𐌸𐌿

Forms

𐌸𐌿 (þū), the personal pronoun of the second person singular.^[1][2] Its genitive is 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰 (þeina), the dative 𐌸𐌿𐍃 (þus) and the accusative 𐌸𐌿𐌺 (þuk).^[3][4][5] The Wulfila project counts þus 156 times, þuk 143 times, þu 109 times and þeina 30 times.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *þū (“you (singular)”),^[7][8][9] with the cognates Old Norse þú, Old English þū, Old Frisian thū, Old Saxon thū and Old High German dū.^[9] It continues Proto-Indo-European *túh₂,^[7][8] the source also of Ancient Greek σύ (sú), Latin tū, Old Irish tú, Lithuanian tù, Tocharian B tuwe and Old Church Slavonic тꙑ (ty).^[9][7][10]

Attestation

The Wulfila project's lemma has 1,599 tokens, but it includes the plural forms jus, izwis and izwara and the dual igqis, which make up most of them; it occurs throughout the Gospels and Epistles and in the Skeireins.^[6] Köbler counts 403 records of the singular pronoun.^[8] PROIEL counts 384 tokens in the Gospels and Epistles, rendering Ancient Greek σύ (sú) 313 times and the reflexive Ancient Greek σεαυτοῦ (seautoû, “yourself”) 24 times; its first record is Matthew 5:23.^[11] That verse ends jah jainar gamuneis þatei broþar þeins habaiþ ƕa bi þuk, "and there you remember that your brother has something against you".^[12]

Meanings

1. thou, you (one person); for σύ.^[7][13][11]

Word family

• 𐌸𐌿𐌴𐌹 (þuei, “you who”)

Related words

• 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (þeins, “your, thy”)

Usage notes

Feist and Lehmann cite the Crimean Gothic form tzo.^[4][5]

References

1. ^ Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. þu
2. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 299
3. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1868), A Moeso-Gothic Glossary, with an Introduction, an Outline of Moeso-Gothic Grammar, and a List of Anglo-Saxon and Old and Modern English Words Etymologically Connected with Moeso-Gothic, London: Asher, p. 229
4. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. þu
5. ^ 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. þu
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌸𐌿
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. þū
9. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 428
10. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 153
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. Mt 5:23
13. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press