammar for an explanation of the facts. Occasionally another Germanic dialect, as the Old High German, has rather been referd to. The linguistic elucidation is left to the lectures. To him, however, who lerns Gothic from this book, without any possibility of hearing lectures, wishing at the same time to gain profounder knowledge, there may be especially recommended the following helps: K. Brugmann's 'Grundriss der vergleichenden grammatik' and Fr. Kluge's 'Vorgeschichte der altgermanischen dialekte' (in Paul's 'Grundriss der germ. philologie', I, 300-406).

The references to literary works containd in the Grammar itself ar not intended to act as linguistic explanations, but refer to works and treatises which present much of profit concerning the establishment and conception of facts from a purely Gothic point of view; several references to Brugmann's 'Grundriss' ar perhaps the only exceptions.

The Reading Exercises ar intended to offer sufficient material for Gothic exercises; they giv students working independently of a teacher an opportunity to apply what they hav lernd from the Grammar. The beginner may be advized at first simply to read over the chapters on Fonology, but to giv more attention to those on Inflection (for the beginning without the notes) and then to commence reading a text. This exercise ought to be accumpanied by a more extended lerning of the Grammar, just as a thuro analysis of the text wil require a constant reference to the Grammar.

The Glossary contains not only the vocabulary of the Reading Exercises, but also all words occurring in the Grammar. The citations from the Inflection hav been givn in ful, those from the Fonology in every case where a word is not givn merely as an arbitrary chozen exampl. Thus the Glossary may at the same time serv as an Index to the Grammar.

Sinse its first appearance in 1880, this book has not undergone essential changes; the success seemd to me to garantee the appropriateness of the plan, so that also in the present edition I hav not complied with several wishes for a farther scope. I stil hold that an admixture of elements from Comparativ Filology would be opposed to the object of the book. The question could rather arize as to whether there ought not to be added any chapters on Word-Formation and Syntax as main parts to the Fonology and Inflection. However this also has been disregarded. Such points of word-formation as may promote the practical study of the Gothic language, wil be found interwoven in the Inflection; a systematic presentation of the Gothic alone does not seem to me to prove very beneficial, but only in connection with the other Germanic, resp. Indo-Germanic, languages. And particularly with respect to this, excellent assistance is afforded the student by Kluge's 'Nominale stammbildungslehre der altgermanischen dialekte' (cp. § 223) which has been amply referd to under Inflection, and which is easily accessibl as a supplementary number to the 'Sammlung kurzer grammatiken germanischer dialekte'. The addition of a syntax in harmony with the rest of the grammar would likely hav increast the book to dubl its size, which, as regards its sale, seemd to me a point wurthy of consideration. There are, moreover, easily attainabl summaries of the Gothic language. Therefore I hav for the present contented myself with annexing a list of grammatical and lexical helps (§ 224), which may serv as a guide to the inquirer.

For this edition I hav again receivd kind informations from sum that uze the book. Beside the correction of misprints, the contents of the book has been favorably influenced by notes receivd from Mssrs. G. H. Balg, R. Bethge, J. Franck, and M. H. Jellinek. I herewith express my sincerest thanks to all. Mr. Roediger's review has also been thankfully uzed. For assistance renderd me in correcting the proof-sheets, I ow many thanks to my friend E. Sievers.

Heidelberg, May 1st, 1895.

W. BRAUNE.

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The present edition contains all of the latest (fourth) German edition and such additional matter as has been deemd fit to enable the student to lern Gothic more quickly than he would without it. The addition of the Explanatory Notes and of the comprehensiv amplification of the Glossary has, in a mezure, been suggested and desired by many. At first it was intended to ad explanatory notes only, leaving the glossary intact. But from numerous communications I lernd that the present glossary must be welcum to many, if not all, students of Gothic.

In writing down the Notes I hav taken great pains to place myself in the position of the beginner, and it is hoped that the more advanced student wil pardon what might seem superfluous to him. Sum of the explanations ar due to Bernhardt's critical notes in his 'Wulfila' to which I hav often referd. The Notes wer much more comprehensiv before the glossary was workt out, but many of them hav been transferd to the latter, in a few cases without being deleted in their first place, as I observd in reading the proof-sheets. The Glossary has been prepared upon the following plan: It is strictly alfabetic. The compound verbs ar mentiond with the simpl verbs. Many inflectional forms which the beginner who has not yet fully masterd the declensions and conjugations, is not likely to recognize in the texts, hav been givn as vocabulary words. The inflection of every word is indicated by figures in parentheses. The figures in () immediately after the vocabulary words refer to the paragrafs on Fonology. Proper nouns hav been inflected in full inasmuch as they occur in the Selections. The references to the texts ar complete and may be regarded as the first supplement to my 'Comparativ Glossary of the Gothic Language'. Tho admitting accidental omissions in this respect, I am certain that the references ar more complete than those of any other glossary. This tiresum work has cost me much time and labor, but I hope soon to be able to continue and complete it for the remaining part of the Gothic texts.

In the square brackets the derivation of the Gothic words is givn first; then follow the correspondences or cognates, both being, with one or two exceptions, Germanic. The cognates ar always preceded by cp. or cf. It is possibl, however, that I hav faild in sum cases to point out the transference of a word from one declension or conjugation to another.

This part of the book makes no claim to completeness. Several articls had been laid aside for further consideration, but professional and other duties as wel as the sudden appearance of the German edition ar the causes of leaving them untucht. As regards derivation and composition, the student wil do wel by reading carefully §§ 79-82 and § 88^a together with the notes. To point out the various root-grades from which words are derived, is left to the lecturer.

The translation of the Grammar was made from the advanced plate proofs for which I am obliged to the eminent author, Prof. Wm. Braune, who kindly and promptly forwarded them to me. Altho this part of the work was done as fast as it was demanded by the printer, I feel sure that nothing has been omitted. In this respect I am indetted to my wife and one of my pupils, Miss Matilda Uihlein who, in comparing my translation with the German text, red the latter from the beginning to the end. Another pupil, Miss Ida Uihlein, is to be credited for the translation of Prof. Braune's preface, which could be sent to press with comparativly few emendations.

Beside the books often cited in the square brackets and in the Notes I have thankfully uzed Mayhew and Skeat's Midl English Dictionary, Skeat's Etymological Dictionary, and Mac Lean's Old and Midl English Reader.

Milwaukee, Aug. 15th, 1895.

G. H. BALG.

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§ 1. The monuments of the Gothic language ar handed down to us in a peculiar alfabet which, according to Greek ecclesiastic writers, was invented by Wulfila (s. § 221). The Gothic alfabet, however, is not entirely a new creation, but Wulfila based it on the Greek alfabet which he accomodated to the Gothic sounds, increasing it by several signs from the Latin alfabet, and, in a few cases, availing himself of the familiar runic alfabet. Of the Greek alfabet he also retaind the order and numerical value. The Gothic alfabet is now sufficiently represented in Roman letters. In the following we giv in the first line the original Gothic characters, in the second their numerical values, in the third the transliteration of the Gothic characters by Roman letters, which latter we shall uze exclusivly in this book.

§ 2. Of the 27 characters two hav only numerical values, (§ 1, n. 2), a third, the χ, is retaind only in Greek foren words, especially in the name 'Christus', and denotes no Gothic sound. Hense there remain the following 24 characters whose fonetic values ar to be determind:

(a) Consonants:

p b f m w | t d þ s z n l r | k q g h ƕ j.

(b) Vowels:

a e i o u.

(c) Difthongs:

ei iu ai au.

In determining the fonetic values of these characters we ar guided by the following means: (1) The Gothic alfabet is based on the Greek alfabet; hense, the pronunciation of the Greek letters to be determind for the 4th century, must also be regarded as that of the Gothic letters so long as there is no proof to the contrary. (2) The rendition of the numerous Greek foren words and proper nouns by Wulfila. (3) The transliteration of the Gothic proper nouns in Latin documents and by Latin authors of the 4th-8th centuries. (4) The testimony of the cognate Germanic languages. (5) Fonetic changes and grammatical fenomena in the Gothic language itself permit us to draw conclusions about the nature of the sounds.

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§ 3. The Gothic a signifies as a rule the short a-sound [as in G. mann].

§ 4. Short a is very frequent both in stem-syllabls and in inflection. E. g.

(a) Stem-syllabls: agis, aw; aljis, 'alius'; tagr, tear; aƕa, 'aqua'; alan, to grow; hafjan, to heav; saltan, to salt; haldan, to hold; waldan, to rule; fadar, father; staþs, place.—ahtau, 'octo'; gasts, guest; ƕaþar, 'uter'; awistr, sheepfold (OHG. au, 'ovis'; ahd. gr., § 219, n. 3); bandi, band; barn, child; saggws, song; all preterits of the III.-V. ablaut-series: bar, I bore; hlaf, I stole; band, I bound; gaf, I gave, etc.

(b) Inflections: daga (dat. sg., § 90), waúrda (nom. acc. pl., § 93), giba (nom. acc. sg., § 96), guma (nom. sg., § 107), haírtôna (nom. acc. pl., § 109); —blindamma, blindana, blinda, blindata (str. adj., § 123); —imma, ina, ita, ija, meina (prn.; § 150 et seq.); —nima (1st pers. sg. prs. ind.); nimaima, nimaiwa, nimaina (1st pers. pl. du. and 3d pers. pl. opt., § 170); haitada (medio-passiv, § 170); sôkida (weak prt., § 184); —adverbs: -ba (as, glaggwuba), nêƕa, inna, ana, waíla, etc.

