𐌰𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽

Forms

𐌰𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (aigan), a preterite-present verb: the present 𐌰𐌹𐌷 (aih, "I have") has the form of a preterite.^[1][2] Regan gives the principal parts as aigan (also aihan), aih, aigum (also aihum), past aihta, aihtedum, with no past participle.^[3] The h beside g is grammatical change.^[4] Lehmann notes that it is the only Gothic verb that keeps it.^[5] The forms in the Wulfila project's count include 𐌰𐌹𐌷 (aih, 7 times), 𐌰𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (aigands, 4), 𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐌰 (aihta, 4), 𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿𐌼 (aihum, 3), 𐌰𐌹𐌲𐌿𐌼 (aigum, 2), 𐌰𐌹𐌲𐌿𐌽 (aigun, 2) and 𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐌴𐌳𐌿𐌽 (aihtedun, 2).^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *aiganą (“to own, possess”),^[7][8][9] the preterite-present that is also Old Norse eiga in Old Norse, Old English āgan in Old English, Old Frisian āga in Old Frisian, Old Saxon ēgan in Old Saxon and Old High German eigan in Old High German.^[8][10][4] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂óyḱe, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyḱ- (“ability, possession”).^[7] Kroonen compares Tocharian B aik- (“to know”) in Tocharian B and the Indo-Iranian verbs for "possess, have", among them Avestan isē in Avestan, and notes that the lack of ablaut between singular and plural is unique: the expected paradigm would have had a zero grade in the plural.^[8] Lehmann too finds sure cognates only in Indo-Iranian and Germanic, and Uhlenbeck rejects the Oscan word that had been compared.^[5][11]

Attestation

Köbler counts 32 records in the Bible.^[9] The Wulfila project counts 35 tokens, thirteen in John, eight in Luke and five in Galatians, and the rest in Matthew, Mark, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Colossians and 1 Timothy; 24 are in manuscript CA, the others in A and B.^[6] In PROIEL all 32 of its tokens render Ancient Greek ἔχω (ékhō).^[12] The first in canonical order is aigun at Matthew 8:20, which reads fauhons grobos aigun jah fuglos himinis sitlans, "foxes have holes and the birds of heaven nests".^[13]

Meanings

1. To have, own, possess; for ἔχειν.^[1][3][9]

Word family

• 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (fairaihan, “to partake of”)
• 𐌰𐌹𐌲𐌹𐌽 (aigin, “property”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐌰𐌹𐌲𐌹𐌽𐍉𐌽 (gaaiginōn, “to get the better of”)
• 𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃 (aihts, “property”)

Usage notes

Schulze contrasted aigan with 𐌷𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (haban, “to have”): the shepherd who has lambs is aigands, the lambs that have a shepherd are habandona.^[14] Lehmann reports Mezger's view that aigin denotes property held in common, as against what belongs to one person.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. aigan
2. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 268
3. ^ a b Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 32
4. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. aih
5. ^ a b c Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. aigan
6. ^ a b De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be
7. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌰𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽
8. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 8
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. aigan
10. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 5
11. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1905), Bemerkungen zum gotischen Wortschatz, Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur 30, 252ff.
12. ^ Haug, Dag T. T. et al., PROIEL Treebank: The Gothic Bible (gothic-nt), 2023 release, Pragmatic Resources in Old Indo-European Languages, University of Oslo
13. ^ De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be, p. Mt 8:20
14. ^ Schulze, Ernst (1867), Gothisches Wörterbuch nebst Flexionslehre, Züllichau: Darnmann, p. 6