𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍆𐍃

Forms

𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍆𐍃 (liufs), an adjective of the a-declension, genitive singular 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌱𐌹𐍃 (liubis).^[1][2][3] The f of the nominative alternates with b before an ending, so that every recorded form has b; the Wulfila project counts 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌱𐌰 (liuba, ten times), 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌱𐌰𐌽𐍃 (liubans, ten times), 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌽 (liubin, six times), 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌱𐌰𐌹 (liubai, three times), 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌱𐌰𐌽𐌰 (liubana, twice), 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌱𐌰𐌽 (liuban) and 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌱𐍉𐌽 (liubon), once each.^[4][5] Köbler stars the headword, as the nominative singular itself is not recorded.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *leubaz (“dear, beloved”),^[7][8][9] the adjective behind Old Norse ljúfr, Old English lēof, Old Frisian liāf, Old Saxon liof and Old High German liob, all meaning "dear".^[8][9][10] Kroonen derives it from a Proto-Indo-European o-stem Proto-Indo-European *leubʰ-o-, formally identical to an Old Church Slavonic adjective meaning "sweet, pleasant".^[8] Feist and Uhlenbeck trace it to the root Proto-Indo-European *leubʰ- (“to desire, be pleasing”), which they also find in Sanskrit and Slavic verbs for desiring and loving and in Latin lubet (“it pleases”) with libīdō (“desire”).^[11][10] The same root gives Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃 (galaufs, “valuable”), 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌾𐌰𐌽 (galaubjan, “to believe”) and 𐌻𐌿𐌱𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (lubains, “hope”), with other grades of the vowel.^[11][12]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 33 tokens, in Luke and Mark and in Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Timothy and Philemon.^[4] Köbler counts 23 attestations.^[6] The tokens are in manuscripts CA (6), A (14), B (12) and Car (1), and the first in canonical order is Luke 3:22 in CA.^[4] In the Gospels and Epistles aligned by PROIEL it renders Ancient Greek ἀγαπητός (agapētós, “beloved”) 18 times out of 22.^[13] Luke 3:22 reads þu is sunus meins sa liuba, in þuzei waila galeikaida, "you are my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased".^[14] The weak form 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌱𐌰 (liuba) after the article in sunus meins sa liuba recurs at Mark 1:11 and 9:7 and Luke 3:22 and 9:35.^[15]

Meanings

1. dear, beloved, for Ancient Greek ἀγαπητός (agapētós).^{[1][6][2][13]}

Word family

• 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌱𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (liubaleiks)
• 𐌿𐌽𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍆𐍃 (unliufs)

Related words

• 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃 (galaufs)
• 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌾𐌰𐌽 (galaubjan)
• 𐌻𐌿𐌱𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (lubains)
• 𐌱𐍂𐍉𐌸𐍂𐌰𐌻𐌿𐌱𐍉 (brōþralubō)

Usage notes

Romans 9:25 sets the word against its negative: jah þo unliubon liubon, which Krause renders "and the unloved one the beloved".^[16]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. liufs
2. ^ a b Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 103
3. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 287
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Stamm, Friedrich Ludwig; Heyne, Moriz (1920), Ulfilas oder die uns erhaltenen Denkmäler der gotischen Sprache: Text, Wörterbuch und Grammatik, 13th–14th ed. by Ferdinand Wrede, Paderborn: Schöningh, p. 451
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. liufs*
7. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍆𐍃
8. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 332
9. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 241
10. ^ a b Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 102
11. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. liufs
12. ^ 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. liufs
13. ^ 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
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. Lk 3:22
15. ^ Miller, D. Gary (2019), The Oxford Gothic Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 74
16. ^ Krause, Wolfgang (1963), Handbuch des Gotischen, 2nd ed., München: Beck, p. § 151