§ 5. In a few cases a is long [as in E. father]. (Comp. Holtzmann, Altd. Gr., I, 3 et seq.).

(a) In foren words: Silbânus (Silvanus), aurâli (orale), spaíkulâtur (speculator), Peilâtus, etc.;

(b) In the following Gothic words: fâhan (OHG. fâhan), to cach; hâhan (OHG. hâhan), to hang; þâhta (prt. of þagkjan, to think); brâhta (prt. of briggan, to bring); gafâhs, a haul; faúrhâh, curtain; gahâhjô, in order; -gâhts, a going; also þâhô (OHG. dâha), clay; unwâhs, blameless (OE. wôh, wrong).

§ 6. e is always a long, close vowel (ê) approaching very much the sound of i [as in E. they].

§ 7. Goth. ê (which regularly corresponds to OHG. and OS. â; ahd. gr., § 34) is found:

(a) in reduplicating verbs, in part with the ablaut ô (§§ 179. 181): grêtan, lêtan, slêpan; (b) in the prt. pl. of the IV. and V. ablaut-series: sêtum (inf. sitan, to sit), nêmun (inf. niman, to take), têmum (inf. timan, to befit), êtum (inf. itan), and in the prt. sg. frêt; Luc. XV, 30 (§ 176, n. 3); (c) in derivativs from the verbal stems givn under (b); as, andanêms, agreeabl; andanêm, a receiving; gatêmiba, becumingly; uzêta, manger; (d) in other words; as, jêr, year; qêns, wife; mêna, moon; lêkeis, fysician; mêrjan, to preach; manasêþs ('man-seed'), world, etc.; (e) in formativ syllabls: fahêþs, joy; awêþi, flock of sheep (cp. however § 17, n. 1); azêts, easy; 2nd pers. sg. prt. of wvs., -dês (nasidês, § 184); (f) final: in the ending of the gen. pl.; as, dagê; in monosyllabic instrumentals: þê, ƕê (§§ 153. 159); in particls and advs.; as, swê, untê, hidrê, bisunjanê; lastly, in the dativs ƕammêh, ƕarjammêh, ainummê-hun (cp. §§ 163-166).

§ 8. From the preceding ê must be separated the ê of sum Gothic words in which it corresponds to OHG. ea, ia (not â): hêr, here; Krêks, Greek; fêra, side, region; mês, table. Cp. ahd. gr., §§ 35. 36; Beitr., 18, 409 et seq.

§ 9. Gothic i, as a rule, denotes the short vowel i [as in E. it], while its corresponding long sound is represented by ei [= ie in E. believ]; s. § 16.

§ 10. The Gothic i, from an historical point of view, is of two kinds: It represents two originally distinct sounds which, from a purely Gothic standpoint, can not be separated.

(a) Goth. i = proethnic Germanic e (OHG. ë or i; cp. ahd. gr., §§ 28-30), as in the prs. tense of verbs of the III.-V. ablaut-series (§§ 32-34): niman, OHG. nëman; giban, OHG. gëban; giba, OHG. gëba; bindan, OHG. bintan; itan, to eat; midjis, 'medius'; hlifan, to steal; swistar, OHG. swëster; fidwôr, four; gifts, gift; -qiss, speech; the pps. of the V. ablaut-series: gibans, itans, lisans, wigans, qiþans.

(b) Goth. i = proethnic Germanic i (OHG. i; ahd. gr., § 31); e. g., lists, stratagem; fisks, fish; is, he; wissa, I knew; skritnan, to rend (intr.); prt. pl. and pp. of the verbs of the I. ablaut-series (§ 30): bitun, bitans (inf. beitan); stigun, stigans (inf. steigan); liþun, liþans (inf. leiþan).

§ 11. The Gothic character o always denotes a long close o approaching sumwhat the sound of û (= o in E. home).

§ 12. ô (= OHG. uo; s. ahd. gr., § 38 et seq.) is frequent in Gothic words. E. g., brôþar, brother; bôka, beech; frôþs, wise; flôdus, flud; fôtus, foot.

In the prt. of the VI. series (§ 35) and of the ê—ô-series (§ 36): ôl, hôf, ôg, pl. ôlum, hôfum, ôgum; laílôt, laílôtum, aísô. In endings, as in nom. pl. gibôs, dagôs; wvs. II.: salbôn; final, in gen. pl. f. gibô, tuggônô; nom. sg. tuggô, haírtô. Prns.: ƕô, þô, sô, ƕanô-h, ainnô-hun, ƕarjanô-h. Verb salbô. Advs. in -ô (§ 211).

§ 13. The letter u in Gothic denotes both a short and a long vowel; the short u, however, occurs oftener than long û.

§ 14. Short u is very frequent in Gothic. E. g.

(a) juk, yoke; sunus, sun; drus, fall; us-drusts, a falling; fra-lusts, lost; lusnan, to perish; —in the prt. pl. and pp. of the verbs of the II. series (§ 31); e. g., gutum, gutans; lusum, lusans; —in endings of the sbs. of the u-decl.: handus, handu; —final, as in þu, prn., thou; nu, now; -u (interr. particl).

(b) wulfs, wolf; wulla, wool; gaqumþs, council; gulþ, gold; swumfsl, pond; hund, 100; sibun, 7; taíhun, 10; fulls, ful; un- (privativ prefix); in the prt. pl. and pp. of the verbs of the III. series (§ 32): bundum, bundans; in the pp. of the verbs of the IV. series (§ 33): numans, stulans.

brukans, broken; us-bruknan, to break off (intr.); trudan, to tred, pp. trudans; snutrs, wise.

§ 15. Long û certainly appears in: (a) ût, out (ûta, etc.); dûbô, duv; rûna, mystery; rûms, room, roomy; *mûl (in faúrmûljan, to muzl); brûþs, bride; hûs, house; skûra, shower; hlûtrs, pure; fûls, foul; *mûks (in mûkamôdei), meek; þûsundi, 1000; brûkjan, to uze (prt. brûhta; adj. brûks); lûkan, to lock (§ 173, n. 2); hrûkjan, to crow (s. Beitr., 6, 379); hnûþô, sting (Icel. hnúþa; s. Noreen, Nord. revy, April 1883).

(b) for nasalized u, the primitiv nasal being lost (cp. § 5, b; § 50, n. 1): þûhta (prt. of þugkjan, to think), þûhtus, thought (adj. þûhts); hûhrus, hunger; jûhiza (compar. to juggs), yunger; ûhtwô, daybreak; ûhteigs, ûhtiugs, seasonabl; bi-ûhts, accustomd (s. Brgm., I, 181).

§ 16. Like Greek ει at the time of Wulfila, and in imitation of it, Gothic ei denotes long î.

§ 17. ei in stem syllabls of Gothic words occurs especially in the prs. tense of the I. series (§ 30): beitan, to bite; steigan, to mount; þeihan, to thrive; in the inflection of these verbs it interchanges with ai and i.

Other exampls: ƕeila, time; eisarn, iron; leiþu, cider; þreis, 3; leihts, light; weihs, holy; skeirs, clear; pronouns: weis, we; meins, þeins, seins; —very often in formativ and inflectional syllabls; as, adjs. in -eigs (mahteigs, mighty); in -eins (aiweins, eternal); nomina actionis in -eins (laiseins, doctrin); nom. and gen. sg. of the m. ja-stems: haírdeis, herd; laisareis, teacher; nom. pl. of the i-decl.: gasteis; opt. prt.: nêmeis; final, in feminins in -ei: managei (§ 113); imperativs: sôkei, etc. (§ 186); the rel. particl ei (§ 157), alone and in composition.

§ 18. In the pronunciation of iu the stress is on the i, and u is a consonant.

§ 19. iu is a normal vowel of the present tense of the II. series (§ 31), and here it interchanges with the ablauts au, u: biugan, to bend; biudan, to offer.—In other words; as, þiuda, peple; dius, animal; liuhaþ, light; diups, deep; siuks, sick; niujis, new; niun, 9; iup, upward.—In formativ and inflectional syllabls iu does not occur, except in the isolated ûhtiugs (I. Cor. XVI, 12. Cp. Beitr., 12, 202).

ai in Gothic words denotes two etymologically, and certainly also fonetically, different sounds.

§ 20. I. The short vowel aí [= a in E. fat]. ai is uzed in Gothic to denote a short, open e[1]-sound. In this case, according to Grimm's exampl, grammarians put an accute accent over the i (aí) in order to distinguish it from ái (§ 21). Gothic ai corresponds to e or i in OHG. and in the other Germanic languages. The short e-sound represented by aí occurs:

(1) before h (ƕ) and r, which sounds hav caused breaking of every preceding short i to e (aí; § 10, n. 3); e. g., aírþa, erth; waírpan, to throw; baírhts, bright; faíhu, catl; maíhstus, dung; raíhts, right; taíhun, 10; saíƕan, to see; þaíhum (prt. pl. of þeihan, to grow). (2) in reduplicated syllabls (§ 178 et seq.): haíhald, aíaik, laílôt, saísô, etc. Cp. Osthoff, 'Zur Geschichte des Perfects', p. 276 et seq. Brugmann, IV, 15. (3) in the conj. aíþþau, or (= OHG. ëddo, ahd. gr. § 167, n. 11; cp. Beitr. 12, 211); probably, also, in waíla, wel (= OHG. wëla, ahd. gr., § 29, n. 4), but cp. Beitr. 11, 553.

