Unit 12
U-stem adjectives, when declined strong, follow patterns reminiscent of the other declensions. Using the example of hardus (hard), we
get the following paradigm:
| Masc
|
| Nom | hardus skildus | hard shield (subj) |
| Acc | hardjana skildu | hard shield (obj) |
| Gen | hardáus skildáus | of a hard shield |
| Dat | hardjamma skildáu | to/for a hard shield |
| Fem
|
| Nom | hardus waddjus | hard wall (subj) |
| Acc | hardja waddju | hard wall (obj) |
| Gen | hardjáizōs waddjáus | of a hard wall |
| Dat | hardjái waddjáu | to/for a hard wall |
| Neut |
| Nom Acc | hardjata badi | hard bed |
| Gen | hardáus badjis | of a hard bed |
| Dat | hardjamma badja | to/for a hard bed |
For hardjata also occurs hardu; hardjata is never used predicatively. Plural forms contain identical endings to the i-declension,
complete with stem -j in all genders and cases.
Declined like hardus is the combining form -wintrus (years old) in forms like twalibwintrus, as well as the following adjectives:
| aggwus | narrow |
| aglus | difficult |
| hnasqus | soft |
| kaúrus | heavy |
| manwus | ready |
| qaírrus | gentle |
| seiþus | late |
| tulgus | steadfast |
| þaúrsus | withered |
| þlaqus | soft |
Some other uses for the genitive include:
The partitive genitive; in English, we might say, "who of men did this". In this case, "men" is equivalent to a genitive form (Gothic
mannē) and the translation in fact works: ƕas mannē tawida þata.
Adverbial uses occur, such as filáus (very much), from adj. filus (much); gistradagis (tomorrow), from compound with -dags; landis (far
away over land), from land (land, country); nahts (by night); ni allis, not at all; raíhtis (indeed), from adj. raíhts (straight,
correct). The phrase dagis ƕizuh means "day by day", and certain adverbs of place can be used prepositionally, in which they govern
the genitive:
| hindana | from beyond, behind |
| innana | from within |
| ufarō | over, above |
| ūtana, ūtaþrō | from out of |
The Class III weak verbs follow the conjugation of haban (to have). Where other verbs have a short -i- in the ending, this conjugation
has ái instead:
| Singular |
| 1st | ik haba | I have |
| 2nd | þū habáis | thou hast |
| 3rd | is habáiþ | he has |
| Dual |
| 1st | wit habōs | we two have |
| 2nd | jut habats | you two have |
| Plural |
| 1st | weis habam | we have |
| 2nd | jus habáiþ | ye have |
| 3rd | eis haband | they have |
The imperative forms are habái, habáiþ, etc.
The preterites are habáida, habáidēs, etc. with all the usual endings. Also belonging to this conjugation are:
| áistan | to revere |
| ana-silan | to be silent |
| arman | to pity |
| bauan | to dwell |
| fastan | to fast; to hold firm |
| fijan | to hate |
| ga-geigan | to gain |
| ga-kunnan | to recognize |
| hatan | to hate (synonym: hatjan) |
| leikan | to please |
| liban | to live |
| liugan | to marry |
| maúrnan | to mourn |
| munan | to consider (note: this is a preterite present; see 13.3) |
| reiran | to tremble |
| saúrgan | to be sorrowful |
| sifan | to rejoice |
| skaman | to be ashamed (used with sik or a 1st/2nd person equivalent) |
| slawan | to be silent |
| swēran | to honor |
| trauan | to trust |
| þahan | to be silent |
| witan | to observe, watch |
Also worth mentioning is the verb bnauan (to rub; to squash), whose preterites are not attested. It is not known whether this verb is
conjugated like haban (*bnauáida) or as a reduplicated strong verb (*baíbnáu).
Leikan is cognate to English "like", but it functions differently; to say "I like ___" you would say
leikáiþ mis, literally "it pleases me".
| 1. þata razn habáiþ saíhs daúra. | The house has six doors. (Recall unit 3 sentence 1 for the other way to say this.) |
| 2. Qiþiþ hindana þis hláiwis. | S/he speaks from beyond the grave. |
| 3. Af ƕarjamma þizē brunnanē dragkt þū? | From which of the wells did you drink? |
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