Gothic

Gothic language

Gothic is an extinct 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 sizable Text corpus...

 is an inflected

Inflection

In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...

 language, and as such its nouns, pronouns, and adjectives must be declined in order to serve a grammatical function. A set of declined forms of the same word pattern is called a declension

Declension

In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles to indicate number , case , and gender...

. There are five grammatical cases in Gothic with a few traces of an old sixth instrumental case

Instrumental case

The instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...

.

Description of cases

• The nominative case
  Nominative case
  The nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
  
  , which is used to express the subject of a statement. It is also used with copulative verbs.
• The vocative case
  Vocative case
  The vocative case is the case used for a noun identifying the person being addressed and/or occasionally the determiners of that noun. A vocative expression is an expression of direct address, wherein the identity of the party being spoken to is set forth expressly within a sentence...
  
  , which is used to address someone or something in direct speech. This case is indicated in English by intonation or punctuation, e.g. "Mary is going to the store" ("Mary" is nominative) compared to "Mary, are you going to the store?" or "Mary!" ("Mary" is vocative).
• The accusative case
  Accusative case
  The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
  
  , which expresses the direct object of a verb. In English, except for a small number of words which display a distinct accusative case (e.g., who > whom, I > me, he > him), the accusative and nominative cases are identical.
• The genitive case
  Genitive case
  In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
  
  , which expresses possession, measurement, or source. In English, the genitive case is represented analytically by the preposition of or by the enclitic "–'s", which itself developed from the genitive case. This –'s is related to the common Gothic "-s".
• The dative case
  Dative case
  The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
  
  , which expresses the recipient of an action, the indirect object of a verb. In English, the prepositions to, from and for most commonly denote this case analytically.
• The instrumental case
  Instrumental case
  The instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...
  
  , which is used to express the place in or on which, or the time at which, an action is performed. The instrumental case only survives in a few preposition forms in Gothic.

Order of cases

Gothic language grammars often follow the common NOM-ACC-GEN-DAT order used for the Germanic languages. VOC is usually attached to the same line as ACC as a combined VOC-ACC, but if not, it may be placed between NOM and ACC (as in Wright's "Grammar of the Gothic Language").

Short vs. long stems

An important distinction in many of the declension classes below is the difference between "short" and "long" stems. Frequently declension classes are divided into two subclasses, one for short-stemmed nouns and one for long-stemmed nouns.

A short stem contains:

• Either a short vowel followed by at most a single consonant (consonants at the beginning of an ending do not count),
• Or a long vowel or diphthong with no following consonant (other than possibly a consonant at the beginning of an ending),

A long stem is all other types of stems:

• Either a long vowel or diphthong followed by at least a single consonant (not counting consonants at the beginning of an ending),
• Or a short vowel followed by at least two consonants (same caveat concerning consonants at the beginning of an ending),
• Or a word whose root (minus any prefixes and suffixes) is more than one syllable in length, e.g. ragineis "counsellor", with root ragin- and -eis being the long-stemmed -ja declension ending.

The -a declension

This declension has as counterparts the second declension (us/um) of Latin, and the omicron declension (os/on) of Greek. It contains masculine and neuter nouns.

	dags, dagōs day m.				waúrd, waúrda word n.
	Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural
Nominative	dags	–s	dagōs	–ōs	waúrd	–	waúrda	–a
Accusative	dag	–	dagans	–ans	waúrd	–	waúrda	–a
Vocative	dag	–
Genitive	dagis	–is	dagē	–ē	waúrdis	–is	waúrdē	–ē
Dative	daga	–a	dagam	–am	waúrda	–a	waúrdam	–am

A varied set of nouns have two stems, one occurring with endings that are null or begin with a consonant (the nominative, accusative and vocative singular) and another that occurs with endings beginning with a vowel (all but the previously listed forms).

One common situation leading to two-stem nouns is the automatic devoicing of voiced fricatives at (or near) the end of a word, e.g.:

	hláifs, hláibōs loaf, bread m.				háubiþ, háubida head n.
	Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural
Nominative	hláifs	–s	hláibōs	–ōs	háubiþ	–	háubida	–a
Accusative	hláif	–	hláibans	–ans	háubiþ	–	háubida	–a
Vocative	hláif	–
Genitive	hláibis	–is	hláibē	–ē	háubidis	–is	háubidē	–ē
Dative	hláiba	–a	hláibam	–am	háubida	–a	háubidam	–am

Other nouns with two stems are:

• masculine þius "servant" (accusative singular þiu but genitive singular þiwis, nominative plural þiwōs, etc.)
• neuter kniu "knee" (accusative singular kniu but genitive singular kniwis, nominative plural kniwa, etc.);
• neuter triu "tree" (forms parallel to kniu).

The -ja declension

This declension is really just the -a declension with a j immediately preceding. However, due to various sound laws, a new declension subcategory has arisen that does not exactly follow the form of the plain -a declension. Similar developments occurred in Greek and the Slavic languages, among others.

