[gothic-l] =?ISO-8859-1?Q?=FE?=liuhan

[M. Carver]

Yes, Sverre. Especially peculiar is the initial consonant-cluster, I
find. I have the following cases of the initial þl consonant cluster
(ruling out medial appearance, such as maþl-, moþl-, neþl-):


þláihan (sv7)*       [v. gaþláihan]
gaþláihan (sv7)	     cherish, console, comfort, take in the arms, caress
þlaqus (aj)	     soft, tender

þlaúhs (sm)	     fleeing (flight)
þliuhan (sv2)	     flee
gaþliuhan (sv2)	     flee
unþaþliuhan (sv2)	escape


Now cases of initial fl- (etymological):

fláuts (aj) 	boastful
flodus (sf) 	flood, stream
flokan (sv7) 	lament, bewail


As you see, both spellings co-exist without apparent confusion or
variability, since what we must have in the glossaries is a fixed form
taken from form most found in the texts. It is therefore that this is a
perplexing case. Did the Goths truly pronounce þláihan, etc. with a
dentoliquid cluster or labioliquid? Did Wulfila misunderstand the sound?
Apparent is that he (or whatever scribe undertook the work) understood
the etymological connections of the vocabulary, since he uses þl- in
þliuhan and its derivative noun þlauhs.  If it were proved that þl-
represents a scribal misunderstanding of the spoken sounds, then we
could easily amend this to fl-, and perhaps scholars would have done
this long ago in their textual editions and versions. But they did not,
and it were hard to change this so late in Gothic studies and in a way
that goes against all precedence--no matter how much I might wish it. I
have however blatantly ignored this phenomenon in my reconstruction of
*fliugan (sv2) "fly, move through the air" and *fliugs (aj) "flighted,
able to fly" for the Gaskapeins project. Wright has p. 349 "þliuhan, sv.
II, to flee,...OE. fle'on, OHG. fliohan." He makes no comment as to this
phonological peculiarity.

As for the mysterious glide -j- in flyja, I'm afraid you might have to
consult an Icelandic expert; perhaps we have one or two of them on the
list. It seems that in this case the falling diphthong iu should have
become ju' (*flju'ja), but by i-mutation this became y'- (fly'ja). The
loss of h and the addition of a -j- are beyond my ability to conjecture.

Awaiting those with more powerful etymological references,

Matþaius



sverre_johnsen at hotmail.com wrote:
>
> Does the gothic verb "þliuhan" come from *fliuhan? Considering
> that
> the verb is "flýja" in Old Norse (<*fliuhan, *fliuhijan?) and
> "fliehen" in German, I find the gothic version peculiar ...
>
> (It is "flýja" in Old Norse, isn't it? But where does the -j- and
> the
> i-umlaut come from? If it was *fliuhijan, shouldn't the Old Norse
> form
> be "flýa"?)
>
> Sverre

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