𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽

Forms

𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽 (laun), a neuter a-stem noun.^[1][2][3] The recorded forms are the accusative singular 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽 (laun), the nominative plural 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽𐌰 (launa) and the genitive plural 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽𐌴 (laune), and Köbler adds 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽𐌹𐍃 (launis) from a gloss.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *launą (“reward”),^[4][5][6] with Old Norse laun, Old English lēan, Old Frisian lān, Old Saxon lōn and Old High German lōn.^[5][7] Casaretto classes it with the Germanic nouns in ⟨-na-⟩ built on the full grade of the root: a noun of action to a verbal root that Germanic did not keep but Greek continues in Ancient Greek ἀπολαύω (apolaúō, “to enjoy”).^[3] Kroonen derives it from a stem in ⟨-no-⟩ to the PIE root Proto-Indo-European *leh₂u- (“to capture, enjoy”), in a shape with the laryngeal displaced, since the plain root shape would have given a Germanic form with ⟨ō⟩.^[5][4] Outside Germanic, Feist and Kroonen compare λεία (leía, “booty”) and Latin lucrum (“profit”),^[7][5] and Orel and Uhlenbeck add the Slavic word for hunting, Proto-Slavic *lovъ.^[6][8] Bammesberger connected the noun with 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (fraliusan, “to lose”), as Casaretto and Orel report;^[3][6] Kroonen holds that it is unrelated to *leusan- (“to lose”).^[5]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts five tokens: 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽 (laun) at Matthew 6:1 and 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽𐌴 (laune) three times at Luke 6:32–34, all in CA, and 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽𐌰 (launa) at Romans 6:23 in A.^[9] Köbler counts six, adding 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽𐌹𐍃 (launis) at 1 Timothy 5:18, which he marks as a gloss in A.^[2] PROIEL aligns it three times with Ancient Greek χάρις (kháris), once with Ancient Greek μισθός (misthós) and once with Ancient Greek ὀψώνιον (opsṓnion).^[10] Matthew 6:1 reads aiþþau laun ni habaiþ fram attin izwaramma þamma in himinam, "otherwise you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven".^[11]

Meanings

1. A reward or recompense; it renders Ancient Greek μισθός (misthós) at Matthew 6:1 and Ancient Greek χάρις (kháris) ("thanks, credit") at Luke 6:32–34.^{[1][12][2][10]}
2. wages, pay, for Ancient Greek ὀψώνιον (opsṓnion) at Romans 6:23.^[4][13][10]

Word family

• 𐍃𐌹𐌲𐌹𐍃𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽 (sigislaun, “prize of victory”)
• 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽𐌰𐍅𐌰𐍂𐌲𐍃 (launawargs, “ungrateful”)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽𐌹 (andalauni, “recompense”)

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. laun
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. laun
3. ^ a b c Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
4. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽
5. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 329
6. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 239
7. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. laun
8. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 99
9. ^ 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
10. ^ 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
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 6:1
12. ^ Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 101
13. ^ Balg, G. H. (1887–1889), A Comparative Glossary of the Gothic Language, with Especial Reference to English and German, Mayville, Wis.: the author, p. 238