𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌹𐍃

Forms

𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌹𐍃 (midjis), an adjective with ja-stem inflection.^[1][2] The nominative singular is not recorded.^[2][3] Köbler's records are 𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌹𐌼 (midjaim, six times), 𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽𐍃 (midjans, twice), and 𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰 (midja), 𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌹 (midjai) and 𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌼𐌼𐌰 (midjamma) once each.^[2] Wiktionary explains the nominative ending -jis as levelled from the oblique cases, as in 𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌹𐍃 (harjis) and 𐌽𐌹𐌿𐌾𐌹𐍃 (niujis).^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *midjaz (“middle”), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos.^[4][2] Its Germanic cognates are Old Norse miðr, Old English midd, Old Frisian midde, Old Saxon middi and Old High German mitti.^[5][6] Outside Germanic it matches Latin medius and Ancient Greek μέσος (mésos), Homeric μέσσος (méssos).^[5][7] Torp, as Uhlenbeck reports, added Lithuanian mêdis (“tree, wood”) and Old Prussian median (“forest”), which may first have meant "boundary".^[5]

Attestation

Köbler counts eleven records: ten in the Gospels of John, Luke and Mark, all in manuscript CA, and the dative 𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌼𐌼𐌰 (midjamma) in the text he cites as GotBon, quoting Psalm 101:7.^[2][8] The first Gospel reference is John 7:14.^[8] Streitberg notes that it renders Ancient Greek μέσος (mésos) at John 7:14 and the noun phrase τὸ μέσον (tò méson) elsewhere;^[8] PROIEL aligns it eight times with μέσος and once with μεσόω (mesóō).^[9] Except at John 7:14 it occurs only after prepositions, as in Krause's example in midjaim laisarjam, "in the midst of the teachers".^[6][10] John 7:14 reads iþ juþan ana midjai dulþ usstaig Iesus in alh jah laisida, "and now in the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught".^[11]

Meanings

1. middle, in the middle (for μέσος)^[12][2][4]
2. used as a noun: the midst (for τὸ μέσον)^[12][8]

Word family

• 𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐍃𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍀𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (midjasweipains)
• 𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌿𐌽𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌳𐍃 (midjungards)

Borrowings into other languages

• Albanian: midis, an uncertain borrowing^[4]

Related words

• 𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌿𐌼𐌰 (miduma)

References

1. ^ Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. midjis
2. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. midjis*
3. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 288
4. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌹𐍃
5. ^ a b c Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 110
6. ^ a b 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. *midjis
7. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. midjis
8. ^ 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
9. ^ 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
10. ^ Krause, Wolfgang (1963), Handbuch des Gotischen, 2nd ed., München: Beck
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. Jn 7:14
12. ^ a b Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 110