A Gothic Grammar. Braune Wilhelm
s and z, which had taken place in proethnic Germanic according to definit laws and is better preservd in other Germanic languages ('Grammatical Change'; s. ahd. gr., § 100 et seq.), occurs in Gothic only in derivativ words; cp. g-h, § 66, n. 1; d-þ, § 74, n. 3; (z – s, § 78, n. 3); and traces of it ar seen in the inflection of the verbs þarf (§ 56, n. 3), áih (§ 203, n. 1).
§ 80. Gemination of the Gothic liquids and nasals, l, m, n, r, is frequent; also ss and a few instances of kk (§ 58, n. 1), tt (§ 69, n. 1), þþ (§ 71, n. 1), dd (§ 73, n. 1); – the more frequent exampls of gg (§§ 67. 68) ar in part of another kind.
The geminated consonants remain unchanged when final and before the s of the nominativ: skatts, full, kann, rann, wamm, gawiss; likewise before j (as in fulljan, skattja, kannjan, etc.), but ar as a rule simplified before other consonants: kant, kunþa (cp. kann); rant, 2nd pers. sg. prt., ur-runs, m., a running out (cp. rinnan); swumfsl, pond (cp. *swimman); – but uzually fullnan, only a few times fulnan.
Note. Sum instances of gemination as wel as of simplified gemination in the MSS. ar merely orthografic errors; as, allh for alh; Lu. II, 46; wisêdun (s for ss); inbranjada (nj for nnj); Jo. XV, 6; swam for swamm; Mk. XV, 36. – Such errors ar mostly corrected by the editors. Cp. Bernhardt, 'Vulfila', p. LVII.
§ 81. The changes of consonants before dentals may, as far as the Gothic is concernd, be embraced in the following rule:
Before the dentals, d, þ, t, all labial stops and spirants ar changed into f, all gutturals into h, all dentals into s, the second dental appearing always as t. E. g.
skapjan, gaskafts (§ 51, n. 2); þaúrban (*þaúrbda), þaúrfta; giban, gifts (§ 56, n. 4); —siuks, saúhts; þagkjan, þâhta (§ 58, n. 2); magan, mahta (§ 66, n. 1); —wait, waist (§ 69, n. 2); waírþan, warst (§ 71, n. 3); biudan, baust (§ 75, n. 1).
Note 1. Exceptions ar magt (2nd pers. sg.; 1st mag, § 201) and gahugds, mind.
Note 2. st often becums ss by assimilation; as, wissa, prt. of witan (§ 76, n. 1). Cp. Beitr., 7, 171 et seq.; 9, 150 et seq.; IF., 4, 341 et seq.
Note 3. The rule givn abuv from a practical standpoint of the Gothic grammar must be formulated differently from a comparativ-historical standpoint, because the discust sound-shiftings hav not originated in the Gothic language, but ar reflections of proethnic Germanic and Indo-Germanic relations of sounds. S. Brgm., I, 381 et seq.; 403 et seq.
§ 82. Assimilations occur only in combination with h (s. § 62, n. 3) and us (§ 78, n. 4).
INFLECTION
CHAP. I. DECLENSION OF SUBSTANTIVS
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS
§ 83. The Gothic declension, like that of the remaining Old-Germanic dialects, comprises three genders: the masculin, neuter and feminin.
Note 1. The neuter of all declensions resembls in form very closely the masculin; a distinction occurs in the nom. and acc. sg. and pl. only.
Note 2. A distinction of gender is wanting only with the personal prn. of the 1st and 2nd persons, with the reflexiv prn. (§ 150), and with the numeral adjectivs 4-19 (§ 141).
§ 84. The Goth. declension has two numbers: singular and plural.
Note. The dual which originally existed in all Indg. languages, is preservd in the Goth. decl. in the 1st and 2nd pers. of the personal prn. only (§ 150).
§ 85. The Goth. declension has four complete cases: nominativ, genitiv, dativ, accusativ. The vocativ is mostly identical with the nominativ, only in the singular of sum classes of declension the vocativ is different from the nominativ, but then it is always identical with the accusativ.
Note. The Goth. dativ represents several Indg. cases (dativ, locativ, ablativ, instrumental). Relics of the neuter instrumental ar stil present in the pronominal declension: þê (§ 153), ƕê (§ 159).
§ 86. The declension of substantivs in Gothic is divided into a vocalic and a consonantal declension, according as the stems of the substantivs end in a vowel or a consonant.
Note. The original form of the stem is in part unrecognizabl in the Gothic language, because the stem has blended with the endings, final vowels hav been lost, and the like, so that the division into a vocalic and a consonantal declension appears correct only in the light of the Comparativ Indo-Germanic Grammar, and but with reference to this it must be retaind. Such a division would never hav been made from an especially Gothic-Germanic standpoint.
§ 87. Of the consonantal stems in Gothic the n-stems (i. e. the stems in -an, -ôn, -ein), ar very numerous, while of other consonantal declensions but a few remains ar preservd (§ 114 et seq.). Sinse the time of Jac. Grimm the n-declension has also been calld Weak Declension.
§ 88. There ar four classes of the vocalic declension: stems in a, ô, i, u. Accordingly, we distinguish them as a-, ô-, i-, and u-declensions. The stem-characteristics ar stil clearly seen in all classes in the dat. and acc. pl.; e. g., dagam, dagans; – gibôm, gibôs; – gastim, gastins; – sunum, sununs. Sinse the time of Jacob Grimm the vocalic declension has also been calld Strong Declension.
Note 1.