𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃

Forms

𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (ains), a cardinal numeral inflected as a strong a-stem adjective.^[1][2][3] The commonest recorded forms are 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (ains, 69 times), 𐌰𐌹𐌽 (ain, 33), the dative singular 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌼𐌰 (ainamma, 33), the accusative singular masculine 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌽𐌰 (ainana, 30), 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰 (aina, 17) and the genitive 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌹𐍃 (ainis, 11), in the Wulfila project's count; the long neuter 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐍄𐌰 (ainata) occurs once.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *ainaz (“one”),^[5][6][7] like Old Norse einn, Old English ān, Old Frisian ān, Old Saxon ēn and Old High German ein.^[6][8] It continues Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos, the same formation as Latin ūnus, Old Irish óen and Lithuanian víenas, and with a feminine as in Ancient Greek οἴνη (oínē, “the one on a die”).^[5][6] Lehmann adds Old Prussian ains and notes that this formation means "one" in Italic, Celtic, Baltic and Germanic, while other languages built the numeral with other suffixes, as Avestan aēuua and Old Persian aiva.^[8] Feist analyses the Indo-European form as a stem with a suffix, the stem that other suffixes extend in the Indo-Iranian words.^[9]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 216 tokens, in the four Gospels, in the epistles from Romans to Titus except 2 Thessalonians, and in the Skeireins.^[4] Köbler counts 197 records.^[7] Most are in manuscript CA (120), A (45) and B (37), with a few in E, C, Car and Lat5750.^[4] The first in canonical order is at Matthew 5:18.^[4] Of the 187 tokens PROIEL aligns with the Greek, 139 render Ancient Greek εἷς (heîs) and 27 Ancient Greek μόνος (mónos).^[10] At Matthew 5:18: jota ains aiþþau ains striks ni usleiþiþ af witoda, "not one iota or one stroke will pass away from the law".^[11]

Meanings

1. one, a single one, for Ancient Greek εἷς (heîs)^[2][7][10]
2. a certain one, someone; a, an^[2][1][5]
3. alone, only, for Ancient Greek μόνος (mónos)^[2][7][10]
4. ains … jah ains, the one … and the other^[12]
5. ainamma sinþa, once, for Ancient Greek ἅπαξ (hápax)^[7]

Word family

• 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌺𐌻𐍃 (ainakls, “alone, left alone”)
• 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌼 (ainam, “alone”)
• 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌹𐌸𐌰 (ainamundiþa, “unity”)
• 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃𐌷𐌿𐌽 (ainshun, “anyone”)
• 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍈𐌰𐌸𐌰𐍂𐌿𐌷 (ainƕaþaruh, “each of two”)
• 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽 (þat-ain, “only this”)
• 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌴𐌹 (þatainei, “only”)

Related words

• 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍃 (ainahs, “only, sole”)
• 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍆𐌰𐌻𐌸𐍃 (ainfalþs, “simple”)

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. ains
2. ^ a b c d Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 33
3. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 268
4. ^ a b c d 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
5. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃
6. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 11
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ains
8. ^ a b 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. ains
9. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. ains
10. ^ a b c 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
11. ^ 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 5:18
12. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. áins