[gothic-l] 1st dual imperative & reflexive pronouns with logical subject?

[Grsartor at AOL.COM]

What I think is the rule for use of reflexives in Gothic is simpler than its 
counterpart in English. If I am right, a reflexive pronoun is used when it 
refers to the subject of the finite verb (not an infinitive or a participle) in 
its clause. For some examples where Gothic and English practices differ consider

A. Sentences with a pronoun as the object of a dependent infinitve.

(i) The king ordered the physician to cure him.

(ii) The king ordered the physician to cure himself.

>From (ii) a native speaker of English would naturally understand that the 
physician was required to practise self-healing, whereas in (i) he must heal some 
other person, quite possibly the king. If the patient in (i) is indeed the 
king, then Gothic would make the pronoun reflexive, since it refers to the 
subject of the verb "ordered".

Examples:

...þaiei ni wildedun mik þiudanon ufar sis
who did not want me to rule over them.

jah bedun ina allai gaujans þize Gaddarene galeiþan fairra sis (Luke 8:37)
and all the people of the G asked him to go away from them.


B. Sentences with a pronoun as the object of a participle.

(i) The king blamed the physician (that was) treating him.

Whether or not the bracketed words are omitted English would not use a 
reflexive. In Gothic a reflexive would be used if the bracketed words were omitted 
and the patient was the king, the principle being the same as in A.

Examples:

wandjands sik du þizai afarlaistjandein sis managein qaþ (Luke 7:9)
turning to the crowd following him he said

qaþuþ þan jah þamma haitandin sik   (Luke 14:12)
and he said then to the one inviting him

What if the inviting was truly reflexive? That is, suppose we wanted to say 
"he said to the one inviting himself". I think Gothic would use a reflexive 
pronoun here also. Consider, for example,

in galaubeinai liba sun(a)us gudis gibandins sik faur mik (Galatians 2:20)
I live in the faith of the son of G, [the one] giving himself for me.

insandidedun ferjans þans us liutein taiknjandans sik garaihtans wisan (Luke 
20:20)
they sent spies representing themselves as sincere [i.e. the spies pretended 
to be sincere]


C. Sentences with an adjectival prepositional phrase.

(i) He feared the darkness (that was) around him.

Here again, English would not use a reflexive. Gothic, if the bracketed words 
are omitted, would use a reflexive for the same reason as in A and B, unless 
the sense was that he feared the darkness that surrounded someone else.

Example:

gasaihwands þan Iesus managans hiuhmans bi sik, haihait galeiþan siponjans 
hindar marein. (Matt 8:18)
then Jesus, seeing the great crowds around him, ordered his disciples to go 
to the other side of the lake.

On the other hand, consider

(ii) He drew his coat more tightly round himself.

The prepositional phrase is adverbial, and both English and Gothic require a 
reflexive.

Here is an elaborate one from Mark 12:19, describing what might happen when a 
man dies childless but leaving a wife:

ei nimai broþar is þo qen is jah ussatjai barna broþr seinamma.
that his brother must take his wife and have children for his brother


Here is quite a knotty one from 15:28 of Corinthians I:

þanuh biþe alla gakunnun sik faura imma, þanuþ-þan is silba sunus gakann sik 
faura þamma ufhnaiwjandin uf ina þo alla, ei sijai guþ alla in allaim
And when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be 
subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

The use of "ina" seems to violate my proposed rule, but perhaps Wulfila found 
all this nearly as confusing as I do.

And here I think is another exception to the rule I have proposed:

ei gebi unsis unagein us handau fijande unsaraize galausidaim skalkinon imma 
(Luke 1:74)
to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might 
serve him without fear

In the Gothic version the last word refers to the subject of its clause, and 
so I should have expected "sis".

Gerry T.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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