Unit 13
Minor declensions occur of nouns whose stems end in a consonant and which do not fit neatly into any of the usual declensions.
Some examples: brōþar (brother) acc. brōþar, has gen. brōþrs, dat. brōþr; plurals brōþrjus, brōþruns, brōþrē, brōþrum. The same
declension applies to daúhtar(daughter) and swistar (sister); fadar (father) is attested once, but seems to have fallen out of frequent
usage in favor of atta; the regular Indo-European kinship term for mother was understandably dropped by the Goths in favor of the more
standard declensioned áiþei.
Certain nouns such as frijōnds (friend), which were originally participles, are declined like so: frijōnds, frijōnd, frijōndis, frijōnd;
plurals frijōnds, frijōnds, frijōndē, frijōndam. The same declension applies to bisitands (neighbor), fijands (enemy), mērjands
(proclaimer), talzjands (teacher), and a few others.
The masculine noun mēnōþs (month) has (with article for intelligibility) þis mēnōþs, þamma mēnōþ; plurals þáíþans mēnōþs, þáim mēnōþum.
Similarly, sa reiks (ruler) has þis reikis, þamma reik; þáíþand reiks, þizē reikē, þáim reikam. Sa weitwōds (witness) has þana weitwōd;
þái weitwōds, þizē weitwōdē.
The feminine baúrgs (city, burg) has singular sō/þizōs baúrgs, þō/þizái baúrg; pl. nom. acc. þōs baúrgs, þizō baúrgē, þáim baúrgim. Also
declined this way are:
| alhs | temple |
| brusts | breast |
| dulþs | feast |
| miluks | milk |
| mitaþs | measure (gen. mitads) |
| nahts | night (dat. pl. nahtam by analogy with dagam) |
| spaúrds | recourse |
| waíhts | thing |
The neuter noun fōn (fire) has gen. funins, dat. funin. It is not known in the plural.
The verb wiljan (to will) is conjugated as follows in the present:
| Singular |
| 1st | ik wiljáu |
| 2nd | þū wileis |
| 3rd | is wili |
| Dual |
| 2nd | jut wileits |
| Plural |
| 1st | weis wileima |
| 2nd | jus wileiþ |
| 3rd | eis wileina |
The preterite is wilda, following the same endings as Class I weak verbs (recall unit 9) except without a vowel after the -l of the stem.
Its meaning also extends into the senses of "want" and, with an infinitive of another verb, "want to" or "going to".
Preterite-present verbs have the morphology of a preterite, but the meaning of a present tense. Compare Greek οίδα, Latin nōvī to
Gothic wáit (I know). The extant parts of witan (to know) are: ik wáit, þū wáist; weis witum; preterite wissa. Also there is a
subjunctive witjáu (more on subjunctives in a later unit) and subjunctive preterite wissēdjáu, and participle witands.
We've already encountered þaúrban, but it is also a preterite present: ik þarf, þū þarft; weis þaúrbum; pret. þaúrfta, etc. The pass.
pple. þaúrfts means "necessary".
Kunnan (to know) is extant as ik kann, þū kan(n)t; weis kunnum; preterite kunþa; pret. subj. kunþēdjáu; present pple. kunnands, passive
pple. kunþs (known).
Munan (to think) has 1st sing man (I think), 1st pl. munum, pret. munda.
Extant forms of ga-daúrsan (to dare) include 1st sing. ga-dars, 1st plural ga-daúrsum, pret. ga-daúrsta.
The combining form -naúhan is attested only as bi-nah (it is lawful, permitted), ga-nah (it suffices), bi-naúhts (sufficient).
Ga-mōtan (to find room) belongs to this group: 1st sing. ga-mōt, etc. Its pret. is ga-mōsta.
Few forms are extant of *ōgan: ōg (I fear), pl. ōgum, pret. ōhta, imper. 2nd. sing ōgs. Related to adj. unagands (fearless).
áihan (to have): áih (I have, s/he has); plurals áihum, áihuþ, áihun with stem áih- in free alternation with áig-.
Dáug (it is good for, it profits) is the only extant form of its verb, as are láis (I know) and wáinei (I wish).
Some preterite-presents are also auxilliary verbs, such as: skulan (to owe), ik skal (I shall, I owe), plural skulum (we shall);
magan (to be able), ik mag (I can), plural magum (we can); etc. Future tenses of other verbs can be made not just using skulan as an auxilliary, but also using haban
and du-ginnan (begin; dugann, dugunnum, dugunnans), which are not preterite-presents. Wiljan can act as an auxiliary verb meaning
"to want to". A present participle with a preterite of wisan (to be) forms a past continuative, just as in English ("I was doing x").
| 1. Skulum gaggan naht jah daga. | We shall go by night and day. |
| 2. In skeirjamma daga, mag saíƕan and rastōs. | On a clear day, I can see for miles. |
| 3. Ist kunþs þatei maúrnáidēs im. | It is known that you (thou) mourned for them. |
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