The Oxford Gothic Grammar

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Gary Miller
Keyword(s):  
Full Range ◽  
Prepositional Phrases ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Reference Grammar ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Relative Pronouns ◽  
Runic Inscriptions

This reference grammar of Gothic includes much history along with a description of Gothic grammar. Apart from runic inscriptions, Gothic is the earliest attested language of the Germanic family in Indo-European. Specifically, it is East Germanic. Most of the extant Gothic corpus is a 4th-century translation of the Bible, traditionally ascribed to Wulfila. This translation is historically important because it antedates Jerome’s Latin Vulgate. Gothic inflectional categories include nouns, adjectives, and verbs. Nouns are inflected for three genders, two numbers, and four cases. Adjectives also have weak and strong forms, as do verbs. Verbs are inflected for three persons and numbers, indicative and nonindicative mood (here called optative), past and nonpast tense, and voice. The mediopassive survives as a synthetic passive and syntactically in innovated periphrastic formations. Middle and anticausative functions were taken over by simple reflexive structures. Nonfinite are the infinitive, the imperative, and two participles. Gothic was a null subject language. Aspect was effected primarily by prefixes, relativization by relative pronouns built on demonstratives plus a complementizer. Complementizers were the norm with subordinated verbs in the indicative or optative. Switch to the optative was triggered by irrealis (the unreal), matrix verbs that do not permit a full range of subordinate tenses (e.g. hopes, wishes), potentiality, and alternate worlds. Many of these are also relevant to matrix clauses (independent optatives). Essentials of linearization include prepositional phrases, default postposed genitives and possessive adjectives, and preposed demonstratives. Verb-object order predominates, but there is considerable variation. Verb-auxiliary order is native Gothic.

scholarly journals Germanic: Runes

2020 ◽  
pp. 819-853
Author(s):  
Tineke Looijenga
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Literate Culture ◽  
Secondary Information ◽  
Literate Society ◽  
The Middle Ages ◽  
Runic Inscriptions

This paper offers a survey of the oldest runic inscriptions of the northern parts of Europe. Runic writing is attested from the second century onwards to the Middle Ages, and was in use in several parts of northern Europe during different periods. The language used is formulaic, making the impression that inscriptions in runes were for special occasions and not for daily use. Germanic society was a non-literate society until Christendom arrived and with it a literate culture. Runes are applied epigraphically; only in ecclesiastical contexts they are used in manuscripts, thus offering very useful secondary information about rune-names, for instance. Runes had names for mnemonical and symbolical purposes.

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