𐌱𐌹

Forms

𐌱𐌹 (bi), a preposition taking the accusative or the dative, and a verbal prefix, 𐌱𐌹- (bi-).^[1][2][3] It is not inflected.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *bi (“by, at”),^[3] the word behind Old English bī and the prefix be-, Old Saxon bī and Old High German bī.^[5][6] Its further origin is uncertain.^[5][7] Lehmann, like Feist, takes it as a blend of two adpositions, Proto-Indo-European *ambʰi (“around”) and Proto-Indo-European *bʰi, the same blend he sees in Old Persian abiy (“to, towards”) and its Sanskrit and Avestan cognates.^[8][9] The nasal form is kept in Old Norse um (older umb), ymbe, umbi, Ancient Greek ἀμφί (amphí, “around”) and Latin amb-.^[9][8] Uhlenbeck compares instead an Old Church Slavonic preposition whose meanings match those of the Gothic word exactly, and ob (“towards”).^[5] G. Schmidt derives it from Proto-Indo-European *pi-.^[8] Feist explains the prefix b- of 𐌱𐌽𐌰𐌿𐌰𐌽 (bnauan, “to rub”) as the same preposition with its vowel lost.^[9]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 426 tokens, in every Gospel and Epistle, in Nehemiah, the Skeireins and the calendar.^[4] Köbler counts 384 and also notes the word in the calendar.^[10] Lehmann ranks it eighteenth among the Gothic words by frequency.^[8] The tokens are in manuscripts CA, A, B, C, D, E, Car, Speyer and Lat5750, and the first is Matthew 5:23 in CA.^[4] PROIEL aligns it most often with Ancient Greek κατά (katá) (123 times) and Ancient Greek περί (perí) (116 times), less often with Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí) and Ancient Greek διά (diá).^[11] Matthew 5:34 reads ni swaran allis, ni bi himina, unte stols ist gudis, "not to swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God".^[12]

Meanings

1. with the accusative, around, about, at (of place), and about, within (of time).^[1][13] With numbers it is distributive: bi twans "two at a time".^[1][14]
2. with the accusative, about, concerning, for Ancient Greek περί (perí).^[1][2][11] It forms phrases such as bi all "in all things" and bi sumata "in part".^[1][2]
3. with the dative, at, by (of place and time), as in bi þamma mela "at that time", and by, with verbs of swearing and witnessing.^[1][15]
4. with the dative, because of, and according to, for Ancient Greek κατά (katá).^[1][2][11] Bi sunjai means "in truth".^[1][16]

Word family

• 𐌱𐌹- (bi-)
• 𐌱𐌽𐌰𐌿𐌰𐌽 (bnauan)

Usage notes

As a prefix, bi- makes verbs transitive, often with a sense of "around" or "throughout", and sometimes makes them perfective.^[17][2] PROIEL also aligns bi nine times with the Greek adverb Ancient Greek ἀληθῶς (alēthôs, “truly”) and three times with Ancient Greek ὄντως (óntōs, “really”).^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. bi
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌱𐌹
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 c Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 26
6. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 310
7. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Gotisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 15
8. ^ a b c d 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. bi
9. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. bi
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bi
11. ^ a b c d 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
12. ^ 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 5:34
13. ^ Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 47
14. ^ Krause, Wolfgang (1963), Handbuch des Gotischen, 2nd ed., München: Beck, p. § 174
15. ^ Balg, G. H. (1887–1889), A Comparative Glossary of the Gothic Language, with Especial Reference to English and German, Mayville, Wis.: the author, p. 50
16. ^ Krause, Wolfgang (1963), Handbuch des Gotischen, 2nd ed., München: Beck, p. § 199
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌱𐌹-