𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌹𐍃𐌺
Gothic
Indo-European (Germanic, East) · historical / hidden variety
Gothic (𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌹𐍃𐌺) is the earliest substantially documented Germanic language and the only well-attested East Germanic language. Preserved primarily in Bishop Wulfila's 4th-century translation of the Bible (the Codex Argenteus, c. 350–380 CE), made for the Visigoths in the Balkans. Wulfila created the Gothic alphabet for this translation, derived from Greek with elements from Latin and runic. The language went extinct in continental Europe by the 8th century but Crimean Gothic survived until at least the 16th century (recorded in 1562 by Busbecq). Gothic preserves archaic features lost in other Germanic languages, including dual number and fully inflected case system.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Gothic
Water
𐍅𐌰𐍄𐍉
/wɑtoː/
Fire
𐍆𐍉𐌽
/foːn/
Sun
𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌽𐍉
/sunːoː/
Moon
𐌼𐌴𐌽𐌰
/meːnɑ/
Star
𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍉
/stɛrnoː/
Mother
𐌰𐌹𐌸𐌴𐌹
/aiθiː/
Father
𐌰𐍄𐍄𐌰
/ɑtːɑ/
I
𐌹𐌺
/ik/
You
𐌸𐌿
/θuː/
Name
𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉
/nɑmoː/
Eye
𐌰𐌿𐌲𐍉
/ɑuɣoː/
Hand
𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍃
/hɑndus/
Heart
𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍉
/hɛrtoː/
Love
𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌰𐌸𐍅𐌰
/friɑθwɑ/
Tree
𐌱𐌰𐌲𐌼𐍃
/bɑɣms/
House
𐍂𐌰𐌶𐌽
/rɑzn/
Dog
𐌷𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍃
/hunds/
Cat
*𐌺𐌰𐍄𐍄𐍃
/kɑtːs/
Eat
𐌼𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽
/mɑtjɑn/
Drink
𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌺𐌰𐌽
/driŋkɑn/
One
𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃
/ains/
Two
𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌹
/twai/
Hello
𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃
/hails/
Thank you
𐌸𐌰𐌲𐌺𐍃
/θɑŋks/
Good
𐌲𐍉𐌸𐍃
/ɡoːθs/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European (Germanic, East) languages
| Meaning | Gothic | Old Frisian | Old English | Old Norse | Middle English | Old Saxon | Yiddish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | 𐍅𐌰𐍄𐍉 /wɑtoː/ | wetir /wetir/ | wæter /wæter/ | vatn /vɑtn/ | water /watər/ | watar /ˈwatar/ | וואַסער /vasər/ |
| Fire | 𐍆𐍉𐌽 /foːn/ | fiur /fjuːɾ/ | fȳr /fyːr/ | eldr /eldr/ | fyr /fyːr/ | fiur /fiur/ | פֿײַער /fajər/ |
| Sun | 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌽𐍉 /sunːoː/ | sunne /sunːe/ | sunne /sunːe/ | sól /soːl/ | sonne /sɔnːə/ | sunna /ˈsunːa/ | זון /zun/ |
| Moon | 𐌼𐌴𐌽𐌰 /meːnɑ/ | mōna /moːnɑ/ | mōna /moːnɑ/ | máni /mɑːni/ | mone /moːnə/ | māno /ˈmaːno/ | לבֿנה /ləvɔnə/ |
| Star | 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍉 /stɛrnoː/ | stera /ˈstɛra/ | steorra /ˈstæɔrːɑ/ | stjarna /ˈstjarna/ | sterre /ˈstɛrːə/ | sterro /ˈsterro/ | שטערן /ʃtɛrn/ |
