𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍉

Forms

𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍉 (hairtō), a neuter n-stem noun.^[1][2][3] The Wulfila project counts the dative singular 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐌹𐌽 (hairtin) 28 times, the dative plural 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐌰𐌼 (hairtam) 18, the genitive singular 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐌹𐌽𐍃 (hairtins) 15, the plural 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍉𐌽𐌰 (hairtona) 14, hairto 13 and the genitive plural 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐌰𐌽𐌴 (hairtane) 5 times.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hertô (“heart”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱḗr.^[5] Casaretto and Kroonen analyse the Germanic n-stem as an n-extension of the Indo-European root noun.^[3][6] The Germanic cognates are Old Norse hjarta, Old English heorte, Old Frisian herte, Old Saxon herta and Old High German herza.^[6] Old English and Old Frisian made the word feminine.^[6][3] Outside Germanic, Kroonen and Orel list Hittite ker-, kard(i)-, Ancient Greek καρδία (kardía), Latin cor, Old Irish cride, Lithuanian širdìs and Proto-Slavic *sьrdьce.^[6][7]

Attestation

Köbler counts 76 records and the Wulfila project 93, in all four Gospels, in most of the Pauline epistles (22 in 2 Corinthians) and once in the Skeireins.^[8][4] The manuscripts are CA, A, B and E.^[4] In canonical order the first is hairtin at Matthew 5:28 in CA.^[4] PROIEL aligns 70 of its 74 tokens with Ancient Greek καρδία (kardía).^[9] At Matthew 6:21: "þarei auk ist huzd izwar þaruh ist jah hairto izwar", "for where your treasure is, there is your heart too".^[10]

Meanings

1. the heart, for καρδία^[1][8][9]

Word family

• 𐌰𐍂𐌼𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍃 (armahairts, “merciful”)
• 𐌰𐍂𐌼𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐌴𐌹 (armahairtei, “mercy”)
• 𐌰𐍂𐌼𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐌹𐌸𐌰 (armahairtiþa, “mercy”)
• 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌷𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍃 (hauhhairts, “proud”)
• 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌷𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐌴𐌹 (hauhhairtei, “pride”)
• 𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌿𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐌴𐌹 (harduhairtei)
• 𐌷𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍃 (hrainjahairts, “pure in heart”)

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. hairto
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 c Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
4. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍉
6. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 222
7. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 170
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. haírtō
9. ^ 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
10. ^ 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 6:21