§ 21. II. The old Difthong ai. By far the greater number of the Gothic ais express a difthongal sound which is equivalent to OHG. ei or ê (ahd. gr., §§ 43. 44), OS. ê, ON. ei. The Goths of Wulfila's time indeed seem to hav stil pronounced this ai as a + i.—For the difthong ai we employ Grimm's sign ái whenever it is likely to be confused with aí. Exampls of difthongal ai (before h, r, cp. § 20, n. 2): The prts. sg. of the I. ablaut-series (§ 30),—bait, I bit (inf. beitan); staig, I mounted (inf. steigan); etc.; wait (§ 197); ains, one; hlaifs, (loaf of) bred; staiga, path; laisjan, to teach; —haitan, to be calld; maitan, to cut; skaidan, to separate; aiws, time; —hails, hale, sound; dails, deal.

ai appears also in inflectional syllabls of the III. Weak Conjugation (§ 191): habais, habaida, etc.; in the prs. opt.: nimais, etc.; anstais, gen. sg. of the i-decl.; in the str. adjs.: blindaizôs, etc. (§ 123); —final: gibai, anstai, dat. sg.: nimai, 3 prs. sg. opt.; blindai, dat. sg. f. and nom. pl. m. of the str. adj.; —monosyllabls: þai, nom. pl., these; twai, 2; bai, both; jai, yes; sai, behold!; wai, woe!

§ 22. Many scholars hold that also the ai in the reduplicating ablaut vs. (§ 182) saian and waian is difthongal. This ai, however, stands etymologically for Gothic ê, and its OHG. equivalent is â (not ei): OHG. sâen, wâen (cp. ahd. gr., § 359, n. 3.) The difthong ai before a vowel would becum aj; hense, *sajan, *wajan. Here ai perhaps has the sound of long æ, i. e. open e representing close e (ê) when followd by a vowel; thus, saian, waian, for sêan, wêan.

§ 23. That the Goth. ai may be both short and long (like a in E. at, fare) is evident from its regular occurrence in Greek words. As a rule, ai = ε in aikklêsjô, ἐκκλησία; Aileisabaiþ, Ἐλισάβεθ; Baiailzaibul, Βεελζεβούλ; Gainnêsaraiþ, Γεννησαρέτ, etc.; likewise = αι (i. e. long æ): Idumaia, Ἰδουμαία; Haíbraius, Ἑβραῖος; hairaísis, αἵρεσις, etc.

Also Goth. au (like ai) stands for historically and fonetically different sounds.

§ 24. I. The short vowel aú.—au in Gothic denotes a short open o-sound. In this case grammarians put an accute accent over the u (aú) in order to keep it apart from the difthong au. Goth. aú corresponds to o or u in OHG. and in the other Germanic languages.

The aú, before h and r in Gothic words, has in every instance developt from a short u which, when immediately followd by these sounds, was 'broken' to short ŏ. E. g.

waúrms, wurm; haúrn, horn; baúrgs (OHG. burg), city; waúrd, word; waúrpum, prt. pl. of waírpan, to throw (cp. § 32); saúhts (OHG. suht), sickness; daúhtar, daughter; aúhsa, ox; taúhum, prt. pl. of tiuhan, to pul; baúhta, prt. of bugjan, to buy.

§ 25. II. The old difthong au [= ou in E. house]. Every au not broken from u (before h, r; s. § 24 and note 3) is a difthong; it corresponds to OHG. au, ou, or ô (ahd. gr., §§ 45. 46), OS. ô, ON. au. Whenever it is likely to be confused with aú, we put (according to Grimm), an accute accent over the a (áu). E. g.

The prts. sg. of the II. ablaut-series (§ 31): gaut, I pour (inf. giutan); laug, I lied, etc.; laugnjan, to deny; daupjan, to baptize; galaubjan, to believ; galaubeins, belief; rauþs, red; dauþus, deth; —aukan, to increase; hlaupan, to run; stautan, to push, strike; —haubiþ, hed; augô, ey.

au in inflections and final occurs in the u-declension: sunaus, sunau; 1st pers. sg. opt.: nimau, nêmjau; 3d pers. sg. imper.: lausjadau; opt. midl: haitaidau.

§ 26. Another au, historically, and probably also fonetically, different from the preceding ones occurs before vowels.

(a) For original ô: stauida, prt. of stôjan, to judge; staua, f., judgment; staua, m., judge; taui, n., gen. tôjis, deed (cp. also ubiltôjis, evil-doer; taujan, to do, prt. tawida); afmauidai and afdauidai, pps. of *afmôjan, and *afdôjan, to tire out, weary; sauil, n., sun.

(b) For û in the other Germanic languages: trauan (OHG. trûên), to trust; bauan (OHG. bûan), to dwel; bnauan, to rub (to pieces or powder. ON. (g)núa, OHG. nûan). Cp. also § 179, n. 2.

Sinse this au does not change into aw before vowels, it must denote a monofthong which is likely to be the long of aú, hense a long open o (= a in E. fall), while long close o (shading very much to û, like ô in E. home) is denoted by ô. Accordingly, Goth. antevocalic ô, û past into au. Cp. Brgm., I, 156. For the extensiv literature on this question, s. Noreen's 'Urgerm. Lautlehre', p. 34; also Beitr., 17, 563-567.

§ 27. Beside the vowel-signs discust in the foregoing paragrafs, a few consonant-signs may likewise discharge the function of vowels, for the Gothic liquids l, r and the nasals m, n ar very often vocalic (i. e. syllabic) at the end of a word after a consonant. Here an original suffixal vowel was lost in most cases, and in its place the following liquid or nasal became the bearer of the accent. Thus the Gothic has dissyllabic words with vocalic liquids or vocalic nasals (sonant liquids or sonant nasals); as, akrs, field; fugls, bird; taikns, token; maiþms, present.

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§ 28. In the preceding paragrafs the Gothic vowels hav been givn according to the letters by which they ar represented. Now they wil be arranged according to the nature of their sounds, the following scale of seven vowels from i to u being taken as a basis:

i e æ a ǫ o u.

e and o denote here the close e and o (which shade very much to i and u, respectivly); æ = open e (= a in fat, fare); ǫ = open o.

In the following survey we shal state after each of these vowel grades whether it occurs in Gothic, and by what letter it is exprest.

§ 29. The Gothic vowels, as regarded from a historico-etymological point of view, may be groupt into a number of series of related vowels. The vowels belonging to such a series may interchange in formations with the same root; in the formation of tenses and in the verbal and nominal derivation all vowels of the same series may occur, but not such as hav nothing in common with that series. This change of vowels within a series is calld ablaut (or gradation), the series themselvs ablaut-series. The ablaut-series ar most perceptibl in the verb. The relation between the vowels of the same series is not a fonetic but a historical one; to establish it, we must pass beyond the limits of the Germanic languages and take recourse to the comparativ grammar of the Indo-Germanic languages. The Gothic ablaut-series as appearing in verbal inflection ar these (cp. § 172 et seq.):

§ 30. I. Series: ei ai i (aí).

Exampls: reisan (urreisan), rais, risum, risans, to rize; urraisjan, to raiz; urrists, f., resurrection; —þeihan, þaíh, þaíhum, þaíhans, to thrive; —wait, I know; pl. witum; weitan, to see; weitwôds, witness; miþ-wissei, conscience; witubni, n., knowledge; —lais, I know; lubja-leisei, f., wichcraft; lists, f. (?), stratagem; laisjan, to teach.

§ 31. II. Series: iu au u (aú).

Exampls: giuta, gaut, gutum, gutans, to pour; gutnan, to pour (intr.); —liugan, laug, lugum, lugans, to lie; liugnja, m., liar; liugn, n., lie; analaugns, hidn; laugnjan, to deny; —galaubjan, to believ; galaubeins, belief; liufs, dear; lubô, f., luv; lubains, f., hope; —siuks, sick; saúhts, f., sickness; —driusan, to fall; drausjan, to drop (tr.); drus, m., fall; driusô, f., slope.

§ 32. III. Series: i (aí) a u (aú).

The themes of this series always hav two consonants after the vowel, mostly a liquid or a nasal in gemination, or a liquid or a nasal + another consonant. E. g.

bindan, band, bundum, bundans, to bind; bandi, f., band; bandja, m., prisoner; gabinda, f., band, bond; and-bundnan, to becum loose; gabundi, f., bond; —rinnan, to run; rannjan, to cause to run; runs, m., a run, course; rinnô, f., brook; —waírpan, warp, waúrpum, waúrpans, to throw; uswaúrpa, f., a casting out or away, an outcast; —þaírsan, to be dry; þaúrsnan, to wither; þaúrsus, dry, witherd; þaúrstei, thirst; —drigkan, to drink; dragkjan, to giv to drink; dragk, n., a drink, potion; -drukja, m., a drinker; drugkanei, f., drunkenness; —þriskan, to thresh; gaþrask, n., threshing-floor.

§ 33. IV. Series: i (aí) a ê u (aú).

The stems of this series hav a simpl liquid or nasal after the vowel. E. g.

niman, nam, nêmum, numans, to take; -numja, m., taker; anda-numts, f., a receiving; andanêms, agreeabl; andanêm, n., a receiving; —baíran, bar, bêrum, baúrans, to bear; baúr, m., 'natus'; barn, n., child; bêrusjôs, parents; —ga-timan, to becum, suit; ga-tamjan, to tame; gatêmiba, fitly.

§ 34. V. Series: i (aí) a ê.

The vowel of the stems of this series is followd by a singl consonant other than a liquid or a nasal. E. g.

giban, gaf, gêbum, gibans, to giv; giba, f., gift; gabei, f., richness; —sitan, to sit; satjan, to set; anda-sêts, abominabl; —mitan, to mezure; mitôn, to consider; mitaþs, f., mezure; usmêt, n., manner of life; —ga-nisan, to be saved, recuver; nasjan, to save; ganists, salvation.