This declension has as counterparts the second declension nouns in (-ius/-ium) of Latin. The counterparts in Greek are some second declension nouns in (-ios/-ion), as well as many that show effects of palatalization (e.g., -zdos < *-gyos or *-dyos; -llos < *-lyos; -ptos < -*pyos; -ssos or -ttos < -*tyos; -airos/-eiros/-oiros < *-aryos/-eryos/-oryos; -ainos/-einos/-oinos < *-anyos/enyos/onyos; etc., and similarly for neuter nouns in -ion or *-yon). It contains masculine and neuter nouns.

	harjis, harjōs army m.				haírdeis, haírdjōs herdsman m.				kuni, kunja race n.
	Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural
Nominative	harjis	–jis	harjōs	–jōs	haírdeis	–eis	haírdjōs	–jōs	kuni	-i	kunja	–ja
Accusative	hari	-i	harjans	–jans	haírdi	-i	haírdjans	–jans	kuni	-i	kunja	–ja
Vocative	hari	-i			haírdi	-i
Genitive	harjis	–jis	harjē	–jē	haírdeis	–eis	haírdjē	–jē	kunjis	–jis	kunjē	–jē
Dative	harja	–ja	harjam	–jam	haírdja	–ja	haírdjam	–jam	kunja	–ja	kunjam	–jam

The masculine nouns have a distinction between short- and long-stemmed nouns, as described above. harjis "army" is a prototypical short-stem noun, and haírdeis is a prototypical long-stem noun. Neuters, however, have merged the two types in favor of the short-stem endings. Properly, there should be a distinction in the genitive singular between short-stem -jis and long-stem -eis, as for the masculine nouns, but -jis has mostly taken over. For a few nouns, however, both forms can be used, as in genitive andbahteis or andbahtjis "of service", gawaírþeis or gawaírþjis "of peace", from neuter nouns andbahti "service" and gawaírþi "peace", respectively.

Note that the neuters in this declension can be said to follow the two-stem pattern (e.g. kuni vs. kunj-) described above for a-stems. A few neuters in this declension follow the same overall pattern but have additional vowel changes between the stems:

• gawi "region, district" (genitive gáujis)
• hawi "hay" (genitive háujis)
• taui "deed, work" (genitive tōjis)

The -ō declension

This declension counterparts the first declension (a) of Latin, and the alpha declension (a/as) of Greek. It contains feminine nouns.

	giba, gibōs gift f.
	Singular		Plural
Nominative	giba	–a	gibōs	–ōs
Accusative	giba	–a	gibōs	–ōs
Genitive	gibōs	–ōs	gibō	–ō
Dative	gibái	–ái	gibōm	–ōm

The -jō declension

Nouns ending in -jō that have a short stem (see discussion above) behave identically to normal -ō stems, e.g. brakja "strife", sibja "relationship", sunja "truth". However, long-stemmed nouns in -jō have a different nominative singular ending in -i:

	bandi, bandjōs band f.
	Singular		Plural
Nominative	bandi	–i	bandjōs	–jōs
Accusative	bandja	–ja	bandjōs	–jōs
Genitive	bandjōs	–jōs	bandjō	–jō
Dative	bandjái	–jái	bandjōm	–jōm

Note that in this particular case the "long-stem" declension includes nouns with a long vowel or diphthong and no following consonant. In addition, these nouns have a different stem in the nominative singular from all other cases:

• mawi (genitive máujōs) "maiden"
• þiwi (genitive þiujōs) "maidservant"

The -i declension

This declension counterparts the vowel stems of the third declension (is) of Latin, and the third declension of Greek. It contains masculine and feminine nouns. Note that masculine nouns have become identical to -a stem nouns in the singular, while feminine nouns have preserved the original declension.

	gasts, gasteis stranger, guest m.				qēns, qēneis wife f.
	Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural
Nominative	gasts	–s	gasteis	–eis	qēns	–s	qēneis	–eis
Acc.	gast	–	gastins	–ins	qēn	–	qēnins	–ins
Vocative	gast	–
Gen.	gastis	–is	gastē	–ē	qēnáis	–áis	qēnē	–ē
Dative	gasta	–a	gastim	–im	qēnái	–ái	qēnim	–im

Similar to the situation with -a stems, some nouns have a different stem in the nominative and accusative singular than in other cases:

• drus (acc. drus, gen. drusis) "fall", masc.
• baúr (acc. baúr, gen. baúris) "child, son", masc.
• náus (acc. náu, gen. nawis) "corpse", masc.
• brūþfaþs (gen. brūþfadis) "bridegroom", masc.; similarly sáuþs "sacrifice", staþs "place"
• usstass (acc. usstass, gen. usstassáis) "resurrection", fem.
• arbáiþs (gen. arbáidáis) "labor", fem.; similarly dēþs "deed", fahēþs "joy"

