𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃

Forms

𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃 (hlaifs), a masculine a-stem noun, genitive singular 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱𐌹𐍃 (hlaibis).^[1][2][3] The stem ends in f at the end of the word and in b before a vowel: the Wulfila project counts 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆 (hlaif, 21), 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽𐍃 (hlaibans, 17), hlaifs (10), 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌼 (hlaibam, 5), 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱𐌴 (hlaibe, 3), hlaibis (3), 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱 (hlaib, 2), 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱𐌰 (hlaiba, 2) and 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱𐍉𐍃 (hlaibos, 1).^[4][5] Streitberg notes the nominative 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱𐍃 (hlaibs) at Luke 4:3.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz (“bread”).^[5][6] The Germanic cognates are Old Norse hleifr, Old English hlāf, Old Frisian hlēf and Old High German hleib, whence English loaf.^[7][6][5] Its origin is unknown to Lehmann, Köbler and Kroonen.^[8][9][6] Kroonen and Casaretto mention the comparison with Ancient Greek κλίβανος (klíbanos, “covered pot, oven”), and Casaretto thinks the Germanic and Greek words were probably all borrowed from a non-Indo-European language.^[6][10] Holthausen relates Middle High German lebekuoche (“gingerbread”), which Kroonen gives as possibly related.^[11][6] Lehmann reports the view of Schrader and Nehring that the word meant unleavened bread, in contrast to Proto-Germanic *brauða- "leavened bread".^[8]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 64 tokens, in all four Gospels (26 in John), in the Corinthian letters, 2 Thessalonians, Nehemiah and the Skeireins.^[4] Köbler counts 73 records.^[9] The tokens are in manuscripts CA (47), A (8), E (5), D (3) and B (1).^[4] The first in canonical order is at Matthew 6:11.^[4] In PROIEL it renders Ancient Greek ἄρτος (ártos) 55 times and ψωμίον (psōmíon) four times.^[12] Matthew 6:11, in the Lord's Prayer, reads hlaif unsarana þana sinteinan gif uns himma daga, "give us today our daily bread".^[13]

Meanings

1. bread, a loaf; for Ancient Greek ἄρτος (ártos).^[1][2][12]
2. a morsel of bread; for ψωμίον (psōmíon).^[1][12]
3. In the plural hlaibos faurlageinais "the showbread".^[9]

Borrowings into other languages

• Proto-Slavic: *xlěbъ^[14][15][5]

Related words

• 𐌲𐌰𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱𐌰 (gahlaiba, “companion”)

Usage notes

Pronk-Tiethoff takes the Slavic word as borrowed from Gothic and as evidence that Gothic ai was taken into early Proto-Slavic as a long ē.^[14] Kiparsky derives it from the Germanic form, and Wiktionary calls Gothic the probable source.^[15][5] Feist reports that some scholars instead took the Gothic and Old Church Slavonic words as cognates.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. hlaifs
2. ^ a b Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 80
3. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 282
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. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃
6. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 228
7. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *xlaiƀaz
8. ^ a b 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. hlaifs
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hlaifs*
10. ^ Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Gotisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 46
12. ^ a b c 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
13. ^ 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 6:11
14. ^ a b Pronk-Tiethoff, Saskia (2013), The Germanic Loanwords in Proto-Slavic, Leiden Studies in Indo-European 20, Amsterdam / New York: Rodopi
15. ^ a b Kiparsky, Valentin (1934), Die gemeinslavischen Lehnwörter aus dem Germanischen, Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae B XXXII,2, Helsinki
16. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. hlaifs