§ 35. VI. Series: a ô.

Most of the stems of this series end in a singl consonant. E. g.

wakan, wôk, wôkum, wakans, to wake; waknan, to awake; wahtwô, f., wach; wôkains, f., a waching; —graban, to dig; grôba, f., pit, hole; graba, f., dich; —fraþjan, frôþ, to understand; fraþi, n., understanding; frôþs, wise; frôdei, f., understanding, wisdom; —hafjan, hôf, to heav (tr.); -hafnan, to heav (intr.); haban, to hav, hold; ungahôbains, f., incontinency; —ôg, I fear; unagands, fearless; ôgjan, to frighten; usagjan, to terrify; agis, n., fear; —sakan, to contend; sakjô, f., strife; sôkjan, to seek; sôkns, f., serch, inquiry; unand-sôks, irrefutabl.

§ 36. Series: ê ô (VII. Ablaut-Series).

A connection between ê and ô occurs in the so-calld reduplicating ablaut-verbs lêtan, laílôt, etc.; saian (= *sêan, § 22), saísô, etc.; cp. § 180 et seq.

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§ 37. The consonant-signs to be discust here both in regard to value and occurrence in the Gothic language hav alredy been enumerated in § 2. We divide the consonantal sounds in sonorous consonants and noizd sounds. Cp. Sievers, Grundzüge der Phonetik⁴, p. 70 et seq. Accordingly, the Gothic consonant-signs w, j, l, m, n, r, represent the sonorous sounds, the rest the noizd sounds.

1. The semivowels w and j.

§ 38. Germanic w and j ar the vowels u and i uzed as consonants; hense in Gothic the interchange between i and j, u and w, according to their position which determins their fonetic values as vowels or consonants. The consonantal i and u, which in other languages ar denoted by the same signs as the vocalic i and u, hav special signs in Gothic, j and w. These sounds ar also calld 'semivowels'.

w

§ 39. The sign of the Gothic alfabet which we represent by w, is, according to its form and alfabetic position, the Gr. υ. For this it also stands in Greek foren words, for exampl, Pawlus, Παῦλος; Daweid, Δαυίδ; aíwaggêljô, εὐαγγέλιον; paraskaíwê, παρασκευή. But the Gothic w stands not only for the Gr. υ of the combinations αυ, ευ, in which it had perhaps at that time assumed the value of a spirant, but also for simpl Greek υ, namely vocalic υ; as, Swmaíôn, Συμεών; swnagôgê, συναγωγή; martwr, μάρτυρ. But in our transcriptions of the Gothic texts the Greek vocalic υ is exprest by y instead of w (Symaíôn, synagôgê, martyr); so, also, for practical reasons, in this book.

§ 40. In Gothic words the w originally had the fonetic value of the consonantal u (= E. w). But at Wulfila's time the u-sound seems to hav alredy containd sumwhat of a spirant. Cp. Zs. fda., 36, 266 et seq. (37, 121 et seq.).

§ 41. Initial Gothic w occurs frequently; e. g., wasjan, to clothe; witan, to know; wiljan, to wil; waír, man; warmjan, to warm.

So also before l and r; as, wlits, countenance; wrikan, to persecute; wrôhjan, to accuse.

After the consonants: t, d, þ, s; e. g., twai, two; dwals, foolish; þwahan, to wash; swistar, sister.

Medial w before vowels; e. g., awistr, sheepfold; saiwala, soul; hneiwan, to bow; siggwan, to sing; ûhtwô, dawn; taíhswô, right hand; nidwa, rust.

§ 42. (1) w remains unchanged after long vowels, difthongs, and consonants, (a) finally, (b) before the s of the nominativ, (c) before j; e. g., (a) lêw, n., opportunity; hlaiw, n., grave;, waúrstw, n., work; (b) snaiws, snow; triggws, tru, faithful; (c) lêwjan, to betray; hnaiwjan, to abase; skadwjan, to cast a shade (< skadus, shade); arwjô, adv., in vain.

(2) in all three positions, however, w becums u after a short vowel; e. g., (a) snau (prt. to sniwan, § 176, n. 2); triu, tree (gen. triwis); *kniu, knee (gen. kniwis, § 94, n. 1); (b) naus, m., a ded person (gen. nawis); *þius, servant (gen. þiwis, § 91, n. 3); (c) mawi, gen. maujôs, girl; gawi, gen. gaujis, district; þiwi, gen. þiujôs, maid-servant; tawida, pres. taujan, to do; *straujan, to strew, prt. strawida; iujan, to quicken, prt. qiwida.—Cp. Grundr., I, 414; Zs. fda., 36, 277.

j

§ 43. The sign j stands, as a rule, for the Greek antevocalic ι, in Akaja, Αχαία; Marja, Μαρία; Judas, Ἰούδας; Iskarjôtês, Ἰσκαριώτης, etc. But Gr. antevocalic ι is also often represented by Goth. i; as, Iskariôtês, Zakarias, Gabriêl, Iûdas.—The sign j in Gothic pronunciation probably has the value of a consonantal i, not that of the spirant j in German.

§ 44. (a) Initial j in Gothic words: juk, yoke; jêr, year; ju, alredy; jus, yu. (b) Medial j occurs after vowels and after consonants, but always before vowels, never before consonants; e. g., midjis, 'medius'; lagjan, to lay; niujis, new; frauja, lord; þrija, 'tria'; bajôþs, both. (c) ji is contracted into ei after a consonant belonging to the same syllabl, but is retaind when the syllabl begins with j (cp. Beitr. 16, 282). The latter is the case when it is preceded by a short high-toned vowel with a singl consonant or by a long stem-vowel without a consonant. Exampls—concerning particularly the masculins (and neuters) of the ja-stems (§§ 92. 127)—ar: har-jis, tô-jis (doer), but haír-deis, dat. haírd-ja; —also the I. Weak Conjugation (§ 185): sô-kja, sô-keis, sô-keiþ; san-dja, san-deiþ; miki-lja, miki-leiþ; but nas-ja, nas-jis, nas-jiþ; stô-ja, stô-jis, stô-jiþ.

§ 45. j is never final; in this position it always becums i; e. g., harjis, acc. hari; mawi, gen. maujôs (s. § 42, 2, c); taui, deed, gen. tôjis.

2. Liquids.

l

§ 46. Gothic l occurs often,—initially, medially, and finally; as, laggs, long; galaubjan, to believ; liuhaþ, light; laúhmuni, lightning; wiljan, to wil; aljis, 'alius'; blôma, flower; —dubl l, as in fill, hide; fulls, ful; wulla, wool.

r

§ 47. r is equivalent to Gr. ρ and occurs frequently in Gothic words; e. g., raíhts, right; raubôn, to rob; baíran, to bear; fidwôr, four.—Dubl r is rare: qaírrus, meek; andstaúrran, to threten; faírra, far.

3. Nasals.

m

§ 48. m occurs in all positions of a word; as, mizdô, f., reward; mêna, m., moon; ams, m., shoulder; guma, m., man; finally: nam, I took; in the terminations of the dat. pl.,—dagam, etc.; 1st pers. pl.,—nimam, nêmum, etc.—Dubl (mm) in swamms (cp. § 80, n. 1), spunge; wamm, n., spot; in the pronominal dat. sg.,—imma, blindamma.

n

§ 49. Initial n in nahts, night; niujis, new; ni (negation), etc.; medial: kuni, n., kin; ains, one, etc.; final: laun, n., reward; niun, nine; often in inflection; as, dat. sg. hanin, inf. niman, nêmun (3d pers. pl. prt.), etc.

Dubl n (nn) occurs frequently; e. g., brinnan, to burn; spinnan, to spin; rinnan, to run; kann, I know; kannjan, to make known; manna, man; brunna, wel, spring. Dubl n remains finally and before j, but is simplified before other consonants (s. § 80): kant, kunþa (inf. kunnan), rant (2nd pers. sg. prt.; inf. rinnan), brunsts (inf. brinnan), ur-runs (< rinnan), outlet.

§ 50. Before guttural consonants n becums a guttural nasal which (in imitation of the Gr.) is denoted by g (gg; s. § 67).

1. Labials.

p

§ 51. The letter p, which does not occur very often in Gothic, corresponds to Gr. π.

(a) Initially, p may be regarded as being altogether wanting in purely Gothic words; the exampls which do occur ar either obviously foren words or at least etymologically obscure, if not loanwords too: plinsjan, to dance; plats, pach; anapraggan, to harass; paida, coat; puggs, purse; peikabagms, date-palm; pund, pound; plapja, street ('platea'); pistikeins, πιστικός, paúrpura, purpl.

(b) p occurs in purely Gothic words medially and finally; e. g., slêpan, to sleep; greipan, to gripe; ƕôpan, to boast; skapjan, to shape, make; hlaupan, to run; diups, deep; waírpan, to throw; hilpan, to help; skip, ship; iup, upwards.—Initial sp in speiwan, to spit; sparwa, sparrow; spillôn, to narrate; spinnôn, to spin.

f

§ 52. Gothic f in foren words corresponds to Gr. φ; e. g., Filippus, Φίλιππος; Kajafa, Καϊάφας. Latin writers render Goth. f mostly by ph (Dietrich, p. 75); as, Dagalaiphus, Phaeba. Hense Goth. f was probably a bilabial, not a labiodental spirant, as is also evident from Goth. fimf, hamfs.

