𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐍃

Forms

𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐍃 (baurgs), a feminine noun of the consonant (root-noun) declension.^[1][2][3] The Wulfila project records the forms 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲 (baurg) (32 times), 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐍃 (baurgs) (16), 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐌹𐌼 (baurgim) (6) and 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐌴 (baurge) (5).^[4] In this declension the nominative and genitive singular are both baurgs and the dative and accusative singular both baurg; the plural has the genitive baurge and the dative baurgim.^[5][6] The accusative singular has no ending, unlike the u-stems: Krause derives it from an older *burgun.^[7][8]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“fortification, stronghold”),^[9][10] a root noun with cognates in Old Norse borg, Old English burg, Old Frisian burch, Old Saxon burg and Old High German burg.^[11][12][3] Kroonen relates it either to Proto-Germanic *berga- (“mountain”) or to *bergan- (“to keep safe”), and finds that both form and meaning allow either connection.^[11] Wiktionary and Köbler trace it to Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ-;^[9][13] Uhlenbeck makes it identical with Old Irish brí (“hill”) in Old Irish and related to 𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌲𐌰𐌷𐌴𐌹 (bairgahei, “hill country”), and Orel likewise compares the Old Irish word and an Avestan word for "high".^[14][10] Ancient Greek πύργος (púrgos, “tower”) is a separate question: Uhlenbeck and Feist keep it apart from the Germanic word, and Feist takes Medieval Latin burgus (“tower, small fortified camp”) to be borrowed either from Germanic or, more likely, from the Greek word.^[14][15] Lehmann, following Much, thinks the Germanic word is probably a blend of a native word for "height" with the Latin word, itself from the Greek.^[12] He also reports that Furnée takes both the Greek and the Gothic word as borrowings from a pre-Indo-European language.^[12]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 59 tokens: 10 in Matthew, 35 in Luke, 9 in Mark, and single or double records in Romans, 2 Corinthians, Titus and Nehemiah.^[4] Most are in manuscript CA (54), with one in A, three in B and one in D.^[4] In canonical order the first is the nominative baurgs at Matthew 5:35.^[4] PROIEL aligns it 54 times with Ancient Greek πόλις (pólis);^[16] Lehmann notes that it renders βᾶρις "tower" once, at Nehemiah 7:2.^[12] Luke 2:4 reads us baurg Nazaraiþ in Iudaian in baurg Daweidis, "from the city of Nazareth into Judea, into the city of David".^[17]

Meanings

1. A city, town, for πόλις.^[1][13][16]
2. A tower or castle, for βᾶρις (Nehemiah 7:2).^[1][18][12]

Word family

• 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐍃𐍅𐌰𐌳𐌳𐌾𐌿𐍃 (baurgswaddjus, “city wall”)
• 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐌾𐌰 (baurgja, “citizen”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐌾𐌰 (gabaurgja, “fellow citizen”)

Related words

• 𐌱𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (bibaurgeins, “camp”)
• 𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌲𐌰𐌷𐌴𐌹 (bairgahei, “hill country”)

Usage notes

Lehmann notes that the compound baurgswaddjus "city wall" is the only Gothic compound whose first member keeps an inflectional ending.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. baurgs
2. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 272
3. ^ a b Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
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. ^ Lambdin, Thomas O. (2006), An Introduction to the Gothic Language, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock
6. ^ Miller, D. Gary (2019), The Oxford Gothic Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 60
7. ^ Krause, Wolfgang (1963), Handbuch des Gotischen, 2nd ed., München: Beck
8. ^ Jellinek, Max Hermann (1926), Geschichte der gotischen Sprache, Grundriss der germanischen Philologie 1,1, Berlin / Leipzig: de Gruyter
9. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐍃
10. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 63
11. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 85
12. ^ a b c d e f 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. baurgs
13. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. baúrgs 1
14. ^ a b Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 25
15. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. baurgs
16. ^ 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
17. ^ 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. Lk 2:4
18. ^ 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. 411