Unit 11
Nouns of the u-declension are distinctive and easy to identify. Masculine and feminine u-declension nouns are declined identically:
| Singular | Masculine | | Feminine |
| Nom | sunus | son (subject) | handus | hand (subject) |
| Voc Acc | sunu | son (object) | handu | hand (object) |
| Gen | sunáus | of a son |
handáus | of a hand |
| Dat | sunáu | to/for a son |
handáu | to/for a hand |
| Plural |
| Nom | sunjus | sons (subj) | handjus | hands (subj) |
| Acc | sununs | sons (obj) | handuns | hands (obj) |
| Gen | suniwē | of sons |
handiwē | of hands |
| Dat | sunum | to/for sons |
handum | to/for hands |
The -j- that occurs in the plural actually corresponds to an oddity of most Germanic languages, including English.
In English, the plural of foot is feet, due to a sound change called umlaut. The palatal /j/ in the plural caused the ō vowel of the root
to advance forward in the mouth, which in English eventually became ē. The endings were lost, so that only fōt and fēt remained;
after the Great Vowel Shift, the words foot and feet took on their present day sounds. We see the same process in German where singular Hand has plural Hände,
also due to a lost /j/ in the plural ending. But in Gothic, these changes haven't happened yet and the original -j- is preserved with no umlaut.
Some other nouns declined this way, shown here with definite articles to indicate gender, include:
| sa áirus | messenger |
| sa asilus | ass (animal) also occurs as f. sō asilus |
| sa dáuþus | death |
| sa faírƕus | world |
| sa fōtus | foot |
| sa haírus | sword |
| sa hallus | rock |
| sa hliftus | thief |
| sa hūhrus | hunger |
| sa ibnassus | evenness |
| sō kinnus | cheek |
| sa kustus | test |
| sa liþus | limb |
| sa luftus | air |
| sa lustus | desire |
| sa magus | boy |
| sa sakkus | sackcloth |
| sa sidus | custom |
| sa skadus | shadow |
| sa skildus | shield |
| sa tunþus | tooth |
| sa þaúrnus | thorn |
| sa þiudinassus | kingdom |
| sō waddjus | wall |
| sa wintrus | winter |
| sa wiþrus | lamb |
| sa wulþus | glory |
Only traces of neuter u-stem nouns are attested in Gothic: faíhu (cattle) has gen. faíháus, dat. faíháu; gáiru (goad) and sigu (victory)
are only attested in the nominative singular; leiþu (strong drink) is most likely in this declension as well. No plural forms are known.
Most adjectives in Gothic can be declined either strong or weak. There are rules about when they are declined each way.
The weak declension of mikils is:
| Singular |
| Masc. |
| Nom | mikila þiudans | the great king (subj) |
| Acc | mikilan þiudan | the great king (obj) |
| Gen | mikilins þiudanis | of the great king |
| Dat | mikilin þiudana | to/for the great king |
| Fem. |
| Nom | mikilō aƕa | the great river (subj) |
| Acc | mikilōn aƕa | the great river (obj) |
| Gen | mikilōns aƕōs | of the great river |
| Dat | mikilōn aƕái | to/for the great river |
| Neut. |
| Nom Acc | mikilō huzd | the great treasure |
| Gen | mikilins huzdis | of the great treasure |
| Dat | mikilin huzda | to/for the great treasure |
| Plural |
| Masc |
| Nom | mikilans þiudanōs | the great kings (subj) |
| Acc | mikilans þiudanans | the great kings (obj) |
| Gen | mikilanē þiudanē | of the great kings |
| Dat | mikilam þiudanam | to/for the great kings |
| Fem |
| Nom Acc | mikilōns aƕōs | the great rivers |
| Gen | mikilōnō aƕō | of the great rivers |
| Dat | mikilōm aƕōm | to/for the great rivers |
| Neut |
| Nom Acc | mikilōna huzda | the great treasures |
| Gen | mikilanē huzdē | of the great treasures |
| Dat | mikilam huzdam | to/for the great treasures |
Adjectives are generally declined weak when used with the definite article, and declined strong at other times.
Even if the definite article is not present, the weak declension implies a definite sense.
The following adjectives are never declined weak:
- All cardinal numerals (áins, twái, þreis, etc)
- The ordinal numeral anþar (second)
- The posessive pronouns: meins, þeins, etc (my, your, etc)
- The pronominal adjectives sums (some), alls (all), jáins (that), ƕileiks (what kind), swaleiks (such), etc
- The adjectives fulls (full), ganōhs (enough), halbs (half), midjis (middle)
Whereas the adjectives never declined strong are:
- All ordinal numbers except anþar
- All adjectives in the comparative degree (comparatives and superlatives to be covered in a later unit)
- All superlatives ending in -ma, ex. fruma (first), aftuma (last), etc
- The present participle, except in the nom. sing. masc. (participle declension to be covered in a later unit)
- The adjectives sama (same) and silba (self)
Similar to the weak declension of adjectives, there's a class of nouns called the weak nouns or n-stem declension. Here are a few examples:
| Masculine |
| Nom | mikila hana | the large rooster (subj) |
| Acc | mikilan hanan | the large rooster (obj) |
| Gen | mikilins hanins | of the large rooster |
| Dat | mikilin hanin | to/for the large rooster |
| Feminine |
| Nom | mikilō tuggō | the large tongue (subj) |
| Acc | mikilōn tuggōn | the large tongue (obj) |
| Gen | mikilōns tuggōns | of the large tongue |
| Dat | mikilōn tuggōn | to/for the large tongue |
| Neuter |
| Nom Acc | mikilō haírtō | the large heart |
| Gen | mikilins haírtins | of the large heart |
| Dat | mikilin haírtin | to/for the large heart |
The plural forms, like the singulars, have identical endings to the weak adjective declension.
