Unit 9
Last unit we introduced yes/no questions. The other common type of question, the wh-question, is expressed in Gothic with pronouns
that begin with ƕ.
The simple interrogative pronoun ƕas (who) has in the three genders: ƕas, ƕō, ƕa. It occurs only in the singular, and the oblique cases
have the same endings as the definite article.
| 1. Ƕas þana wulf saƕ? | Who saw the wolf? |
| 2. Ƕana sa wulfs saƕ? | Whom did the wolf see? |
| 3. Ƕa þū saƕt? | What did you see? |
Other interrogative pronouns attested include:
| ƕan | when |
| ƕaþar | which of two (attested only in nom. sing. masc. and neut.) |
| ƕar | where |
| ƕarjis | which of many (declined like midjis, except neut. nom. sing. is always ƕarjata, never **ƕari) |
| ƕē | how |
| ƕēláuþs | how great (stem ƕēláud-, declined like frōþs) |
| ƕileiks | what sort of (declined like galeiks) |
Some of these have demonstrative equivalents, such as swaleiks (such), swaláuþs (so great). They are declined the same as their ƕ-
counterparts.
Relative pronouns for the third person are formed by adding -ei to the definite article: saei (from sa), sōei (from sō), þatei (from
þata). If the definite form ends in s, the s is voiced to z: þizei (<= þis), þizōzei (<= þizōs), etc. Typically, this is combined with
the definite article, as:
| 4. Ƕa gaft þamma þanei qiþiþ armana? | What did you give to him whom thou call poor? |
| 5. Saƕ ik þata þizei náust. | I saw what you enjoyed. |
But sometimes these are contracted, and the case of the relative pronoun may agree with its role in either clause:
| 6. Ƕa gaft þammei qiþiþ armana? | What did you give to whom thou call poor? |
| 7. Saƕ ik þizei náust. | I saw what you enjoyed. |
First and second person relative pronouns add -ei to the personal pronoun, as:
| 8. Standa in háiþjái ikei saísō ƕáiti. | I stand in the field, I who sowed wheat. |
| 9. Drigkats miþ izái juzei in þamma razna bauats. | You two are drinking with her, you who live in this house. |
In the present tense, most of these verbs have singular personal endings in -ja, -eis, -eiþ, but a few, such as meljan and its compounds,
have a 3rd person attested in -iþ: mēliþ, ga-mēliþ, etc.
Up until now, in the preterite tense, we have seen only strong verbs. Most Gothic weak verbs have the same endings in the present active
indicative as strong verbs have, but form their preterites with a suffix rather than using ablaut or reduplication.
Weak verbs come in several conjugations.
The first weak conjugation has a stem in -j and distinguishes short-stem from long-stem forms. The examples of stōjan (to judge) and
sōkjan (to seek) differ in the following persons and numbers in the present tense:
| Singular |
| 2nd | stōjis | thou judge | sōkeis | thou seek |
| 3rd | stōjiþ | s/he judges | sōkeiþ | s/he seeks |
| Plural |
| 2nd | stōjiþ | you (pl) judge | sōkeis | you (pl) seek |
In the other persons and numbers, sōkjan has the same endings as strong verbs: (ik) sōkja, (wit) sōkjōs, (jut) sōkjats, etc.
From the table we notice that stōjan, the short-stem verb, has endings that resemble the strong verbs we're already familiar with,
while sōkjan, the long-stem verb, differs in some places.
The preterites of these verbs are:
| stauida | I judged |
| sōkida | I sought |
Notice the sound change of ō to au before another vowel.
The d in these preterites is the same d that we find in English past tenses of regular (weak) verbs.
In the singular, the endings for the three persons are:
| 1st | stauida | sōkida |
| 2nd | stauidēs | sōkidēs |
| 3rd | stauida | sōkida |
Whereas in the dual and plural, the stems become stauidēd-, sōkidēd- and the usual preterite endings apply (stauidēdu, stauidēduts;
stauidēdum, etc).
The past participles of these verbs are stauiþs, sōkiþs.
This conjugation contains some verbs with irregular preterites:
| Infinitive | Pret. | Past Pple. |
| briggan (to bring) | brāhta | brāhts |
| brūkjan (to use) | brūhta | brūhts |
| bugjan (to buy) | baúhta | baúhts |
| káupatjan (to buffet) | káupasta | káupatiþs |
| þagkjan (to think) | þāhta | þāhts |
| þugkjan(to seem) | þūhta | þūhts |
| waúrkjan (to work) | waúrhta | waúrhts |
The strong verb gaggan has an irregular preterite iddja, inflected as: iddja, iddjēs, iddja; iddjēdu, iddjēduts; iddjēdum, iddjēduþ, iddjēdun.
