𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽

Forms

𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (lētan), a reduplicating strong verb (the seventh class in Wright's and Lambdin's numbering), with the preterite 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍉𐍄 (lailōt), plural 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍉𐍄𐌿𐌽 (lailōtun).^[1][2][3][4] The infinitive is not recorded; the forms are 𐌻𐌴𐍄 (lēt, eight times), 𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌹𐌸 (lētiþ, five), lailōt (three) and single lēta, lētand, lailōtun and lētands, in the Wulfila project's count.^[5][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *lētaną (“to let, allow”),^[6][7][8] cognate with Old Norse láta, Old English lǣtan, Old Frisian lēta, Old Saxon lātan and Old High German lāzan.^[7][8][9] Kroonen traces it to Proto-Indo-European *léh₁d-e- and relates Ancient Greek ληδεῖν (lēdeîn, “to be tired”), Albanian lodh (“to tire”) and Latin lassus (“tired, weary”);^[7] Orel and Uhlenbeck give the same comparisons, Uhlenbeck with a root meaning "to be slack".^[8][9] Orel also records Brugmann's comparison with Lithuanian léisti (“to let”).^[8] Feist and Lehmann discuss the reduplicated preterite of Gothic beside the different preterite types of North and West Germanic.^[10][11]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts twenty tokens, all in the Gospels in manuscript CA;^[4] Köbler counts 21, adding leitaidau at Romans 12:19 in manuscript A.^[4][5] The first record in canonical order is Matthew 8:22.^[4] In PROIEL's alignment it renders Ancient Greek ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) eighteen times and ἐάω (eáō) once.^[12] Matthew 8:22 reads let þans dauþans gafilhan seinans dauþans, "let the dead bury their own dead".^[13]

Meanings

1. to let, allow, permit^[14][5]
2. to let alone, to leave behind^[14][3]
3. to let out, emit, utter^[14][3]

Word family

• 𐌰𐍆𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (aflētan, “to release, forgive”)
• 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (fralētan, “to let go, forgive”)
• 𐌿𐍃𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (uslētan, “to exclude”)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌽𐌰𐌽 (andlētnan, “to be released, die”)
• 𐌰𐍆𐌻𐌴𐍄 (aflēt, “remission”)
• 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌻𐌴𐍄 (fralēt, “forgiveness”)
• 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌻𐌴𐍄𐍃 (fralēts, “freedman”)

Related words

• 𐌻𐌰𐍄𐍃 (lats, “lazy”)

Usage notes

The form leitaidau at Romans 12:19 is spelt with ei for ē.^[1][5]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. letan
2. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. lētan
3. ^ a b c Lambdin, Thomas O. (2006), An Introduction to the Gothic Language, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock, p. 179
4. ^ a b c d e 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lētan
6. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽
7. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 332
8. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 244
9. ^ a b Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 101
10. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. letan
11. ^ 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. letan
12. ^ 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 8:22
14. ^ a b c Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 102