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Gothic (1 threads, 17 posts)
    Gothic - General Discussion (10 posts)
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    Author: * Eirikr Knudsson - 4 Posts on this thread out of 466 Posts sitewide.
    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

    1. The letter ț is always unvoiced, i.e., it's the 'th' sound in 'thin', never as in 'that'.

    2. The letter s is always unvoiced, i.e., it never sounds like z.

    3. The letter q represents the sounds 'qw'.

    4. The letter j, as in most Germanic languages, is pronounced like English consonantal 'y' (as in yard).

    5. The combination gg is used, as in Greek, to represent the 'ng' sound. Thus brigg- is pronounced 'bring-'.

    6. The combination ei is always pronounced 'ee' as in 'queen'.

    7. The combination hl was probably pronounced gutturally, like 'khl'.

    8. In between vowels, the letter d was pronounced like the voiced 'th' in 'that'.

    9. In between vowels, the letter b was pronounced softly, with both lips, like the Spanish b/v.

    10. The letter g was always aspirated like the soft g sound in Dutch.

    11. 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.

    12. 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:

    1. 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:
      GothicLatin
      ik baíra(ego) fero
      țu baíris(tu) fers
      is baír(is) fert
      weis baíram(nos) ferimus
      jus baír(vos) fertis
      eis baírand(eis) ferunt

    2. 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'.

    3. 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').

    4. 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'.

    5. Gothic, like Old High German, has separate pronouns for the Accusative and Dative (direct and indirect object) cases. Compare:
      GothicOHGOE
      Dat.mismirme(to) me
      Acc.mikmihmeme


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