Additionally, one instance of a weak preterite gaggida is known.
Some more Class I weak verbs include:
| arjan | to plough |
| áugjan | to show (long-stem) |
| dáiljan | to deal out (long-stem) |
| dáuþjan | to kill, put to death (long-stem) |
| dráibjan | to trouble (long-stem) |
| faúrhtjan | to fear (long-stem) |
| fōdjan | to feed (long-stem) |
| ga-mōtjan | to meet (long-stem) |
| gatamjan | to tame |
| gáumjan | to perceive (long-stem) |
| gōljan | to greet (long-stem) |
| háiljan | to heal (long-stem) |
| háusjan | to hear (long-stem) |
| hazjan | to praise |
| kukjan | to kiss |
| lagjan | to lay |
| láisjan | to teach (long-stem) |
| matjan | to eat |
| mēljan | to write (long-stem) |
| namnjan | to name (long-stem) |
| nasjan | to save |
| natjan | to wet |
| ráisjan | to raise (long-stem) |
| satjan | to set |
| siujan | to sew (pret. siwida) |
| stráujan | to strew (pret. strawida) |
| swōgatjan | to sigh (long-stem) |
| táujan | to do, make (pret. tawida) |
| timrjan | to build |
| þragjan | to run |
| waljan | to choose |
| wandjan | to turn (long-stem) |
| warjan | to forbid |
| wasjan | to clothe |
| wēnjan | to hope (long-stem) |
Verbs ending in -áujan, -iujan change the u to w in the preterite.
Most adverbs are formed from nouns by appending -ba, for example báitraba (bitterly) from báitrs; sunjaba (truly) from sunjis; agluba
(difficultly) from aglus.
Some adverbs pertaining to motion to a place have a sufix -þ or -drē: hidrē (hither); jáidrē, jáind (thither); ƕaþ, ƕadrē (whither);
samaþ (to the same place); dalaþ (down); aljaþ (elsewhither).
Adverbs pertaining to motion from a place have one of the suffixes -na or -þrō. Faírraþrō (from afar); innana, innaþrō (from within);
ƕaþrō (whence); etc.
Adverbs pertaining to rest or fixed position, end in -r or -a: hēr (here), þar (there), jáinar (yonder), ƕar (where), aljar
(elsewhere), inna (in), faúra (before), afta (behind), iupa (above), dalaþa (below), ūta (outside).
Simple adverbs of time exist: ƕan (when), þan (then), nu (now), ju (already), áir (early), náiw (never; = ni áiw). Other temporal
adverb equivalents use the oblique cases of nouns pertaining to time: gistra-dagis (tomorrow), himma daga (today), etc. Pronominal
constructs such as fram himma nu (from now on) also exist.
Himma is a dative singular of a pronoun which is not otherwise extant except as the accusative hina;
its nominative is reconstructed as *his with the meaning "this".
Some adverbial forms are left over from the old Indo-European ablative, such as sinteinō (continually) from sinteins; spráutō (quickly)
from spráuts; simlē (once); þridjō (for the third time). This ending is also present in missō, which forms reciprocal constructs:
| 10. Jah qēþun du sis missō... | And they said to one another... |
| 11. Warida sa láisareis sipōni is unwijaba kiusan. | The teacher forbade his student from choosing unwisely. |
| 12. Baúhta-h si mat in garun. | And she bought meat in the market. |
| 13. Sa waír jah sō qēns kukidēdun, untē im was sunjaba frijaþwa | The man and the woman kissed because they truly had love. |
| 14. Þái skalkōs iddjēdun jáinar du þamma garda jah þans hundans fōdidēdun. | The servants went yonder to the house and fed the dogs. |
| 15. Hidrē jah jáidrē wandjeiþ þata skip ana þana sáiw. | Hither and thither turns the ship upon the sea. |
Translate these from Gothic:
| 16. Nist halja alja þōei unsis misso waúrkjam. |
| 17. Stōjis-u mik ubiltōjana fram dēdim þáim þōzei ni tawida?
(Take ubiltōjis as a noun meaning "evildoer". Fram has the same meaning here as in sentence 8.11.)
|
| 18. Þagkeis-u ei þata þiudangardi ist faírraþrō fagr? |
| 19. Þugkjand þái gasteis sēljái. |
| 20. Fram himma nu náiw dráibja ins. (Translate this as a future tense; Gothic uses present tense verbs to indicate future actions.) |
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