Balg 1887: 21. The word is used in Gothic both in the meaning of 'totus, whole' (cf. Mtth. 5:29: allata leik þein "all of your body" [Ulfilas 1896: 4]) and 'omnis, every(one)' (cf. Mtth. 9:35: bitauh Iesus baurgs allos "Jesus walked around all the towns" [Ulfilas 1896: 12]).
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 16; Zoega 1910: 10; De Vries 1962: 7. Used both in the meaning of 'totus, whole' (in the sg. form all-r) and in the meaning of 'omnis, every(one)' (in the pl. form all-ir).
Haraldsson 1996: 63; Berkov 1962: 39. Used both in the meaning of 'totus, whole' (in the sg. form allur) and in the meaning of 'omnis, every(one)' (in the pl. form allir).
Young & Clewer 1985: 10. Used both in the meaning of 'totus, whole' (in the sg. form allur) and in the meaning of 'omnis, every(one)' (in the pl. form allir).
Balg 1887: 39. Fem. gender; stem in -n-. Cf. Mtth. 11:21: airis þau in sakkau jah azgon idreigodedeina "they would have repented long ago, in sackcloth and ashes" [Ulfilas 1896: 14].
Young & Clewer 1985: 31. Neuter gender. The masculine form børk-ur [Young & Clewer 1985: 74] is marked as "rare" in the meaning 'bark', but "common" in the meaning 'skin (on boiled milk, paint, varnish and the like)'.
Balg 1887: 528. Fem. gender. Most of the contexts refer to the semantics of 'womb' (referring primarily to the Mother of God), but there are a few passages that confirm the general meaning 'belly' as well, cf. Mk. 7:19: ni galeiþiþ imma in hairto, ak in wamba "it does not enter in his heart, but in his belly" [Ulfilas 1896: 32], etc.
It is somewhat hard to establish the difference between wamb-a and its quasi-synonym qiþus, glossed in [Balg 1887: 229] as 'womb; stomach'. The latter, however, never translates Greek κοιλια 'belly', and is at least once encountered in the precise meaning 'stomach' (body organ rather than body part), cf. I Tim. 5:23: weinis leitil brukjais in qiþaus þeinis "take a little wine for your stomach" [Ulfilas 1896: 204]. It may, therefore, be surmised that wamba referred primarily to the inside part of the body (which is the required Swadesh meaning', whereas qiþus had the polysemous semantics of 'womb / stomach' ('organ inside the belly').
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 364; Zoega 1910: 254; De Vries 1962: 338. Masculine gender. Polysemy: 'belly / womb'. Distinct from magi [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 408], which is predominantly 'stomach' or 'maw', and from vɔmb [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 722] which seems to be a "vulgar" equivalent of 'belly' (Cleasby: "mostly in a low sense, especially of beasts"). Overall, there is some significant contextual overlap between all the three words, but the underlying opposition of 'belly ~ womb', 'stomach', and 'belly (vulg.)' seems to suggest kvið-r as the most eligible candidate (contra [Bergsland & Vogt 1962: 117], where 'belly' is still rendered as magi, whereas kvið-r is glossed as 'less inclusive; womb' - this judgement is not supported well by the data in Cleasby's dictionary, but, perhaps, a more detailed scrutiny is required).
Haraldsson 1996: 191; Berkov 1962: 382. Distinct from magi 'stomach' [Berkov 1962: 430] (also used in contexts of 'stomach ache'); from vömb 'belly' (vulgar equivalent) [Berkov 1962: 875].
Faroese:buːk-ʋr {búkur}3
Young & Clewer 1985: 67. Meaning glossed as 'abdomen, stomach, belly; waist; (ballad) body'. The partial synonym magi [Young & Clewer 1985: 372], glossed as 'stomach, belly', seems to be primarily referring to 'stomach' as an organ or to the interior part of the belly. Cf. also kviður 'abdomen, stomach' [Young & Clewer 1985: 327], although this word is never given as the default Faroese equivalent for 'belly' in any of the sources. On the whole, this seems like one of the very few Swadesh items to reflect a lexicostatistical difference between Icelandic and Faroese.
Arakin 2000: I, 520; Berkov 2006: 229. "Traditional Bokmål": màve (Danish-influenced form). Polysemy: 'belly / stomach'. Distinct from buk 'belly (of animal)', used also of persons in a vulgar sense [Arakin 2000: I, 146; Berkov 2006: 229].
Krymova et al. 2000: 418; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 105. Polysemy: 'stomach / belly / bowels'. Another synonym is bug [Krymova et al. 2000: 103], usually seen as a more vulgar (and statistically less frequent) equivalent (see the same situation carried over to Bokmål Norwegian). The word abdomen, listed as another equivalent for 'belly' in [Harrit & Harrit 2002: 105], is a specialized anatomical term.
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 436; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 154. Polysemy: 'stomach / belly'. Definite form: mag-e-n. Plural: mag-ar. Another synonym is buk [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 95], but it seems to be confined to the "vulgar" register, as in Danish.
Haraldsson 1996: 38; Berkov 1962: 709. Cf. also mikill 'big' [Berkov 1962: 448]. In Old Norse (cf. notes) the semantic difference between mikill and storr is still rather smudged, but in Modern Icelandic stór seems to have firmly stabilized as the default "neutral" equivalent, whereas mikill is used more generally in the abstract sense ('great', 'important', etc.). That said, this is a situation of lexical replacement from Proto-Germanic to Modern Icelandic rather than to Old Norse, where the old word is still competing with the new one.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 596; Zoega 1910: 411; De Vries 1962: 551. The difference between mikill and stoːrr in Old Norse texts is difficult to formalize; overall, from a historical point of view it seems that we are dealing with a case of "transit synonymy", where the original word (mikill) is gradually shifting to the marked ("magnificative") meaning 'great', replaced by the new word (stoːrr) in the basic (neutral) meaning 'big'. However, it cannot be stated with certainty at which precise chronological point the transition was already complete (or, at least, requires very detailed textual research); therefore, we include both words as "quasi-synonyms".
Balg 1887: 50. Attested in just a single context, but quite reliable, since it translates Greek δακνω 'to bite': Galat. 5:15: iþ jabai izwis misso beitiþ jah fairinoþ "and if you keep biting and accusing each other..." [Ulfilas 1896: 169].
Balg 1887: 415. Attested only once, but in a reliable passage, Mtth. 5:36: ni magt ain tagl hweit aiþþau swart gataujan "you cannot make a single hair white or black". A derived noun is also attested in II Cor. 3:3: swart-izl 'ink (= that which is black)' [Ulfilas 1896: 415].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 607; Zoega 1910: 419; De Vries 1962: 565. This seems to have been the most basic and neutral equivalent for 'black' in Old Norse. Much less eligible for inclusion are: (a) blakk-r (cf. in [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 67]: "svartr ... represents the Lat. niger; while blakkr corresponds to the Lat. ater 'dead or dusky black'"), translated as 'black, dun-coloured' in [Zoega 1910: 56] and as 'pale; yellow-brownish (of horses)' in [De Vries 1962: 42]; and (b) blaːr, translated as 'dark blue, livid' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 68] (applied to lead, among other things); 'blue, livid; black' in [Zoega 1910: 57]; 'blue, dark, black' in [De Vries 1962: 42]. Both of these adjectives seem to refer to various dark shades of color, but not to the proverbial 'black' as such.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 69; Zoega 1910: 59; De Vries 1962: 44. Neuter gender. Distinct from the somewhat more specialized word dreyri, defined in [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 106] as "blood, esp. gore; properly 'blood oozing out of the wound'" (corresp. to Latin cruor rather than sanguis); as "blood, gore" in [Zoega 1910: 95].
Not attested (all of the Evangelical passages in which the word 'bone' is used are missing from the existing manuscripts).
Old Norse:bein1
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 55; Zoega 1910: 45; De Vries 1962: 30. Neuter gender. Polysemy: 'bone / leg (from the knee to the foot)' (according to Cleasby, the latter meaning is very rare in Icelandic texts).
Icelandic:bɛi̯ːn {bein}1
Haraldsson 1996: 298; Berkov 1962: 66. Neuter gender. Distinct from leggur 'shank; bone (of arm or leg)' [Berkov 1962: 401].
Faroese:baiːn {bein}1
Young & Clewer 1985: 34. Neuter gender. Polysemy: 'leg / limb / bone / dead body, corpse (pl.)'. Additional synonym: knota 'bone, ossicle' [Young & Clewer 1985: 309]. Various contexts and sources show that the old word bein is still the default equivalent for the Swadesh meaning.
Bokmal Norwegian:bɛi̯n {bein} ~ bɛːn {ben}1
Arakin 2000: I, 90; Berkov 2006: 355. Definite form: be(i)n-et. The orthographic variant ben is marked as "traditional Bokmål" in [Berkov 2006] (i. e. identified as a Danish-influenced form), while the "standard" form is given as bein, reflecting a more colloquial Norwegian pronunciation. However, [Arakin 2000] clearly identifies the "default" Bokmål variant as ben. Clearly a mixed situation here; we list both variants as primary.
Danish:knˈɔɣl-ǝ {knogle}-1
Krymova et al. 2000: 336; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 160. Definite form: knogl-en. The situation here is complex: most modern dictionaries give two equivalents for the meaning 'bone' - the German borrowing knogle as well as the older ben [Krymova et al. 2000: 67]. However, analysis of various contexts shows that the main meaning of ben in modern Danish is undeniably 'leg'; in the meaning 'bone' it is usually only encountered in bound expressions, compounds, as well as the secondary meaning 'bone (material)' rather than 'bone (part of skeleton)'. It seems safe to assume that ben is no longer truly eligible for inclusion on the Swadesh wordlist and should be replaced by knogle.
Balg 1887: 62. Attested in the literal meaning only once, but in a reliable context that clearly refers to '(male) chest': Lu. 18:13: sa motareis... sloh in brusts seinos... "this publican... beat his breast" [Ulfilas 1896: 86]. Several other contexts feature the figurative meaning 'inside, inner senses, heart', e. g. Fil. 20: anaþrafstei meinos brusts in Xristau "refresh my bowels in the Lord" [Ulfilas 1896: 213]. Should be stricly distinguished from barm-s 'lap, bosom' [Ulfilas 1896: 45].
Young & Clewer 1985: 62. Neuter gender. Applicable both to 'male breast' ('chest') and 'female breast'. Secondary synonym: bringa 'breast; chest' [Young & Clewer 1985: 61], applicable primarily to male chests. However, evidence that would suggest the lexical usage of these two terms is significantly different from Icelandic is lacking.
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 94; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 113. Definite form: bröst-et. No lexical difference between 'male breast' ('chest') and 'female breast'.
NUMBER:12
WORD:burn tr.
