𐍃𐌰

Forms

𐍃𐌰 (sa), a demonstrative pronoun that also serves as the definite article; its nominative singular is 𐍃𐌰 (sa) in the masculine, 𐍃𐍉 (so) in the feminine and 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌰 (þata) in the neuter.^[1][2][3] Braune and Heidermanns treat its inflection in § 153.^[4] The Wulfila project counts the forms 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌰 (þata, 483 times), 𐍃𐌰 (sa, 369), 𐌸𐌰𐌼𐌼𐌰 (þamma, 343), 𐌸𐍉 (þo, 322), 𐌸𐌰𐌹 (þai, 275), 𐌸𐌰𐌹𐌼 (þaim, 258), 𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌰 (þana, 181), 𐌸𐌹𐍃 (þis, 170), 𐍃𐍉 (so, 148), 𐌸𐌰𐌽𐍃 (þans, 142), 𐌸𐌹𐌶𐌴 (þize, 134), 𐌸𐌹𐌶𐌰𐌹 (þizai, 125), 𐌸𐌹𐌶𐍉𐍃 (þizos, 52), 𐌸𐍉𐍃 (þos, 47) and 𐌸𐌹𐌶𐍉 (þizo, 7).^[5] The genitive singular 𐌸𐌹𐍃 (þis) survives as a fixed first element in the generalising pronoun 𐌸𐌹𐍃𐍈𐌰𐌶𐌿𐌷 (þisƕazuh) and its adverbs.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *sa (“that”),^[6][7] which Lehmann traces to the Proto-Indo-European demonstrative *so, feminine *sā, neuter *tod.^[8] The Germanic cognates include Old Norse sá, feminine sú, neuter þat, and Old English se, feminine seo, neuter þæt.^[3] Outside Germanic, Uhlenbeck compares Ancient Greek ὁ (ho), feminine ἡ (hē), the Old Latin accusatives sum and sam, and Avestan ha-, feminine hā.^[9]

Attestation

Köbler counts 2,827 records and the Wulfila project 3,066 tokens.^[7][5] Köbler finds it in the Bible, the calendar, the Skeireins and the deeds.^[7] As a demonstrative, PROIEL aligns it with Ancient Greek οὗτος (hoûtos) 510 times, with αὐτός (autós) 194 times and with ἐκεῖνος (ekeînos) 24 times; its first record there is Matthew 5:15.^[10] Streitberg notes that it often has no Greek counterpart, and that it stands in for the Greek article.^[11] At Matthew 5:15 two of its forms follow each other: ak ana lukarnastaþin jah liuteiþ allaim þaim in þamma garda, "but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all those in the house".^[12]

Meanings

1. this, that; that one (for οὗτος and ἐκεῖνος)^[7][11][6]
2. he, she, it, as a personal pronoun^[1][2]
3. the, rendering the Greek definite article^[6][11][2]

Word family

• 𐍃𐌰𐌴𐌹 (saei)
• 𐍃𐌰𐌷 (sah)
• 𐍃𐌰𐍈𐌰𐌶𐌿𐌷 (saƕazuh)
• 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽 (þat-ain)
• 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌴𐌹 (þatainei)
• 𐌸𐌹𐍃𐌷𐌿𐌽 (þishun)
• 𐌸𐌹𐍃𐍈𐌰𐌳𐌿𐌷 (þisƕaduh)
• 𐌸𐌹𐍃𐍈𐌰𐌶𐌿𐌷 (þisƕazuh)
• 𐌸𐌹𐍃𐍈𐌰𐍂𐌿𐌷 (þisƕaruh)

Related words

• 𐍃𐌰𐌹 (sai)

References

1. ^ a b c Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 128
2. ^ a b c Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. sa
4. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 292
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍃𐌰
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sa
8. ^ 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. sa
9. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 124
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b c Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. sa
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. Mt 5:15