𐌰𐌽𐌰

Forms

𐌰𐌽𐌰 (ana), an indeclinable word used as a preposition with the dative and the accusative, as an adverb and as a verbal prefix.^[1][2][3] As a prefix it is written 𐌰𐌽𐌰- (ana-).^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *ana (“on, onto”),^[5][6][7] with cognates in Old Norse á, Old English on, Old Frisian an, Old Saxon an and Old High German ana.^[8][9][6] Lehmann and Feist relate it to Avestan ana, Ancient Greek ἀνά (aná, “on, up”) and the prefix of Latin anhēlō (“to pant”), and with another vowel grade to Lithuanian nuo (“from”).^[9][8][10] Orel compares the Avestan word and Ionic-Attic ἄνα (ána).^(Orel 2003|s.v. *ana(i)) Lehmann reports G. Schmidt's view that the Germanic monosyllabic forms match Avestan ana, while the disyllabic ones go back to a Proto-Germanic form remodelled after the word for 'from'.^[9]

Attestation

The Wulfila project has two lemmas: the preposition with 300 tokens and the adverb with 248, 247 of these tokens being ambiguous between the two.^[11] Köbler counts 276 attestations.^[7] They come from the Gospels, the Epistles, Nehemiah, the Skeireins and the calendar, in manuscripts CA, A, B, C, D, E and others.^[11][7] The first record of the preposition is Matthew 5:15, of the adverb Matthew 27:7.^[11] PROIEL counts 258 prepositional uses, aligned with Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí) 162 times, with ἐν (en) 25 times and with εἰς (eis) 18 times, and three adverbial uses.^[12] Matthew 5:15 reads ak ana lukarnastaþin, "but on the lampstand".^[13]

Meanings

1. As a preposition with the accusative, of direction: onto, on, into; of time, ana dag 'during the day'; distributively, ana ƕarjanoh fimf tiguns 'fifty to each', for ἀνὰ πεντήκοντα; of cause, liubai ana attans 'beloved for the fathers' sake'.^[1][14]
2. As a preposition with the dative, of rest: on, upon, in; of time, ana midjai dulþ 'in the middle of the feast'; with numbers, 'about', as ana spaurdim fimftaihunim 'about fifteen stadia'; after verbs of emotion, 'at, over, on account of'.^[1][14][15]
3. As an adverb: thereupon, besides.^[1][2][14]
4. As a prefix: 'on, onto, to, against', and in some verbs a mark of perfective aspect.^[4][16]

Word family

• 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌱𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽 (anabiudan)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌱𐌿𐍃𐌽𐍃 (anabusns)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌵𐌰𐌻 (anaqal)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌼𐌴𐌹𐍃 (anahaimeis)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (anakunnains)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌲𐌽𐌴𐌹 (analaugnei)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 (anamahts)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍉𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (anastōdeins)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌴𐌹 (anawiljei)

References

1. ^ a b c d Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. ana
2. ^ a b Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 269
3. ^ Krause, Wolfgang (1963), Handbuch des Gotischen, 2nd ed., München: Beck, p. § 199, 2a
4. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌰𐌽𐌰-
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌰𐌽𐌰
6. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 25
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ana 1
8. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. ana
9. ^ 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. ana
10. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 11
11. ^ a b c 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
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 5:15
14. ^ a b c Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 37
15. ^ Stamm, Friedrich Ludwig; Heyne, Moriz (1920), Ulfilas oder die uns erhaltenen Denkmäler der gotischen Sprache: Text, Wörterbuch und Grammatik, 13th–14th ed. by Ferdinand Wrede, Paderborn: Schöningh, p. 403
16. ^ Krause, Wolfgang (1963), Handbuch des Gotischen, 2nd ed., München: Beck, p. § 200, 1