Gothic:brann-y-an #1
Balg 1887: 59. This is a regular causative formation from the intransitive verb brinn-an [Balg 1887: 61], but it is not attested on its own without certain modifying prefixes, e. g. ga=brann-yan in I Cor. 13:3 (jabai atgibau leik mein ei gabrannjaidau "if I give away my body to be burnt" [Ulfilas 1896: 142]). Still, there is little reason to doubt that this root was the main equivalent for 'to burn (tr.)' in Gothic, given that this is the only attested candidate that, additionally, is well supported by external evidence.
Old Norse:brenn-a1
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 79; Zoega 1910: 69; De Vries 1962: 56. Both transitive and intransitive meanings are attested. Distinct from sviːð-a 'to burn, to singe; to smart, burn (of a wound)' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 612].
Icelandic:brɛnn-a {brenna}1
Haraldsson 1996: 191; Berkov 1962: 92. Used in both transitive and intransitive functions. Distinct from the quasi-synonym svíða 'to burn, to singe, to scorch' [Berkov 1962: 736].
Faroese:brˈɛnn-a {brenna}1
Young & Clewer 1985: 60. Used in both transitive and intransitive functions.
Bokmal Norwegian:brɛ̀nn-ɛ {brenne}1
Arakin 2000: I, 135; Berkov 2006: 228. Used in both transitive and intransitive functions.
Danish:brˈɛn-ǝ {brænde}1
Krymova et al. 2000: 101; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 105. Used in both transitive and intransitive functions.
Swedish:brˈä̀nn-a {bränna}1
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 93; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 153. Used in both transitive and intransitive functions.
NUMBER:13
WORD:claw(nail)
Gothic:
Not attested.
Old Norse:nagl1
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 445; Zoega 1910: 308; De Vries 1962: 403. Masculine gender; cf. the plural form negl. Cf. nagl-i 'nail, spike' [ibid.].
Balg 1887: 282. Masc. gender; stem in -n- (the final element -ma(n-) is a complex nominal suffix). Cf. Mk. 9:7: warþ milhma jah ufarskadwida ins "there came a cloud and overshadowed them" [Ulfilas 1896: 76].
Arakin 2000: II, 202; Berkov 2006: 504. Definite form: sky-en. According to [Bergsland & Vogt 1962: 117], this form is borrowed from Swedish (technically, it could also be of Danish origin, since both Swedish and Danish preserve original sk-, whereas in colloquial Norwegian sk- > sy-).
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 461; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 361. Definite form: moln-et. In modern Swedish, this seems to be the basic equivalent for 'cloud' rather than sky, going back to the common Scandinavian equivalent for 'cloud': this latter term is glossed as 'thin and light cloud' in [Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 361] and, with polysemy, as 'cloud, small cloud / Heavens' in [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 651].
Balg 1887: 225. Cf. Mtth. 6:10: qimai þindinassus þeins "let Your kingdom come" [Ulfilas 1896: 6]; used passim all over the text, either all by itself or in combination with various directional prefixes (ana=kʷim-an, etc.).
Preserved in Crimean Gothic: kommen 'come' [Costello 1973: 486].
Balg 1887: 68. Cf. Mtth. 8:32: jah gadauþnodedun in watnam "and they (the pigs) perished (died) in the water" [Ulfilas 1896: 10]; Mk. 9:48: þarei maþa ize ni gadauþniþ "where their worm does not die" [Ulfilas 1896: 38]. A prefixal formation from the unattested simple verb *dɔːθ-n-an, which is, itself, a derivative from the noun dauθ-s 'death' [Balg 1887: 68]. The even older and simpler verbal base diw- 'to die', from which dauθ-s was derived already in Proto-Germanic, is only preserved in Gothic in the archaic idiom þata diw-ano "that which is mortal, mortality" [Balg 1887: 72].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 99; Zoega 1910: 88; De Vries 1962: 76. Cf. the past tense form: doː. Secondary synonym: svelt-a [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 609], with polysemy: 'to starve, suffer hunger / to die'. According to Cleasby, "this sense (to die), which agrees with the use in Gothic and Anglo-Saxon, is disused in the Northern language and remains only in poetry". It seems that (probably just as in the other ancient Germanic languages) we are dealing here with a euphemistic equivalent of the original 'to die', which failed to acquire basic status in Old Norse.
Balg 1887: 421. Without accompanying prefixes, attested only once, in Lc. 8:42: jah so swalt "and she was dying" [Ulfilas 1896: 73]. Much more frequently used with the prefix ga=, cf. Mtth. 9:24: ni gaswalt so mawi "this maid is not dead" [Ulfilas 1896: 11]; Mk. 12:22: spedumista allaize gaswalt jah so qens "last of all, the woman also died" [Ulfilas 1896: 43].
Although (ga=)swilt-an is attested in the text of Ulfilas much more frequently than ga=dauθ-n-an, it is impossible to establish a transparent semantic difference between the two. There are at least several instances in which both words are found in adjacent contexts, translating the same Greek equivalent. For instance, the phrase "where their worm does not die" is translated as þarei maþa ize ni gadauþniþ in Mtth. 9:48, but as þarei maþa ize ni gaswiltiþ in Mtth. 9:44 and 9:46 [Ulfilas 1896: 37]. It is highly likely that one of the words is a "regular" equivalent and the other one is a "stylistic" (euphemistic, polite, etc.) equivalent, but there is hardly any way, based on internal Gothic evidence, to determine which is which. We include both words in the list as "technical" synonyms.
Balg 1887: 184. Masc. gender; a-stem. Cf. Lc. 16:21: jah hundos atrinnandans bilaigodedun banjos is "and the dogs ran up and licked his sores" [Ulfilas 1896: 84].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 292; Zoega 1910: 215; De Vries 1962: 267. Masculine gender. Secondary synonym: rakk-i [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 181] (probably "a sort of dog" rather than a generic term for dogs).
Not attested properly. The best (in fact, only) candidate is probably the adjective θɔːrs-us [Balg 1887: 465], but its inclusion in the main wordlist is highly problematic, since both this word and the corresponding verbs θɔːrs-y-an and ga=θɔːrs-n-an [ibid.] are only attested in the text with the semantics of (a) '(to be) dried up, withered' or (b) '(to be) thirsty', cf. Mk. 11:20: gasehwun þana smakkabagm þaursjana us waurtim "they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots" [Ulfilas 1896: 42]. Since the meanings 'dried up, withered' and 'dry (of clothes, etc.)' are often expressed in Germanic languages with different roots, it is safer to leave the slot empty.
Balg 1887: 12. Fem. gender; o-stem. Usually attested with the semantics of 'earth = world' (e. g. as opposed to 'Heaven'), but also in the requested meaning 'earth = soil (as substance)', cf. in particular Mk. 4:5: þarei ni habaida airþa managa "where it (the seed) did not have much earth" [Ulfilas 1896: 25].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 327; Zoega 1910: 234; De Vries 1962: 295. Feminine gender. Polysemy: 'earth (world) / earth (surface) / earth (soil) / pasture / land, estate'. A very close synonym in the meaning 'earth (soil)' is mold 'mould; earth' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 434], referring to dug-up soil; however, since yɔrð is still actively used in the meaning 'soil' as well, we prefer to treat mold as a more specialized term for now and not include it in the calculations (contra [Bergsland & Vogt 1962: 117], where mold is taken as the main equivalent).
Haraldsson 1996: 234; Berkov 1962: 346. Feminine gender. Polysemy: 'earth (world) / earth (surface) / earth (soil) / pasture / land, estate'. The semantic difference between Modern Icelandic jörð and mold 'earth, soil' [Berkov 1962: 455] seems to largely remain the same as in Old Norse times.
Balg 1887: 271. This is the most frequent and basic equivalent for the meaning 'eat' in Gothic, cf. Mtth. 6:31: hwa matjam aiþþau hwa drigkam "what shall we eat or what shall we drink?" [Ulfilas 1896: 7]; Mk. 8:9: wesunuþ-þan þai matjandans swe fidwor þusundjos "and they that had eaten were about four thousand" [Ulfilas 1896: 33]. Sometimes also encountered in the prefixal form ga=mat-y-an. The verb is formally derived from mat-s 'food; meat' [Balg 1887: 272].
Compared to at least two or three dozen reliable instances of mat-y-an, the older verb it-an 'to eat' is only encountered three times, in the following contexts: (a) Lu. 15:16: jah gairnida sad itan haurne þoei matidedun sweina [Ulfilas 1896: 81] "and he was willing to eat the husks that the swine were eating" (here the new verb mat-y-an actually translates the Greek form ἤσθιον 'they were eating', whereas the old verb it-an renders Greek χορτασθη̃ναι 'to feed himself, to stuff himself', usually applied to cattle); (b) Lu. 16:21 (a very similar context, translating the same Greek verb); (c) Lu. 17:27, 17:28: etun jah drugkun "they ate and drank" (said of sinners) [Ulfilas 1896: 85]. The obvious scarcity of these contexts; the specific reference to "vulgar" situations; and the relatively higher frequency of the complex verb fra=it-an 'to eat up, devour' [Balg 1887: 205] makes it highly probable that the verb it-an in Gothic had already fallen out of "regular" usage, and was rather employed in the "vulgar" meaning 'to stuff oneself, to devour', whereas the neutral idea of 'eating' was commonly rendered with mat-y-an. For this reason, we do not include it-an on the main list.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 134; Zoega 1910: 119; De Vries 1962: 106. Distinct from the more specialized mat-a-sk 'to eat, take food, take a meal' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 414] (derived from mat-r 'food, meat').
Icelandic:bɔrð-a {borða}3
Haraldsson 1996: 185; Berkov 1962: 87. Secondary synonym (polite usage): snæða [Berkov 1962: 671]. One of the few unquestionable cases of lexical replacement from Old Norse to Modern Icelandic (or, at least, its "urban" version): the old equivalent éta is now restricted to the markedly "vulgar" semantics of 'to eat /of animals/' [Berkov 1962: 150].
Arakin 2000: II, 237; Berkov 2006: 222. Distinct from et-e 'to eat (of animals; vulg., of person)'. Borrowed from Middle Low German spîse 'food' [Falk-Torp 1960: 1124].
Danish:sbˈiːs-ǝ {spise}-1
Krymova et al. 2000: 636; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 101. The old equivalent æde is only used as a "vulgar" equivalent [Krymova et al. 2000: 798]. Borrowed from Middle Low German spîse 'food' [Falk-Torp 1960: 1124].
Not attested. A very weak candidate is the word smɛːrθr 'fat(ness)' [Balg 1887: 380], attested once in Rom. 11:17, where it translates Greek πιότης 'fatness' as applied to olive trees. There are, however, no guarantees that the meaning 'animal fat' was expressed by the same word in Gothic.
Old Norse:fit-a1
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 155; Zoega 1910: 137; De Vries 1962: 122. Feminine gender. Same root as in feit-r 'fat (adj.)' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 150].