§ 53. (a) Initial f occurs often in Gothic words; e. g., fôtus, foot; fadar, father; flôdus, flud; faíhu (catl), muney; fûls, foul; frôþs, wise, judicious; frius, cold; fidwôr, 4.

(b) Medially and finally f occurs in but a small number of Gothic words; as, hlifan, to steal; hafjan, to heav; hiufan, to lament; lôfa, m., palm of the hand; ufar, over; afar, after. Before consonants: luftus, air; hamfs, maimd; tweifls, dout; wulfs, wolf; —(final) fimf, five; hôf (prt. of hafjan); þarf, I need (inf. þaúrban).

b

§ 54. b corresponds to Gr. β, for which it stands in foren words; e. g., barbarus, βάρβαρος; Iakôb, Ἰακώβ. The pronunciation of the Gr. β was that of a labial soft spirant [nearly = E. v]. In like manner Goth. b has the value of a soft (voiced) labiolabial spirant medially after vowels, while initially and medially after consonants it denotes a soft stop (= E. b).

§ 55. Exampls of b:

(a) initially: baíran, to bear; beitan, to bite; brikan, to break; brûkjan, to uze; blêsan, to blow; biudan, to offer; blôma, flower; brôþar, brother; bôka, letter; bnauan, to rub.

(b) medially: liuba (w. m. adj.), dear; galaubjan, to believ; graban, to dig; sibja, relationship; arbi, inheritance; kalbô, hefer; —haubiþ, hed; hlaibis (gen. of hlaifs), bred; sibun, seven; haban, to hav; skaban, to shave; (bi-)leiban, to remain; liban, to liv; biraubôn, to rob; salbôn, to salv, anoint.

§ 56. b after consonants (l, m, r) remains finally, before the s of the nom., and before the t of the 2nd pers. sg. prt.; postvocalic b becums f. This means that postvocalic b was a soft spirant (§ 54) which, finally, changed into the corresponding hard spirant, while postconsonantal b, medially and finally, had the value of a stop. Hense giban, to giv, 1st and 3d pers. sg. prt.: gaf, 2nd. pers. gaft, 2nd sg. imper.: gif; hlaifs, bred, acc. hlaif, nom. pl. hlaibôs; —but lamb, lam; dumbs, dum; swaírban, to wipe, prt. swarb.

2. Gutturals.

k

§ 57. Goth. k corresponds to Greek κ, Lt. c; e. g., Kêfas, Κηφᾶς; aíkklêsjô, ἐκκλησία; laíktjô, lectio. Goth. k in Greek words represents also χ; as, kaúrazein, Χοραζίν; ark-aggilus, ἀρχάγγελος. The Gr. sign χ is but rarely retaind, always in χristus (s. § 2). Cp. Wrede, 'Ostg.', 54.

§ 58. Exampls of k: (a) initially: kniu, knee; kaúrn, corn; kuni, kin; kalds, cold; kiusan, to choose; kalbô, f., calf; —sk: skeinan, to shine; skaidan, to separate. (b) medially: brikan, to break; aukan, to increase; akrs, field; reiks, mighty; mikils, great; waúrkjan, to work; laikan, to leap; rakjan, to strech; finally: ik, I; mik, me; juk, yoke.

q

§ 59. The Gothic sign q does not occur in the Greek alfabet, the corresponding sign being borrowd from the Latin (Q). In Lt. words it corresponds to Lt. qu (qartus; Rom. XVI, 23) to which it most likely corresponds also fonetically. The Lt. qu denoted a labialized k-sound which was a simpl consonant not forming position. Cp. Zs. fdph., 12, 481 et seq.

§ 60. Exampls of q: qinô, woman; *qius, pl. qiwai, alive; qaírnus, mil; qiman, to cum; qrammiþa, moisture; naqaþs, naked; aqizi, ax; riqis, darkness; sigqan, to sink, prt. sagq.

h

§ 61. Gothic h in Greek words stands for the ruf breathing (as, Haíbraius, Ἑβραῖος; Hêrôdês, Ἡρώδης), but the ruf breathing is often disregarded (as, ôsanna, ὡσαννά). Accordingly, Goth. initial h had the value of a mere breathing. Medially and finally it may stil hav had the value of a fricativ sound (HG. ch). Cp. the assimilations (§ 62, n. 3) and breaking (§ 62, n. 1). Also initially before consonants, (hl, hn, hr (ƕ)), the h had probably retaind a stronger sound.

§ 62. Exampls for h: (a) initially: haúrn, horn; hana, cock; haírtô, hart; hails, hole, sound; hund, hundred; hafjan, to heav; —initial combinations: hlaifs, bred; hliuma, m., hearing; hlifan, to steal; hlûtrs, pure; hlahjan, to laf; hnaiws, low; hrains, clean; hrôpjan, to call; hrôt, n., roof.—(b) medially: faíhu, muney; taíhun, ten; teihan, to show; tiuhan, to pul; saíhs, six; nahts, night; liuhtjan, to light; filhan, to conceal; swaíhra, 'socer'.—(c) finally: jah, and; -uh, and (cp. § 24, n. 2); falh (prt. of filhan); taúh (prt. of tiuhan), etc.

ƕ

§ 63. The sound of ƕ is peculiar to the Gothic, and has no equivalent in Gr. The Gothic sign (whose alfabetic position is that of the Greek ψ) is uzually exprest by hv (hw), because all the corresponding words of the remaining Germanic languages (at least initially) hav hw (hu, hv); as, Goth. ƕeits = OHG. hwîz, OS. OE. hwît, ON. hvîtr, white. But there ar reasons which justify the assumption that the Goth. ƕ was a simpl consonant. Fonetically, it may be regarded as a labialized h (or a voiceless w = NE. wh? Grundr., I, 411). It is therefore recommendabl to represent the simpl Gothic sign by the unitary ligature ƕ. Cp. Zs. fdph., 12, 481 et seq.; Beitr., 12, 218 et seq.

§ 64. Exampls of ƕ: initially: ƕas, who; ƕaírnei, f., skul; ƕaírban, to walk about; ƕeila, time; ƕôpan, to boast; ƕeits, white; ƕaiteis, wheat; —medially: aƕa, water; saíƕan, to see; leiƕan, to lend; þeiƕô, thunder; nêƕa, near; aíƕa-tundi, f., brambl-bush; —also finally: saƕ, saƕt (prt. of saíƕan), nêƕ, near.

§ 65. g corresponds to Greek γ, also as a guttural nasal; as, synagôgê, συναγωγή; aggilus, ἄγγελος.—The pronunciation of the Gothic initial g was quite certainly that of a soft (voiced) stop; final and medial g was possibly a spirant.

§ 66. g occurs frequently in Goth. words, both initially and medially. E. g. (a) gasts, guest; guma, man; gulþ, gold; gôþs, good; giutan, to pour; greipan, to gripe, seiz; graban, to dig. (b) agis, aw; wigs, way; gawigan, to move; steigan, to mount; ligan, to lie; þragjan, to run; —augô, ey; tagr, tear; tigus, ten; aigan, to hav; suffixal g: mahteigs, mighty; môdags, angry.

Also final g remains unchanged: ôg, I fear; mag, I can; wig (acc. of wigs, way), etc.

§ 67. g denotes also a guttural nasal (s. § 50); e. g., (n + g): laggs, long; briggan, to bring; tuggô, tung; figgrs, finger; gaggan, to go; —(n + k, q): drigkan, to drink; þagkjan, to think; þugkjan, to seem; igqis, (to) yu both; sigqan, to sink; stigqan, to thrust.

§ 68. The combination ggw deservs special notice. (1) It is a guttural nasal + gw, as is proved by the ng of the remaining Germanic languages (also of the ON.): aggwus, narrow (OHG. engi, ON. ǫngr); siggwan, to sing (OHG. singan, ON. syngva); saggws, song. Here perhaps belongs also unmanariggws, unrestraind, wild (cognate with OHG. ringi? Dtsch. Litteraturzeitg. 1888, p. 770).

(2) Another ggw corresponds to West-Germanic uw (OHG. uu or uuu; cp. ahd. gr., §§ 112. 113), to ON. gg(v); this gg certainly denotes a stop: triggws, faithful (OHG. triuwi, ON. tryggr); bliggwan, to beat (OHG. bliuwan); *glaggwus, exact (OHG. glauwêr, ON. glǫggr); skuggwa, mirror (ON. skyggja; cp. Goth. skawjan).

3. Dentals.

t

§ 69. Gothic t corresponds to Greek τ, and stands frequently both initially and medially. E. g. (a) initially: tunþus, tooth; triu, tree; tuggô, tung; tagr, tear; taíhun, ten; twai, two; tamjan, to tame; trauan, to trust. st: steigan, to mount. (b) medially: watô, water; haírtô, hart; baitrs, bitter; itan, to eat; giutan, to pour; sitan, to sit; witan, to know.

Final t remains unchanged; as, wait, I know; at, at; wit, we two.

§ 70. Gothic þ corresponds to Gr. θ (as, Þômas, Θωμᾶς; Naþan, Ναθάν); its sound-value was that of a voiceless dental spirant = the NE. surd th in thin. Also the Greek θ denoted at that time, as it stil does in New Greek, a similar sound.

§ 71. þ in Gothic words is very frequent. E. g. (a) initially: þulan, to suffer; þanjan, to strech; ga-þaírsan, to wither; þaúrsus, witherd; þaúrstei, thirst; þata (prn.), that; þu, thou; þreis, three; þliuhan, flee; ga-þláihan, to cumfort, console; þwahan, to wash. (b) medially: brôþar, brother; tunþus, tooth; wiþrus, lam; fraþi, n., understanding; fraþjan, to understand; anþar, other; ƕaþar, 'uter'; waírþan, to becum; qiþan, to say. (c) Also final þ remains unchanged; as, þiuþ, n., good (gen. þiuþis); qaþ, prt. of qiþan; aiþs, acc. aiþ, oath.

d

§ 72. Goth. d corresponds to Greek δ. The New Greek pronunciation of δ is that of a soft (voiced) dental spirant (ð = NE. th in thou). Gothic d, at least medially after a vowel, likewise had the sound-value of this spirant. But d initially and medially after n, r, l, z, has the value of a soft (voiced) stop.

§ 73. Examples of d: (a) initially: daúr, n., door, gate; daúhtar, daughter; dal, dale, valley; dauns, odor; daddjan, to suckl; ga-daúrsan, to dare; driusan, to fall; dwals, foolish. (b) medially: sidus, custom; wadi, n., wager; midjis, 'medius'; widuwô, widow; biudan, to offer; bindan, to bind; haírda, herd; waldan, to rule; mizdô, reward; fadar, father; frôdei, understanding (cp. frôþs, frôdis, intelligent); fidwôr, four; þridja, 'tertius'; þiuda, peple; -ida, as in auþida, desert; gahugds, mind; gards, house (yard); hardus, hard; hund, hundred; and, on, in; alds, age (cp. alþeis, old), kalds, cold; gazds, sting.

§ 74. Finally and before the s of the nominativ d remains only after a consonant; e. g., hund, nimand (3d pers. pl. prs.), gards, alds, gazds, gahugds. But postvocalic d becuming final (and before the s of the nominativ) is changed into þ, because þ denotes the hard sound corresponding to d. Such eufonic þs from medial ds constitute the greater number of the Gothic final þs, the smaller number ar original (also medial) þs. (§ 71, n. 2). E. g.

staþs, stadis, place (but *staþs, staþis, shore); haubiþ, haubidis, hed; liuhaþ, liuhadis, light; frôþs, frôdis, wise; gôþs, gôdis, good; báuþ, prt. of biudan; bidjan, to pray, prt. baþ; —all pps. of wvs.; as, nasiþs, nasidis; salbôþs, salbôdis; furthermore all final þs in verbal inflection (3d pers. sg., 2nd pl.); as, nimiþ, nêmuþ, nêmeiþ,—but with enclitic -uh: nimiduh, nêmuduh, nêmeiduh; —advs. like ƕaþ, whither (cp. § 213); prep. miþ, with.

§ 75. The d of the weak preterit, which stands mostly after vowels (nasida, habaida), remains intact after l and n (skulda, munda), while after s, h, f it becums t: kaupasta, môsta, daúrsta, þâhta, brâhta, þûhta, brûhta, waúrhta, baúhta, ôhta, mahta, áihta, þaúrfta; it is changed into þ in kunþa; ss is assimilated from st in wissa.

Conform to this rule ar the respectiv ptcs. nasiþs, habaiþs, skulds, munds, but waúrhts, baúhts, mahts, binaúhts, þaúrfts, kunþs. Cp. § 187, n. 1; § 197 et seq.; §§ 208. 209.

s

§ 76. s is a hard (voiceless) dental spirant and corresponds to Gr. σ. s occurs very often in Gothic words, especially initially. E. g.

(a) initially: sunus, sun; sitan, to sit; skadus, shade; speiwan, to spit; standan, to stand; straujan, to strew; slêpan, to sleep; smals, small; snutrs, wise; swaíhra, father-in-law.

(b) medially: kiusan, to choose; wisan, to be; wasjan, to clothe; þûsundi, thousand; gasts, guest; fisks, fish; asneis, hired man; hansa, host; aúhsa, ox; þaúrsus, witherd.

(c) Also final s remains unchanged; as, gras, grass; mês, table; was (prt. of wisan), was; hals, neck.

§ 77. The sign z corresponds in Greek words to ζ; as, Zaíbaídaius, Ζεβεδαῖος; azymus, ἄζυμος. Its sound, like that of the Gr. ζ both at Wulfila's time and in New Greek, was the corresponding soft sound of s, hense a voiced dental spirant (E. z).

§ 78. (a) In Goth. words z occurs never initially.

(b) Medial z is frequent. But final z becums s, the corresponding hard sound (cp. § 79). E. g.

azêts, easy; hazjan, to praise; hazeins, praise; dius, gen. diuzis, animal; hatis, gen. hatizis, hatred; hatizôn, to be angry; huzd, trezure; gazds, sting; mizdô, reward; azgô, ashes; marzjan, to offend; talzjan, to teach; —comparativs: maiza, 'major'; frôdôza, alþiza, etc.; —pronominal forms; as, izwara, þizôs, þizê, blindaizôs; 2nd pers. sing. midl: haitaza.

(c) Most of the Gothic final ss represent z, especially the inflectional s; this reappears as z when it becums medial by an enclitic addition, for exampl, the s of the nom. ƕas, who?, but ƕazuh; is, he, but izei, who; us, out, but uzuh, uzu; dis- (as in dizuhþansat; Mk. XVI, 8); þôs, nom. pl. f., but þôzuh; weis, we; weizuh; wileis, 2nd pers. sg., but wileizu; advs.: mais (compar. maiza), more; áiris, erlier (compar. áiriza), etc.

§ 79. The Gothic soft spirants, b, d, z, finally and before the s of the nom. (cp. §§ 56. 74. 78) ar changed into the corresponding hard sounds, f, þ, s, while the fourth soft spirant, medial g, remains unchanged when final (§ 66; § 65, n. 2).

§ 80. Gemination of the Gothic liquids and nasals, l, m, n, r, is frequent; also ss and a few instances of kk (§ 58, n. 1), tt (§ 69, n. 1), þþ (§ 71, n. 1), dd (§ 73, n. 1); —the more frequent exampls of gg (§§ 67. 68) ar in part of another kind.

The geminated consonants remain unchanged when final and before the s of the nominativ: skatts, full, kann, rann, wamm, gawiss; likewise before j (as in fulljan, skattja, kannjan, etc.), but ar as a rule simplified before other consonants: kant, kunþa (cp. kann); rant, 2nd pers. sg. prt., ur-runs, m., a running out (cp. rinnan); swumfsl, pond (cp. *swimman); —but uzually fullnan, only a few times fulnan.

§ 81. The changes of consonants before dentals may, as far as the Gothic is concernd, be embraced in the following rule:

Before the dentals, d, þ, t, all labial stops and spirants ar changed into f, all gutturals into h, all dentals into s, the second dental appearing always as t. E. g.

skapjan, gaskafts (§ 51, n. 2); þaúrban (*þaúrbda), þaúrfta; giban, gifts (§ 56, n. 4); —siuks, saúhts; þagkjan, þâhta (§ 58, n. 2); magan, mahta (§ 66, n. 1); —wait, waist (§ 69, n. 2); waírþan, warst (§ 71, n. 3); biudan, baust (§ 75, n. 1).

§ 82. Assimilations occur only in combination with h (s. § 62, n. 3) and us (§ 78, n. 4).

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(a) On declension in general.

§ 83. The Gothic declension, like that of the remaining Old-Germanic dialects, comprises three genders: the masculin, neuter and feminin.

§ 84. The Goth. declension has two numbers: singular and plural.

§ 85. The Goth. declension has four complete cases: nominativ, genitiv, dativ, accusativ. The vocativ is mostly identical with the nominativ, only in the singular of sum classes of declension the vocativ is different from the nominativ, but then it is always identical with the accusativ.

(b) On the declension of substantivs.

§ 86. The declension of substantivs in Gothic is divided into a vocalic and a consonantal declension, according as the stems of the substantivs end in a vowel or a consonant.

§ 87. Of the consonantal stems in Gothic the n-stems (i. e. the stems in -an, -ôn, -ein), ar very numerous, while of other consonantal declensions but a few remains ar preservd (§ 114 et seq.). Sinse the time of Jac. Grimm the n-declension has also been calld Weak Declension.

§ 88. There ar four classes of the vocalic declension: stems in a, ô, i, u. Accordingly, we distinguish them as a-, ô-, i-, and u-declensions. The stem-characteristics ar stil clearly seen in all classes in the dat. and acc. pl.; e. g., dagam, dagans; — gibôm, gibôs; — gastim, gastins; — sunum, sununs. Sinse the time of Jacob Grimm the vocalic declension has also been calld Strong Declension.

(c) On the nominal composition.

§ 88^a. Substantivs (and adjectivs) as the first parts of compounds end as a rule in a vowel, the connecting vowel of the components (or composition-vowel), which in the case of the vocalic stems is oftenest identical with the stem-vowel. Exampls: a-decl.: figgra-gulþ, hunsla-staþs, himina-kunds, fulla-tôjis; —i-decl.: gasti-gôþs, naudi-bandi; —u-decl.: fôtu-baúrd, hardu-haírtei, filu-waúrdei.

But the connecting vowel of the o-stems is always -a; as, aírþa-kunds, hleiþra-stakeins; the -ja of ja-stems persists when the stem is a short syllabl, but it becums i when the stem is long (cp. § 44); as, wadja-bôkôs, alja-kuns; arbi-numja, aglaiti-waúrdei; in like manner þûsundi-faþs, < stem in -jô-, nom. þûsundi (§ 145).

The n-stems hav simpl a insted of the thematic ending -an, -ôn; as, guma-kunds, fruma-baúr, wilja-halþei, qina-kunds, auga-daúrô; but mari-saiws (cp. Beitr., 8, 410).