Some additional complications:

• háims "village" (fem.) is declined like a feminine -i stem in the singular, but like an -ō stem in the plural.
• Feminine abstract -i stems in -eins are declined partly like -ō stems in the plural:

  	láiseins, láiseinōs doctrine f.
  	Singular		Plural
  Nominative	láiseins	–s	láiseinōs	–ōs
  Accusative	láisein	–	láiseinins	–ins
  Genitive	láiseináis	–áis	láiseinō	–ō
  Dative	láiseinái	–ái	láiseinim	–im

The -u declension

This declension counterparts the fourth declension (us) of Latin. It contains nouns of all genders. faíhu "property" is the only well-attested neuter -u stem, and lacks a plural. Other remnants are the invariant neuter adjective filu "much" (with an adverbial genitive filáus), and gáiru "goad", occurring once in a gloss.

	sunus, sunjus son m.				faíhu property n.
	Singular		Plural		Singular
Nominative	sunus	–us	sunjus	–jus	faíhu	–u
Accusative	sunu	–u	sununs	–uns	faíhu	–u
Vocative	sunu	–u
Genitive	sunáus	–áus	suniwē	–iwē	faíháus	–áus
Dative	sunáu	–áu	sunum	–um	faíháu	–áu

The weak declension, n-stems

The an, on and in declensions constitute a Germanic

Germanic languages

The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...

 word derivation, which is also used for adjectives in the weak form marking definiteness. The declensions are unique for Germanic languages, and so have no counterparts in Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 or Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

.

The -an declension

Masculines and neuters belong to this declension.

	guma, gumans man m.				haírtō, haírtōna heart n.
	Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural
Nominative	guma	–a	gumans	–ans	haírtō	–ō	haírtōna	–ōna
Accusative	guman	–an	gumans	–ans	haírtō	–ō	haírtōna	–ōna
Genitive	gumins	–ins	gumanē	–anē	haírtins	–ins	haírtanē	–anē
Dative	gumin	–in	gumam	–am	haírtin	–in	haírtam	–am

There are a few neuter irregularities:

	watō, watna water n.				namō, namna name n.
	Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural
Nominative	watō	–	watna	–na	namō	–	namna	–na
Accusative	watō	–	watna	–na	namō	–	namna	–na
Vocative	watō	–			namō
Genitive	watins	–ins	watnē	–nē	namins	–ins	namnē	–nē
Dative	watin	–in	watnam	–nam	manin	–in	namnam	–nam

The -ōn declension

This declension is the feminine counterpart of the an declension.

	tuggō¹, tuggōns tongue f.
	Singular		Plural
Nominative	tuggō	–ō	tuggōns	–ōns
Accusative	tuggōn	–ōn	tuggōns	–ōns
Genitive	tuggōns	–ōns	tuggōnō	–ōnō
Dative	tuggōn	–ōn	tuggōm	–ōm

¹: the first g in tuggō is pronounced [ŋ], the Gothic language borrowed the practice to denote [ŋ] by g from Koine Greek

Koine Greek

Koine Greek is the universal dialect of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity , developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic....

 in which the New Testament was originally written.

The -ein declension

This declension contains abstract feminines only.

	frōdei, frōdeins wisdom f.
	Singular		Plural
Nominative	frōdei	–ei	frōdeins	–eins
Accusative	frōdein	–ein	frōdeins	–eins
Genitive	frōdeins	–eins	frōdeinō	–einō
Dative	frōdein	–ein	frōdeim	–eim

The -r declension

A few family nouns inherited from Proto-Indo-European

Proto-Indo-European language

The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...

 have a very archaic declension. Feminines and masculines have identical forms.

	swistar, swistrjus sister f.
	Singular		Plural
Nominative	swistar	–ar	swistrjus	–rjus
Accusative	swistar	–ar	swistruns	–runs
Genitive	swistrs	–rs	swistrē	–rē
Dative	swistr	–r	swistrum	–rum

Inflected thus are also brōþar m., brother, fadar m., father, daúhtar f., daughter.

The -nd declension

These nouns are old present participles, corresponding to nouns in -nt in Latin and Greek.

	frijōnds, frijōnds friend m.
	Singular		Plural
Nominative	frijōnds	–s	frijōnds	–s
Accusative	frijōnd	–	frijōnds	–s
Genitive	frijōndis	–is	frijōndē	–ē
Dative	frijōnd	–	frijōndam	–am

The root nouns

These nouns correspond to the consonant declensions in Latin and Greek (in both cases, part of the third declension). Only traces of masculines are extant, but feminines are fairly well attested.

	reiks, reiks ruler m.				baúrgs, baúrgs city f.
	Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural
Nominative	reiks	–s	reiks	–s	baúrgs	–s	baúrgs	–s
Acc.	reik	–	reiks	–s	baúrg	–	baúrgs	–s
Gen.	reikis	–is, –s	reikē	–ē	baúrgs	–s	baúrgē	–ē
Dative	reik	–	reikam	–am, um	baúrg	–	baúrgim	–im

The only masculine nouns extant are mēnōþs "month" (gen. sg. mēnōþs or mēnōþis?, dat. pl. mēnōþum); reiks "ruler" (gen. sg. reikis, dat. pl. reikam); and weitwōds "witness" (gen. sg., dat. pl. not attested).

