[gothic-l] Re: Gothic equivalent for English 'must'

[Debbie Williams]

Does anyone know where to get a Gothic language dictionary? I would love to learn the language since I'm also trying to pick up learning German & Norwegian. Much  thanks to anyone who can help.

llama_nom <penterakt at fsmail.net> wrote:
>
> > How would one say that one 'must' do something in Gothic?
>
> I think _skulan_ is a good equivalent of _must_.
>
> > Eg how would one translate, 'We must go now'.
>
> Skulum nu gaggan.
>
> > Nearest I could work out was 'Thaurfts nu faran ist',
> > literally 'Necessary now to-go it-is.'
>
> Not exactly. Thaurfts ist (you'll note that -s is the masculine
> ending) means that somebody is meant to, in need to do someting: sa
> thaurfts ist gaggan = he is in need to go. You have to use the
neuter
> thaurft in order to convey impersonal meaning.
>
> Hope this helps
>
> Iosef Strawarila


As you say, this is the simplest way:

skulum nu gaggan - we should/must go/walk, let us go/walk

Other possibilities:

galeithan - go, depart
usleithan - go out, depart, disappear
afleithan - go, depart, leave (transitive or intransitive)
afleithan aljath - go elsewhere, "be off"
andqithan - say goodbye, take one's leave of, greet
atgaggan - go/come (in a particular direction), approach, come down
faran - go (attested just once in Gothic, L 10,7 in phrase "go from
house to house")
farjan - go by boat
etc.

And yes, "thaurft ist gaggan" seems reasonable for "it is necessary
to go".  The phrase isn't attested, as far as I know, but for the
same construction with the synonymous "naudithaufts" see 2Cor 9,5:
naudithaurft nu man bidjan brothruns ei galeithaina du izwis - I
thought it necessary to ask the brothers to go to you.

The adjective "thaurfts" appears at 1Cor 12,22 (masc.pl. thaurftai),
meaning "necessary": thaurftai sind - they are necessary.

In its weak masculine form it occurs at Mk 2,25 with a somewhat
different meaning: thaurfta "needy", "in need".

But "thaurfts" can also be a feminine i-stem noun, e.g. L 19,34:
fraujin thaurfts this ist "the master needs it", lit. "there is a
necessity to the master of it" (it being a colt/foal).

So too can naudithaurfts, cf. chapter 2 of the Skeireins:
naudithaurfts auk was jah gadob wistai du garehsn daupeinais
andniman "For it was a necessity and in keeping with nature to
receive the plan of baptism" (Marchand translation).

So returning to the original question, I think "thaurfts nu faran
ist" is quite acceptable Gothic too, but perhaps meaning "there is a
need to travel" or "to go about", rather than "go" in the sense
of "depart", though it's impossible to be definitive from just one
attested example.

To say "he needs to go", then might be: "thaurft(s) ist imma gaggan",
or something like that, the -s being optional (depending on whether
you treat it as a feminine noun or a neuter adjective).  To say "we
have to go", with this construction, just swap "imma" for "uns"
or "unsis".

That's my guess.

Llama Nom



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