𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃

Forms

𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃 (dails), a feminine i-stem noun.^[1][2][3] The nominative singular is not recorded; the forms found are the accusative singular 𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻 (dail), the dative singular 𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌹 (dailai) and the genitive plural 𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌴 (daile).^[2][4] The Wulfila project counts dailai five times and dail and daile twice each.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *dailiz (“part, portion”).^[6][7] The feminine i-stem is confined to Gothic; the other Germanic languages have an a-stem *daila-, masculine or neuter, in Old Norse deill, Old English dǣl, Old Frisian dēl, Old Saxon dēl and Old High German teil.^[4][2][8] Kroonen calls the word a Germanic and Balto-Slavic isogloss, matched by Proto-Slavic *dělъ (“part”), and says that it could in theory be a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put”), though the formation has no direct parallel elsewhere in Indo-European.^[8][9] Orel likewise takes it as identical with the Slavic word and relates it to a root meaning "to divide", with an irregular initial consonant.^[7] Lehmann finds no accepted etymology; he cites Pedersen's view that the Germanic word was borrowed from Slavic, and the opposite view that Slavic borrowed it from Germanic.^[10] Köbler, too, gives no certain etymology.^[2]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts nine tokens, in Luke, 1 and 2 Corinthians and Colossians, in manuscripts CA, A and B; Köbler gives seven records.^[5][2] In canonical order the first is the accusative dail at Luke 15:12 in CA.^[5] PROIEL aligns it with Ancient Greek μέρος (méros) four times and with μερίς (merís) twice.^[11] Luke 15:12 reads gif mis, sei undrinnai mik dail aiginis ("give me the share of the property that falls to me").^[12]

Meanings

1. A part or portion, for μέρος and μερίς.^[1][3][11]
2. A share.^[3][6]
3. In the phrase us dailai, partly or piecemeal.^[13][14]
4. In the phrase in dailai, in respect of.^[14]

Word family

• 𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (dailjan, “to share, divide”)
• 𐌰𐍆𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (afdailjan, “to give a part”)
• 𐌳𐌹𐍃𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (disdailjan, “to divide up”)
• 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (fradailjan, “to distribute”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gadailjan, “to distribute”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌰 (gadaila, “partner”)

Related words

• 𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌰 (daila, “participation”)

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. dails
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. dails*
3. ^ a b c Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 51
4. ^ a b Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
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. 𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃
7. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *đailiz
8. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 87
9. ^ Pronk-Tiethoff, Saskia (2013), The Germanic Loanwords in Proto-Slavic, Leiden Studies in Indo-European 20, Amsterdam / New York: Rodopi
10. ^ 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. dails
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 15:12
13. ^ Lambdin, Thomas O. (2006), An Introduction to the Gothic Language, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock, p. 172
14. ^ a b 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. 415