[gothic-l] Gothic Language Corner 6

[edmundfairfax@yahoo.ca [gothic-l]]

Jordanes (78) writes that the Goths "called their leaders by whose good fortune they seemed to have conquered, not mere men, but demigods, that is 'Ansis'."
 

 According to the conventions of Wulfilian orthography, Latinized 'Ansis' would be *'Anseis,' that is, the nominative plural of non-extant *'ans' (masc. i-stem), from Proto-Germanic *'ansiz.' The word appears to be a derivative of non-extant Gothic *'ansus' ('god', masc. u-stem), cognate with Old English 'os,' Old Norse 'ass,' and found in early Germanic personal names, e.g. Latinized Gothic 'Ansila' (= 'ans- + diminutive ending '-ila'), and early runic 'asugasd(i)z' = *'Ansugastiz.' One derivational function of the i-stem class was to indicate membership within a group, e.g. Gothic 'Saureis' ('Syrians') derived from 'Saurja' ('Syria'), and Iairusaulwmeis ('Jerusalemites') from 'Iairusaulwma' ('Jerusalem').
 

 Edmund
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