Icelandic:fıːt-a {fita}1
Haraldsson 1996: 193; Berkov 1962: 168. Feminine gender. To be distinguished from spik (rather 'lard') [Berkov 1962: 680], flot (rather 'melted fat') [Berkov 1962: 179].
Faroese:fˈiːt-i {fiti}1
Young & Clewer 1985: 125. Feminine gender. Distinct from feitt 'grease for lubrication / lard'.
Bokmal Norwegian:fɛtt {fett}1
Arakin 2000: I, 233; Berkov 2006: 231. Definite form: fett-et. To be distinguished from talg 'lard' and olje 'vegetable fat, oil' [Berkov 2006: 231].
Balg 1887: 101. Neuter gender; n-stem (gen. fun-in-s, dat. fun-in). Cf. Mtth. 7:19: all bagme... in fon atlagjada "all the trees... are cast into the fire" [Ulfilas 1896: 7].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 125; Zoega 1910: 111; De Vries 1962: 99. Masculine gender. The old word fuːr-r 'fire' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 178] is only found in poetry and poetic compounds, and cannot be considered a basic term.
There is some difficulty in determining the "basic Bokmål" equivalent in this case. In [Berkov 2006: 523], the old equivalent ild and the innovative equivalent varme (< 'warm' q.v.) are listed as almost completely interchangeable synonyms. In [Arakin 2000], the primary meaning for ild is given as 'fire, flame' (I, 380), and the primary meaning for varme is listed as 'warmth, heat', with 'fire, bonfire' listed as one of the secondary meanings (II, 426). In Bergsland & Vogt's lists the "basic" equivalent for Riksmål is listed as varme, with the form ild marked as "literary" [Bergsland & Vogt 1962: 117]. Superficial analysis of various textual sources does not allow to reliably "disqualify" ild, and it should also be noted that plenty of non-literary Norwegian dialects still also preserve the old word in the basic meaning 'fire'. At best, the opposition between ild and varme could be regarded as a case of "transit synonymy", but there is no sufficient basis to state that an authentic "lexical replacement" of ild by varme has definitively increased the lexical distance from Bokmål to all other Germanic languages.
Balg 1887: 98. Masc. gender; a-stem. Cf. Lu. 5:6: jah þata taujandans galukun manageins fiske filu "and when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes" [Ulfilas 1896: 62].
Preserved in Crimean Gothic: fisct 'fish' [Costello 1973: 486].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 168; Zoega 1910: 146; De Vries 1962: 139. Masculine gender. Distinct from legg-r 'leg' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 380], although the word can be applied to the inclusive meaning 'foot and leg' as well.
Haraldsson 1996: 398; Berkov 1962: 188. Masculine gender. Polysemy: 'foot / foundation'. Distinct from legg-ur 'leg' (glossed as 'shank, calf' in [Berkov 1962: 401], but the word is really the semantic equivalent of English leg).
Arakin 2000: I, 279; Berkov 2006: 494. Definite form: fot-en. Distinct from bein 'leg', legg 'shin' [Berkov 2006: 494]. In [Bergsland & Vogt 1962: 118], the Riksmål equivalent for 'foot' is listed as ben ('leg'!), indicated as a borrowing from Danish, but in reality in most forms of Norwegian, literary and colloquial alike, the lexical difference between 'foot' and 'leg' still seems to be preserved.
Krymova et al. 2000: 178; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 224. Definite form: fod-en. Distinct from ben 'leg' (the Russian-Danish dictionary erroneously lists this as the only direct equivalent for Russian нога).
Balg 1887: 111. Cf. Jo. 12:3: iþ sa gards fulls warþ daunais þizos salbonais "and the house was full with the odour of the ointment" [Ulfilas 1896: 109]. Cf. also the derived verbs: full-y-an 'to fill', full-n-an 'to be full, filled' [Balg 1887: 110, 111].
Balg 1887: 133. Cf. Mtth. 6: 11: hlaif unsarana þana sinteinan gif uns himma daga "our daily bread give to us this day" [Ulfilas 1896: 133]. Clearly the basic word for 'giving' in Gothic, attested quite frequently.
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 85; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 766. Borrowed from German brav, ultimately from French brave; attested in the language since the 17th century. In the modern spoken language, this borrowing has not completely replaced the inherited word god, but the latter seems to have been somewhat relocated into the sphere of 'nice, kind' (said of people), whereas bra is now more frequent in the "neutral-positive" meaning when applied to all sorts of objects.
NUMBER:35
WORD:green
Gothic:
Not attested (all of the Evangelical passages in which the word 'green' is used are missing from the existing manuscripts).
Balg 1887: 424. Neuter gender. Attested thrice: (a) two times in the meaning '(a single) hair of the head', cf. Mtth. 5:36: ni magt ain tagl hweit aiþþau swart gataujan "thou cannot make one hair white or black" [Ulfilas 1896: 4]; Mtth. 10:30: aþþan izwara jah tagla haubidis alla garaþana sind "but the very hairs on your head are all numbered"; (b) once in the meaning 'animal hair, fur', cf. Mk. 1:6: wasuþ-þan Iohannes gawasiþs taglam ulbandaus "and John was clothed with camel's hair". No other equivalents for 'hair' of any kind are attested. Since we know of no cases when a language would use the same root for 'hair (singulative)' and 'animal hair' vs. a different one for 'head hair (collective)', it is safe to assume that all of these sub-meanings were expressed in Gothic by the same word, tagl.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 244; Zoega 1910: 187; De Vries 1962: 210. Neuter gender. Refers both to 'hair on body' and 'hair on the head', cf. in particular the compound hɔfuð-haːr 'hair of the head'. Cf. also skɔr, with interesting polysemy: 'rim, edge / hair' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 565] (Cleasby: "prob. from being cut so as to make a rim round the head..." "...used of men's hair only...").
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 292; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 65. Definite form: hår-et. Refers both to 'hair on body' and 'hair on the head'.
NUMBER:37
WORD:hand
Gothic:xand-u-s1
Balg 1887: 159. Feminine gender; u-stem. Cf.: gasaihwandans sumans þize siponje is gamainjaim handum... matjandans hlaibans "when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled hands" [Ulfilas 1896: 31].
Preserved in Crimean Gothic: handa 'hand' [Costello 1973: 486].
Old Norse:hɔnd1
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 310; Zoega 1910: 225; De Vries 1962: 281. Feminine gender. Plural form: hend-r. Distinct from arm-r 'arm' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 25]. An older word for 'hand', mund [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 437], is only encountered sporadically in poetic texts, with polysemy: 'hand / measure'.
Young & Clewer 1985: 241. Feminine gender. Distinct from arm-ur 'arm' [Young & Clewer 1985: 16].
Bokmal Norwegian:hɔnn {hånd}1
Arakin 2000: I, 374; Berkov 2006: 836. Definite form: hånd-en ~ hånd-a. "Radical Bokmål": hand (according to [Bergsland & Vogt: 1962], the form hånd shows Danish influence). Distinct from arm 'arm'.
Danish:hɔnʔ {hånd}1
Krymova et al. 2000: 288; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 373. Definite form: hånd-en. Distinct from arm 'arm'.
Swedish:hanːd {hand}1
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 266; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 602. Definite form: hand-en. Plural: händ-er. Distinct from arm 'arm'.
Balg 1887: 162. Neuter gender. Cf. Mk. 6:24: hwis bidjau? ... haubidis Iohannis þis daupjandins "what shall I ask? ... the head of John the Baptist" [Ulfilas 1896: 30].
Preserved in Crimean Gothic: hoef 'head' [Costello 1973: 486].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 223; Zoega 1910: 225; De Vries 1962: 279. Neuter gender. The older form, as is evident from some of Bragi's rhymes, was haufuð [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 223].
Young & Clewer 1985: 23. Shares the same root with, but is still lexically distinct from høvur 'head; intellect, will, mind; head, chief' [Young & Clewer 1985: 264].
Balg 1887: 165. Cf. Mk. 6:2: jah managai hausjandans sildaleikidedun "many of those who heard were astonished" [Ulfilas 1896: 29]. Most of the contexts may be ambiguously analyzed as either 'hear' or 'listen', but there is no evidence that Gothic distinguished between these two meanings lexically.
Balg 1887: 153. Neuter gender; n-stem. Cf. Mtth. 6:21: þarei auk ist huzd izwar, þaruh ist jah hairtō izwar "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" [Ulfilas 1896: 6]. Used only in the figurative sense, not in the anatomical one, but there is no reason to think that the "anatomical heart" could be different.
Balg 1887: 164. Slightly dubious, since textual attestations are only in figurative meanings: (a) 'horn (instrument)', Lu. 1: 69: jah urraisida haurn naseinais unsis "and he has raised up a horn of salvation for us" [Ulfilas 1896: 54]; (b) 'husk, fruit of carob-tree', Lu. 15:16. However, external evidence shows that the meanings 'horn (of animal)' and 'horn (instrument)' are rarely distinguished in Germanic languages, so it may be assumed that the same polysemy characterized the Gothic word as well.
Balg 1887: 226. A prefixal verb, consisting of us= 'out, out of' + kʷim-an 'to come' q.v. Although it clearly represents a recent euphemism, this is the most stylistically unmarked and frequent (encountered approximately 20 times) equivalent for the meaning 'kill' in the entire corpus. Cf. Jo. 7:98: sokidedun ina þai Iudaieis usqiman "the Jews sought to kill him" [Ulfilas 1896: 98] and many more.
Several close synonyms are also attested, but all of them are far less frequent, and some may be seen as stylistically marked, e. g.: (a) mɔrθr-y-an 'to kill, murder' [Balg 1887: 275], used only in those contexts that specially stress the sinful nature of the activity (as in ni maurþrjais "thou shalt not kill" = "thou shalt not murder", etc.); (b) af=slah-an 'to slay, kill', derived from slah-an 'to beat, strike' [Balg 1887: 376], found only three times, two of them in contexts where it alternates with us=kʷim-an (Mk. 12:5, Lu. 20:14), probably to reduce the level of tautology (even though the original Greek text uses the same word ἀποκτείνω in all cases).
Haraldsson 1996: 747; Berkov 1962: 122. Distinct from myrð-a 'to murder' [Berkov 1962: 463]; the Old Norse verb ban-a is listed in [Haraldsson 1996: 747] as a literary equivalent.
Young & Clewer 1985: 24, 86. Polysemy: 'to shoot / to stick, push, thrust / to move (of current) / to leak, drip / to kill, slaughter'. The verb deyð-a 'kill, slay', a causative formation from 'to die' q.v., is marked in [Young & Clewer 1985: 79] as typical for the "ballad" register.
