𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌹

Forms

𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌹 (ibai), an indeclinable particle and conjunction, also written 𐌹𐌱𐌰 (iba).^[1][2][3] Streitberg records iba at Luke 17:9 and at Galatians 6:1 in manuscript A, where manuscript B has ibai.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *ibai, a variant of *jabai, the source of 𐌾𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌹 (jabai, “if”).^[4][5] The cognates mean "if": Old Norse ef, Old English gif, Old Frisian jef, Old Saxon ef and Old High German ibu, with ablaut variants such as of and oba (“if, whether”).^[6][7] Nouns meaning "doubt" or "condition" stand beside them, such as iba (“condition”) in Old High German, and Uhlenbeck and Grienberger take the Gothic word as an old case form of such a noun.^[6][7][8] Feist finds no certain etymology for the Germanic stem and rejects a comparison with Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí, “on, at”); he reports Brugmann's analysis, which separates off the pronominal stem of 𐌹𐍃 (is, “he”).^[6] Köbler and Gothic Online point to an emphatic particle Proto-Indo-European *bʰē̆, with a query.^[3][9]

Attestation

Köbler counts 69 records, in the Bible and the Skeireins.^[3] The Wulfila project has two lemmas: the question particle with 54 tokens (five of them ambiguous) and the conjunction with 31 (five ambiguous), in manuscripts CA, A, B, E and Lat5750.^[2] In canonical order the first is Matthew 5:25 for the conjunction and Matthew 7:16 for the particle.^[2] In PROIEL the particle renders Ancient Greek μή (mḗ) 31 times and Ancient Greek μήτι (mḗti) five times; the conjunction renders μή and Ancient Greek μήπως (mḗpōs) eight times each and Ancient Greek μήποτε (mḗpote) twice.^[10] Matthew 7:16 asks 𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌹 𐌻𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌽𐌳 𐌰𐍆 𐌸𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽𐌿𐌼 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌱𐌰𐍃𐌾𐌰 (ibai lisand af þaurnum weinabasja), "do they gather grapes from thorns?"^[11]

Meanings

1. in a direct question expecting the answer "no": surely not?, can it be that? (for μή, μήτι)^[1][12][4]
2. in an indirect question after verbs of fearing, taking care or preventing, with the optative: whether perhaps^[1][13]
3. as a conjunction with the optative: lest, that ... not (for μή, μήπως, μήποτε)^[1][12][10] With other words it forms ibai aufto "lest perhaps" and ibai ƕan "lest at any time".^[14][15]

Word family

• 𐌽𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌹 (nibai, “unless”)
• 𐌽𐌹𐌱𐌰 (niba, “unless”)

Related words

• 𐌾𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌹 (jabai, “if”)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. ibai
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ibai
4. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌹
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *jabai
6. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. ibai
7. ^ a b Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 88
8. ^ Grienberger, Theodor von (1900), Untersuchungen zur gotischen Wortkunde, Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, phil.-hist. Classe 142, Wien, p. s.v. ibai
9. ^ Slocum, Jonathan; Krause, Todd B., Gothic Online, Base Form Dictionary, Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, p. s.v. ibái
10. ^ 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
11. ^ 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 7:16
12. ^ a b Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. ibái
13. ^ Schulze, Ernst (1867), Gothisches Wörterbuch nebst Flexionslehre, Züllichau: Darnmann, p. 99
14. ^ Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 87
15. ^ 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. s.v. ibai