𐌰𐌿𐍃𐍉

Forms

𐌰𐌿𐍃𐍉 (ausō), a neuter noun of the weak (n-stem) declension.^[1][2][3] The Wulfila project records three forms: the accusative plural 𐌰𐌿𐍃𐍉𐌽𐌰 (ausona, nine times), the nominative or accusative singular 𐌰𐌿𐍃𐍉 (auso, five times) and the dative 𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌼 (ausam, twice).^[4][5] It is inflected like 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍉 (hairto) and 𐌰𐌿𐌲𐍉 (augo).^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *ausô (“ear”),^[7] which the other Germanic languages continue with z in place of the Gothic s: Kroonen reconstructs *auzōn-.^[8][9][10] The cognates are Old Norse eyra, Old English ēare, Old Frisian āre, Old Saxon ōra and Old High German ōra.^[8][11][12] Casaretto takes the Gothic form as a separate n-extension beside the Germanic one, and treats the move of neuter body-part words such as this one, 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍉 (hairtō, “heart”) and 𐌰𐌿𐌲𐍉 (augō, “eye”) into the n-stems as systematic.^[13] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *h₂ows-;^[7] Kroonen sees an originally static s-stem built on the root *h₂eu- (“to perceive”).^[8] Outside Germanic the sources compare Latin auris, Lithuanian ausis, Ancient Greek οὖς (oûs), Old Irish áu, Albanian vesh, Avestan uši and Proto-Slavic *uxo.^{[8][11][9][14]}

Attestation

The word occurs sixteen times by the Wulfila project's count and Köbler's: twice in Matthew, twice in John, five times in Luke, six times in Mark and once in 1 Corinthians.^[4][5] Fifteen records are in manuscript CA, and 1 Corinthians 12:16 is in A.^[4][5] The first in canonical order is Matthew 10:27.^[4] In the Gospels and Epistles it renders Ancient Greek οὖς (oûs) eleven times and ὠτίον (ōtíon) three times.^[15] Matthew 11:15 reads saei habai ausona hausjandona gahausjai, "whoever has ears that hear, let him hear".^[16]

Meanings

1. The ear, for Greek οὖς and ὠτίον.^{[1][5][3][15]}

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. auso
2. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 271
3. ^ a b Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 43
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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ausō
6. ^ Jellinek, Max Hermann (1926), Geschichte der gotischen Sprache, Grundriss der germanischen Philologie 1,1, Berlin / Leipzig: de Gruyter, p. § 128
7. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌰𐌿𐍃𐍉
8. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 44
9. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. auso
10. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1888), Grundriss der gotischen Etymologie, Strassburg: Trübner, p. s.v. auso
11. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 30
12. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 20
13. ^ Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
14. ^ 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. auso
15. ^ a b 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
16. ^ 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 11:15