There are nine feminine nouns attested. Note the following irregularities:

• mitaþs "measure" (gen. sg. mitads)
• nahts "night" (dat. pl. nahtam, formed after dat. pl. dagam "days")
• dulþs "feast" and waíhts "thing", also declined as i-stems.

The other five feminine nouns are alhs "temple", baúrgs "city", brusts "breast", miluks "milk", and spaúrds "racecourse".

Adjectives

Adjectives in Gothic, as in the other Germanic languages, can be declined according to two different paradigms, commonly called "strong" and "weak". This represents a significant innovation in Germanic, although a similar development has taken place in the Baltic

Baltic languages

The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe...

 and Slavic

Slavic languages

The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...

 languages.

Adjectives in Proto-Indo-European

Proto-Indo-European language

The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...

 -- as is still the case in Latin, Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

, and most other daughters—are declined in exactly the same way as nouns. Germanic "strong" adjectives, however, take many of their endings from the declension of pronouns, while "weak" adjectives take the endings of -n stem nouns, regardless of the underlying stem class of the adjective.

In general, weak adjectival endings are used when the adjective is accompanied by a definite article, and strong endings are used in other situations. However, weak endings are occasionally used in the absence of a definite article, and cause the associated noun to have the same semantics as if a definite article were present. Weak adjectives are also used when the associated noun is in the vocative case. In addition, some adjectives are always declined weak or strong, regardless of any accompanying articles.

The strong -a declension

	blinds, blind/blindata, blinda blind
	Singular						Plural
	Masculine		Neuter		Feminine		Masculine		Neuter		Feminine
Nominative	blinds	–s	blind, blindata	–, –ata	blinda	–a	blindái	–ái	blinda	–a	blindōs	–ōs
Accusative	blindana	-ana	blind, blindata	–, –ata	blinda	–a	blindans	-ans	blinda	–a	blindōs	–ōs
Genitive	blindis	–is	blindis	–is	blindáizōs	–áizōs	blindáizē	–áizē	blindáizē	–áizē	blindáizō	–áizō
Dative	blindamma	–amma	blindamma	–amma	blindái	–ái	blindáim	–áim	blindáim	–áim	blindáim	–áim

The strong -ja declension

Similar to the situation with nouns, the ja-stem adjectives are divided into two subtypes, depending on whether the stem is short or long.

Short-stemmed -ja declension

	midjis, midi/midjata, midja middle
	Singular						Plural
	Masculine		Neuter		Feminine		Masculine		Neuter		Feminine
Nominative	midjis	–jis	midi, midjata	–i, –jata	midja	–ja	midjái	–jái	midja	–ja	midjōs	–jōs
Accusative	midjana	-ana	midi, midjata	–i, –jata	midja	–ja	midjans	-ans	midja	–ja	midjōs	–jōs
Genitive	midjis	–jis	midjis	–jis	midjáizōs	–jáizōs	midjáizē	–jáizē	midjáizē	–jáizē	midjáizō	–jáizō
Dative	midjamma	–jamma	midjamma	–jamma	midjái	–jái	midjáim	–jáim	midjáim	–jáim	midjáim	–jáim

This declension has only the following extant adjectives: aljis "other", freis "free" (stem frij-, see below), fullatōjis "perfect", gawiljis "willing", midjis "middle", niujis "new", sunjis "true", ubiltōjis "evil-doing", and unsibjis "lawless".
Notes about the above adjectives:

• freis "free"has the stem frij- outside of the nominative masculine singular and presumably also the short-form nominative and accusative neuter singular and genitive masculine and neuter singular, although apparently it is unattested in those forms.
• fullatōjis "perfect" and ubiltōjis "evil-doing" should end in –taui in the short-form nominative and accusative neuter singular, although apparently it is unattested in those forms.
• Similarly, niujis "new" should have niwi as its short-form nominative and accusative neuter singular, although apparently it is unattested in those forms.

