[gothic-l] Name origin and meaning

[David Salo]

>I'm sorry to be rude I am not trying to be.  I jest see an e-mail thak looks
>kinda like a conversation that I dont know what is being said.  What is it
>German or what?  I am confused please help?

    _Gothic_ is an ancient language, known to have been spoken by a nation
(called "Goths" in modern English, but probably by themselves called
_Gutans_ or _Gutthiuda_) existing at least between the 3rd and 6th
centuries CE.  The language is best known through a translation of the
Bible, which partially survives, made in the late 4th century CE.  Though
possessed of an advanced and literate culture, they were considered by the
more ancient civilization of the Roman Empire to be "barbarians".
    From the Renaissance onward, there was a tendency to look back
contemptuously on the Middle Ages and describe everything from that time
period as crude and barbaric -- hence "Gothic".  Thus the word "Gothic"
came to be equated with "medieval".  From the late 18th century on,
"Gothic" came to be used of a style of literature that blended horror,
hints of the supernatural, and a background of crumbling medieval --
"Gothic" -- architecture (e.g. castles and cathedrals).  In the 20th
century, this term came to be used of a counterculture movement that
appropriated some of this literary "Gothic" style.
    But as that "Gothic" style  refers, murkily, to medieval art and
architecture of the 12th-16th centuries -- long after the Goths had ceased
to play a major role in European history -- there is practically _no_
connection between the Goths of history and their Gothic language, and the
modern Gothic subculture.  This list was created for discussing the
history, language, and culture of the ancient Goths.

    I hope this helps!

/\     WISTR LAG WIGS RAIHTS
\/            WRAIQS NU IST                               <> David Salo
<dsalo at softhome.net> <>



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