Unit 2
So far we have only seen singular nouns. The plurals of nouns in the declension of fugls, called the a-declension, are:
| Nom. | þái fuglōs | the birds (subject) |
| Acc. | þans fuglans | the birds (direct object) |
| Gen. | þizē fuglē | of the birds |
| Dat. | þáim fuglam | to/for the birds |
The a-declension corresponds to the -ος, -ον declension of Ancient Greek, and the -us, -um declension of Latin.
Using waúrd (word) as our example, we have the following plurals for the a-declenstion neuters:
| Nom. | þō waúrda | the words (subject) |
| Acc. | þō waúrda | the words (direct object) |
| Gen. | þizē waúrdē | of the words |
| Dat. | þáim waúrdam | to/for the words |
Gothic has a few nouns which change the voicing of the consonant at the end of their stem, much like the English words wolf, leaf, which become wolves,
leaves in the plural. Although the Gothic plural of wulfs is wulfōs, the word láufs (leaf) becomes láubōs in the nom. plural, as too does
hláifs (bread, loaf) become hláibōs. Besides all cases of the plural, this change also affects the genitive and dative singular:
| Nom. | sa láufs | sa hláifs |
| Acc. | þana láuf | þana hláif |
| Gen. | þis láubis | þis hláibis |
| Dat. | þamma láuba | þamma hláiba |
In each of these forms, the b between vowels is pronounced like the letter v in English.
A parallel sound change happens in the neuter noun haubiþ, head:
| Singular
|
| N.V.A. | þata haubiþ | the head |
| Gen. | þis haubidis | of the head |
| Dat. | þamma haubida | to/for the head |
| Plural |
| N.V.A. | þō haubida | the heads |
| Gen. | þizē haubidē | of the heads |
| Dat. | þáim haubidam | to/for the heads |
In these forms, the d between vowels is pronounced like the voiced th in English "then".
Declined like háubiþ are liuhaþ (light), witōþ (law).
We've seen that the first person singular of verbs ends in -iþ, except for "is" which is ist. The third person plural of verbs ends in
-and, while the plural of ist is sind. Here are some verbs and some more sentences:
| bi-leiban | to remain |
| diwan | to die |
| dreiban | to drive |
| drigkan | to drink |
| faran | to fare, go |
| filhan | to conceal, hide |
| finþan | to find |
| fraíhnan | to ask |
| gaggan | to go |
| giban | to give |
| gretan | to weep, mourn |
| háusjan | to hear |
| itan | to eat |
| liban | to live |
| ligan | to lie (as in lay) |
| niman | to take |
| qiman | to come |
| qiþan | to say |
| saian | to sow |
| saíƕan | to see |
| sifan | to rejoice |
| siggwan | to sing |
| slēpan | to sleep |
| standan | to stand |
| táujan | to do |
| þeihan | to thrive |
| waírþan | to become; to come to pass |
| wakan | to wake |
| weihan | to fight |
| 1. Fuglōs siggwand in himina. | Birds are singing in the sky. |
| 2. Sind sitlōs þáim skalkam. | There are seats for the servants. |
| 3. þái bagmōs filhand þata huzd þizē barnē. |
The trees conceal the children's treasure. |
| 4. Sa hunds itiþ fiskans. | The dog is eating fishes. |
| 5. In riqiza sind þō skipa. | The ships are in darkness. |
See if you can translate these sentences from Gothic:
| 6. þata silubr ist láun þáim skalkam. |
| 7. þō barna itand akrana. |
| 8. In þamma grasa filhiþ þata riqis þans wulfans. |
| 9. Sa hunds ligiþ ana þamma ligra. (Note: ana = on.) |
| 10. þata ist tagl hundē. (Note: the Gothic definite article is also a demonstrative that means "this", "that".) |
Answers
| 6. The silver is a reward for the servants. |
| 7. The children are eating fruits. |
| 8. In the grass the darkness hides the wolves. |
| 9. The dog is lying on the bed. |
| 10. That is dog hair. |
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