Some feminines, such as managei (multitude), belong to this same declension but have ei instead of ō: managei, managein, manageins,
managein, etc. Other than this vowel, they are declined identically to nouns like tuggō. These -ei feminines are often formed from
adjectives, such as
baírhtei (brightness), from baírhts (bright);
gōdei (virtue, moral), from gōþs (good);
sēlei (kindness) from sēls (good, kind),
etc.
The masculine noun manna (person, man) is slightly irregular:
| | Singular | Plural |
| N.V. | manna | mannans / mans |
| Acc | mannan | mannans / mans |
| Gen | mans | mannē |
| Dat | mann | mannam |
Some more of the many N-stem nouns include:
| sō aglō | anguish |
| sa aha | mind |
| sa ahma | spirit |
| sō áiþei | mother |
| sa arbi-numja | heir |
| sa arbja | heir |
| sō arbjō | heiress |
| sa atta | father |
| þata áugō | eye |
| þata áusō | ear |
| sō azgō | ash |
| sō báitrei | bitterness |
| sō balþei | boldness |
| sa bandja | prisoner |
| þata barnilō | small child |
| sa baúrgja | citizen |
| sō bleiþei | mercy |
| sa blōma | flower |
| sō brunjō | breastplate |
| sa brunna | well, spring |
| sō brinnō | fever |
| sō driusō | slope |
| sa faúra-gaggja | governor |
| sa fiskja | fisher |
| sa fráuja | master |
| sō frōdei | understanding |
| sō fullō | fullness |
| sa galga | gallows, cross |
| sa gajuka | companion |
| sō gajukō | parable |
| sa garda | fold |
| sa gasinþja | companion |
| sa gataúra | tear (as in rending) |
| sō gatimrjō | building |
| sō gatwō | street |
| sa gawaúrstwa | co-worker |
| sa gudja | preist |
| sa guma | man |
| þata haírtō | heart |
| sa haúrnja | horn-blower |
| sō hēþjō | chamber |
| sa hiuhma | crowd |
| sa hliuma | hearing |
| sō kalbō | calf |
| þata kaúrnō | grain of cereal |
| sō kilþei | womb |
| sa liuta | hypocrite |
| sa lukarnastaþa | candlestick |
| sa magula | little boy |
| sa malma | sand |
| sō marei | sea |
| sō mawilō | young maiden |
| sa mēna | moon |
| sō mizdō | reward |
| þata namō | name |
| sa nēƕundja | neighbor |
| sō niþjō | cousin (f.) |
| sa nōta | stern of a ship |
| sa nuta | fisherman |
| sō qinō | woman |
| sō raþjō | account |
| sō sakjō | strife |
| sa skuggwa | mirror |
| sa skula | debtor |
| sa smakka | fig |
| sa snaga | garment |
| sa sparwa | sparrow |
| sō staírnō | star |
| sa staua | judge |
| sa swaíhra | father in law |
| sō swaíhrō | mother in law |
| sa swiglja | piper |
| sa timrja | carpenter |
| sō þāhō | clay |
| sō þeiƕō | thunder |
| sō þramstei | locust |
| sō ūhtwō | early morning |
| sō wahtwō | watch |
| sa wardja | guard |
| þata watō | water |
| sa weiha | priest |
| sa wilja | will |
This is also the declension of Wulfila or Ulfilas, the bishop who supervised the translation of the ancient Greek Bible
into Gothic, from which we get most of our knowledge of Gothic today.
Adjectives used with hiuhma (crowd) or managei (multitude) normally take the masculine plural.
| 1. Háusideduþ þatei qiþan ist: áugo und áugin, jah tunþu und tunþáu |
Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. (Qiþan in this sentence is a neuter participle.) |
| 2. Sa fiskja þamma haírtōn þizōs qinōns gatar at þizái marein. |
The fisherman broke the woman's heart by the sea. (Ga-taíran means "to break" and takes either +acc or +dat.) |
| 3. Jáina qinō kukida þizái kinnáu mikilins þiudanis. |
That woman kissed the cheek of the great king. |
| 4. Þái þreis mans baírand in handum seináim smakkans. |
The three people are carrying figs in their hands. |
| 5. Sparwans jah hanans sind fuglōs. | Sparrows and roosters are birds. |
Translate these from Gothic:
| 6. Ni mannahun ist gōþs staua du sis silbin. |
| 7. Sō mikilō aƕa ist fulla fiskē. |
| 8. Hita jēr ist anþar mein þammei Gutrazda mik láisja. |
| 9. Háusida ganōháizōs swaleikáizōs báitreins. |
| 10. In jáináizōs þeiƕōns wáit ei nist managa ƕeila du þōs staírnōns insaíƕan.
(Translate wáit as "I know". Insaíƕan means "to look at".) |
Answers
| 6. No person is a good judge to himself. (Paraphrased: we are our own worst critic.) |
| 7. The great river is full of fish. |
| 8. This year is my second (year) in which I'm learning Gothic. |
| 9. I've heard enough of such bitterness. |
| 10. According to yon thunder, I know there is not much time to look at the stars. |
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