𐌿𐍃

Forms

𐌿𐍃 (us), a preposition with the dative, also used as a prefix 𐌿𐍃- (us-).^[1][2][3] Before e, o and u it is spelled uz-, as in 𐌿𐌶𐌿𐌷 (uzuh) "and out of" and the interrogative 𐌿𐌶𐌿 (uzu), and before r it becomes ur-, as in 𐌿𐍂𐍂𐌹𐌵𐌹𐌶𐌰 (urriqiza) "out of darkness" at 2 Corinthians 4:6 in manuscripts A and B.^[1][4][5][6] The Wulfila project counts 390 tokens of us, six of uzuh and four of uzu.^[7]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *uz (“out of”),^[3][8][9] the source also of Old Norse ór and úr, Old English or-, Old Saxon ur- and Old High German ur.^[8][9] Wiktionary compares German er- and ur-.^[3] Kroonen explains the Germanic word as the adverb *ūt (“out”) with a genitive ending, and Orel likewise relates it to *ūt.^[8][9] Uhlenbeck left it unexplained, and Lehmann calls the etymology uncertain;^[10][11] Lehmann mentions a possible link with a Proto-Indo-European word for "away from, down", seen in the prefix of Latin auferō (“to carry away”), while Feist finds that link quite doubtful and sees no other secure connection.^[11][12]

Attestation

It is among the commonest words of the corpus, the nineteenth most frequent in Lehmann's count.^[11] The Wulfila project counts 400 tokens (9 of them ambiguous), in the Gospels, the Epistles, Nehemiah and the Skeireins, in manuscripts CA, A, B, Car, D, E and Lat5750.^[7] Köbler counts 345 records.^[13] In PROIEL it renders Ancient Greek ἐκ (ek) 260 times and ἀπό (apó) 22 times.^[14] The first record is Matthew 5:37, which reads sijaiþ þan waurd izwar ja ja, ne ne; iþ þata managizo þaim us þamma ubilin ist, "let your word be yes, yes, no, no; but what is more than these comes from evil".^[15]

Meanings

1. out of, from, away from (of place); for ἐκ and ἀπό.^[4][1][14]
2. From, since (of time), as in us barniskja "from childhood".^[4][13]
3. Proceeding from, in consequence of, by means of; as in us dauþaim "from the dead".^[4]
4. As the prefix us-: out-, up-; in verbs it can mark a completed action.^[16][2]

Word family

• 𐌿𐍃- (us-, “out-, up-”)
• 𐌿𐍃𐌻𐌿𐌺 (usluk, “opening”)
• 𐌿𐍃𐌼𐌴𐍄 (usmēt, “conduct”)
• 𐌿𐍃𐌵𐌹𐍃𐍃 (usqiss, “accusation”)
• 𐌿𐍃𐍃𐍄𐌰𐍃𐍃 (usstass, “resurrection”)

Related words

• 𐌿𐍄 (ūt, “out”)

Usage notes

Pronk-Tiethoff, following Pronk, explains Proto-Slavic *užasъ as a loan from 𐌿𐍃𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (usgaisjan), supposing that the Slavs equated the Gothic prefix us- with their own prefix *u-.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. us
2. ^ a b Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 301
3. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌿𐍃
4. ^ a b c d Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 170
5. ^ Balg, G. H. (1887–1889), A Comparative Glossary of the Gothic Language, with Especial Reference to English and German, Mayville, Wis.: the author, p. 503
6. ^ Meyer, Leo (1869), Die gothische Sprache: ihre Lautgestaltung insbesondere im Verhältniss zum Altindischen, Griechischen und Lateinischen, Berlin: Weidmann, p. 774
7. ^ a b 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
8. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 563
9. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 436
10. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 160
11. ^ a b c 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. us
12. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. us
13. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. us
14. ^ 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
15. ^ 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 5:37
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌿𐍃-
17. ^ Pronk-Tiethoff, Saskia (2013), The Germanic Loanwords in Proto-Slavic, Leiden Studies in Indo-European 20, Amsterdam / New York: Rodopi