𐌲𐌰𐍄𐍅𐍉

Forms

𐌲𐌰𐍄𐍅𐍉 (gatwō), a feminine n-stem noun.^[1][2][3] The only recorded form is the accusative plural 𐌲𐌰𐍄𐍅𐍉𐌽𐍃 (gatwons).^[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *gatwǭ (“street, passage”),^[5][6] with the cognates Old Norse gata (“path, street”), Middle Low German gate (“lane, street”) and Old High German gazza (“lane”).^[7][8][6] Casaretto notes that the stem with w is found only in Gothic, the other languages pointing to a stem without it, and takes the word as probably a secondary formation from *gata- (“hole”);^[9] Kroonen explains the Norse form as a back-formation from the oblique cases of a paradigm with -w-.^[6] Holthausen calls the word unexplained and Lehmann its etymology obscure.^[10][7] Lehmann thinks a link with Old English geat (“gate, doorway”) and gat (“hole”) possible but doubtful;^[7] these words have been traced to Proto-Indo-European *ghed- (“to defecate”), as Holthausen proposed,^[8][7] while Kroonen takes "hole" to have developed from "passage" and connects both words with *getan- (“to find (a way)”).^[6] Lithuanian gatvė (“cattle track”) is more probably borrowed from Germanic than cognate, according to Feist and Uhlenbeck.^[8][11]

Attestation

The word occurs once, at Luke 14:21 in manuscript CA, where it renders Ancient Greek πλατεῖα (plateîa, “broad street”).^[4][12][2] The verse has usgagg sprauto in gatwons jah staigos baurgs, "go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city".^[13]

Meanings

1. street, thoroughfare, for πλατεῖα^[2][1][5]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. gatwo
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gatwō*
3. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 279
4. ^ a b 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. 𐌲𐌰𐍄𐍅𐍉
6. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 170
7. ^ 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. *gatwo
8. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. gatwo
9. ^ Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 159–160
10. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Gotisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 36
11. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 62
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. Lk 14:21