1. (a) A-Declension.

§ 89. The Gothic a-declension contains only masculins and neuters. We distinguish between pure a-stems and ja-stems.

Masculins.

§ 90. Paradims of the masculins. (a) Pure a-stems: dags, day (< an erlier *dagaz, proethnic Germanic *dago-z, § 88, n. 2); hlaifs, (loaf of) bred (proethnic Germanic *hlaibo-z). (b) ja-stems: haírdeis, herdsman (proethnic Germanic *herdio-z); harjis, army (proethnic Germanic *hario-z).

§ 91. Like dags decline many masculins; as, stains, stone; skalks, servant; tains, twig; himins, heven; fisks, fish; wigs, way; wulfs, wolf; fugls, bird (fowl); aiþs (gen. aiþis), oath.

hlaifs shows the hardening of the medial soft spirant when becuming final (cp. §§ 56. 79). So does laufs (nom. pl. laubôs), leaf.

§ 92. The ja-stems ar subject to the rules concerning the contraction of the ji into ei (s. § 44, c and n. 1), according to which there is a distinction between the words with long and those with short stem-syllabls. Further exampls: (a) long-stemd and trisyllabic (polysyllabic): asneis, hired man; andeis, end; ƕaiteis, wheat; sipôneis, disciple; the words in -areis (Kluge, Stammbildung, §§ 8. 9; ahd. gr., § 200): laisareis, teacher; bôkareis, scribe, etc. (b) short stems: niþjis, cuzin; *andastaþjis, adversary.

Neuters.

§ 93. Paradims. (a) pure a-stems: waúrd, word; haubiþ, hed. (b) wa-stems: triu, tree. (c) ja-stems: kuni, kin.

§ 94. Like waúrd ar declined a very great number of neuter nouns; e. g., blôþ, blôþis, blud; gulþ, gold; juk, yoke; jêr, year; haúrn, horn; sauil, sun; silubr, silver; agis, fear; sáir, sorrow; maúrþr, murder; gras, grasis, grass.

Exampls of words, like haubiþ, with a final hard sound for a medial soft spirant: dius, diuzis, animal; hatis, hatred; riqis, darkness (§ 78, n. 1); liuhaþ, liuhadis, light; witôþ, law.

§ 95. Like kuni ar declined both short and long ja-stems; e. g., badi, bed; nati, net; faírguni, mountain; gawi, gaujis, province (§ 42, n. 2); taui, tôjis, deed (§ 26); reiki, reikjis, kingdom; arbi, arbjis, inheritance; galigri, consummation of marriage; gawaúrki, business; garûni, counsel; andwaírþi, presence.

1. (b) Ô-Declension.

§ 96. The Gothic ô-declension contains only feminins which serv as a supplement to the a-decl. (§ 88, n. 1). Also here we distinguish between pure ô-stems and jô-stems.

Paradims: (a) giba, gift (stem gibô-). (b) long jô-stems: bandi, bond (stem bandjô-); mawi, girl (stem maujô-).

§ 97. Like giba ar declined a great many words; as, bida, request; þiuda, peple; hansa, multitude; saiwala, soul; stibna, voice; aírþa, erth; ƕeila, hour; wamba, belly; mildiþa, mercy; aƕa, water.

§ 98. Like bandi go the long and polysyllabic jô-stems. Their inflection is the same as that of giba, except in the nom. and voc. sg. which hav i insted of ja.—Further exampls: þiudangardi, kingdom; ƕôftuli, glory; *haiþi, field, heath; *wasti, garment; *frijôndi, f., frend; *fraistubni, temptation.

2. I-Declension.

§ 99. The i-declension contains only masculins and feminins. Both genders properly ought to inflect precisely alike. But this is the case in the pl. only, while the sg. of the masculins has the gen. and dat. after the analogy of the a-declension.

Masculins.

§ 100. Paradim: balgs, wine-skin (proethnic Germanic balgi-z).

§ 101. The number of masculins inflecting like balgs is not very great; e. g., gasts, guest; gards, house; muns, thought; mats, meat, food; saggws, song; sauþs, saudis, sacrifice; brûþ-faþs (d), bridegroom; staþs (d), sted, place.

Feminins.

§ 102. Paradim: ansts, favor (proethnic Germanic ansti-z).

§ 103. A great number of feminins belong to this class. Exampls: qêns, woman, wife; dails, deal; wêns, hope; nauþs, nauþais, need; siuns, sight; sôkns, serch; taikns, token; fahêþs, fahêdais, joy; magaþs (þ), maid; fadreins, generation, family; arbaiþs (d), work; asans, harvest; ahaks, duv; those in -duþs, -duþais (perhaps -dûþs; cp. § 15, n. 1): mikilduþs, greatness; managduþs, abundance; ajukduþs, eternity; gamainduþs, communion.

Very numerous ar the verbal abstracts which may be formd from every strong verb by means of the dental suffix t (þ, d); e. g., gaskafts, creation; þaúrfts, need; ganists, salvation; fralusts, loss; gakusts, test; gabaúrþs, birth; gataúrþs, destruction; manasêþs (d), world; dêþs, deed; gahugds, thought.

3. U-Declension.

Masculins and Feminins.

§ 104. The masculins and feminins of the u-declension ar identical in form. Paradim: sunus, sun.

§ 105. Further exampls: (a) masculins; e. g., áirus, messenger; asilus, ass; dauþus, deth; wulþus, glory; hûhrus, hunger; þaúrnus, thorn; haírus, sword; liþus, lim; lustus, lust; magus, boy; faírƕus, world; fôtus, foot; stubjus, dust; wrêþus, flock (§ 7, n. 3); in -assus (Kluge, Stammbildg., § 137 et seq.): draúhtinassus, warfare; ibnassus, evenness; þiudinassus, kingdom; in -ôdus, -ôþus (Kluge, Stammbildg., § 134); e. g., auhjôdus, tumult; gabaúrjôþus, plezure.

(b) The only feminins ar certainly only handus, hand; kinnus, cheek; waddjus, wall (cp. Beitr., 16, 318¹), and perhaps asilus (if ὄνου in Lu. XIX, 30. Joh. XII, 15, means she-ass).

The gender of sum is doutful; as, qaírnus, mil; flôdus, flud; luftus, air.

Neuters.

§ 106. The word faíhu, muney (orig. 'catl', = OHG. fihu) is the only neuter sb. of this class which occurs in several cases in the singular. No n. pl. is found.

1. Masculins.

§ 107. Paradim: guma, man.

§ 108. Like guma inflect a great many masculins; e. g., staua, judge; hana, cock; skula, detter; mêna, moon; atta, father; ahma, spirit; blôma, flower; milhma, cloud; hliuma, hearing; weiha, priest; swaíhra, father-in-law; magula, litl boy; pl. brôþrahans, brothers (J. Schmidt, 'Idg. Neutra', 16); —bandja, prisoner; haúrnja, trumpeter; fiskja, fisher; timrja, carpenter; arbja, heir; wilja, wil; manamaúrþrja, (man-)murderer; waúrstwja, workman.

2. Neuters.

§ 109. Paradim: haírtô, hart.

§ 110. Like haírtô inflect but few substantivs: augô, ey; ausô, ear; barnilô, litl child; auga-daúrô, window; þaírkô, hole, ear of a needl; kaúrnô, corn; sigljô, seal. Cp. J. Schmidt, 'Indog. Neutra', 106 et seq.

Also the weak adjectivs (§ 132).

3. Feminins.

§ 111. The feminins of the n-declension ar divided into two classes: stems in -ôn- and -ein-. Their inflection is the same. Paradims: tuggô, tung; managei, multitude.

§ 112. Like tuggô inflect many substantivs; as, qinô, woman, wife; ûhtwô, dawn; swaíhrô, mother-in-law; azgô, ashes; gatwô, street; staírnô, star; wikô, week; sunnô, sun (cp. § 110, n. 2); —arbjô, heiress; brunjô, brestplate; tainjô, basket; niþjô, female cuzin; raþjô, account.

§ 113. Nearly all substantivs inflecting like managei ar derived from adjectivs. Such an abstract in -ei may be formd from every adjectiv, hense the great number of these words; e. g., diupei, depth; laggei, length; bleiþei, mercy; mikilei, greatness; braidei, bredth; frôdei, wisdom; hardu-haírtei, hard-hartedness; drugkanei, drunkenness; sum can not be referd to corresponding adjs., but they likewise denote a state; e. g., þaúrstei, thirst; magaþei, maidenhood. But very few hav a concrete meaning; as, aiþei, mother; þramstei, locust; kilþei, womb; marei, sea; ƕaírnei, skul.

§ 114. Nouns in -r denoting relationship. The words brôþar, brother; daúhtar, daughter; swistar, sister; fadar, father, hav replaced their old consonantal inflection in the nom., acc., and dat. pl. with the forms of the u-declension (§ 104). Paradim:

§ 115. The present participls in Gothic inflect like weak adjectivs (§ 133). An older (substantival) inflection, however, persists with sum participls uzed substantivly. Paradim: nasjands, savior.

Furthermore: fijands, fiend; frijônds, frend (> frijôndi, § 98), daupjands, the Baptist; mêrjands, preacher; bisitands, neighbor; talzjands, teacher; -waldands, ruler (all-w., the Almighty; garda-w., master of the house); fraweitands, avenger; fraujinônds, ruler; midumônds, mediator; gibands, giver. Cp. Zs. fdph., 5, 315.

