𐌰𐍈𐌰

Forms

𐌰𐍈𐌰 (aƕa), a feminine noun of the ō-stem declension.^[1][2][3] The recorded forms are the nominative singular 𐌰𐍈𐌰 (aƕa), the dative singular 𐌰𐍈𐌰𐌹 (aƕai), the nominative plural 𐌰𐍈𐍉𐍃 (aƕōs, three times) and 𐌰𐍈𐍉 (aƕō) at 2 Corinthians 11:26.^[4][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *ahwō (“stream, river”),^[5][6] which also gave Old Norse á, Old English ēa, Old Frisian ā, Old Saxon aha and Old High German aha.^[7][6] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *h₂ékʷeh₂.^[5] The word matches Latin aqua (“water”) exactly, a word shared by Germanic and Italic alone.^[6][7][8] Beekes has claimed it for a non-Indo-European language, but Kroonen thinks it more likely a variant of the root of Hittite hapa- (“river”), amnis (“stream”) and Old Irish ab (“river”), the labiovelar perhaps arising in Germanic and Latin from an earlier cluster of a labial and a laryngeal.^[6]

Attestation

The word occurs six times: twice in Matthew and once each in John, Luke, Mark and 2 Corinthians, five times in manuscript CA and once in B.^[4][2] The first in canonical order is Matthew 7:25.^[4] All six render Ancient Greek ποταμός (potamós, “river”).^[9] Matthew 7:25 tells of the house on the rock: jah qemun aƕos jah waiwoun windos, "and the floods came and the winds blew".^[10]

Meanings

1. A river, stream, flowing body of water, for Greek potamós.^[1][3][9]
2. A flood, torrent.^[11][3]

Usage notes

Grienberger stresses that the Gothic word always means "river, stream" and never water as a substance, which in Gothic is 𐍅𐌰𐍄𐍉 (watō).^[12][11] Wright and Lambdin nevertheless gloss it "river, water".^[13][14]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. aƕa
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. aƕa
3. ^ a b c Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 31
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌰𐍈𐌰
6. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 7
7. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *axwō
8. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 5
9. ^ 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
10. ^ 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 7:25
11. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1868), A Moeso-Gothic Glossary, with an Introduction, an Outline of Moeso-Gothic Grammar, and a List of Anglo-Saxon and Old and Modern English Words Etymologically Connected with Moeso-Gothic, London: Asher
12. ^ Grienberger, Theodor von (1900), Untersuchungen zur gotischen Wortkunde, Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, phil.-hist. Classe 142, Wien
13. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. aƕa
14. ^ Lambdin, Thomas O. (2006), An Introduction to the Gothic Language, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock