𐌼𐌹𐌸

Forms

𐌼𐌹𐌸 (miþ), an indeclinable preposition governing the dative, also used as an adverb and as a verbal prefix.^[1][2][3] Luke 7:11 spells it mid.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *midi (“with, by, through”),^[3][2] from Proto-Indo-European *meth₂.^[3] The Germanic cognates are Old Norse með, Old English mid, Old Frisian mith, Old Saxon midi and Old High German mit.^[6][7][8] Feist sets up two Indo-European forms, Proto-Indo-European *metá behind the Old Norse word and *metí behind the West Germanic ones.^[5] Outside Germanic it is related to Ancient Greek μετά (metá, “with, among”) and Sanskrit स्मत् (smát, “together”).^[7][5][3] Köbler sets up the Indo-European form as Proto-Indo-European *medʰi-.^[2]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 303 tokens, Köbler 255 records.^[9][2] It occurs in all four Gospels, in the Pauline epistles, in the Skeireins (eight times) and in the signatures of a deed (witness Naples, eight times).^[9] The first in canonical order is Matthew 5:25.^[9] Of the 233 tokens PROIEL aligns, 144 render Ancient Greek μετά (metá) and 45 σύν (sún); it renders ἐν (en) six times.^[10] Matthew 5:25 has þatei is in wiga miþ imma, "while you are on the way with him".^[11]

Meanings

1. (preposition with the dative) with, together with, in the company of (for μετά, σύν).^[1][12][10]
2. (preposition) among, amid: miþ tweihnaim markom "amid the two boundaries".^[13] Schulze notes this as its only spatial use.^[13][14]
3. (preposition) through, by, near.^[13][4]
4. (adverb) along, together, at the same time.^[3][15]
5. (verbal prefix) together with, like Greek συν-, as in miþ ushramjan "to crucify with".^[4][13][3]

Word family

• 𐌼𐌹𐌸𐌸𐌰𐌽 (miþþan, “meanwhile”)
• 𐌼𐌹𐌸𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌴𐌹 (miþþanei, “while”)

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. miþ
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. miþ
3. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌼𐌹𐌸
4. ^ a b c 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. 173
5. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. miþ
6. ^ 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. miþ
7. ^ a b Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 112
8. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Gotisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 72
9. ^ 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
10. ^ 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
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. Mt 5:25
12. ^ Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 111
13. ^ a b c d Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. miþ
14. ^ Schulze, Ernst (1867), Gothisches Wörterbuch nebst Flexionslehre, Züllichau: Darnmann, p. 128
15. ^ Streitberg, Wilhelm (1920), Gotisches Elementarbuch, 5th–6th ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 294