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 131; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 726. Distinct from mörd-a 'to murder' [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 476]. Additionally, cf. the idiomatic expression slå ihjäl 'to kill' [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 665], literally 'to beat to death'. The common Scandinavian term dräpa is glossed in [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 126] as 'to kill by accident'.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 51; Zoega 1910: 41; De Vries 1962: 25. This verb, unlike drepa, means exclusively 'to kill, slay', yet it is still hard to determine which one was the more basic and which one was the more stylistically marked equivalent for this meaning in Old Norse. Temporarily, we treat them as technical synonyms.
Balg 1887: 565. Cf. Jo. 8:14: wait hwaþro qam "I know whence I came" [Ulfilas 1896: 101]. This verb refers to general knowledge of the situation and is thoroughly distinct from kunn-an [Balg 1887: 222] 'to know = be acknowledged with (smth. or, more frequently, someone)', as in Mk. 14:71: ni kann þana mannan þanei qiþiþ "I do not know this man of whom you speak" [Ulfilas 1896: 47]. According to the semantic criteria of the GLD, only wit-an is eligible for inclusion.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 712; Zoega 1910: 496; De Vries 1962: 669. Polysemy: 'to be conscious / to know / to find out'. The close synonym kenn-a [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 335], as in the other ancient Germanic languages, generally means 'to be acquainted or familiar with, to recognize smth. / smbd.'; with the same root cf. also kunn-a 'to know, understand (of art, skill, knowledge); to know (a person)', etc. General knowledge of the situation in phrases such as "I know that..." seems to be regularly expressed with vit-a in Old Norse.
Haraldsson 1996: 237; Berkov 1962: 865. Polysemy: 'to know / to find out'. Out of several quasi-synonyms with the meaning 'to be acquainted / familiar with smth.', the verb kenn-a is marked in [Haraldsson 1996: 237] as an archaism, and the verb þekkj-a is a more recent innovation (< Proto-Germanic *θankian 'to think').
Arakin 2000: II, 458; Berkov 2006: 282. The close synonyms kjenne and kunne [Berkov 2006: 282], as in the other Germanic languages, generally mean 'to be acquainted with, to recognize, to know how to do smth.', etc.
Krymova et al. 2000: 781; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 128. Distinct from kunn-e 'to be able to, to know how' [Krymova et al. 2000: 360] and from kend-e 'to know (be familiar with smbd. or smth.), recognize, be acquainted with' [Krymova et al. 2000: 327].
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 862; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 193. Distinct from kunn-a 'to be able, to know how' [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 384] and from känn-a 'to know (be familiar with smbd. or smth.), recognize, be acquainted with; to feel, sense' [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 391].
Balg 1887: 237. Masc. gender; a-stem. Cf. Mk. 11:13: jah gasaihwands smakkabagm fairraþro habandan lauf "and seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves" [Ulfilas 1896: 41] (the word is used in the acc. sg. case, possibly with the collective semantics of 'foliage'); Mk. 13:28: uskeinand laubos "putting forth leaves (branch)" [Ulfilas 1896: 45] (here used in the acc. pl.).
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 66; Zoega 1910: 56; De Vries 1962: 41. Neuter gender. Polysemy: 'leaf / blade'. The difference between blað and the very close synonym lauf [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 374] is in that blað is predominantly applied to 'leaf, leaves' as discreet objects, whereas lauf has a more collective semantics ('leaves = foliage'); cf. the compound expression - lauf-blað 'a single leaf (of foliage)' (analogous to English blade of grass). In [Bergsland & Vogt 1962: 118], lauf is given as the default equivalent for 9th century Norse; for the 13th century, lauf is defined as 'collective', and the meaning '(single) leaf' is rendered as laufsblað or simply blað.
Haraldsson 1996: 316; Berkov 1962: 77. Neuter gender. Polysemy: 'leaf / blade'. The difference between blað and lauf 'leaves, foliage' [Berkov 1962: 397] in Modern Icelandic seems to be largely the same as in Old Norse.
Balg 1887: 230. Somewhat dubious, since this adjective is only attested in an auxiliary function, i. e. as part of the temporal constructions 'as long as', 'inasmuch as', cf. Mk. 2:19: swa lagga hweila swe miþ sis haband bruþfad "as long as they have the bridegroom with them..." [Ulfilas 1896: 23], etc. Cf., however, also the derived noun laŋg-iː 'length' [Balg 1887: 230], as well as external evidence (the meanings 'long (of time)' and 'long (of space)' are usually expressed by the same root in Germanic); with some reservations, the word can be tentatively included on the list.
Balg 1887: 267. Masc. gender; n-stem. Same word as 'person' q.v. None of the many contexts in which this word is attested (see examples under 'person') explicitly contrast this word with kʷinoː ~ kʷen-s 'woman' q.v.; such contexts are only available for the word aba [Balg 1887: 1], but the latter always refers to 'husband' ('married man') rather than simply 'man', and does not qualify for inclusion.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 331; Zoega 1910: 236; De Vries 1962: 301. This is the basic Old Norse equivalent for 'man = male human being', as opposed to kona 'woman' q.v., although it comes with polysemy: 'man / commoner'. Meanwhile, the older word verr [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 698] has generally been specialized to 'husband'.
Haraldsson 1996: 347; Berkov 1962: 351. This term continues to serve as the main equivalent for 'male human being', cf. konur og karlar 'men and women', etc.; Modern Icelandic maður is generally employed in the meaning 'person', 'human being (in general)' q.v.
Arakin 2000: I, 525; Berkov 2006: 427. Definite form: mann-en. Cf. mann og kvinne 'man and woman'. Same word as 'person' q.v.; also with polysemy: 'man / husband'. According to [Bergsland & Vogt 1962: 118], this word, in all forms of Norwegian (literary and colloquial alike), is a re-borrowing from Swedish man. Cf. also karl (arch.) ~ kar 'male; young man, fellow' [Arakin 2000: I, 414-415].
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 438; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 301. Definite form: mann-en. Plural: män. Polysemy: 'man / husband'. The gender-neutral 'person' is usually expressed by the derived term människa q.v.
Balg 1887: 516. Masc. gender. Unlike the situation with aba, attested contexts do not permit to see clearly the semantic difference between manna and wɛr, cf. Lu. 7:20: qimandans þan at imma þai wairos qeþun "when the men came to him, they said" [Ulfilas 1896: 68]. The only difference is that wɛr has more restricted usage, being rarely, if ever, applied to 'man (= human being)' in general. Since it has a "stronger masculine" semantics, it is actually not excluded that a good option would be to equate manna with 'person' and wɛr with 'man' on the Swadesh list, but there are no definitive arguments to support such a decision.
Probably preserved in Crimean Gothic: fers 'man' [Costello 1973: 486], although the development *w- > f- is unaccounted for (cf. the word for 'wind' q.v., where the original voiced glide remains unchanged).
Balg 1887: 266. Cf. Mk. 9:10: managai motarjos jah frawaurhtai qimandans "many publicans and sinners came" [Ulfilas 1896: 10]. The semantically similar word filu [Balg 1887: 96] is more generally used as an adverbial ('much', 'very').
Arakin 2000: I, 524; Berkov 2006: 417. Plural form (from mang-en). According to [Bergsland & Vogt 1962: 118]: "since 14. century, maybe from Danish and/or Swedish".
Krymova et al. 2000: 412; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 186. This is the "countable" 'many' (as in 'many people', etc.), distinct from meg-en ~ meg-et 'much, a lot; very' [Krymova et al. 2000: 421].
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 472; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 295. This is the "countable" 'many' (as in 'many people', etc.), distinct from myck-en ~ myck-et 'much, a lot; very' [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 469].
Balg 1887: 283. Attested only once in the entire corpus, cf. I Cor. 8:13: jabai mats gamarzeiþ broþar, ni matja mimz aiw "if food makes my brother offend, I will never eat any meat" [Ulfilas 1896: 138].
Some additional notes are necessary. Two much more frequent words in Ulfilas' Gothic translations that may sometimes be rendered as 'meat' or 'flesh' are mat-s [Balg 1887: 272] and liːk [Balg 1887: 241]. However, mat-s, judging by all the attested contexts, rather refers to 'food' in general (corresponding to the old meaning of 'meat' = 'food, meal' in King James' Bible, and to Greek βρωμα or other words with the same root); cf. also the derivative mat-y-an 'to eat' q.v. As for liːk, its basic meaning is 'body', '(flesh of the) body', and it is mainly found applied to the Body of Christ. Additionally, two strong arguments confirm that mimz, despite (accidentally) scarce attestation, was indeed the default word for 'meat' in Ulfilas' Gothic: (a) in this particular context, the word translates Greek κρέας 'meat'; (b) it has also been preserved all the way to Crimean Gothic, as menus 'meat, flesh' [Costello 1973: 486].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 341; Zoega 1910: 241; De Vries 1962: 313. Neuter gender. In [Bergsland & Vogt 1962: 118], the main equivalent for 'meat' is defined as hold, but this word rather means '(skin and) flesh', e. g. of a human body [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 278]; GLD standards require the meaning 'meat (as food product)', which corresponds much better to kyɔt.
Haraldsson 1996: 350; Berkov 1962: 356, 360. Neuter gender. The difference between kjöt 'meat (as food)' and hold 'flesh (of body)' [Berkov 1962: 298] is the same as in Old Norse.
Balg 1887: 278. Masc. gender; n-stem. Attested only once, but in a reliable context, cf. Mk. 13:24: jaina sauil riqizeiþ jah mena ni gibiþ liuhaþ sein "the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light" [Ulfilas 1896: 45]. Somewhat more frequently encountered is the derived noun meːn-oːθ-s 'month' [Balg 1887: 278].
Preserved in Crimean Gothic: mine 'moon' [Costello 1973: 495].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 644; Zoega 1910: 444; De Vries 1962: 601. Neuter gender. The old word maːni is, according to [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 418], "scarcely used in prose, old or modern, but is poetical or can only be used in certain phrases, for tungl is the common word".
Arakin 2000: I, 239; Berkov 2006: 158. Definite form: fjell-et. Alternate synonym: berg 'mountain' [Arakin 2000: I, 92]. The semantic difference between fjell and berg is somewhat obscure; according to [Arakin 2000: I, 92] and [Berkov 2006: 158], the former primarily refers to 'mountainous areas / chains of mountains, etc.', whereas the latter is rather 'a small, separately standing mountain'. More precisely, berg may actually simply reflect a more recent re-introduction into the literary language from Danish or Swedish (the word is generally not attested in colloquial varieties of Norwegian).
Krymova et al. 2000: 81; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 73. Definite form: bjerg-et. Cf. also bakke 'hill, elevation; mountain' [Krymova et al. 2000: 54], which seems to refer primarily to less prominent elevations than bjerg. The word fjeld, glossed in [Krymova et al. 2000: 170] as 'mountain; hill, elevation; rock' seems to correspond better to German collective Gebirge, i. e. 'mountainous territory'.