§ 116. A number of feminins following in sum cases the i-decl. (ansts, § 102) appear in others as short forms which ar remains of an old consonantal inflection. Paradim: baúrgs, (burg), town, city.

Like baúrgs inflect also alhs, templ; spaúrds, race-course; brusts, brest; dulþs, feast; waíhts, thing; miluks, milk; mitaþs (d), mezure.

The word nahts, night, inflects in the sg. like baúrgs, in the pl. only the dat. nahtam is found. Cp. nahta-mats, § 88^a, n. 3.

§ 117. Masculins with short (consonantal) cases: manna, man; mênôþs, month; reiks, ruler; weitwôds, witness (cp. § 74, n. 2). But in point of inflection they ar not fully alike.

(1) manna follows in sum cases the n-decl. (guma, § 107). These cases ar here put in Italics:

(2) mênôþs and reiks follow in the g. sg. the a-decl.: mênôþis, reikis, but in the dat. sg. the short forms mênôþ and reik (Eph. II, 2) occur. In the nom. acc. pl. the short forms mênôþs and reiks ar uzed; gen. pl. reikê. In the dat. pl. mênôþum, but reikam.—Beside the nom. sg. weitwôds there occur the acc. sg. weitwôd and the g. pl. weitwôdê.

§ 118. The neuter fôn, fire, has this form in the nom. acc. sg., but funins in the gen., and funin in the dat.—No plural occurs. Cp. § 12, n. 3.

§ 119. A number of foren words from the Latin and Greek wer fully adopted into the Gothic language thru commercial and political intercourse, so that their inflection is the same as that of purely Gothic words; e. g., pund, n., pound; marikreitus, m., perl; Krêks, m., Greek; karkara, f., 'carcer'; alêw, n., oil; kaisar, m., Cæsar.

§ 120. A second portion of foren words wer at a later period forced on the Gothic language by Christianity and especially by the version of the Bible. To these belong for the most part proper nouns which ar stil felt to be foren elements and hav but imperfectly adopted the Gothic inflection. For their treatment in Gothic no fixt rules can be givn. Sumtimes they retain their Greek inflection, sumtimes they take either similar or arbitrarily formd case-endings.—Cp. Bernhardt's 'Vulfila', p. XXVIII, and especially M. H. Jellinek, 'Beitr. zur erklärung der german. flexion' (Berlin 1891), pp. 76-84.

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§ 121. In Gothic, as in all other Germanic languages, adjectivs hav two kinds of inflection, the strong and the weak. The strong inflection is the original one corresponding to that of the cognate languages, the weak originated on Germanic soil. Every normal adj. may hav both a strong and a weak inflection. The distinction is a syntactic one: the weak form is employd after the articl (rarely in other positions), the strong form in all other cases, especially when the adj. is uzed predicativly, or attributivly without the articl. Cp. Zs. fda., 18, 17-43.

§ 122. The strong inflection of adjectivs is in part the same as the vocalic (or strong) inflection of the substantivs with which it was originally identical. In Germanic, however, sum cases of the adj. hav adopted the pronominal inflection, so that the identity between the adjectival inflection and that of the substantivs is now confined to certain cases. The nom. and acc. sg. of the neuter gender hav two forms of the same value, a substantival and a pronominal one (in -ata). The latter, however, is not uzed predicativly.

The Gothic adjectiv, like the substantiv, has three vocalic declensions: (1) Adjectivs of the a-declension which correspond to the substantival a-declension in the m. and n. (§ 89 et seq.) and in the f. of the ô-declension (§ 96 et seq.).—A subdivision is formd by the ja-stems, just as in the case of the corresponding substantivs. (2) Adjectivs of the i-declension which correspond to the substantivs in §§ 99-103. (3) Adjectivs of the u-declension belonging to the substantivs in §§ 104-106.

Classes (2) and (3), however, contain but very few remains in Gothic. The few adjectival ja-stems hav in most of the inflectional cases past over to the 1st class, so that the normal strong declension of the adjectivs in Gothic embraces only the a-declension and its subdivision, the ja-stems.

§ 123. Paradim of the strong adjectival declension: blinds, blind. The pronominal forms differing from the inflection of the corresponding substantivs ar in the following paradim put in Italics:

§ 124. Here belong most of the extant adjectivs; e. g., hails, hole, helthy; siuks, sik; juggs, yung; triggws, tru, faithful; swinþs, strong; ubils, evil; aiweins, eternal; haiþiwisks, wild; mahteigs, mighty; ansteigs, gracious; manags, much, many; môdags, angry; handugs, wise.—Also adjectiv pronouns; as, meins, mine, my; þeins, thine, thy; seins, his; jains, yun; the superlativs (§ 137) and pps. pass.; as, numans, taken; nasiþs, saved (cp. § 134).

§ 125. Adjectiv-stems with ja before the endings (ja-stems) hav most of their forms like the paradim blinds. Only in few forms a change is caused by the j. As in the case of nouns, we distinguish between short and long adjectival ja-stems.

Paradim of a short ja-stem: midjis, midl:

§ 126. As regards inflection, the m. midjis is closely related to the substantiv harjis (§§ 90. 92), the n. midi to the substantiv kuni (§§ 93. 95). The fem. midja shows no deviation whatever.

Only a small number of adjectivs belong to this class: aljis, another; sunjis, tru; ga-wiljis, unanimous; unsibjis, criminal; -fraþjis, minded (only in grinda-, sama-fr.); ƕarjis (§ 160); also those whose stems end in a vowel (§ 44, c): niujis, new; -tôjis, doing (as, ubiltôjis, evil-doing).

§ 127. The long ja-stems inflect in the pl. like midjis. Paradim wilþeis (stem wilþja-), wild, in the sg.:

§ 128. The infl. of the m. is related to that of the sb. haírdeis (§§ 90. 92), the infl. of the f. to that of bandi (§§ 96. 98; only wôþi occurs; II. Cor. II, 15). None of the few adjs. of this class occurs in the gen. sg.; wilþjis (Rom. XI, 24) probably stands for wilþjins; s. § 132, n. 1.

Further exampls: alþeis, old; faírneis, old; aírzeis, astray; wôþeis, sweet.

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§ 129. According to § 122, only remains of the original adjs. of the i- and u-declension ar extant in Gothic, viz.: nom. sg. of all genders, acc. sg. n., and gen. sg. m. and n. All other extant cases hav past over to the inflection of the ja-stems (§§ 125-127). The same rule applies to the weak forms (§ 132, n. 1).

§ 130. The adjectival i-stems ar connected with the substantivs balgs, ansts (§§ 99-103). Exampls: hrains, clean; gamains, common; brûks, uzeful; analaugns, hidn; anasiuns, visibl; andanêms, agreeabl; andasêts, abominabl; sêls, kind (unsêls, wicked); suts, sweet; skeirs, clear; gafáurs, sober (unfáurs, talkativ); aljakuns, of different kind. The paradim hrains inflects thus:

§ 131. The adjectival u-stems ar related to the substantivs sunus (fem. handus), faíhu (§§ 104-106). Exampls: hardus, hard; qaírrus, meek; þaúrsus, dry; tulgus, stedfast; manwus, redy; aggwus, narrow; aglus, difficult; seiþus, late; þlaqus, tender; twalibwintrus, twelv years (lit. winters) old. Paradim hardus:

§ 132. The weak declension of adjectivs is fully identical with the weak or n-declension of nouns (§§ 107-112). But it must be noticed that the f. of the weak adj. inflects like the paradim tuggô (cp. § 112, n. 1).—Exampl of an inflected weak adj. (blinds, § 123):

§ 133. The present participl has lost its strong inflection and declines like a weak adj., but with the f. in -ei (§ 132, n. 4). Only the nom. sg. m. has frequently both the strong and the weak inflection. Paradim gibands, giving:

§ 134. The prt. ptc. pass., like an ordinary adj., follows the strong and weak inflection; e. g., the pp. of the stv. giban:

The pp. of the wv. nasjan:

1. COMPARATIV.

§ 135. The comparativ degree of adjectivs in Gothic is formd by means of two suffixes, -iz- and -ôz-, to which the terminations of the weak adjectivs ar added.

The formation with the suff. -iz- is more general than the other. It is found in adjs. of all kinds; e. g., managiza (< manags, a-stem), alþiza (< alþeis, §§ 127. 128), hardiza (< hardus, § 131).—But the suffix -ôz- occurs in a-stems only: frôdôza (< frôþs), swinþôza (< swinþs).

§ 136. The comparativs inflect exactly like weak adjectivs, but the f. ends in -ei (§ 132, n. 4):

etc., like the prs. ptc. (§ 133).

2. SUPERLATIV.

§ 137. The superlativ degree, like the comparativ, is formd in two ways, in -ist- or in -ôst-; e. g., managists (< manags), armôsts (< arms, poor). The inflection of the superlativs is precisely the same as that of ordinary adjectivs—strong and weak.

3. IRREGULAR COMPARISON.

§ 138. The lack of comparison of sum adjectivs is supplied by comparativs and superlativs with a corresponding meaning, but without a positiv:

§ 139. A superlativ with an m-suffix is found in six words, which ar derived from adverbial stems and appear without a positiv. The m-suffix is either simpl: fru-ma, innu-ma, aúhu-ma, or compound: af-tuma, if-tuma, hlei-duma.

Two of them hav assumed a comparativ meaning: aúhuma, higher; hleiduma, left (ἀριστερός); the others hav a superlativ or an intensiv signification: aftuma, the last; iftuma, the next; innuma, the inmost; fruma, the first.

These words follow the weak inflection, but hav the f. in -ei, exactly like the comparativs.