Long-stemmed –ja declension

	wilþeis, wilþi/wilþjata, wilþi wild
	Singular						Plural
	Masculine		Neuter		Feminine		Masculine		Neuter		Feminine
Nominative	wilþeis	–eis	wilþi, wilþjata	–i, –jata	wilþi	–i	wilþjái	–jái	wilþja	–ja	wilþjōs	–jōs
Accusative	wilþjana	-ana	wilþi, wilþjata	–i, –jata	wilþja	–ja	wilþjans	-ans	wilþja	–ja	wilþjōs	–jōs
Genitive	wilþeis	–eis	wilþeis (or -jis?)	–eis (–jis?)	wilþjáizōs	–jáizōs	wilþjáizē	–jáizē	wilþjáizē	–jáizē	wilþjáizō	–jáizō
Dative	wilþjamma	–jamma	wilþjamma	–jamma	wilþjái	–jái	wilþjáim	–jáim	wilþjáim	–jáim	wilþjáim	–jáim

This declension is built out of long-stemmed -ja masculine and neuter nouns and long-stemmed -jō feminine nouns.

This declension has only five extant adjectives: aírzeis "astray", alþeis "old", faírneis "old", wilþeis "wild", and wōþeis "sweet". None of these adjectives are extent in any genitive singular forms, and hence the forms given above are reconstructions based on the behavior of the corresponding nouns. The hesitation between wilþeis or wilþjis as the neuter genitive singular form stems from the following facts:

• The –eis ending is the phonologically expected ending, and masculines genitive singulars use this ending.
• Neuter genitive singulars of long-stem nouns, on the other hand, generally use –jis, by analogy with short-stem neuter nouns.
• However, some long-stem neuter nouns use both the (phonologically regular) –eis and the (analogically replaced) –jis, as in genitive andbahteis or andbahtjis "of service", gawaírþeis or gawaírþjis "of peace".
• Given that masculine and neuter adjectives have the same genitive and dative forms in all other types of adjectives, the influence of the masculine on the neuter is expected to be very strong. This is why the most likely form is assumed to be the one in –eis, despite the impact of the corresponding neuter nouns.

The strong -i declension

Adjectives of this class have replaced most forms with forms taken from the -ja declension. Only the nominative singular, the neuter accusative singular and the masculine and neuter genitive singular have genuine -i stem forms.

	hráins, hráin, hráins clean
	Singular						Plural
	Masculine		Neuter		Feminine		Masculine		Neuter		Feminine
Nominative	hráins	–s	hráin	–	hráins	–s	hráinjái	–jái	hráinja	–ja	hráinjōs	–jōs
Accusative	hráinjana	-ana	hráin	–	hráinja	–ja	hráinjans	-ans	hráinja	–ja	hráinjōs	–jōs
Genitive	hráinis	–is	hráinis	–is	*hráinjáizōs	*–jáizōs	hráinjáizē	–jáizē	hráinjáizē	–jáizē	hráinjáizō	–jáizō
Dative	hráinjamma	–jamma	hráinjamma	–jamma	hráinjái	–jái	hráinjáim	–jáim	hráinjáim	–jáim	hráinjáim	–jáim

The following adjectives of this type are extant (along with a few others): analáugns "hidden", anasiuns "visible", andanēms "pleasant", áuþs "desert", brūks "useful", gafáurs "well-behaved", gamáins "common", hráins "clean", sēls "kind", skáuns "beautiful", skeirs "clear", suts (?sūts) "sweet".

The strong -u declension

Similarly to -i stem adjectives, -u stem adjectives have replaced most forms with those taken from the -ja declension.

	hardus, hardu/hardjata, hardus hard
	Singular						Plural
	Masculine		Neuter		Feminine		Masculine		Neuter		Feminine
Nominative	hardus	–us	hardu, hardjata	–u, –jata	hardus	–us	hardjái	–jái	*hardja	*–ja	hardjōs	–jōs
Accusative	hardjana	-ana	hardu, hardjata	–u, –jata	hardja	–ja	hardjans	-ans	*hardja	*–ja	hardjōs	–jōs
Genitive	*hardáus	*–áus	*hardáus	*–áus	*hardjáizōs	*–jáizōs	hardjáizē	–jáizē	hardjáizē	–jáizē	hardjáizō	–jáizō
Dative	*hardjamma	*–jamma	*hardjamma	*–jamma	*hardjái	*–jái	hardjáim	–jáim	hardjáim	–jáim	hardjáim	–jáim

The following adjectives of this type are extant: aggwus "narrow", aglus "difficult", hardus "hard", hnasqus "soft", kaúrus "heavy", manwus "ready", qaírrus "gentle", seiþus "late", tulgus "steadfast", twalibwintrus "twelve years old", þaúrsus "withered", þlaqus "soft".

