𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃

Forms

𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 (nahts), a feminine noun, a consonant stem.^[1][2] Köbler calls it a consonantal root noun.^[3] Lambdin gives the genitive singular 𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 (nahts), the dative and accusative singular 𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄 (naht) and the dative plural 𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐌰𐌼 (nahtam).^[4] Köbler's records are 𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄 (naht) sixteen times, 𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐌰𐌼 (nahtam) four times and 𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 (nahts) six times, three as nominative and three as genitive.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *nahts (“night”),^[5][6] from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts.^[5][7] The Germanic cognates are Old Norse nótt, Old English niht, Old Frisian nacht, Old Saxon naht and Old High German naht.^[6][8] Outside Germanic, the sources compare Hittite nekuz (“at evening”), Ancient Greek νύξ (núx), Latin nox, Albanian natë and Lithuanian naktìs.^[8][9][10] Casaretto counts it among the root nouns without a Germanic base word and, after Schindler, finds the verbal root in nekuzi (“becomes evening”).^[7] Lehmann reports Schindler's derivation from a verb, but adds that Tischler and most scholars take the word to be nominal in origin.^[9]

Attestation

Köbler counts 25 records, in the Bible and the Skeireins.^[3] The Wulfila project counts 22 tokens, in John, Luke, Mark, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy and the Skeireins, in manuscripts CA, A, B and Lat5750; its first reference is John 7:50.^[11] In PROIEL it renders Ancient Greek νύξ (núx) twenty times.^[12] The phrase du naht matjan "to eat at night" renders Ancient Greek δειπνέω (deipnéō, “to dine”) at Luke 17:8.^[3][13] John 9:4 reads qimiþ nahts þanei ni manna mag waurkjan, "night is coming, when no one can work".^[14]

Meanings

1. night^[1][3][5]

Word family

• 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐌹 (andanahti, “evening”)
• 𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐌰𐌼𐌰𐍄𐍃 (nahtamats, “supper”)

Related words

• 𐌿𐌷𐍄𐍅𐍉 (ūhtwō, “dawn”)

Usage notes

The genitive, the dative and the dative with in express the time when, and the accusative the time how long.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. nahts
2. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 289
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. nahts
4. ^ Lambdin, Thomas O. (2006), An Introduction to the Gothic Language, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock, p. 62
5. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃
6. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 381
7. ^ a b Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 279
9. ^ 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. nahts
10. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 114
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
12. ^ 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
13. ^ a b Balg, G. H. (1887–1889), A Comparative Glossary of the Gothic Language, with Especial Reference to English and German, Mayville, Wis.: the author, p. 291
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. Jn 9:4