𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌾𐍉

Forms

𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌾𐍉 (raþjō), a feminine n-stem noun.^[1][2][3] The recorded forms are the nominative singular 𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌾𐍉 (raþjo, once) and 𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌾𐍉𐌽 (raþjon, four times).^[2][4] Casaretto notes that so few records leave the stem class uncertain: it might also be a jō-stem.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *raþjǭ (“account, reasoning”),^[6] with the cognates Old Frisian rethia (“talk, account”), Old Saxon rethia (“account”) and Old High German reda (“speech, account”).^[7][8] It is formally parallel to Latin ratiō (“reckoning, account”), and how the two are connected is disputed.^[9][7] Uhlenbeck and Orel take the Germanic and Latin words as identical, from the root of reor (“to reckon, believe”).^[10][8] Kroonen points out that the Latin noun was derived from the verb with a dental suffix, a pathway Germanic lacks; he takes the Germanic root as a primary verbal root, since the participle 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌰𐌽𐍃 (garaþans, “counted”) implies a strong verb, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂rh₁-t-.^[7] Bréal held it to be a loan from the Latin word, pointing to 𐌺𐌰𐍅𐍄𐍃𐌾𐍉 (kawtsjō, “bond”) from cautio and 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌺𐍄𐌾𐍉 (laiktjō, “lesson”) from lectio.^[10] Feist rejected the loan because of the verb to which that participle belongs, while W. Schulze left the question open, according to Lehmann.^[9] Köbler marks the word as a possible Latin loan.^[2]

Attestation

The word occurs five times, in John, Luke, Romans (twice) and Philippians.^[4][2] Two records are in manuscript CA and one each in A, Car and B.^[4] The first in canonical order is John 6:10 in CA.^[4] In the PROIEL texts it renders Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) three times and ἀριθμός (arithmós) twice.^[11] At Luke 16:2: 𐌿𐍃𐌲𐌹𐍆 𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌾𐍉𐌽 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌾𐌹𐍃 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌹𐍃 (usgif raþjon fauragaggjis þeinis), "give an account of your stewardship".^[12]

Meanings

1. number, count (for Ancient Greek ἀριθμός (arithmós)), John 6:10, Romans 9:27^[9][1]
2. account, reckoning (for Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos)), Luke 16:2^[9][1]

   usgiban raþjon, to give an account (of something)^[1]

Related words

• 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌾𐌰𐌽 (garaþjan, “to count”)

References

1. ^ a b c d Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. raþjo
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. raþjō
3. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 291
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. ^ Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌾𐍉
7. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 405
8. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 298
9. ^ a b c d 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. raþjo
10. ^ a b Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 121
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. Lk 16:2