[gothic-l] Re: h‹ils - j & i & the Roman months

[llama_nom]

Hails Manie & Francisc,

Some more thoughts regarding the rendering of the Roman months in 
Gothic:


INITIAL SEMIVOWLES.  Biblical names beginning I- (Iesus, Iohannes, 
etc.) almost always represent the consonantal J by I, as in Greek 
spelling, probably a written convention with no bearing on the 
pronunciation in Gothic.  There are a small handful of names that do 
use J for Greek I, e.g. Jannis < Iannes.  The name of the mother of 
God is invariably Maria, while the woman healed of devils is Marja 
Magdalene.  Naturalised loanwords generally have j: Makidonja, 
Aikklesjo (Braune & Helm: Gotische Grammatik, 1956, ¡×43 A.2), and 
perhaps this included the month names.  Another clue to the treatment 
the months might lie in the name of the Emperor Augustus, recorded in 
Gothic as Agustus (L 2,1).

MEDIAL SEMIVOWELS.  In respect of Jan. & Feb., note also Gk Eddoua > 
Got. Aiddua (MnE Jedaiah); Gk Phanoueel > Got. Fanuel.  From this it 
seems most likely that Latin -u- > Got. -u- in Jan. & Feb., rather 
than -w-.  In respect of May, note Gk Achaia > Got. Akaja, Axaia + 
dat. Akaijai; and the corresponding adjective, gen.pl. Akaje.

AFFRICATION.  The Latin combination -tio- appears affricated in the 
Gothic borrowing kawtsjo (6th century deed), reflecting innovations 
in Latin pronunciation, but if Martius had been borrowed early enough 
it would have escaped this change.  The four other Latin loans with 
relevant combinations all escape affrication/assimilation in Gothic: 
faskja, laiktjo, unkja, plapja - presumed error for *platja (Braune & 
Helm, 1956, ¡×43 A.1).  Also in favour of a non-affricated form in 
Gothic might be the German dialect variants Marte, etc. - see below - 
and at some time the Latin name was borrowed unaffricated into Greek 
as Martios, but I don't know when.  As well as date (Vulgar Latin tj 
> tsj probably in the 3rd c., see Elcock: The Romance Languages, 
1960, p. 53), the form of the Gothic word might depend on whether 
these names were literate or popular borrowings, since Latin 
orthography didn't necessarily keep pace with changes in the spoken 
language, and even which part of the Roman empire they were derived 
from: e.g. in the West, with regional exceptions, kj > tsj, but in 
the East, again with localised exceptions in the Balkans, kj > tsh 
(Elcock, 1960, p. 54).  Since the Gothic calendar, as attested, shows 
the influence of Balkan Christianity in its feast days, an earlier 
borrowing lends weight to the likelihood of a nonaffricated *Martius.

VOWEL LENGTH.  The Gothic names might sometimes preserve the length 
distinctions of the Latin vowels.  This seems to have been the case 
for some Latin/Celtic place names borrowed via Gothic into Slavonic: 
Got. *Dona:wi > Pol., etc. Dunaj; Got. *Ta:nu- > Pol. Tanew 
(Czarnecki: Gotisches im Wortschatz des Polnischen).  I'm not sure of 
the ultimate etymology of this last one, but the long a: in both 
these words is not a native phonetic development.  Preservation of 
vowel length would be more likely for earlier borrowings, or literate 
borrowings, as later spoken Latin ceased to distinguish vowel 
quantity, as distinct from stress, although in some instances the 
difference survived as a qualitative one, e.g. long u: > u, but short 
u > open o.  In most Romance dialects, the development of long and 
short a was identical (Elcock, 1960, p. 43).

It's likely though that the penultimate vowel of -areis was long as 
in OHG -©¡re, since this suffix was borrowed early.  Though we can't 
say whether Januarius & Frbruarius were assimilated to this familiar 
suffix, or retained their Latin termination.


Given all that: here's my best guesses at the moment:

Ia:nua:rius > *Januareis, (or *Ianuarius, *Janwareis, etc.)
Februa:rius > *Faibruareis, (or *Faibruarius)
Martius > *Martius (or *Martsius, but see above)
Apri:lis > *Apreilis
Maius > *Majus
Iu:nius > *Junius
Iu:lius > *Julius
Augustus > Agustus (Attested as the Emperor's name)
September > *Saiptaimbair
Octo:ber > *Auktobair
November > Naubaimbair (The one that's attested)
December > *Daikaimbair


Llama Nom



--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "Francisc Czobor" <fericzobor at y...> 
wrote:
> --- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "Manie Lombard" 
<manielombard at c...> 
> wrote:
> > H‹ils Francis
> > 
> > Would you reconstruct January, June and July with "j" or "i"?
> > 
> > Manie
> > 
> 
> Rather with "j", since Latin semivocalic "i" is rendered by Wulfila 
> usually through "j", as in Jesus, jota, Justus, ans sometimes also  
> Greek words where initial "i" stands before a vowel have 
alternative 
> spelling with "j": Iauraupaulis ~ Jairupulis, Iaurdanus ~ 
Jaurdanus, 
> Iudas ~ Judas, Iudaius ~ Judaius.
> The spelling with "j" is closer to Gothic (and Germanic) phonology.
> 
> Francisc



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