[gothic-l] Re: Usage of J, I or Ï

[llama_nom]

--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "Fredrik" <gadrauhts at h...> wrote:
> Hi everyone!
> 
> Can someone please tell me the rules of when to use ï instead of i. 
> And also if it is better to use some of them instead of j, e.g. 
> initialy.


Hi Fredrik!

In the Gothic script, <ï> and <i> are both used for the high front 
vowel /i/.  (Actually the Gothic <i> had no dot, so it looked more 
like Greek Iota, rather than the Roman <i>).  In some names taken 
from Greek, <ï> can also stand for the semi-vowel /j/, whether 
initially or in the middle of a word.

The Gothic script always used the sign <ï> at the beginning of words, 
and medially after a vowel not belonging to the same syllable.  In 
all other positions <i> is used.  Modern editions tend to print both 
<i> and <ï> as <i>, although they might follow the spelling of the 
original in regards to consonantal <ï> between vowels.

Some examples (not necessarily attested in these forms, but just to 
make this clearer):

ïmma - to him/it
fraïtan - eat up, devour (from fra + ïtan)
Akaïa - place name, Achaia (SEE BELOW)
Ïesus - Jesus
lists - cunning
laists - track
kuni - race, tribe, people

<j> is used in native Gothic words to represent the palatal semi-
vowel /j/ (like Swedish <j> or English <y>).  In loanwords from Greek 
(Biblical names of people and places) this semi-vowel /j/ is 
sometimes represented by <ï>, sometimes by <j>.  There is no hard and 
fast rule to say which will be used, but it's possible to see some 
tendencies:

Biblical names beginning with Greek Iota almost always represent the 
consonantal /j/ by <ï> (Ïesus, Ïohannes, etc.). There are a small 
handful of names that do use <j> for Greek Iota, e.g. Jannis < Gk. 
Iannes. The name of the mother of God is invariably Maria, while the 
woman healed of devils is Marja Magdalene. Naturalised loanwords 
(e.g. placenames already familiar to the Goths) generally have <j>, 
e.g.: Makidonja, Aikklesjo (Braune & Helm, 1956, §43 A.2). Sometimes 
the same name is spelt in different ways, note Gk. Achaïa > Got. 
Akaja, Axaïa + dat. Akaijai; and the corresponding adjective becomes 
in Gothic gen.pl. Akaje.

Older naturalised loanwords from Latin all have <j>, e.g. faskja, 
plapja (mistake for *platja), etc.

I hope that's not too confusing!!

Llama Nom



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