[gothic-l] Goeter, goter, gutar

[keth at ONLINE.NO]

bertil <mvk575b at tninet.se> wrote:
>On the Germanic L has been introduced some recent
>discussion on the net concerning the Goths. The summary underneath of an
>article by Thorsten Andersson in 1996 have been put on the Gotic L by me
>earlier, but as there may
>be some additional subscribers since I am doing it again

Hej Bertil, this is something that was already mentioned, if not
in Streitberg's protogermanic grammar, then certainly by Noreen
(1923).


>as an info:
>
>"The tribal designation OSw goetar (OWScand gautar) is closely related to
>the designations Goth gutans *Goths' and OSw gutar 'Gotlanders', which
>formally correspond to each other. The first of these word is an a-stem,
>PrGmc *gautoz, while the other two are an-stems, PrGmc *gutaniz.
>
>As the present author has attempted to show in an earlier essay both
>*gautoz and *gutaniz are probably nomina agentis
>based on different ablaut grades of the verb Sw gjuta, Germ giessen 'to
>pour', in the sense of 'to pour semen', both
>of them thus meaning 'men, people'.

'Ablaut' is a vowel change that occurs within a group of etymologically
related words, that protogermanic has inherited from the indoeuropean
period, or copied by way of analogy. In the germanic languages this is
especially evident in the case of the strong verbs. Gothic "giutan" is
such a verb. It has the following ablaut series: giuta, gaut, gutum, gutans.
The 1st is the present indicative, the 2nd the preteritum inicative 1st
singular, the 3rd the preteritum indicative 1st plural, and the 4th
is the (present) participle - this is what I find in Braune's gothic
grammar. (Apropos of verbs: How do you build for example the perfect
in Gothic?)

In Streitberg's Bible, I find the following uses of "giutan":
Luke 6-38 "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure,
pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men
give into your bosom ..." Here the verb used is "ufar-giutan",
that is to pour into a cup, so that it runs over: "jah ufargutana
gibada in barm izwarana ..."
Luke 5-37,38 "And no man fills new wine in old skin-sacks ...
...but new wine must be filled in new skin-sacks ..."
"jah ainshun ni giutid wein niujata in balgins fairnjans ...
... ak wein juggata in balgins niujans giutand ..."
Mathew 9-17 "Niþ-þan giutand wein in niujata in balgins fairnjans ..."
Markus 2-22  "ni manna giutiþ wein juggata in balgins fairnjans;
ibai aufto distairai wein þata niujo þans balgins, jah wein
usgutniþ, jah þai balgeis fraquistnand; ak wein juggata in
balgins niujans giutand."


It seems clear then, that these examples all assign the meaning
of "pouring" as of a liquid to the verb under discussion. (it
is misleading to immediately think of "semen", as you so frequently
see it done)

Let us look then at the names of the various tribes, in the light
of the above verb forms. The name "Gauts" should then be related
to the preteritum indicative of the verb, that is, to the 1st or 3rd
singular, and so we get "I or he poured". "We poured" would be
"gutum" and would not have the diphtong, and therefore no good
as explanation of "Gaut". Only the singular has the "au".

"Gutans" is easier to explain as a tribal name by means of the verb
forms; for in the case of such a connection with one of the verb
forms, it would relate to the (present) participle, which in English
would give the meaning "the Pouring", or the tribe that "pours out"
(of Scandinavia ?)

The conclusion seems to be that, although the two names
do correspond to different ablaut steps of the same verb,
only one of them makes any sense that way. And so I think it can't
be as simple as that. Any suggestions?

Best regards, Keth.



P.S. Can someone explain how to form the past participle of a verb
in Gotic? (It was not in Braune's tables)


>
>(To be continued)
>
>Gothically
>
>Bertil



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