𐌲𐌿𐌼𐌰

Forms

𐌲𐌿𐌼𐌰 (guma), a masculine weak noun (n-stem).^[1][2][3] The Bible text has the nominative and vocative singular 𐌲𐌿𐌼𐌰 (guma) and the genitive plural 𐌲𐌿𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌴 (gumane);^[4][5] Köbler adds the dative singular 𐌲𐌿𐌼𐌹𐌽 (gumin), written as a gloss in manuscript A at Ephesians 4:13.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *gumô (“man”),^[6][4] Kroonen's *guman-.^[7] The Germanic cognates are Old Norse gumi, Old English guma, Old Saxon gumo and Old High German gomo.^[7][8] Casaretto classes it as an n-stem noun of belonging with no base word in Germanic.^[3] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰm̥mō, the source also of Latin homō (“human being”) and of a Baltic word for "man",^[6] and Kroonen derives the formation from the Proto-Indo-European word for "earth".^[7] Orel adds Tocharian B śaumo (“man”) and explains the word as "earthly one";^[8] Feist renders the root meaning as "the one belonging to the earth", with a question mark.^[9] Uhlenbeck connects Latin humus (“ground”) and Ancient Greek χαμαί (khamaí, “on the ground”).^[10]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts three tokens: Luke 19:2 in manuscript CA, 1 Corinthians 7:16 in A and Nehemiah 5:17 in D.^[5] Köbler counts four records, including the gloss at Ephesians 4:13.^[4] In both its Gospel and Epistle occurrences it renders Ancient Greek ἀνήρ (anḗr).^[11] Luke 19:2 reads jah sai guma namin haitans Zakkaius, "and behold, a man called by name Zacchaeus".^[12]

Meanings

1. A man, a male human being; for ἀνήρ.^[13][4][11]

Word family

• 𐌲𐌿𐌼𐌰𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍃 (gumakunds, “male”)
• 𐌲𐌿𐌼𐌴𐌹𐌽 (gumein, “a male being”)

Usage notes

In the Ambrosian manuscript A the phrase waira fullamma "a perfect man" at Ephesians 4:13 is glossed gumin fullamma, the two nouns being synonyms.^[14]

References

1. ^ Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. guma
2. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 280
3. ^ a b Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. guma
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌲𐌿𐌼𐌰
7. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 195
8. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 146
9. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. guma
10. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 67
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. Lk 19:2
13. ^ Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 74
14. ^ Falluomini, Carla (2015), The Gothic Version of the Gospels and Pauline Epistles: Cultural Background, Transmission and Character, Arbeiten zur neutestamentlichen Textforschung 46, Berlin / Boston: de Gruyter, p. 124