𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽

Forms

𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (ligan), a strong verb of the fifth class.^[1][2][3] Miller gives the principal parts ligan*, lag, *legum.^[4] The preterite plural and the past participle are not recorded.^[5] The recorded forms are 𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌹𐌸 (ligiþ, five times), 𐌻𐌰𐌲 (lag, three times), 𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽 (ligandein) and 𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍉 (ligando, twice each), 𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽 (ligandan), 𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽𐌴 (ligandane) and 𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌴𐌹 (ligandei, once each), in the Wulfila project's count.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *ligjaną (“to lie”),^[7][8] from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-.^[7][9] Gothic has a present without -j-, which Feist finds elsewhere only in Old High German ligan; the other Germanic languages have a present with -j-: Old Norse liggja, Old English licgan, Old Frisian lidza, Old Saxon liggian and liggan.^[10][11][8] Lehmann takes the PIE root as originally athematic and punctual, "lie down", and lists among its derivatives Ancient Greek λέχος (lékhos, “bed”) and Latin lectus (“bed”).^[5] The causative is 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (lagjan, “to lay”).^[5][12]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 15 tokens, four each in Matthew, Luke and Mark, two in 2 Corinthians and one in the Skeireins; twelve are in manuscript CA, the others in A, B and Lat5750.^[6] Köbler counts 14 attestations.^[9] The first in canonical order is Matthew 8:6 in CA.^[6] In the PROIEL texts it renders Ancient Greek βάλλω (bállō) and κεῖμαι (keîmai) four times each, κατάκειμαι (katákeimai) three times and κοιμάομαι (koimáomai) once.^[13] At Matthew 8:14: 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐌰𐍈 𐍃𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍂𐍉𐌽 𐌹𐍃 𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽 𐌹𐌽 𐌷𐌴𐌹𐍄𐍉𐌼 (gasaƕ swaihron is ligandein in heitom), "he saw his mother-in-law lying in a fever".^[14]

Meanings

1. to lie, lie down, rest (for Ancient Greek κεῖσθαι (keîsthai), κατακεῖσθαι (katakeîsthai))^[1][5][7]
2. to lie sick, be bedridden (for Ancient Greek βεβλῆσθαι (beblêsthai))^[9]

Word family

• 𐌰𐍄𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (atligan, “to lie near, be at hand”)
• 𐌿𐍆𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (ufligan, “to fail, faint”)
• 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (fairligan, “to abandon”)

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. ligan
2. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 287
3. ^ Lambdin, Thomas O. (2006), An Introduction to the Gothic Language, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock, p. 179
4. ^ Miller, D. Gary (2019), The Oxford Gothic Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 185
5. ^ a b c d 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. *ligan
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽
8. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 330
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ligan*
10. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. ligan
11. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 240
12. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Gotisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. ligan
13. ^ 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
14. ^ 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 8:14