𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽

Forms

𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (giban), a strong verb of the fifth class.^[1][2] Its principal parts are giban, gaf, gebum, gibans.^[3][4] The commonest recorded forms are 𐌲𐌰𐍆 (gaf, 34 times), 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰 (giba, 20), 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌹 (gibai, 19), 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌹𐌸 (gibiþ, 18) and 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (giban, 16), in the Wulfila project's count; the preterite plural appears as 𐌲𐌴𐌱𐌿𐌽 (gebun) and 𐌲𐌴𐌱𐌿𐌸 (gebuþ), the second person singular preterite as 𐌲𐌰𐍆𐍄 (gaft).^[5] The present participle gibands is also used as a noun, "giver".^[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *gebaną (“to give”),^[6][7] with the cognates Old Norse gefa, Old English giefan, Old Frisian jeva, Old Saxon geban and Old High German geban.^[8] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ-.^[6] Lehmann thinks it probably comes from Proto-Indo-European *gʰabʰ- (“to take, grasp”), the root of Latin habeō (“to hold, have”), Old Irish gaibid (“takes, seizes”) and Lithuanian gabenù (“I take away”); the Germanic verb would have been remodelled when the inherited verb for "give", seen in Latin dō and Ancient Greek δίδωμι (dídōmi), was lost.^[4][9] Orel likewise relates the Latin and Old Irish verbs and says that the Germanic verb took the place of the inherited verb for "give".^[10] Feist compares the Lithuanian and Old Irish verbs.^[9] Kroonen gives a different preform, Proto-Indo-European *ko(m)-h₁ep-.^[8]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 167 tokens (40 of them ambiguous), in all four Gospels, in most of the Pauline epistles and in Nehemiah; most are in manuscript CA (88), the others in B (38), A (34), Car (5), C and D (one each).^[5] Köbler counts 135 attestations.^[7] The first in canonical order is Matthew 5:31 in CA.^[5] Of the 129 tokens in the PROIEL texts, 122 render Ancient Greek δίδωμι (dídōmi); single tokens render ἀποδίδωμι (apodídōmi), μεταδίδωμι (metadídōmi), προδίδωμι (prodídōmi) and ψωμίζω (psōmízō).^[11] At Matthew 5:42: 𐌸𐌰𐌼𐌼𐌰 𐌱𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌹𐌽 𐌸𐌿𐌺 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍃 (þamma bidjandin þuk gibais), "give to the one who asks you".^[12]

Meanings

1. to give (for Ancient Greek δίδωμι (dídōmi))^[1][7][11]

   mat giban, to feed (for Ancient Greek ψωμίζειν (psōmízein))^[7]

   fruma giban, to give first (for Ancient Greek προδιδόναι (prodidónai))^[7]

   giban wulþu, to glorify, praise^[13]

Word family

• 𐌰𐍆𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (afgiban, “to depart”)
• 𐌰𐍄𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (atgiban, “to give over, deliver”)
• 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (fragiban, “to grant; to forgive”)
• 𐌿𐍃𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (usgiban, “to repay, give back”)
• 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (gibands, “giver”)
• 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰 (giba, “gift”)
• 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌹𐍆𐍄𐍃 (fragifts, “grant; betrothal”)

Related words

• 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌴𐌹 (gabei, “riches”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌹𐌲𐍃 (gabigs, “rich”)

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. giban
2. ^ a b Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 279
3. ^ Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 72
4. ^ a b c 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. giban
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. giban
8. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 172
9. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. giban
10. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 130
11. ^ 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
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 5:42
13. ^ Lambdin, Thomas O. (2006), An Introduction to the Gothic Language, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock, p. 31