The weak declension

Weak adjectival endings are taken from the corresponding endings of masculine, feminine and neuter n-stems, e.g. masculine guma "man", feminine tuggō "tongue", neuter haírtō "heart". All adjectives have the same endings, regardless of the underlying stem class of the adjective. The only difference is that ja-stems, i-stems and u-stems have a -j- at the end of the stem, e.g. masculine singular nominative weak niuja "new", wilþja "wild", hráinja "clean", hardja "hard", corresponding to the strong forms niujis (short ja-stem), wilþeis (long ja-stem), hráins (i-stem), hardus (u-stem).

	blinda, blindō, blindō blind
	Singular						Plural
	Masculine		Neuter		Feminine		Masculine		Neuter		Feminine
Nominative	blinda	–a	blindō	–ō	blindō	–ō	blindans	–ái	blindōna	–ōna	blindōns	–ōns
Accusative	blindan	-an	blindō	–ō	blindōn	–ōn	blindans	-ans	blindōna	–ōna	blindōns	–ōns
Genitive	blindins	–ins	blindins	–ins	blindōns	–ōns	blindanē	–anē	blindanē	–anē	blindōnō	–ōnō
Dative	blindin	–in	blindin	–in	blindōn	–ōn	blindam	–am	blindam	–am	blindōm	–ōm

Personal Pronouns

	First Person
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ik	wit	weis
Accusative	mik	ugkis	uns, unsis
Genitive	meina	*ugkara	unsara
Dative	mis	ugkis	uns, unsis

	Second Person
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	þu	*jut	jus
Accusative	þuk	igqis	izwis
Genitive	þeina	igqara	izwara
Dative	þus	igqis	izwis

	Third Person
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	is	ita	si	eis	ija	*ijōs
Accusative	ina	ita	ija	ins	*ija	ijōs
Genitive	is	is	izōs	izē	*izē	izō
Dative	imma	imma	izái	im	im	im

Reflexive Pronouns

Nominative	--
Accusative	sik
Genitive	seina
Dative	sis

Possessive Pronouns

	First Person
	Singular			Dual			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	meins	mein, meinata	meina	ugkar	ugkar	ugkara	unsar	unsar	unsara
Accusative	meinana	mein, meinata	meina	ugkarana	ugkar	ugkara	unsarana	unsar	unsara
Genitive	meinis	meinis	meináizōs	ugkaris	ugkaris	ugkaráizōs	unsaris	unsaris	unsaráizōs
Dative	meinamma	meinamma	meinái	ugkaramma	ugkaramma	ugkarái	unsaramma	unsaramma	unsarái

	Second Person
	Singular			Dual			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	þeins	þein, þeinata	þeina	igqar	igqar	igqara	izwar	izwar	izwara
Accusative	þeinana	þein, þeinata	þeina	igqarana	igqar	igqara	izwarana	izwar	izwara
Genitive	þeinis	þeinis	þeináizōs	igqaris	igqaris	igqaráizōs	izwaris	izwaris	izwaráizōs
Dative	þeinamma	þeinamma	þeinái	igqaramma	igqaramma	igqarái	izwaramma	izwaramma	izwarái

	Third Person Reflexive
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	---	---	---	---	---	---
Accusative	seinana	sein, seinata	seina	seinans	seina	seinōs
Genitive	seinis	seinis	seináizōs	seináizē	seináizē	seináizō
Dative	seinamma	seinamma	seinái	seináim	seináim	seináim

Demonstrative Pronouns

	Simple Demonstrative: This/That, The
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	sa	þata	sō	þái	þō	þōs
Accusative	þana	þata	þō	þans	þō	þōs
Genitive	þis	þis	þizōs	þizē	þizē	þizō
Dative	þamma	þamma	þizái	þáim	þáim	þáim

	Compound Demonstrative: This/That
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	sah	þatuh	sōh	þáih	þōh	þōzuh
Accusative	þanuh	þatuh	þōh	þanzuh	þōh	þōzuh
Genitive	þizuh	þizuh	þizōzuh	þizēh	þizēh	þizōh
Dative	þammuh	þammuh	þizáih	þáimuh	þáimuh	þáimuh

Relative Pronouns

	Relative Pronoun: That/Who/Which
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	saei, izei, izē	þatei	sōei, sei	þáiei, izei, izē	þōei	þōzei
Accusative	þanei	þatei	þōei	þanzei	þōei	þōzei
Genitive	þizei	þizei	þizōzei	þizēei	þizēei	*þizōei
Dative	þammei	þammei	þizáiei	þáimei	þáimei	þáimei

First and second person relative pronouns also exist, formed by compounding -ei to the normal first and second person pronouns, with final -s becoming -z. The following forms are extant: first person singular nominative ikei; second person singular nominative þuei, accusative þukei, dative þuzei; second person plural nominative juzei, dative izwizei.

Interrogative Pronouns

	Interrogative: Who/What
	Singular
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	ƕas	ƕa	ƕō
Accusative	ƕana	ƕa	ƕō
Genitive	ƕis	ƕis	*ƕizōs
Dative	ƕamma	ƕamma	ƕizái

The plural form *ƕans (masculine accusative) occurs once as part of the indefinite pronoun ƕanzuh "each, every"; see below.

