𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍃

Forms

𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍃 (handus), a feminine u-stem noun.^[1][2] The Wulfila project counts 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐌽𐍃 (handuns, 24), 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌿 (handau, 21), 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿 (handu, 16), 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐌼 (handum, 8), handus (7) and 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌹𐍅𐌴 (handiwe, 3).^[3] Its inflection is that of the masculine 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌿𐍃 (sunus, “son”).^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *handuz (“hand”).^[5][6] The Germanic cognates are Old Norse hǫnd, Old English hand, Old Frisian hand, Old Saxon hand and Old High German hant.^[7] Feist and Lehmann also cite handa from Busbecq's record of Crimean Gothic.^[8][9] Lehmann calls the etymology uncertain and the word a Germanic innovation.^[9] The most favoured explanation, already Grimm's, makes it "the grasper", from the verb seen in Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌷𐌹𐌽𐌸𐌰𐌽 (frahinþan, “to seize”) and Proto-Germanic *hinþaną, as Feist, Holthausen (with "perhaps"), Uhlenbeck, Orel and Kroonen.^{[8][10][11][7][6]} Orel compares the pair Lithuanian rankà (“hand”) and riñkti (“to gather”) in Lithuanian.^[7] Casaretto prefers Seebold's view, which joins the noun with 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐌲𐍃 (handugs, “wise”) and traces the root outside Germanic to Proto-Indo-European *ḱent- (“to prick”).^[12][13][9]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 79 tokens, in all four Gospels, in most of the Epistles, in the Skeireins and in the Naples deed.^[3] Köbler counts 73 records.^[13] The tokens are in manuscripts CA (52), B (11), A (10), Speyer and Lat5750, and four are in the Naples deed.^[3] The first in canonical order is at Matthew 5:30.^[3] In PROIEL it renders Ancient Greek χείρ (kheír) 64 times.^[14] Matthew 8:3 reads jah ufrakjands handu attaitok imma, "and stretching out his hand he touched him".^[15]

Meanings

1. hand; for Ancient Greek χείρ (kheír).^[1][13][14]

Word family

• 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐌲𐍃 (handugs, “wise”)
• 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌾𐌰 (laushandja, “empty-handed”)
• 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌷𐍄𐍃 (handuwaurhts, “made by hand”)

Related words

• 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌷𐌹𐌽𐌸𐌰𐌽 (frahinþan, “to seize”)

Usage notes

The four records outside the Bible are the dative handau in the Naples deed.^[13][3]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. handus
2. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 281
3. ^ a b c d e 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
4. ^ Lambdin, Thomas O. (2006), An Introduction to the Gothic Language, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍃
6. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 207
7. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *xanđuz
8. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. handus
9. ^ 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. handus
10. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Gotisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 43
11. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 73
12. ^ Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. handus
14. ^ 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
15. ^ 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 8:3