A Gothic Grammar. Braune Wilhelm
jah brusts); II. Cor. VII, 15; nukkant (= nuh kant, knowest thou now?); I. Cor. VII, 16; exceptionally also in the codex argent., but only in Lu.: janni (= jah ni); Lu. VII, 32; nissijai (= nih sijai); Lu. XX, 16.
Note 4. Final h is sumtimes dropt (in consequence of having lost its sharp sound? But cp. Beitr., XV, 277): ƕarjô (for ƕarjôh); Mk. XV, 6; ƕammê (for ƕammêh); Gal. V, 3; ƕarjanô (for ƕarjanôh); Skeir. 43; oftener inu (in A) for inuh, without; the h of consonant-combinations is dropt in hiuma; Lu. VI, 17. VIII, 4 (elsewhere hiuhma, multitude); drausnôs; Skeir. 50 (beside drauhsna, crum); als (for alhs); Mk. XV, 38, etc. All these cases ar probably due to the copyists, and most of them hav therefore been amended by the editors. Cp. Bernhardt, Vulfila, LIII et seq. – Also superfluous h occurs: snauh (for snau); I. Thess. II, 16; here, however, it is perhaps the enclitic -h (= -uh, § 24, n. 2).
Note 5. In derivativ words h occurs in certain cases beside k (s. § 58, n. 2) and g (§ 66, n. 1).
§ 63. The sound of ƕ is peculiar to the Gothic, and has no equivalent in Gr. The Gothic sign (whose alfabetic position is that of the Greek ψ) is uzually exprest by hv (hw), because all the corresponding words of the remaining Germanic languages (at least initially) hav hw (hu, hv); as, Goth. ƕeits = OHG. hwîz, OS. OE. hwît, ON. hvîtr, white. But there ar reasons which justify the assumption that the Goth. ƕ was a simpl consonant. Fonetically, it may be regarded as a labialized h (or a voiceless w = NE. wh? Grundr., I, 411). It is therefore recommendabl to represent the simpl Gothic sign by the unitary ligature ƕ. Cp. Zs. fdph., 12, 481 et seq.; Beitr., 12, 218 et seq.
Note. ƕ and hw ar not identical in Gothic. This is proved by the fact that in composition the final h and the following initial w ar not exprest by ƕ, but by hw: þaírhwakandans, keeping wach (thruout); Lu. II, 8; ubuhwôpida (= uf-uh-wôpida; ufwôpida < uf-wôpjan), and he cried out; Lu. XVIII, 38. – The simpl sound of ƕ is also evident from the fact that the verb saíƕan is inflected like the verbal stems ending in a singl consonant (§ 34, n. 1), and that in reduplication ƕ is treated like a singl consonant (ƕaíƕôp, § 178). Cp. Holtzmann, altd. gr. I, 25, together with § 41, n. 1, abuv.
§ 64. Exampls of ƕ: initially: ƕas, who; ƕaírnei, f., skul; ƕaírban, to walk about; ƕeila, time; ƕôpan, to boast; ƕeits, white; ƕaiteis, wheat; – medially: aƕa, water; saíƕan, to see; leiƕan, to lend; þeiƕô, thunder; nêƕa, near; aíƕa-tundi, f., brambl-bush; – also finally: saƕ, saƕt (prt. of saíƕan), nêƕ, near.
Note. i and u ar broken before ƕ as wel as before h; cp. § 62, n. 1.
§ 65. g corresponds to Greek γ, also as a guttural nasal; as, synagôgê, συναγωγή; aggilus, ἄγγελος. – The pronunciation of the Gothic initial g was quite certainly that of a soft (voiced) stop; final and medial g was possibly a spirant.
Note 1. Latin authors render g in Gothic names by g, but also by c; as, Caina beside Gaina (Jornandes), Commundus (= Gummundus); medially, especially before i, it is often dropt; as, Eila beside Agila, Egila, Aiulf (= Aigulf), Athanaildus (= Athanagildus); cp. Dietrich, p. 73 et seq.
Note 2. For the pronunciation of medial g as a spirant the Latin representations may be adduced (cp. especially Wrede, 'Ostg.', 173 et seq.); but this is contradicted by the fact that final g does not becum h (cp. b-f, d-þ). Jellinek (Beitr., 15, 276 et seq.; Zs. fda., 36, 85) infers a 'media affricata' for the pronunciation of medial and final g; then the value of a stop seems more probabl (cp. Wilmanns, D. Gramm., I, 16).
§ 66. g occurs frequently in Goth. words, both initially and medially. E. g. (a) gasts, guest; guma, man; gulþ, gold; gôþs, good; giutan, to pour; greipan, to gripe, seiz; graban, to dig. (b) agis, aw; wigs, way; gawigan, to move; steigan, to mount; ligan, to lie; þragjan, to run; —augô, ey; tagr, tear; tigus, ten; aigan, to hav; suffixal g: mahteigs, mighty; môdags, angry.
Also final g remains unchanged: ôg, I fear; mag, I can; wig (acc. of wigs, way), etc.
Note. g becums h before a suffixal t attacht to it (§ 81); e. g., mahts, mahta (prs. mag), ôhta (prs. ôg), baúhta (inf. bugjan), brâhta (inf. briggan). But there seems to be no change of consonants before the t of the 2nd pers. prt. Only magt (1st mag) is found (201). – Also elsewhere in word-formation an interchange between h and g takes place in words belonging to the same root: taíhun, 10; and tigus, decad; filhan, to conceal, and fulgins, adj., hidn; faginôn, to rejoice, and fahêþs f., joy; huggrjan, to hunger, and hûhrus, hunger; juggs, yung; compar. jûhiza; concerning the interchange between áig and áih, s. § 203, n. 1. Cp. § 79, n. 2.
§ 67. g denotes also a guttural nasal (s. § 50); e. g., (n + g): laggs, long; briggan, to bring; tuggô, tung; figgrs, finger; gaggan, to go; – (n + k, q): drigkan, to drink; þagkjan, to think; þugkjan, to seem; igqis, (to) yu both; sigqan, to sink; stigqan, to thrust.
Note 1. Beside the singl letter g uzed to express the guttural nasal, gg is sumtimes found (so