Etymology and origin of the Gothic word 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰
Two words are spelled 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰: the inherited word for "man, person" and the Greek loanword for the manna of John 6.[1][2][3]
𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰1 man, person
Forms
𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰 (manna), an irregular masculine noun that mixes consonant-stem and n-stem forms.[1][2][4] The Wulfila project counts 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰 (manna) 97 times, 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐍃 (mans) 74, 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌴 (manne) 57, 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (mannan) 42, 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌼 (mannam) 39, 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽 (mann) 30 and 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽𐍃 (mannans) ten times.[5] Beside the weak stem, a consonant stem appears in the genitive mans.[6] Lehmann gives the dative singular mann and both mans and mannans as accusative plurals.[7]
Etymology
The word for "man, person" is inherited from Proto-Germanic *mann- (“human being, person”),[8][9] with the cognates Old Norse maðr, Old English mann, Old Frisian mann, Old Saxon man and Old High German man.[9][10] Lehmann sees an older n-stem in the first part of compounds such as 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍃𐌴𐌸𐍃 (manasēþs, “mankind”), beside the innovated simple noun.[7] Holthausen and Orel connect Mannus, the ancestor of the Germans in Tacitus, and the Sanskrit word for "man, human being".[11][9] Orel adds Proto-Slavic *mǫžь (“man”).[11][9] Uhlenbeck instead derives the noun from an Indo-European n-stem, rejects the identity with the Sanskrit word, and connects the root Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”), as in 𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌰𐌽 (munan, “to think”).[10] Feist doubts that the Sanskrit and Germanic stems are identical, and Lehmann notes that he was less sceptical of the link with *men-.[6][7]
Attestation
Köbler counts 320 records and the Wulfila project 349 tokens, in all four Gospels, in the Pauline epistles and in the Skeireins.[2][5] The Wulfila project finds it in manuscripts CA, A, B, C, E, Car and Lat5750, and the first record in canonical order is Matthew 5:16 in CA.[5] Köbler also lists records in the Gothica Bononiensia, and the word as the name of the m-rune.[2][7] In the Gospels and Epistles PROIEL aligns it with Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos) 245 times, with οὐδείς (oudeís) 18 times, and with ἀνήρ (anḗr) and μηδείς (mēdeís) ten times each.[12] Matthew 5:16 has in andwairþja manne ("in the presence of men").[13]
Meanings
- A human being, a person, for ἄνθρωπος.[1][2][12]
- A man, for ἀνήρ.[2][14]
- With ni, nobody, for οὐδείς and μηδείς.[4][2][12]
- The name of the m-rune.[2][7]
Word family
- 𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌽𐍃 (alamans, “all of humanity”)
- 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐍂𐌾𐌰 (manamaurþrja, “murderer”)
- 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍃𐌴𐌸𐍃 (manasēþs, “mankind, the world”)
- 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌷𐌿𐌽 (mannahun, “anyone”)
- 𐌿𐌽𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐍃 (unmanariggws, “untamed, savage”)
- 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌽 (gaman, “companion, partner”)
- 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌿𐌻𐌹 (manauli, “human figure”)
- 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐌰 (manleika, “image, likeness”)
- 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍃 (mannisks, “human”)
𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰2 manna
Etymology tree of 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰2
Forms
𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰 (manna), an indeclinable noun, neuter in Köbler; all three records are accusatives.[1][3][15]
Etymology
The word for manna is borrowed from Ancient Greek μάννα (mánna),[3][6] and the Greek word itself comes from Aramaic.[7][3]
Attestation
The Wulfila project and Köbler count three records, all in John (6:31, 6:49 and 6:58) in manuscript CA.[5][3] PROIEL aligns two of them with μάννα.[12]
Meanings
References
- ^ a b c d e Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. manna
- ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. manna 1
- ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. manna 2
- ^ a b Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 288
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. manna
- ^ a b c d e f 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. manna
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰
- ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *mannz
- ^ a b Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 106
- ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Gotisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 68
- ^ 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
- ^ 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 5:16
- ^ Schulze, Ernst (1867), Gothisches Wörterbuch nebst Flexionslehre, Züllichau: Darnmann, p. 123
- ^ 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. 453
- ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1868), A Moeso-Gothic Glossary, with an Introduction, an Outline of Moeso-Gothic Grammar, and a List of Anglo-Saxon and Old and Modern English Words Etymologically Connected with Moeso-Gothic, London: Asher, p. 159
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰.” Etymologically, 16 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/got/%F0%90%8C%BC%F0%90%8C%B0%F0%90%8C%BD%F0%90%8C%BD%F0%90%8C%B0. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.
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