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 56; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 105. Definite form: berg-et. Distinct from fjäll, which is glossed in [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 166] and in [Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 105] as 'mountain' ('primarily referring to Northern Scandinavia and/or outside the forested areas'), so presumably berg = 'forest-covered mountain', fjäll = 'bare (rocky) mountain'. Judging by available contexts, fjäll is a more specialized term (e. g. it usually gets rendered with English fell than mountain).
Balg 1887: 290. Masc. gender; a-stem. Cf. Lu. 1:64: usluknoda þan munþs is suns jah tuggo is "his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed" [Ulfilas 1896: 54].
Balg 1887: 157. Masc. gender; a-stem. Attested only once, but in a reliable context, cf. Lu. 15:20: jah infeinoda jah þragjands draus ana hals is jah kukida imma "(his father) had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him" [Ulfilas 1896: 82] (translates Greek τράχηλος 'neck').
Balg 1887: 304. Adjective; ja-stem. Cf. Mtth. 27: 18: jah galagida ita in niujamma seinamma hlaiwa "and he laid it in his own new tomb" [Ulfilas 1896: 18].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 458; Zoega 1910: 315; De Vries 1962: 405. Feminine gender. Also spelled as naːtt (according to Cleasby, due to Norwegian influence).
Haraldsson 1996: 400; Berkov 1962: 479. Feminine gender. The variant nátt is listed in [Haraldsson 1996: 400] as archaic / poetic, although it is frequently encountered in various compounds.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 461; Zoega 1910: 318; De Vries 1962: 415. Formally = 'nostrils', plural form of nɔs 'nostril'. This is the original Old Norse equivalent for 'nose', and is regularly featured in texts in that meaning whenever the semantic emphasis is on 'nose' as a functional organ (e. g. in contexts that have to do with smelling, etc.).
Icelandic:nɛːv {nef}2
Haraldsson 1996: 399; Berkov 1962: 472. Neuter gender. Polysemy: 'nose / beak'. The word nös, pl. nas-ar ~ nas-ir is glossed in [Berkov 1962: 485] as 'nostril; pl. nose', but this is clearly no longer the primary equivalent for 'nose' in modern usage.
Young & Clewer 1985: 414. Feminine gender. Unlike in Icelandic, the word nev [Young & Clewer 1985: 404] still means 'bill or beak of bird' rather than 'human nose'.
Arakin 2000: II, 14; Berkov 2006: 496. Definite form: nes-a ~ nes-en. The form is marked as reflecting Danish influence in [Bergsland & Vogt 1962: 118]. The word nebb (= Icelandic nef) means 'beak' or 'mouth, nose (vulgar)' [Arakin 2000: II, 9].
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 496; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 353. Definite form: näsa-n. Plural: näs-or. Distinct from nos 'nose, snout (of animals)' [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 488], derived from the same root. Distinct from näbb 'beak' [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 494].
NUMBER:61
WORD:nose
Gothic:
Old Norse:nef2
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 450; Zoega 1910: 311; De Vries 1962: 406. Polysemy: 'nose / beak / bone of the nose'. This word is already quite prominent in Old Norse texts, usually in contexts that have to do with 'nose' as a physical object rather than a functional organ; however, there seems to be quite a bit of overlap between nef and nas-ar, so that we should probably treat them as technical (transit?) synonyms.
Icelandic:
Faroese:
Bokmal Norwegian:
Danish:
Swedish:
NUMBER:62
WORD:not
Gothic:ni1
Balg 1887: 299. This is the simplest and most frequent variant of the negative particle; complex, contracted variants also include ni-h 'and not, also not, etc.' [Balg 1887: 301] (contraction with the particle -uh) and ni-u 'interrogative not = Latin nonne' [Balg 1887: 303] (contraction with the interrogative enclitic -u).
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 119; Zoega 1910: 105; De Vries 1962: 95. The oldest form of negation in Old Norse was ne or neː [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 449], same as in the other branches of Germanic. However, already in the main prosaic monuments of Old Norse it seems to have been replaced in the basic function by the adverbial form eigi (or its contracted variants egi, ei), although ne ~ neː still functions in various bound expressions and complex negatives (neː einn 'not one, none', etc.).
Krymova et al. 2000: 292; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 211. Cf. also ej [Krymova et al. 2000: 144], etymologically related to ikke and also used in the same meaning in certain limited contexts, but not eligible for the "primary" slot.
Swedish:ˈı̀nːtǝ {inte}3
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 322; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 329. This is an irregularly evolved variant of inge-t 'nothing' [Hellquist 1922: 275]. Older equivalents include ej [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 137] and icke [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 305], but both of these forms are either archaic or limited to special idiomatic contexts in the modern language.
Balg 1887: 10. Cf. Mtth. 5:41: jah jabai ƕas þuk ananauþjai rasta aina, gaggais miþ imma twos "and whosoever compels thee to go one mile, go with him two" [Ulfilas 1896: 5]. Polysemy: 'one / someone' (i. e. the word is frequently used in the function of an indefinite article).
Completely different word attested in Crimean Gothic: ita 'one' [Costello 1973: 487].
Balg 1887: 267. Masc. gender; n-stem. Same word as 'man' q.v. In the text of Ulfilas' Bible, the word is used rather indiscriminately to render both Greek ἀνήρ 'man (male)' and ἄνθρωπος 'man (person, human)'. Cf. Mtth. 5:16: swa liuhtjai liuhaþ izwar in andwairþja manne "let your light so shine before men" [Ulfilas 1896: 3]; in this context the translated Greek word is ἄνθρωπος. Such examples (quite numerous in the corpus) confirm that manna is to be taken as the default Gothic equivalent for 'man = human being (in general)'.
The only potential competition for manna 'person' may be the word guma [Balg 1887: 143] (masc. gender; n-stem). It is, however, significantly less frequent, occurring only three times in the entire corpus, in exactly the same contexts where one would normally expect to see manna, and rendering Greek ἀνήρ rather than ἄνθρωπος. Its surprisingly low frequency for such a basic meaning suggests that it may have been a stylistically marked term, possibly a rarely used archaism. We prefer to exclude it from calculations.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 407; Zoega 1910: 284; De Vries 1962: 374. Cleasby defines this word as the equivalent of Latin homo, i.e. = 'human being' in general rather than specifically 'male human being', and contexts generally oppose this word to non-human beings (giants, gods, etc.). The earlier form mann-r is still encountered in some of the most archaic texts.
Haraldsson 1996: 793; Berkov 1962: 430. Masculine gender. Oblique stem: mann-. Polysemy: 'person / man (male) / husband', although the specific meaning 'male human being' is more commonly expressed by karl q.v.
Arakin 2000: I, 536; Berkov 2006: 1079. Definite form: menneske-t. The simple stem mann 'man' can also be used in the meaning 'person', but generally surmises a male referent (in any case, there is no lexicostatistical difference between these two items, since menneske is historically derived from mann).
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 473; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 776. Definite form: människa-n. Plural: människ-or. More basic term than the polite/official person 'person, man' [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 536].
Balg 1887: 322. Neuter gender; a-stem. Attested only once, but in a reliable context, cf. Mtth. 7:25: jah atiddja dalaþ rign jah qemun aƕos "and the rain descended, and the waters came" [Ulfilas 1896: 9].
Preserved in Crimean Gothic: reghen 'rain' [Costello 1973: 487].
Balg 1887: 318. Genitive: raud-is. The forms are reconstructed according to paradigmatic expectations. The word is actually attested only once, in Skeir. III: wullai raudai "red hair (wool)" [Ulfilas 1896: 221].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 484; Zoega 1910: 329; De Vries 1962: 435. The adjective ryoːð-r is also occasionally understood as 'red' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 500], but the more usual meaning is 'ruddy (of the face or cheek)'; in any case, both adjectives historically share the same root and are lexicostatistically indistinguishable.
Balg 1887: 549. Masc. gender; a-stem. Cf. Mk. 10:46: sat faur wig du aihtron "he was sitting on the road begging" [Ulfilas 1896: 40]. Polysemy: 'way / road' (the word is used both in the literal and figurative meaning).
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 689; Zoega 1910: 478; De Vries 1962: 650. Masculine gender. Numerous partial synonyms exist, cf.: braut 'road (cut through rocks, forest, and the like)' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 76]; gata 'a thoroughfare; a way, path, road' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 192]; leið 'a lode; a way' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 380]. Of all these forms, veg-r seems to be both the most statistically frequent and semantically broad.
Haraldsson 1996: 172; Berkov 1962: 831. Masculine gender. Polysemy: 'road / way'. As in Old Norse, the word has numerous quasi-synonyms with more specialized meanings, e. g. braut 'road, path' [Berkov 1962: 91], leið 'way, direction' [Berkov 1962: 401], etc.
Balg 1887: 539. Fem. gender; i-stem. Cf. Mk. 11:20: gasehwun þana smakkabagm þaursjana us waurtim "they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots" [Ulfilas 1896: 42].
Haraldsson 1996: 304; Berkov 1962: 374. See notes on Old Norse for internal structure. Cf. also hringlaga 'round, ring-shaped' [Berkov 1962: 307].
Faroese:rˈʋnd-ʋr {rundur}-1
Young & Clewer 1985: 467. Borrowed from German (ultimately of Romance origin). More basic term than the specialized klingrutur 'circular' (= Icelandic kringlóttur 'round') [Young & Clewer 1985: 303].
Bokmal Norwegian:rʉnn {rund}-1
Arakin 2000: II, 132; Berkov 2006: 365. Polysemy: 'round / plump (of person) / generous / curved, bent'. Borrowed from German (ultimately of Romance origin).
Danish:ronʔ {rund}-1
Krymova et al. 2000: 559; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 164. Polysemy: 'round / plump (of person) / generous'. Borrowed from German (ultimately of Romance origin).
Swedish:rɵnːd {rund}-1
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 595; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 257. Polysemy: 'round / plump (of person)'. Borrowed from German (ultimately of Romance origin).
Balg 1887: 227. This is the most frequent and neutral verb with the meaning 'to say', introducing direct speech, in Gothic, cf. Mtth. 5:18: amen auk qiþa izwis "verily I say unto you" [Ulfilas 1896: 3], etc. (encountered almost passim). Opposed to the durative verb roːd-y-an 'speak, talk, narrate', etc. [Balg 1887: 325].
Completely different form attested in Crimean Gothic: malthata 'say' [Costello 1973: 487] (cf. Gothic maθl-y-an 'to speak (publicly), talk' [Balg 1887: 273]).
Haraldsson 1996: 660; Berkov 1962: 579. The verb kveða [Berkov 1962: 380] has a far more restricted sphere of usage in the modern spoken language than it had in Old Norse (seems to be confined to idioms, formal contexts, contexts with the semantics of 'utter', 'pronounce', etc.). In other words, segja and kveða in Modern Icelandic have essentially shifted around their frequencies and limitations, and this could be considered a genuine case of lexical replacement.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 518; Zoega 1910: 353. The difference between kveð-a and seg-y-a in the old texts is very difficult to describe (it may include elements of stylistic differentiation as well as elements of suppletivism, with the former more frequently used in the past tense); we treat both words as technical synonyms.
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 620; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 53. Past tense: såg.
NUMBER:73
WORD:seed
Gothic:fraiw1
Balg 1887: 102. Neuter gender. Cf. Mk. 4:3: urrann sa saiands du saian fraiwa seinamma "there went out a sower to sow his seed" [Ulfilas 1896: 25].
Old Norse:fryoː ~ frɛː1
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 174; Zoega 1910: 150; De Vries 1962: 145. Neuter gender. Cf. also saː-ð 'seed, corn, crop', derived from saː- 'to sow' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 516]; this word is relatively rare in the text corpus, and is only sporadically referring to single grains of seed.
Arakin 2000: I, 288; Berkov 2006: 866. Definite form: frø-et. Distinct from sæd 'seed, grain (for sowing); sowing; sperm, semen' [Arakin 2000: II, 293].
Danish:fröʔ {frø}1
Krymova et al. 2000: 215; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 387. Definite form: frø-et. Cf. also sæd 'seed, embryo; cereals; grain; sperm; offspring' [Krymova et al. 2000: 680]. Semantic difference is the same as in Icelandic and Norwegian.
Balg 1887: 359. Cf. Mk. 2:6: wesunuh þan sumai þize bokarje jainar sitandans "there were some of the scribes sitting there" [Ulfilas 1896: 21]. The dynamic meaning 'to sit down' is usually expressed by the same root in combination with prefixes, such as ga=sit-an, etc.
The situation here is complex, since a large variety of words with the semantics of 'skin, hide' is attested in Old Norse. The word hɔrund is defined by Cleasby as "'the skin of a person'; prop. 'the cuticle' or 'inner skin'". In this meaning it is allegedly opposed to skinn 'skin, hide, fur' (= 'outer skin'?) [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 547], as is seen from the phrase milli skinns ok hɔrunds "between the skinn and the hɔrund". However, apart from that context, the word skinn is usually seen applied to animals, such as sheep. Common Germanic *xuːdi-z 'hide, skin' yields Old Norse huːð 'hide' (of cattle), although it may be also applied to human skin, but only in idiomatic expressions [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 293]. Yet another partial synonym is hamr [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 236], applied mostly to birds or snakes.
Overall, it seems that the basic meaning 'skin' underwent heavy fragmentation in Old Norse. Tentatively, we include hɔrund and skinn as synonyms, based on Cleasby's explanation. The word huːð, however, does not seem to be eligible for inclusion.
Haraldsson 1996: 283; Berkov 1962: 330. Neuter gender. Like in Old Norse, applied only to people. The form skinn is glossed as 'skin, hide, fur' in [Berkov 1962: 622], and does not seem to be easily applicable to people as of today.
Faroese:hʉuː {húð}3
Young & Clewer 1985: 247. Feminine gender. Polysemy: 'skin / hide / slough'. The form skinn is explained as 'skin, hide (esp. of small animal as opposed to húð)' [Young & Clewer 1985: 504].
Bokmal Norwegian:hʉːd {hud}3
Arakin 2000: I, 362; Berkov 2006: 336. Definite form: hud-en. Applied to people and animals alike. Distinct from lær 'leather' [Berkov 2006: 336]. The word skinn 'hide, fur; (human) skin' [Arakin 2000: II, 184] seems to be mostly used in bound (idiomatic) expressions and should not be included in the primary slot.
Danish:huð {hud}3
Krymova et al. 2000: 275; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 152. Definite form: hud-en. Polysemy: 'skin / hide'. The quasi-synonym skind [Krymova et al. 2000: 598], glossed as 'skin; hide, fur; rind, peel, film', is mainly applied to 'human skin' in bound idiomatic expressions (e. g. skind og ben 'skin and bones', of a lean person, etc.).
Swedish:hʉːd {hud}3
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 284; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 235. Definite form: hud-en. Plural: hud-ar. Cf. also skinn 'skin' [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 641], mainly used in the meaning 'animal skin' or in idiomatic expressions (e. g. skinn och ben 'skin and bones', as in Danish).
Haraldsson 1996: 283; Berkov 1962: 312. Feminine gender. Glossed as 'skin, hide' in [Berkov 1962]. Analysis of various examples of textual usage in the modern language show that the sphere of usage of this word seems to have seriously extended beyond the one of Old Norse, and the word is easily applied to human skin as well, i. e. we may be witnessing a gradual replacement of hörund by húð.
Balg 1887: 244. Cf. Mk. 9:42: jah saƕazuh saei gamarzjai ainana þize leitilane þize galaubjandane du mis "and whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me" [Ulfilas 1896: 37]. The word is encountered quite frequently, but there are no contexts in which it is actually applied to an object with the meaning 'small (in size)'; hence, its inclusion is slightly dubious. Nevertheless, the only possible competition is smals 'small' [Balg 1887: 380], which, in comparison, is attested only once, and even then, is only found in the superlative degree: smal-ista 'smallest, least', cf. I Cor. 15:9: ik auk im sa smalista apaustaule "for I am the least of the Apostles" [Ulfilas 1896: 143]. Without additional contexts, we prefer not to include smals as a synonym.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 570; Zoega 1910: 390; De Vries 1962: 519. The difference between smaː-r and litil-l is complex; both forms have to be included as synonyms.
Icelandic:smauː-r {smár}2
Haraldsson 1996: 324; Berkov 1962: 659. Same situation with synonyms as in Old Norse.
Faroese:smˈɔaːv-ʋr {smáur}2
Young & Clewer 1985: 528. Apparently the situation with these synonyms is more or less the same as in Old Norse and Icelandic.
Bokmal Norwegian:
Danish:
Swedish:
NUMBER:78
WORD:smoke
Gothic:
Not attested.
Old Norse:reyk-r2
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 496; Zoega 1910: 338; De Vries 1962: 443. Masculine gender. Polysemy: 'steam / smoke'. Different from eim-i ~ eim-r 'reek, vapour (from fire or embers)' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 120].
Balg 1887: 393. Cf. Matth. 26:73: afar leitil þan atgaggandans þai standandans "after a while came unto him they that were standing (by)" [Ulfilas 1896: 15].
Balg 1887: 390. Masc. gender; a-stem. Cf. Lu. 4:3: qiþ þamma staina ei wairþai hlaibs "command this stone that it be made bread" [Ulfilas 1896: 60]. Polysemy: 'stone (small) / rock (large)'. In the latter meaning cf. Mtth. 7:24: saei gatimrida razn sein ana staina "who built his house on a rock" [Ulfilas 1896: 8]. Cf. also the following passage where both types of meaning are present at the same time, Mtth. 27: 60: jah galagida ita in niujamma seinamma hlaiwa þatei ushuloda ana staina jah faurwalwjands staina mikilamma daurons þis hlaiwis galaiþ "and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed" [Ulfilas 1896: 18].
Completely different word attested in Crimean Gothic: ael 'stone' [Costello 1973: 487], possibly descended from Gothic hallus 'rock' [Balg 1887: 157].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 591; Zoega 1910: 406; De Vries 1962: 546. Masculine gender. This is the main equivalent for the neutral 'stone' (in hand), distinct from byarg '(very) large stone, rock, boulder' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 64].
Haraldsson 1996: 267; Berkov 1962: 697. Masculine gender. Secondary synonym: grjót 'stone, stones (coll.)' [Berkov 1962: 243] (as in Old Norse, this word seems to specifically denote small pebbles and is generally used in a collective sense).
Arakin 2000: II, 250; Berkov 2006: 317. Definite form: stein-en. The Danish-influenced Riksmål form is sten, as quoted in [Bergsland & Vogt 1962: 119].
Balg 1887: 408. Fem. gender; n-stem. Cf. Lu. 4:40: miþþanei þan sagq sunno... "now when the sun was setting" [Ulfilas 1896: 62]. Encountered 6 times in the corpus; another equivalent, attested only twice, is sauil, cf. Mk. 1:32: þan gasaggq sauil "when the sun did set". It may be seen that both contexts are nearly identical, meaning that sunno and sauil are essentially in a state of free variation. Since both forms allegedly go back to a pair of morphological variants of the same root, this has no lexicostatistical significance, but the nature of this variation in Gothic remains an unanswered question.
Preserved in Crimean Gothic: sune 'sun' [Costello 1973: 487].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 579; Zoega 1910: 396; De Vries 1962: 529. Feminine gender. This form of the word 'sun' is the most frequent and basic in Old Norse texts; the alternate variant sunna is only used in poetic speech. Cf. in particular: sól heitir með mönnum, en sunna með goðum "it is called sól among men, sunna among the gods" [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 605].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 611; Zoega 1910: 422; De Vries 1962: 570. According to Cleasby, "the spelling with one m in Editions is erroneous". This word must have begun to fall out of usage already in the Old Norse period, but it is still encountered quite frequently in the texts. One of the (less frequent) synonymous forms is legg-y-a-sk, literally 'to lay oneself' (reflexive form of legg-y-a 'to lay') [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 379]; the verb sünd-a, which would eventually become the Modern Icelandic equivalent for 'swim', is "very rare in old writers" [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 614]. A very frequent set of equivalents for 'swim', however, consists of various compound formations of semi-auxiliary verbs with the noun sund 'swimming' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 604]; the overall statistical frequency of these compounds is actually higher in old texts than that of svima, but the latter is still encountered too frequently to be considered an "archaism".
Icelandic:sınd-a {synda}2
Haraldsson 1996: 491; Berkov 1962: 742. Secondary synonym: svaml-a 'to swim / to splash around' [Berkov 1962: 731] (this word is listed in [Haraldsson 1966] with the note 'slowly or in an inexperienced manner'). This is one of the very few reliable cases of genuine lexical replacement from the Old Norse period to Modern Icelandic.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 234; Zoega 1910: 182; De Vries 1962: 204. Masculine gender. Cleasby: "Icel. use hali properly of cattle, and lions, wolves, bears; tagl of horses (of the hair, but stertr of a caudal vertebra); roːfa of cats, dogs; skott of a fox; sporðr of a fish; steːl or veːli of birds; dündill of seals. The old writers do not make these nice distinctions, and use hali of a horse and tagl of a cow, which a mod. Icel. would not do". Judging by the contexts, hali is not only applied to the largest variety of tailed animals, but is also more frequent than any other equivalent, and amply used in idiomatic expressions: it is quite clearly the most "generic" term for 'tail' in Old Norse.