The following additional pronouns exist:

• ƕaþar "which of two" (extant only in the nominative singular masculine and neuter);
• ƕarjis "which (of many)", declined as a short-stem -ja stem except that only the longer neuter singular form ƕarjata exists;
• ƕileiks "what sort of", declined as an -a stem;
• ƕēláuþs (stem ƕēláud-) "how great", declined as an -a stem;
• swaleiks "such", declined as an -a stem;
• swaláuþs (stem swaláud-) "so great", declined as an -a stem.

Indefinite Pronouns

Three indefinite pronouns are formed by appending -uh "and" to the interrogative pronouns ƕas "who, what", ƕarjis "which (of many)", and ƕaþar "which of two"; compare the analogously formed Latin pronoun quisque "each", formed from quis "who" and -que "and". Both ƕazuh and ƕarjizuh mean "each, every"; *ƕaþaruh means "each of two".

Before -uh, -s appears in the original form of -z-, and after long vowels and stressed short vowels, the u of -uh is elided. Ustressed short vowels are dropped before -uh in the declension of ƕazuh; however, in the other two pronouns, long vowels appear in place of unstressed short vowels, preserving an older state of affairs, and the u of -uh is elided. Declension tables of ƕazuh and ƕarjizuh are presented below. Of *ƕaþaruh, only a single form is extant, the dative singular *ƕaþarammēh, occurring in the compound form áinƕaþarammēh "to each one of two".

The plural form ƕanzuh (masculine accusative) occurs once, in the expression insandida ins twans ƕanzuh "he sent them forth two and two".

	Indefinite #1: Each/Every
	Singular
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	ƕazuh	ƕah	ƕōh
Accusative	ƕanuh	ƕah	ƕōh
Genitive	ƕizuh	ƕizuh	ƕizōzuh
Dative	ƕammuh	ƕammuh	ƕizáih

	Indefinite #2: Each/Every
	Singular
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	ƕarjizuh	ƕarjatōh	ƕarjōh
Accusative	ƕarjanōh	ƕarjatōh	ƕarjōh
Genitive	ƕarjizuh	ƕarjizuh	ƕarjizōzuh
Dative	ƕarjammēh	ƕarjammēh	ƕarjáih

Additional pronominal forms are

• áinƕarjizuh "every one"
• ƕazuh saei, saƕazuh saei, saƕazuh izei, all meaning "whoever" and involving the relative pronoun saei/izei. The corresponding neuter form is þataƕah þei "whatever", extant only in the accusative singular.
• þisƕazuh saei "whoever/whatever", formed from indeclinable þis "of this" and ƕazuh saei, extant in the following forms:

  	þisƕazuh saei "Whoever/Whatever"
  	Singular
  	Masculine	Neuter
  Nominative	þisƕazuh saei	þisƕah þei, þisƕah þatei
  Accusative	þisƕanōh saei	þisƕah þei, þisƕah þatei
  Genitive	?	þisƕizuh þei
  Dative	þisƕammēh saei	þisƕammēh þei

• sums "some, a certain", declined as an -a stem with an associated genitive plural object.
• sums ... sums "the one ... the other", in plural "some ... and others". -uh is generally attached to the second form and sometimes the first, as in nominative plural sumái(h) ... sumáih.
• Negative pronouns ni ƕashun, ni mannahun, ni áinshun, all meaning "no one, no, none, nothing"; compare the analogously formed Sanskrit pronoun ná káś caná "no one, none", lit. "not who and not". ni ƕashun occurs only in the nominative masculine singular. ni mannahun (always masculine) and ni áinshun are declined as follows:

  	ni mannahun "No one"
  	Singular
  	Masculine
  Nominative	ni mannahun
  Accusative	ni mannanhun
  Genitive	ni manshun
  Dative	ni mannhun

  	ni áinshun "No one, no, none, nothing"
  	Singular
  	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
  Nominative	ni áinshun	ni áinhun	ni áinōhun
  Accusative	ni áinnōhun, ni áinōhun	ni áinhun	ni áinōhun
  Genitive	ni áinishun	ni áinishun	*ni áináizōshun
  Dative	ni áinummēhun	ni áinummēhun	ni áináihun

• Plain ƕas can be used indefinitely to mean "anyone, anything".
• Plain áins can be used indefinitely to mean "one, a certain one".

Cardinals

áins "one" is always strong and is declined as a strong -a stem. Plural forms meaning "only, alone" also occur.

	twái/twa/twōs two
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	twái	twa	twōs
Accusative	twans	twa	twōs
Genitive	twaddjē	twaddjē	?
Dative	twáim	twáim	twáim

	þreis/þrija/þreis three
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	*þreis	þrija	*þreis
Accusative	þrins	þrija	þrins
Genitive	þrijē	þrijē	?
Dative	þrim	þrim	?

Higher numbers from fidwōr "four" through niuntaíhun "nineteen" are normally undeclined, but can be declined as -i stems, e.g. dative fidwōrim, genitive *fidwōrē.

