𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽

Forms

𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (saiƕan), a strong verb of the fifth class.^[1][2] Miller gives the principal parts saiƕan, saƕ, seƕum, -saiƕans.^[3] The commonest recorded forms are 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌹𐌸 (saiƕiþ, 35 times), 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (saiƕan, 16), 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈 (saiƕ, 8), 𐍃𐌴𐍈𐌿𐌽 (seƕun) and 𐍃𐌰𐍈 (saƕ, seven each), in the Wulfila project's count.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną (“to see”),^[5][6] with the cognates Old Norse sjá, Old English sēon, Old Frisian siā, Old Saxon sehan and Old High German sehan.^[6] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to see, notice”).^[5] Orel relates Hittite šakuwāi- (“to observe”) and the verbs for "follow", Ancient Greek ἕπομαι (hépomai), Latin sequor and Lithuanian sekù, as well as Albanian shoh (“to see”).^[7] Feist reports the oldest explanation, from *sekʷ- "follow" with the sense "follow with the eyes", and a second from *sekʷ- "say", which he advises abandoning because the development from "say" to "see" is too hard.^[8] Lehmann finds no close parallels; he takes Hittite sakuwa (“eyes”) and the verb for "observe" as probably related, and reports that the Albanian verb has been explained as a loan from a Germanic language of the Balkans such as Gothic (Loewe) and as an inherited formation (Thumb).^[9]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 110 tokens, in all four Gospels (36 in John), in 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians and 1 Timothy, and twice in the Skeireins; 83 are in manuscript CA, the others in B (13), A (9), C (3), E and Lat5750 (one each).^[4] Köbler counts 106 attestations.^[10] The first in canonical order is Matthew 5:28 in CA.^[4] In the PROIEL texts it renders Ancient Greek ὁράω (horáō) 43 times, βλέπω (blépō) 36 times, θεωρέω (theōréō) 17 times and θεάομαι (theáomai) four times.^[11] At Matthew 5:28: 𐍈𐌰𐌶𐌿𐌷 𐍃𐌰𐌴𐌹 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌹𐌸 𐌵𐌹𐌽𐍉𐌽 (ƕazuh saei saiƕiþ qinon), "whoever looks at a woman".^[12]

Meanings

1. to see (for Ancient Greek ὁράω (horáō), θεάομαι (theáomai))^[1][10][11]
2. to look, look at, observe (for Ancient Greek βλέπω (blépō), θεωρέω (theōréō))^[10][11]
3. to take heed, notice^[13][2]

   saiƕan faura, to beware of (for βλέπειν ἀπό), Mark 12:38^[10]

Word family

• 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (andsaiƕan, “to consider”)
• 𐌰𐍄𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (atsaiƕan, “to look, take heed”)
• 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (bisaiƕan, “to look around”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (gasaiƕan, “to see, catch sight of”)
• 𐌹𐌽𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (insaiƕan, “to look upon”)
• 𐌸𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (þairhsaiƕan, “to see through”)
• 𐌿𐍃𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (ussaiƕan, “to look up; to regain one's sight”)
• 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (unsaiƕands, “unseeing, blind”)

Related words

• 𐍃𐌹𐌿𐌽𐍃 (siuns, “sight, face”)
• 𐍃𐌰𐌹 (sai, “behold”)

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. saiƕan
2. ^ a b Lambdin, Thomas O. (2006), An Introduction to the Gothic Language, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock, p. 182
3. ^ Miller, D. Gary (2019), The Oxford Gothic Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 170
4. ^ a b c 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. 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽
6. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 431
7. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 323
8. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. saiƕan
9. ^ 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. saiƕan
10. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. saíƕan
11. ^ 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
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 5:28
13. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. saiƕan