[gothic-l] People Names

[Bertil Häggman]

Esteemed listmembers,

Am pleased to provide a collection of sources on
readings of the connection between the people names
of Goetar, Gauts, Goths, and Gutar. I thought this
might be of asome assistance to those who want
to sudy these questions further after the extensive
discussion we have had on the subject here on the
list.

Gothically

Bertil

2. Goetar (sing. Goet), Gauts (sing. Gaut), Goths (sing. Goth), Gutar (sing. Gute)

have also included the English summary of the article.

"Goetar, goter, gutar" by Thorsten Andersson, pp. 6-21,
Namn och Bygd - Tidskrift foer nordisk ortnamnsforskning, 
Uppsala, Vol. 84, 1996.

"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'.

"In this paper, the ablaut relationship between *gautoz and *gutaniz is 
analysed. According to an old but not unchallenged theory, a deeper genetic 
link is involved here. This idea is supported by the fact that Gaut, which 
represents the same ablaut grade as *gautoz, occurs as the name of the 
primogenitor of the Goths. The analysis suggests that *gautoz and *gutaniz are 
probably variant forms within Proto-Germanic. A people referred to as 
*gautoz/*gutaniz, inhabiting the region in and around the southern Baltic Sea, 
appear to have been the ancestors of the Scandinavian *gautoz 'Geats' and 
*gutaniz 'Gotlanders' and the East Germanic tribe of the *gutaniz 'Goths*.

The question of the ethnogenesis of the Geats, Goths and Gotlanders is thus 
closely related to that of the classification of the Germanic languages. In 
addition, it is intimately linked to the wider issue of the ethnogenesis of the
Germanic people, a classic question which has attracted renewed interest in 
recent years. The relationship between Geats, Goths and Gotlanders and hence 
between the continent and Scandinavia is of fundamental significance in 
shedding light on this issue."

Professor Andersson has further developed his theory in the article on Goetar in

Goetar, Hoops 2nd ed., Vol. 12, 1998,  5 pages

Further Andersson has published

Goetar, "Fraan goetarna till Noreens kor", Hyllningsskrift L. Elmevik, 1996,
17 pages.

Further there is a German work with much of interest:

L. Ruebekeil,_Suebica. Voelkernamen und Ethnos_ (1992).

Of importance is also Professor Elias Wessén in an article from 1969,

E. Wessén, "Nordiska folkstammar och folknamn", Fornvännen 64, 1969, 22 pages.







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