New file uploaded to gothic-l (ents, Faroes, Christmas)

ualarauans ualarauans at YAHOO.COM
Sun Apr 29 00:33:40 UTC 2007


--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "llama_nom" <600cell at ...> wrote:
>
> The month name 'fruma jiuleis' which appears in the Calendar as a
> synonym for 'Naubaimbair' is masculine singular, as shown by the
> adjective: a long ja-stem like hairdeis.  It corresponds to ON ýlir
> (masculine singular) and Anglian OE giuli (mentioned by Bede:
> Primusque eorum mensis, quem Latini Januarium vocant, dicitur
> Giuli...December Giuli, eodem quo Januarius nomine, vocatur... 
Menses
> Giuli a conversione solis in auctum diei, quia unus eorum præcedit,
> alius subsequitur, nomina accipiunt (cited in the OED)) -- in later
> West Saxon OE the months before and after the feast are called 'se
> æ´rra géola' and 'se æftera géola', with a change of declension to
> masculine n-stems.

It would be nice if we could call December fruma jiuleis and 
January – anþar jiuleis. But why November in the Calender?

> The midwinter feast itself -- the 12 days of Christmas -- is neuter
> plural in ON and Icelandic (jól), and sometimes in Old English (æ´r
> géolum = advent).  Maybe the tendency to make it singular came as 
the
> word's meaning changed to apply to the Christian festival.  In 
view of
> which, maybe it is worth having a more specific word after all for 
the
> day itself when Christ's birth is commemorated, and keep the old
> grammar for the festive 12 days as a whole.

I support the idea of having separate terms for the pagan and the 
Christian festival. For the latter maybe smth like Xristujiul in 
singular?

Ualarauans

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