Decades twái tigjus "twenty" through saíhs tigjus "sixty" have tigjus declined as a plural -u stem, e.g.

*þreis tigjus thirty
Nominative	*þreis tigjus
Accusative	þrins tiguns
Genitive	þrijē tigiwē
Dative	*þrim tigum

Decades sibuntēhund "seventy", ahtáutēhund "eighty", niuntēhund "ninety" and taíhuntēhund/taíhuntaíhund "one hundred" are normally undeclined, but genitive niuntēhundis "of ninety" occurs.

Multiples of "hundred" decline hund "hundred" as a neuter plural -a stem, with the units digit agreeing accordingly, e.g. nominative twa hunda, genitive twáim hundam "two hundred".

Multiples of "thousand" decline þūsundi "thousand" as a feminine plural -jōstem, with the units digit agreeing accordingly, e.g. nominative twōs þūsundjōs, dative *twáim þūsundjōm "two thousand".

Numbers below 20 behave as adjectives, whereas those starting at 20 behave as nouns and govern the genitive case of an associated object, e.g. dagē fidwōr tiguns "for forty days", fimf þūsundjōs waírē "five thousand men", miþ twáim tigum þūsundjō mannē "with twenty thousand men".

Ordinals

The extant numerals are fruma or frumists "first", anþar "second", þridja "third", fimfta "fifth", saíhsta "sixth", ahtuda "eighth", niunda "ninth", taíhunda "tenth", and fimftataíhunda "fifteenth". They are declined as follows:

• fruma is declined weak like blinda "blind" except that the feminine is declined according to the ei-stems like managei "multitude", e.g. feminine nominative frumei.
• frumists is declined strong, like blinds "blind".
• anþar has nominative masculine and neuter anþar (no -ata form exists), and otherwise is declined strong, like blinds "blind".
• Other ordinals are declined weak like blinda "blind".

Other Numerals

"Both" is bái or bajōþs, of which the following forms are extant:

	twái/twa/twōs two
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	bái, bajōþs	ba	?
Accusative	bans	ba	?
Genitive	?	?	?
Dative	báim, bajōþum	báim	báim

The extant forms of bái match the corresponding forms of twái "two", and evidence from other Germanic languages, e.g. Old English, indicates that all forms are constructed in this fashion.

Distributive numerals answer the question "how many at a time?". The isolated form tweihnái "two each" exists, declined as a plural strong adjective. Otherwise, distributive numerals are expressed using prepositional phrases, e.g. bi twans aíþþáu máist þrins "by twos or at most by threes"; ana ƕarjanōh fimftiguns "by fifties in each (company)"; insandida ins twans ƕanzuh "he sent them forth two and two".

Multiplicative numerals answer the question "how many times more?" and are formed by adding the adjectival stem -falþs to the stem of the corresponding cardinal. Extant are áinfalþs "onefold, simple"; fidurfalþs "fourfold" (note, not *fidwōrfalþs); taíhuntaíhundfalþs "hundredfold"; managfalþs "manifold".

Numeral adverbs answer the question "how often?" or "how many times?". They are formed by combining the cardinal or ordinal with the noun *sinþs "time" (lit. "a going"), and placing the result in the dative case: áinamma sinþa "once"; anþaramma sinþa "a second time"; twáim sinþam "twice"; þrim sinþam "thrice"; fimf sinþam "five times"; sibun sinþam "seven times". Compare Old English ǣne sīða "once", fīf sīða "five times".

See also

• Gothic language
  Gothic language
  Gothic is an extinct 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 sizable Text corpus...
  
  
• Grammar of the Gothic Language
  Grammar of the Gothic Language
  Grammar of the Gothic Language is a book by Joseph Wright describing the extinct Gothic language, first published in 1910. It includes the language's development from Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Germanic , and part of Ulfilas's bible translation...
  
  
• Proto-Indo-European noun
  Proto-Indo-European noun
  The nouns of the Proto-Indo-European language , their morphology and semantics, have been reconstructed by modern linguists based on similarities found across all Indo-European languages.-Morphology:...
  
  :
  • Ancient Greek grammar
    Ancient Greek grammar
    Ancient Greek grammar is morphologically complex and preserves several features of Proto-Indo-European morphology. Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, articles, numerals and especially verbs are all highly inflected. This article is an introduction to this morphological complexity.-Diacritics:The...
    
    
  • Latin declension
    Latin declension
    Latin is an inflected language, and as such has nouns, pronouns, and adjectives that must be declined in order to serve a grammatical function. A set of declined forms of the same word pattern is called a declension. There are five declensions, which are numbered and grouped by ending and...
    
    
  • Sanskrit nouns
    Sanskrit nouns
    Sanskrit is a highly inflected language with three grammatical genders and three numbers . It has eight cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, instrumental, dative, ablative, genitive, and locative ....
    
    

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.