Uodalricus

[llama_nom]

> I am wondering about the possbile Gothic variant of the OHG name 
> Uodalric (lat. Uodalricus).


*Oþalareiks.

The similarity of OHG uod- to Go. wod- is only apparent.  It's quite 
normal for Proto-Germanic [o:], long o, to develop into the 
diphthong [uo] in OHG, which usually becomes [u:] in NHG, unless 
mutated to [y:] by an [i] in the next syllable.  This etymology is 
also made unlikely by the fact that OHG d normally corresponds to 
Go. þ < PG þ, while OHG t matches Go. d < PG d (regardless of 
whether the consonant is changed to þ at the end of a word in 
Gothic).

In at least one variety of Gothic, there was a tendency to raise 
[o:] to [u:], hence the (runic) letter name 'utal' found in the 
Vienna-Salzburg Codex [ http://titus.fkidg1.uni-
frankfurt.de/didact/idg/germ/runennam.htm ], matching OE 
eþel "native land", etc.

I'm more convinced by the equasion of NHG Ulrich with OHG Uodalric 
than the explanation as as form of Wolfrich, but I don't know the 
full story about the history of these names in German.  In Old 
Norse, *wulf/*wolf > ulf in a stressed syllable; this doesn't 
normally happen in standard NHG, but I don't know whether it might 
have any bearing here, for example due to borrowing of the name 
between Germanic dialects, or later confusion between names that had 
come to sound similar.

Neither is it the same as Athalaric (Go. *Aþalareiks), an attested 
Gothic name, cognate with OE æþelric.  OE eþel has a long vowel in 
the first syllable, the result of i-mutation of Proto-Germanic 
[o:].  PG *ôþila- > OE êþel "native land".  Whereas OE æþele has a 
short vowel in the first syllable, from PG [a].  PG *aþalijaz > OE 
æþele "noble".  Although these are distinct words, I suppose they 
might be connected by ablaut.  This is an old variation that goes 
back to Proto-Indo-European.  A vowel would develop different forms 
depending on where the word was stressed in PIE.  In the 6th class 
of strong verbs, for example, you can see a variation between PG [a] 
in the present and past participle, and PG [o:] in the preterite.  
Another rule demands that PG þ appear after a syllable that was 
stressed in PIE, and PG d after a syllable that was unstressed, but 
this is often obscured by analogical levelling in the recorded 
Germanic languages.

Lama Nom



--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "irilaz" <irilaz at ...> wrote:
>
> Hi!
> 
> I am wondering about the possbile Gothic variant of the OHG name 
> Uodalric (lat. Uodalricus). In the development of the German the 
line 
> goes something like Uodalric-Odalric-Ulric. In A-S we find 
Ethelric 
> and I am not sure about the name Aethelric (is it a variant or a 
> different name altogether?) and there is also Ulric (although I 
have 
> been puzzled by the fact that some sources state that it may also 
be 
> a variant of Wulfric (?)).
> 
> Will a Gothic variant be Athalareiks (like English Aethelric) or 
> rather a slightly different name... since the name is clearly 
> connected with the Rune Othala (Odal - see (U)Odalric) something 
> like "Othalareiks"?
> 
> And a rather amateurish question: could not "Uodalric" be 
originally 
> connected to "wod"? Or rather is a Germanic name "Wodalric" and 
its 
> later development thanks to its phonetic initial /uod (wod)/ 
quality 
> into Uodalric/Odalric (that would mean that the connection with 
the 
> Rune Othala /Odal/ and subsequent name explanations might be 
> secondary, since its original meaning would be quite 
obviously "Wod-
> ric") possible according to linguistic rule? And how would in any 
> case such a name (Wodric) look in Gothic?
> 
> Thanks for any info!
> D.
>






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