Haraldsson 1996: 780; Berkov 1962: 258. Masculine gender. According to [Haraldsson 1996], applied to cows, rats, mice, comets. Secondary synonyms [ibid.]: skott, rófa ("of dogs, foxes, cats, squirrels etc."), stýri ("of cats"), dindill ("of sheep and goats"), stél ("of birds and airplanes"), sporður ("of fish and whales"). Of all these words, hali has the most diverse applicability, as in Old Norse, so there would be no reason to think of a lexical replacement.
Young & Clewer 1985: 210. Masculine gender. Polysemy: 'tail (of cattle, sheep or the like) / top of the shaft of a scythe / last in the row / penis (children's speech)'. Secondary synonyms: stertur 'fish-tail' [Young & Clewer 1985: 554], vel 'bird's tail' [Young & Clewer 1985: 654], etc.
Arakin 2000: I, 335; Berkov 2006: 1060. Definite form: hal-en. As in the other Scandinavian languages, various specialized synonyms also exist, e. g. rumpe "tail of animal (vulg.)", svans, stjert "tail of bird", spord "tail of fish, lizard, snake" [Berkov 2006: 1060].
Balg 1887: 209. Masc. yain-s, fem. yain-a, neuter yain. Numerous examples in the corpus, cf. Mtth. 7:22: managai qiþand mis in jainamma daga "many will say to me on that day" [Ulfilas 1896: 8], etc. This seems to be the default Gothic demonstrative pronoun to express faraway deixis.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 263; Zoega 1910: 198; De Vries 1962: 228. Masculine form; cf. also feminine hin, neuter hitt. This pronoun also serves as the basis for the definite article hinn ~ inn ~ enn, frequently, but not always, spelled without the initial h-.
Arakin 2000: I, 169; Berkov 2006: 993. Masculine/feminine form; cf. also neuter det, plural de. This pronoun may be translated as either 'this' or 'that', depending on the context, but generally denotes objects that are more distant than the ones denoted by denne 'this' q.v.; in colloquial language, the opposition between 'this' and 'that' may also be expressed by the complex forms den her 'this (one)' (literally 'that-here') and den der 'that (one)' (literally 'that-there'), respectively. The archaic form hin 'that', cognate with Old Norse hin-n, etc., is no longer in basic usage in modern forms of the language [Arakin 2000: I, 352].
Krymova et al. 2000: 860; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 437. Common form; cf. also neuter det, plural de. This pronoun may be translated as either 'this' or 'that', depending on the context, but generally denotes objects that are more distant than the ones denoted by denne 'this' q.v.; in colloquial language, the opposition between 'this' and 'that' may also be expressed by the complex forms den her 'this (one)' (literally 'that-here') and den der 'that (one)' (literally 'that-there'), respectively. The archaic form hin 'that', cognate with Old Norse hin-n, etc., is no longer in basic usage in modern forms of the language [Krymova et al. 2000: 267].
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 114; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 711. Common form; cf. also neuter det, plural de. See notes on Danish; usage in Swedish is more or less the same, including the preference to denote the opposition between 'this' and 'that' with the complex forms den här 'this (one)' and den där 'that (one)' (literally 'that-here' and 'that-there').
NUMBER:86
WORD:this
Gothic:sa1
Balg 1887: 328. Suppletive paradigm: masc. sa, fem. soː, but neuter θa-ta; cf. also the declination paradigm - nom. sa, gen. θ-is, dat. θ-amma, acc. θ-ana, etc. Also attested in a more complex form: sa-h '(and) this, he' (contracted with the enclitic particle -uh). Examples are attested passim throughout the corpus, where it often behaves in the function of the definite article. However, unlike modern Germanic languages, Gothic does not seem to have ever developed a strict opposition between the demonstrative pronoun (this, dieser, etc.) and the definite article (the, der, etc.).
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 734; Zoega 1910: 198; De Vries 1962: 609. This is the masculine and feminine form; cf. also neuter θe-tta. The pronoun consists of the basic demonstrative stem (masc. saː, fem. suː, neuter θat 'this; that', with a general rather than distance-specific deixis) and the suffixed particle -si (some old Runic inscriptions from the IXth - Xth centuries still show the earlier forms: masc. saː-si, fem. suː-si, neuter θat-si).
Arakin 2000: I, 169; Berkov 2006: 1114. Also denne her 'this (one)', literally 'this-here' [Arakin 2000: II, 542]. Masculine/feminine form; cf. also neuter dètte, plural dìsse.
Krymova et al. 2000: 860; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 498. Also denne her 'this (one)', literally 'this-here'. Common form; cf. also neuter dette, plural disse.
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 114; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 804. Same as in Danish, but the complex formation den här 'that-here' (= 'this'; see notes on 'that') is actually more common in general usage.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 750; Zoega 1910: 521; De Vries 1962: 625. Cf. the rest of the paradigm: dative θeː-r, accusative θi-k, possessive form θiː-n.
Balg 1887: 444. Fem. gender; n-stem. Cf. Lu. 1:64: usluknoda þan munþs is suns jah tuggo is "his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed" [Ulfilas 1896: 54].
Balg 1887: 445. Masc. gender; u-stem. Cf. Matth. 5:38: augo und augin, jah tunþu und tunþau "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" [Ulfilas 1896: 4].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 643; Zoega 1910: 446; De Vries 1962: 604. Feminine gender. Plural form: teð-r. The more archaic form of this root is preserved in some proper names, e. g. Hildi-tann-r.
Balg 1887: 39. Masc. gender; a-stem. Cf. Matth. 7:17: all bagme godaize akrana goda gataujiþ "all good trees produce good fruit" [Ulfilas 1896: 7]. The older word for 'tree', triu, is only encountered once [Mk. 14: 43; repeated in Mk. 14: 48], and not in the meaning 'tree', but 'staff'; the word is therefore ineligible for inclusion.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 639; Zoega 1910: 441; De Vries 1962: 597. Neuter gender. Polysemy: 'tree / ship-mast'. Close synonym: við-r 'tree, wood, forest' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 703]. Both treː and við-r may be used to designate a growing tree. The differences are as follows: (a) only treː is used to designate 'wood (material)' and objects made of wood, e. g. 'ship-mast'; (b) only við-r, on the other hand, may be used in the collective meaning 'forest', as well as 'wood (for burning), felled trees'. Therefore, the few instances where við-r should be translated as '(a single) growing tree' are better regarded as occasional exceptions, and the opposition treː : við-r is best interpreted as 'tree (single)' : 'trees, forest (collective)'.
Haraldsson 1996: 156; Berkov 1962: 775. Neuter gender. Polysemy: 'tree / beam'. Secondary synonym: viður 'tree; forest' [Berkov 1962: 852], with more or less the same semantic difference as in Old Norse.
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 793; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 124. Definite form: träd-et. The original pure stem is still preserved as trä 'wood' (material); trä-d is the result of old fusion with the definite article (< Old Swedish trǣ-et; modern definite trä-d-et is a new formation).
Balg 1887: 445. Full paradigm is: masc. twai, fem. twoːs, neuter twa ~ twoː. Cf. Mtth. 6:24: ni manna mag twaim fraujam skalkinon "no man can serve two masters" [Ulfilas 1896: 6].
Preserved in Crimean Gothic: tua 'two' [Costello 1973: 487].
Balg 1887: 245. There is quite a large number of different verbal roots and stems expressing the directional meaning 'go' in Ulfilas' Bible. Out of all of them, however, ga=liːθ-an seems to be at the same time the most frequent and the least cumbered with additional semantic nuances. Cf. Mtth. 8:21: uslaubei mis frumist galeiþan jah gafilhan attan meinana "allow me first to go and bury my father" [Ulfilas 1896: 9]; Mk. 1:20: galiþun afar imma "they went after him" [Ulfilas 1896: 20], etc.
The verb gaŋg-an [Balg 1887: 116], whose original meaning must have also been 'go', is generally used with the derived meaning 'to go to (do smth.)' in Gothic (i. e. with a semi-grammaticalized function of expressing intentionality or near future), cf. Lu. 14:19: juka auhsne usbauhta fimf jah gagga kausjan þans "I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them" [Ulfilas 1896: 80].
The verb iddy-a [Balg 1887: 197], paritally suppletive with gaŋg-an (used only in the past tense), is not very frequent, and more often denotes the very idea of 'walking', 'moving', rather than the direction-specific 'going (somewhere)', cf. Mk. 5:42: jah suns urrais so mawi jah iddja "and immediately the maid arose, and walked" [Ulfilas 1896: 29].
The complex verb at=gaŋg-an [Balg 1887: 116] (suppletive past tense at=iddy-a, etc.) may, however, frequently used in a directional sense, translated as 'come' or 'go' depending on the context. Its behaviour is rather unpredictable and deserves a long, complex study. Since its meaning is not as easily decipherable as that of ga=liːθ-an, we prefer not to include it as a synonym until the issue has been resolved.
It should be noted that for Crimean Gothic the verb 'to go' is rendered as geen, cognate with gaŋgan [Costello 1973: 494]. This could indicate an early dialectal split between Ostrogothic varieties.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 142; Zoega 1910: 159; De Vries 1962: 156. There is some competition in Old Norse between fara and the older verb gang-a [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 188], e. g. both ganga heim and fara heim 'to go home' are possible. However, perusal of attested contexts seems to indicate that far-a is more eligible for the status of basic verb of movement, whereas gang-a has more restricted usage (closer to specific 'go on foot').
Haraldsson 1996: 241; Berkov 1962: 156. Cf.: hvert ert þú að fara? "where are you going?". Analysis of various contexts shows that in Modern Icelandic, fara is the default equivalent of the Swadesh meaning in most cases. The old verb ganga [Berkov 1962: 212] is rather used in such adjacent meanings as 'to move', 'to proceed', 'to follow', etc.
Young & Clewer 1985: 113. Polysemy: 'to move / to go / to travel'. As in Icelandic, the old verb ganga [Young & Clewer 1985: 163] is no longer the default equivalent for the meaning 'to go somewhere' (as in "where are you going?"), although it is still widely used in various adjacent meanings.
Arakin 2000: I, 332; Berkov 2006: 287. Past tense: gikk. Unlike in Icelandic, the verb fare is only used in the old meaning 'to fare, to travel' [Arakin 2000: I, 225].
Arakin 2000: II, 425; Berkov 2006: 982. Distinct from het [Arakin 2000: I, 351; Berkov 2006: 161], which, as in Danish, seems to be more restricted to various figurative meanings (e. g. 'hot' as 'having a high fever', 'sexually aroused', etc.).
Krymova et al. 2000: 772; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 74. In modern Danish, the English meaning 'hot' generally corresponds to the equivalent varm (e. g. varm mad 'hot food', meget varmt 'it's hot', etc.). The old word hed [Krymova et al. 2000: 259] is used less frequently, being restricted to specific weather-related contexts and certain bound expressions.
Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 854; Marklund-Sharapova 2007b: 107. The difference between varm 'warm, hot' and het 'hot' [Marklund-Sharapova 2007a: 277] in modern Swedish seems to be more or less along the same lines as in Danish, i. e. varm is the general term for all sorts of temperatures from 'tepid' to 'hot' and het is more restricted to 'superhot' (e. g. 'hot fire') or idiomatic contexts ('hot debates', etc.).
Balg 1887: 535. Neuter gender; n-stem. Cf. Mtth. 10:42: stikla kaldis watins "with a bowl of cold water" [Ulfilas 1896: 13].
The word ahʷa ([Balg 1887: 7]; fem., gender, o-stem), frequently translated as 'water', refers exclusively to 'running water', i. e. = 'river', 'stream', 'flood', and is therefore ineligible for inclusion.
Young & Clewer 1985: 669. Originally a dual form, but nowadays mostly used in all contexts; the old form vær 'we (pl.)' is considered obsolete [Young & Clewer 1985: 673].
Balg 1887: 227. Fem. gender; n-stem. Cf. Mtth. 5:28: ƕazuh saei saiƕiþ qinon du luston izos "whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her..." [Ulfilas 1896: 4]. This word is used throughout exclusively in the meaning 'woman' = 'female human being', without reference to social status. The simpler stem kʷeːn-s [Balg 1887: 225], in contrast, is more generally used in the meaning 'married woman', 'wife', cf. Mtth. 5:31: ƕazuh saei afletai qen... "whosoever puts away his wife..." [Ulfilas 1896: 4]. (This does not have any lexicostatistical importance, though, since both words share the same root).
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 350; Zoega 1910: 246; De Vries 1962: 325. Polysemy: 'woman / wife'. This is the main term for 'woman' (= 'female human being') as opposed to 'man' (= 'male human being'), cf. karl ok kona 'man and woman'. Secondary synonym: viːf 'woman, wife' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 714], according to Cleasby, encountered "only in poetry".
Arakin 2000: I, 472; Berkov 2006: 227. Colloquial variant: kòne [Arakin 2000: I, 444; Berkov 2006: 227]. The recent borrowing dame is also used in the meaning 'woman': cf. in [Bergsland & Vogt 1962: 119]: "kvinne = somewhat official or literary, as in 'men and women', 'portrait of a woman'; dame = as in 'who is the woman coming there?', but also some social implication". Although this description implies that dame should probably be preferred over kvinne on the Swadesh list, the real situation is more complicated, since dame seems to really be a markedly "polite" term of reference, and its usage in modern Norwegian is more limited than, e.g., that of German Frau. Because of this, we believe that the old word kvinne should be left on the list.
Haraldsson 1996: 147; Berkov 1962: 170. Literally: 'far-lying'; also fjar-liggjandi id. Usage of the simple adverbial form fjarri [Berkov 1962: 171] is somewhat restricted in the modern language.
Arakin 2000: I, 240; Berkov 2006: 174. Adjectival form. The default adverbial form is langt [Arakin 2000: I, 481]. The Riksmål equivalent, according to [Bergsland & Vogt 1962: 117], is the idiomatic expression langt borte.
Balg 1887: 217. Adjective; u-stem. Very dubious. The word is attested only once, and in a figurative meaning at that (= 'weighty, ponderous'), cf. II Cor. 10:10: unte þos raihtis bokos, qiþand, kaurjos sind jah swinþos "for his letters, they say, are weighty (heavy) and powerful" [Ulfilas 1896: 158]. Some indirect confirmation of its real frequency comes from derivatives, such as kɔr-y-an 'to burden, press, trouble' and kɔr-iθ-a 'weight, burden' [Balg 1887: 216], but all of them are also used in figurative meanings. We include this word on the list tentatively, since its etymological meaning is unquestionably 'heavy' as such, and no alternate candidates are attested.
Balg 1887: 298. Cf. Mc. 13:28: neƕa ist asans "summer is near" [Ulfilas 1896: 45]; jah sunsei neƕa was "and when he came near" [Ulfilas 1896: 90]. Used either as an adverb or as a preposition; in the latter function, the variant neːhʷ is also attested once, cf. Lu. 15:25: jah qimands atiddja neƕ razn "and as he came and walked near the house" [Ulfilas 1896: 82].
Old Norse:nɛː-r1
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 460; Zoega 1910: 316; De Vries 1962: 413. Adverbial form. The bound form of this stem is naː-, frequently employed in various compound forms [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 447].
Balg 1887: 340. Neuter gender; a-stem. Cf. Mc. 9:50: goþ salt, iþ jabai salt unsaltan wairþiþ, ƕe supuda "salt is good, but if the salt has become unsalted, with what will you season it?" [Ulfilas 1896: 38].
Preserved in Crimean Gothic: salt 'salt' [Costello 1973: 487].
Not attested. The word liːtil-s 'small' q.v. is sometimes also translated as 'short', but only in the temporal meaning (in idiomatic expressions such as 'a short while', etc.), so it is clearly ineligible. It is far more likely that the adjective 'short' in Gothic was formed from the same root as ga=mɔrg-y-an 'to shorten, cut short' [Balg 1887: 274], reliably attested in two contexts. However, the corresponding adjective is not found in the texts, and the slot has to remain empty.
Arakin 2000: I, 451; Berkov 2006: 353. Borrowed from German (ultimately from Romance). The inherited form stutt 'short' is generally marked as "dialectal", e. g. in [Arakin 2000: II, 271].
Danish:kɔɹt {kort}-1
Krymova et al. 2000: 350; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 159. Borrowed from German (ultimately from Romance).
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 600; Zoega 1910: 414; De Vries 1962: 556. This word is translated by Cleasby as 'stunted, scant', i. e. its basic semantics might originally have been 'shortened' rather than '(naturally) short', making it less eligible for inclusion. Nevertheless, it is consistently applied to simply "short" objects (such as 'short coat of mail', 'short skirt', etc.), and it is therefore hard to determine which of the two words, skamm-r or stutt-r, was more "basic" in the required meaning in Old Norse. We include both as technical synonyms.
Icelandic:stʏtt-ʏr {stuttur}2
Haraldsson 1996: 296; Berkov 1962: 720. This word seems to be more frequent when applied to objects than skammur, but we still include both items as technical synonyms.
Balg 1887: 538. Masc. gender; a-stem. Cf. Lu. 10:19: atgaf izwis waldufni trudan ufaro waurme jah skaurpjono "I gave you the power to tread upon snakes (serpents) and scorpions" [Ulfilas 1896: 78]. Translates Greek ὄφις 'serpent, snake'.
Another word with similar semantics is nadr-s [Balg 1887: 291]. However, it is not eligible for inclusion, since its meaning is 'viper, adder, poisonous snake' rather than 'snake (in general)'; in the only context where it is attested (Lu. 3:7), it translates Greek ἔχιδνα 'poisonous snake'.
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 468; Zoega 1910: 323; De Vries 1962: 420. Masculine gender. Generic term for 'snake' that also incorporates 'worms' and even 'dragons'. Secondary synonyms include: (a) nað-r, glossed by Cleasby as 'viper, adder, snake' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 445], most likely a generic term for 'poisonous snake', as in Gothic; (b) snaːk-r 'snake (only in poetry)' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 573], a special poetic term; (c) slangi 'a serpent' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 566], attested only sporadically. None of these words are as frequent or semantically all-encompassing as orm-r.
Icelandic:slauŋg-a {slanga}2
Haraldsson 1996: 236; Berkov 1962: 650. Feminine gender. Secondary synonym: naðra [Berkov 1962: 467] (specifically 'adder' rather than generic 'snake'). Cf. also ormur 'worm; snake' [Berkov 1962: 509]; the word snákur is glossed as 'grass-snake' (уж) in [Berkov 1962: 663]. Altogether, it is not easy to determine the most appropriate synonym here, largely due to the absence of snakes in Iceland as a native species. In general, it seems that the old word ormr, due to its all-encompassing range of 'worms / snakes / dragons' and archaic nature, is no longer eligible for inclusion, but further research may be necessary.
Faroese:slˈaŋg-a {slanga}2
Young & Clewer 1985: 521. Feminine gender. The synonymous form orm-ur is glossed in [Young & Clewer 1985: 426] as 'snake; (bibl.) serpent; worm' and seems to be a less neutral equivalent of slanga.
Bokmal Norwegian:slàŋg-ɛ {slange}2
Arakin 2000: II, 207; Berkov 2006: 281. Definite form: slang-en. The word orm can also be employed in the meaning 'snake', but this mostly reflects archaic or dialectal usage [Berkov 2006: 281].
Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 708; Zoega 1910: 492; De Vries 1962: 665. Masculine gender. The word veðr 'weather' [Cleasby & Vigfusson 1874: 687] may also be used in the meaning 'wind' (usually 'gale, storm'), but this is not its primary semantics.
Arakin 2000: II, 450; Berkov 2006: 75. Definite form: vind-en. The word blåst is also translated as 'wind' in [Berkov 2006: 75], but its more precise meaning is 'strong wind, storm, bluster' [Arakin 2000: I, 122].
Krymova et al. 2000: 784; Harrit & Harrit 2002: 40. Definite form: vind-en. Alternate synonym: blæst [Krymova et al. 2000: 88] (derived from the verb blæse 'to blow'; seems to be less basic, referring rather to strong gusts of wind than wind in general).
Balg 1887: 272. Masc. gender; n-stem. Cf. Mk. 9:48: þarei maþa ize ni gadauþniþ "where their worm does not die" [Ulfilas 1896: 38]. Attested only once, but in a reliable context (translating Greek σκώληξ 'worm').
Arakin 2000: I, 521, 527; Berkov 2006: 1081. Definite form: mark-en ~ makk-en. Cf. mèite-mark 'earthworm' [ibid.] (a compound formation with meite 'to fish' as the first component). The word orm, also sometimes translated as 'worm' [Arakin 2000: II, 47], is a more generic term, also including grubs, tapeworms, etc.
Balg 1887: 210. Neuter gender; a-stem. Cf. Mc. 5:25: jah qinono suma wisandei in runa bloþis jera twalif "and a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years" [Ulfilas 1896: 28]; Lu. 2:41: jah wratodedun þai birusjos is jera ƕammeh in Iairusalem at dulþ paska "now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover" [Ulfilas 1896: 57].
Of certain interest is also the word aɵn [Balg 1887: 34] (neuter gender), attested once in Gal. 4:10: dagam witaiþ jah menoþum jah melam jah aþnam "you observe days, and months, and times, and years" [Ulfilas 1896: 167]; however, the actual translated Greek word here is ἐνιαυτός rather than the more general ἔτος. It may be suggested that the meaning of aɵn is less basic (the concept of a 'year' as a 'time cycle' or 'anniversary'), whereas in the regular function of counting out time it is the word yeːr that functions as the common equivalent.
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