[gothic-l] Re: Translating creeds?

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

This is somewhat pedantic, I fear, but the correct forms from the "Gothic Epigram" are as follows: 

 "inter eils goticum scapia matzia ja drincan..."
 'amidst Gothic [cries of] "hails! skapjam matjan jah drigkan!"...'
 = 'hail! let's eat and drink!'
 

 The forms here reflect a late Latin pronunciation: the loss of 'h' in "eils" and "ja"; the dropping of the final nasal consonant in "scapia" and "matzia";  and /t/ becoming [ts] before /i/ in "matzia" (often signalled in writing by 'z'), cf. Jordanes' Gothiscandza = *Gothiscandia), and Modern Italian 'canzone' from L 'cantio.'
 

 Scardigli (PBB-T 96) has argued that the language is Vandal, despite the overt reference to Goths. I have not read the article, but it is clear from Braune/Heidermanns (2003, section E19) that this ascription is not universally accepted.
 

 The word 'scapia' = *skapjam is usually understood to mean 'let's.' The Gothic Bible, however, would almost certainly have rendered 'let us eat and drink' as 'matjaima jah drigkaima,' that is, with subjunctive forms. It is tempting to take the construction in the Epigram as perhaps a rare glimpse at colloquial Gothic. What appears to be the same construction is found in Busbecq's Crimean Gothic "kilemschkop" with the meaning 'ebibe calice' = apparently 'kilem's kop' (from an earlier *'keljam weis kop'), that is, the simple first person plural present indicative form with an exhortatory meaning (cf. Modern German 'gehen wir!').
 

 Edmund
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/gothic-l/attachments/20150105/305f254a/attachment.htm>