𐌹𐌽

Forms

𐌹𐌽 (in), a preposition taking the dative, the accusative or the genitive.^[1][2] It is also a verbal prefix.^[3][4] Under it the Wulfila project counts, besides 𐌹𐌽 (2,312 times), the forms 𐌹𐌽𐌿𐌷 (inuh, 33) and 𐌹𐌽𐌿 (inu, 13), which Köbler lists as a separate preposition.^[5][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *in (“in”),^[7][8][9] like Old Norse í, Old English in, Old Frisian in, Old Saxon in and Old High German in.^[9][10] It continues Proto-Indo-European *h₁én (“in”),^[7] which Kroonen describes as a preposition that was originally an adverb.^[8] The cognates outside Germanic include Ancient Greek ἐν (en), Latin in, Old Irish in, Old Prussian en, Lithuanian į̃ and Proto-Slavic *vъn.^[9][8][10]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 2,358 tokens (45 of them ambiguous), in every book of the corpus, in the Skeireins (47) and twice in the calendar.^[5] Köbler counts 1,814 records and lists the calendar entries for 15 and 19 November.^[3] Lehmann calls it the second most frequent word in the Gothic texts.^[10] Most tokens are in manuscripts CA (911), B (701) and A (663).^[5] The first in canonical order is at Matthew 5:15.^[5] Of the 1,834 prepositional tokens PROIEL aligns with the Greek, 1,128 render Ancient Greek ἐν (en), 414 Ancient Greek εἰς (eis), 72 Ancient Greek διά (diá) and 20 Ancient Greek ἐνώπιον (enṓpion).^[11] At Matthew 5:15: jah liuteiþ allaim þaim in þamma garda, "and it gives light to all who are in the house".^[12]

Meanings

1. with the dative, of rest: in, within, on, at, among, for Ancient Greek ἐν (en)^[1][2][11]
2. with the dative, of time: in, on, during^[2][7]
3. with the accusative, of direction: into, to, towards, onto, for Ancient Greek εἰς (eis)^[1][2][11]
4. with the genitive: because of, for the sake of, through, for Ancient Greek διά (diá) and Ancient Greek ἕνεκα (héneka)^[1][2][11]
5. in andwairþja, before, in the presence of, for Ancient Greek ἔμπροσθεν (émprosthen) and Ancient Greek ἐνώπιον (enṓpion)^[3][2]
6. in ƕis, why, for Ancient Greek διατί (diatí)^[3]

Related words

• 𐌹𐌽- (in-, “in-, en-”)
• 𐌹𐌽𐌽 (inn, “in, inwards”)
• 𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰 (inna, “within”)
• 𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽𐌰 (innana, “from within”)

References

1. ^ a b c d Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. in
2. ^ a b c d e f Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 88
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. in
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌹𐌽-
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. inu
7. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌹𐌽
8. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 269
9. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *eni
10. ^ 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. in
11. ^ a b c d 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 5:15