Author: * Eirikr Knudsson -
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Date: Feb 6, 2006 - 16:29
Atta unsar
țu in himinam
weihnái namo țein
qimái țiudinassus țeins
waírțái wilja țeins swe in himina jah ana aírțái.
Hlaif unsarana țana sinteinan gif uns himma daga
jah aflet uns țatei skulans sijáima
swaswe jah weis afletam țáim skulam unsaráim
jah ni briggáis uns in fráistubnjái
ak láusei uns af țamma ubilin
unte țeina ist țiudangardi jah mahts jah wulțus in áiwins. Amen
Pronunciation of Gothic
- The letter ț is always unvoiced, i.e., it's the 'th' sound in 'thin', never as in 'that'.
- The letter s is always unvoiced, i.e., it never sounds like z.
- The letter q represents the sounds 'qw'.
- The letter j, as in most Germanic languages, is pronounced like English consonantal 'y' (as in yard).
- The combination gg is used, as in Greek, to represent the 'ng' sound. Thus brigg- is pronounced 'bring-'.
- The combination ei is always pronounced 'ee' as in 'queen'.
- The combination hl was probably pronounced gutturally, like 'khl'.
- In between vowels, the letter d was pronounced like the voiced 'th' in 'that'.
- In between vowels, the letter b was pronounced softly, with both lips, like the Spanish b/v.
- The letter g was always aspirated like the soft g sound in Dutch.
- The combination ai by the time of Bishop Wulfila was probably always pronounced like the 'e' in 'pet'. Nevertheless, scholars distinguish two different pronunciations based on etymology: 'e' as in pet [spelled aí], and 'eye' as in...well, eye [spelled ái]. Thus at one time the latter ('eye') pronunciation would have been used for weihnái, qimái, hláif, sijáima, țáim, unsaráim, bringáis, fráistubnjái, and the last syllable of aírțái.
- The combination au by the time of Wulfila was probably always pronounced like 'o' in 'wrote', but here too scholars use two pronunciations to distinguish etymological origins: 'o' as in 'wrote' [spelled aú], and the ou sound in 'house' [spelled áu].
Glossary
Atta: father [attila: little father]
unsar: our; unsaráim: Dat. pl.; unsarana: Acc. sg.
țu: you ['thou']
in: in, on
himins: heaven [cf. German Himmel]; himinam: Dat. pl.;
weihnan: to be hallowed; weihnái: let [it] be hallowed
namo: name
țeins: (masc.) your [thine]; țeina: fem.
qiman: to come; qimái: let [it] come
țiudinassus: kingdom [Cf. OE țeoden: king]
waírțan: to be, become, happen; waírțái: let [it] be done
wilja: will
swe: like, as
jah: and
ana: on
aírța: earth; aírțái: Dat.
hlaif: bread ['loaf']
sa: the, that; țana: Acc. sg.; țáim: Dat. pl.; țamma: Dat. sg.
sinteins: daily; sinteinan: Acc. sg.
giban: to give; gif: Imper.
uns: us Dat., Acc.
himma: this Dat.
dags: day; daga: Dat.
afletan: to leave, let be, forgive ['let']; aflet: imper.; afletam: we forgive;
țatei: that, who, which
skulan: to owe, must; skulans: owing; skulam: [we] must, owe
sijáima: be 1st pl. Opt.
swaswe: as, even as, just as
weis: we
ni: not
briggan: to bring; briggáis: bring 2nd sg. Opt, used as imper.
fráistubni: temptation; fráistubnjái: Dat. sg.
ak: but
láusjan: free, deliver; láusei: imper.
af: from, of, by, on
ubils: evil; ubilin: Dat. sg.
unte: for, because, until
ist: is
țiudangardi: kingdom
mahts: power
wulțus: splendor, glory
áiws: time, age, eternity; áiwins: Acc. pl.
Some things to note about the Gothic language:
- It is by far the oldest Germanic language, and is thus the closest to Proto-Germanic. It also, therefore, shows the most similarities with other Indo-European languages that aren't Germanic. Compare the verb conjugation between Gothic and Latin:
| Gothic | Latin |
| ik baíra | (ego) fero |
| țu baíris | (tu) fers |
| is baíriț | (is) fert |
| weis baíram | (nos) ferimus |
| jus baíriț | (vos) fertis |
| eis baírand | (eis) ferunt |
- Gothic alone among Germanic languages retains the old Proto-Indo-European -s ending for singular nouns that survived, e.g., in Latin and Greek. Compare: Latin dies, Gothic dags, 'day'.
- Gothic alone among Germanic languages preserves an s or z where in the other Germanic languages it became an r (a process called rhotacism) or disappeared altogether. Compare Gothic háusjan vs. German hören, English hear; Gothic láisjan vs. German lehren (English 'lore').
- Gothic will often have 'áu' where English (old or modern) has 'ea'. Compare Go. hausjan, hear; Go. fráuja, OE frea (lord); Go. láusjan 'to loose', OE leas 'free of' (> '-less'); Go. áusa, ear; Go. dáuțjan, 'put to death'.
- Gothic, like Old High German, has separate pronouns for the Accusative and Dative (direct and indirect object) cases. Compare:
| Gothic | OHG | OE | |
| Dat. | mis | mir | me | (to) me |
| Acc. | mik | mih | me | me |
|