Unit 14
Present participles in Gothic all fall into the weak declension, except that the nom. masc. sing. can be strong. Therefore we have the
strong form of nimands (taking) beside nimanda, while all other forms of the present are only declined weak. The weak nominative
singulars in the three genders are nimanda, nimandei, nimandō, and they all take the same endings as the nouns hana, managei, haírtō.
The past participle has both strong and weak declensions. Its nom. sing. strong forms (for numans, taken) in the three genders are:
numans, numana, numan(ata). They are declined like mikils. In case of a participle like nasiþs (saved), the stem becomes nasid- before
a vowel, as does salbōþs (anointed), stem salbōd-. Past participles declined weak take the same endings as mikils (i.e. the feminine
nom. sing. ends in -ō, not -ei).
We've seen the dative used as a way to express "having" (unit 3 sentence 1). This usage can be achieved not only with wisan (to be),
but also with waírþan (to become) which gives a future sense:
| 1. Waírþiþ þūs fahēþs. | Thou shalt have joy. |
Another usage of the dative is as a reflexive: rōdida sis áins (he spoke within himself - rodjan = to speak); þagkjan sis (to think to oneself). Leiƕan (to
borrow) is often used with a reflexive sis (or mis, þūs, etc) as are skaman (to be ashamed) and frawaúrhtan (to sin). Ni ōgs þūs
translates as "be thou not afraid."
In the noun and adjective paradigms throughout these lessons, the dative is translated as "to/for X", but it can also mean in, with, by,
or any of a number of other senses for which English would use a preposition.
Comparatives, which will be detailed in unit 16, also use the dative. See there for examples.
The dative absolute is similar to the genitive absolute of Greek or ablative of Latin. Its meaning can be though of as "with x having happened" or "with x being y":
| 2. Atgaggandin imma du þizái garunái, saƕ is mikilans managein. | Having come to the marketplace, he saw a great multitude. |
Class IV weak verbs have the usual endings in the present: fullna, fullnis, fullniþ, etc from fullnan (to become full). The imperative
forms are fulln, fullnadáu, etc. Preterites are fullnōda, fullnōdēs, fullnōda; fullnōdēdu, etc. All of these verbs are intransitive, and
do not have a passive voice. Some more Class IV weak verbs:
| af-dáubnan | to become deaf |
| bi-áuknan | to become larger |
| fra-lusnan | to perish |
| fra-qistnan | to perish |
| ga-batnan | to profit |
| ga-dáuþnan | to die |
| ga-qiunan | to be made alive |
| ga-þaúrsnan | to dry up, wither away |
| ga-waknan | to awaken |
| mikilnan | to be magnified |
| us-geisnan | to be aghast |
| us-lukan | to be unlocked |
In English we can say "to feel" hunger, thirst, delight, fear, etc. Gothic goes about statements of feeling differently, phrasing feelings
as "I hunger" (huggrja), "I thirst" (þáurstja), "I delight" (fagino, sifa), "I fear" (og), etc.
A word for "feel" can be reconstructed as *foljan, a class I weak verb, however this is based on a Proto-Germanic root that is only attested
in West Germanic languages, and was probably either extinct in Gothic or an archaicism left over from Proto-Gmc.
For specific sensations, the verb uf-kunnan can be useful, e.g.:
| 3. Ufkunþa ana leika þatei gahailnoda af þamma slaha. | She felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. |
| 4. Ufkann ik kaldein. | I feel coldness. |
Similarly, to say "I feel like ____", one could say ufkann ik swe, followed by a nominative, or
ufkann ik galeiks/galeika followed by a dative.
| 5. þái blōmans in þamma gardin gaþaúrsnōdēdun þis wintráus. | The flowers in the garden withered come winter. (Note the adverbial usage of genitive of wintrus.) |
| 6. Funþanammáái Gutiskōn Razda, fanþ mik silban/on. | Having found the Gothic language, I found myself (masc/fem). |
« Previous Lesson Table of Contents
Next Lesson »