| Mother | 𐌰𐌹𐌸𐌴𐌹 /aiθiː/ | moder /moːdeɾ/ | mōdor /moːdor/ | móðir /moːðir/ | moder /moːdər/ | modar /ˈmoːdar/ | מאַמע /mamə/ |
| Father | 𐌰𐍄𐍄𐌰 /ɑtːɑ/ | feder /fædeɾ/ | fæder /fæder/ | faðir /fɑðir/ | fader /faːdər/ | fader /ˈfadər/ | טאַטע /tatə/ |
| I | 𐌹𐌺 /ik/ | ik /ik/ | ic /itʃ/ | ek /ek/ | I /iː/ | ik /ik/ | איך /ix/ |
| You | 𐌸𐌿 /θuː/ | thū /θuː/ | þū /θuː/ | þú /θuː/ | thou /θuː/ | thu /θuː/ | דו /du/ |
| Name | 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 /nɑmoː/ | nama /ˈnama/ | nama /ˈnɑma/ | nafn /nafn/ | name /ˈnaːmə/ | namo /ˈnamo/ | נאָמען /ˈnɔmən/ |
| Eye | 𐌰𐌿𐌲𐍉 /ɑuɣoː/ | āge /aːɣe/ | ēage /æːɑɣe/ | auga /ɑuɣɑ/ | eye /iːə/ | ōga /ˈoːɡa/ | אויג /ɔɪɡ/ |
| Hand | 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍃 /hɑndus/ | hond /hond/ | hand /hɑnd/ | hǫnd /hɔnd/ | hand /hand/ | hand /hand/ | האַנט /hant/ |
| Heart | 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍉 /hɛrtoː/ | herte /heɾte/ | heorte /ˈheorte/ | hjarta /hjɑrtɑ/ | herte /hɛrtə/ | herta /ˈherta/ | האַרץ /harts/ |
| Love | 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌰𐌸𐍅𐌰 /friɑθwɑ/ | minne /minːe/ | lufu /luvu/ | ást /ɑːst/ | love /lʊvə/ | minnea /ˈminːea/ | ליבע /libə/ |
| Tree | 𐌱𐌰𐌲𐌼𐍃 /bɑɣms/ | bām /baːm/ | trēow /treːow/ | tré /treː/ | tre /treː/ | bōm /boːm/ | בוים /bɔɪm/ |
| House | 𐍂𐌰𐌶𐌽 /rɑzn/ | hūs /huːs/ | hūs /huːs/ | hús /huːs/ | hous /huːs/ | hūs /huːs/ | הויז /hɔɪz/ |
| Dog | 𐌷𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍃 /hunds/ | hund /hund/ | hund /hund/ | hundr /hundr/ | hound /huːnd/ | hund /hund/ | הונט /hunt/ |
| Cat | *𐌺𐌰𐍄𐍄𐍃 /kɑtːs/ | katte /katːe/ | catt /kɑtt/ | kǫttr /kɔtːr/ | catte /katːə/ | katta /ˈkatːa/ | קאַץ /kats/ |
| Eat | 𐌼𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 /mɑtjɑn/ | eta /etɑ/ | etan /etɑn/ | eta /etɑ/ | eten /eːtən/ | etan /ˈetan/ | עסן /ɛsn/ |
| Drink | 𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌺𐌰𐌽 /driŋkɑn/ | drinka /dɾinkɑ/ | drincan /drinkɑn/ | drekka /drekːɑ/ | drinken /drɪŋkən/ | drinkan /ˈdrinkan/ | טרינקען /trɪŋkən/ |
| One | 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 /ains/ | ān /aːn/ | ān /aːn/ | einn /ɛinː/ | oon /oːn/ | ēn /eːn/ | איינס /eɪns/ |
| Two | 𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌹 /twai/ | twā /twaː/ | twā /twɑː/ | tveir /tveir/ | two /twɔː/ | twēne /ˈtweːne/ | צוויי /tsvej/ |
| Hello | 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃 /hails/ | heil /heil/ | wes hāl /wes haːl/ | heill /hɛilː/ | hail /hɛːl/ | heil /heil/ | שלום־עליכם /ʃoləm aleɪxəm/ |
| Thank you | 𐌸𐌰𐌲𐌺𐍃 /θɑŋks/ | thank /θank/ | þanc /θɑnk/ | þǫkk /θɔkː/ | thank /θank/ | thank /θaŋk/ | אַ דאַנק /a daŋk/ |
| Good | 𐌲𐍉𐌸𐍃 /ɡoːθs/ | gōd /ɡoːd/ | gōd /ɡoːd/ | góðr /ɡoːðr/ | good /ɡoːd/ | gōd /ɡoːd/ | גוט /ɡut/ |
Word order compared
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