𐌽𐌹𐌷

Forms

𐌽𐌹𐌷 (nih), an uninflected conjunction.^[1][2] Before þ the final h is assimilated: the Wulfila project has 𐌽𐌹𐌸 (niþ) in niþ þan twice, and Lehmann reads nis sijai (Luke 20:16) as nih sijai.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *nehw (“nor, and not”), from Proto-Indo-European *nekʷe; within Gothic it can be analysed as from Gothic 𐌽𐌹 (ni, “not”) + -𐌿𐌷 (-uh, “and”).^[5][6] Feist compares Old Saxon noh and Old High German noh in the same sense, and as an exact match Latin neque (“and not”) and Old Latin nec.^[6][7][8]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 140 tokens, in all four Gospels, in most of the Epistles and in the Skeireins.^[3] Köbler counts 156 records.^[2] The tokens are in manuscripts CA (69), A (44), B (18), E (8) and Lat5750 (1).^[3] The first in canonical order is at Matthew 5:35.^[3] PROIEL has it as an adverb, chiefly for Ancient Greek οὐδέ (oudé) (17), μή (mḗ) (14) and οὐ (ou) (12), and as a conjunction, chiefly for οὐδέ (oudé) (21), οὔτε (oúte) (15) and μηδέ (mēdé) (13).^[9] Matthew 5:35 reads nih bi airþai, unte fotubaurd ist fotiwe is, "nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet".^[10]

Meanings

1. and not, nor, not even; for Ancient Greek οὐδέ (oudé), μηδέ (mēdé).^{[11][1][12][9]}
2. nih … nih, nih … ni, ni … nih: neither … nor; for οὔτε (oúte) … οὔτε (oúte).^[2][1]
3. In the protasis of an unreal condition: if not.^[12] PROIEL aligns it with εἰ (ei) five times.^[9]

Related words

• 𐌽𐌹 (ni, “not”)
• -𐌿𐌷 (-uh, “and”)

References

1. ^ a b c Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 290
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. nih
3. ^ 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
4. ^ 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. ni
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌽𐌹𐌷
6. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. nih
7. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 116
8. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Gotisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 76
9. ^ a b c 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. ^ 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 5:35
11. ^ Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. nih
12. ^ a b Lambdin, Thomas O. (2006), An Introduction to the Gothic Language, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock, p. 181