[gothic-l] Re: double words in gothic

[llama_nom]

Hails Fredrik, jah godan dag!

Compound words are very common in Gothic, as they are in Swedish and 
other Germanic languages.  Usually, the stem-vowel of the first word 
appears in the compound, so: MATI-BALGS 'food-bag', because MATS 
belongs to the i-stem declension; WEINA-GARDS 'vinyard', since WEIN 
is an a-stem; DAUTHU-BLEIS 'marked for death, condemned', from 
DAUTHUS 'death'.

There are quite a few exceptions though: WEIN-DRUGKJA 'wine-drinker' 
(WEIN = a-stem), and BRUTH-FATHS 'bridegroom' (BRUTHS = i-stem).  I 
don't think there is any rule to say why the stem-vowel was missed 
out here.  But it is more normal to include it.

Ja- & jo-stems with a short root syllable keep the -ja (e.g. midja-
sweipains 'the Flood', but long ja & jo-stems reduce it to -i (arbi-
numja 'heir', thusundi-faths 'chiliarch, leader of a thousand men').

An-/on-stems usually have -a- as the joining vowel: AUGA-
DAURO 'window' (literally "eye-door").  Consonant stems are often 
irregular.  Examples in Wright's Gothic Grammar: BROTHRU-LUBO, 
BROTHRA-LUBO, BAURGS-WADDJUS, NAHTA-MATS.

Compounds of an adjective and a noun follow the same rules.  So of 
your examples, "blueberry", would probably be: BLEWABASI.  
And "football" FOTUBALLUS, and "meatball" MIMZABALLUS.

Hope that helps!

Llama Nom




--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "Fredrik" <gadrauhts at h...> wrote:
> Godan dag allaim!
> 
> I know that double words aren't as common as in other languages 
such 
> as my own (swedish). We have e.g. köttbulle = meatball.
> 
> I wonder if they are common in gothic or do they decribe the main 
> noun instead like meaty ball instead of meatball?
> 
> If I want to make a double word in gothic, let's say blueberry, how 
> do i do. What rules are there when doing this? Now i took an 
example 
> with an adjective + noun, but if it's a noun + another noun such as 
> meatball or football. How do I make these words?
> 
> /Fredrik



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