𐌾𐌴𐍂

Forms

𐌾𐌴𐍂 (jēr), a neuter a-stem noun.^[1][2][3] The Wulfila project records the genitive plural 𐌾𐌴𐍂𐌴 (jere, eight times), the form 𐌾𐌴𐍂𐌰 (jera, eighteen times), the nominative or accusative singular 𐌾𐌴𐍂 (jer, twice) and the dative plural 𐌾𐌴𐍂𐌰𐌼 (jeram, once).^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *jērą (“year”),^[5][2] from Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ (“year; harvest season”).^[5] The Germanic cognates are Old Norse ár, Old English ġēar, Old Frisian jēr, Old Saxon jār and Old High German jār.^[6][7][8] Outside Germanic it is related to Ancient Greek ὥρα (hṓra, “season, spring”) and ὧρος (hôros, “year”), Avestan yārə (“year”) and the Slavic word for "spring", Polish jar.^[7][8][9] Casaretto analyses the Germanic a-stem as a thematised form of an old r/n-stem, the source also of Latin hōrnus (“of this year”) and Old High German hiuru (“this year”).^[3] Feist and Uhlenbeck mention two older proposals, a derivation from the root of "to go" and a connection with 𐌰𐌹𐍂 (air, “early”), without deciding between them.^[7][8] Uhlenbeck rejects Schrader's idea that the word first meant the season for setting out to pasture.^[10]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 29 tokens, Köbler 25 records.^[4][2] It occurs in John, Luke and Mark, in 2 Corinthians, Galatians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Nehemiah and the Skeireins, in manuscripts CA, A, B, D and E.^[4] The first in canonical order is John 8:57.^[4] PROIEL aligns it with Ancient Greek ἔτος (étos) fourteen times and once each with ἐνιαυτός (eniautós), χρόνος (khrónos) and καιρός (kairós).^[11] John 8:57 reads fimf tiguns jere nauh ni habais, "you are not yet fifty years old".^[12]

Meanings

1. A year (for ἔτος, ἐνιαυτός); af fairnin jera "since last year" renders ἀπὸ πέρυσι.^[1][2]
2. A time, season (for χρόνος at Luke 20:9 and καιρός at 2 Timothy 3:1).^[2][13][14]
3. The name of the letter j (the j-rune).^[15][2]

Related words

• 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐍄𐍂𐌿𐍃 (wintrus, “winter, year”)

Usage notes

Gothic also counts years in winters, with 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐍄𐍂𐌿𐍃 (wintrus).^[6] The letter name is recorded as gaar in the Salzburg-Vienna Alcuin manuscript.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. jer
2. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. jēr*
3. ^ a b Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 314
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌾𐌴𐍂
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. jer
7. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. jer
8. ^ a b c Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 91
9. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Gotisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 55
10. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1905), Bemerkungen zum gotischen Wortschatz, Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur 30, 252ff.
11. ^ 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
12. ^ 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 8:57
13. ^ Gabelentz, Hans Conon von der; Loebe, Julius (1843), Ulfilas: Veteris et Novi Testamenti versionis gothicae fragmenta quae supersunt, vol. II.1: Glossarium der gothischen Sprache, Leipzig: Brockhaus, p. s.v. jer
14. ^ 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. 144
15. ^ a b Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 92