𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄

Forms

𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄 (salt), a neuter a-stem noun.^[1][2][3] The recorded forms are the nominative and accusative singular 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄 (salt, five times) and the dative singular 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄𐌰 (salta, three times).^[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *saltą (“salt”),^[5][6][2] which is also Old Norse salt in Old Norse, Old English sealt in Old English, Old Frisian salt in Old Frisian, Old Saxon salt in Old Saxon and Old High German salz in Old High German.^[7][6] Germanic extended the word Proto-Indo-European *sal- (“salt”) with a d, as in Latin sallō (“I salt”).^[7][8] The plain root noun is Ancient Greek ἅλς (háls), Latin sāl and Proto-Slavic *solь, and the extended stem is shared with Lithuanian saldùs (“sweet”) in Lithuanian, which Feist explains from an earlier sense "seasoned".^[9][7][10] Casaretto takes the noun as a derivative of the verb 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄𐌰𐌽 (saltan, “to salt”), which he traces to a Proto-Indo-European formation meaning "to give flavour".^[10] Uhlenbeck reports an older reconstruction of a paradigm with d in the nominative and n in the other cases.^[11]

Attestation

Köbler counts eight records: salt twice at Luke 14:34 and three times at Mark 9:50, and salta at Mark 9:49 and at Colossians 4:6 in manuscripts A and B.^[2] The Wulfila project has the same eight tokens, all marked ambiguous, six of them in CA.^[4] It renders Ancient Greek ἅλας (hálas) (Köbler also gives ἅλς).^[12][2] Luke 14:34 reads god salt iþ jabai salt baud wairþiþ ƕe gasupoda, "salt is good, but if the salt loses its taste, with what will it be seasoned?".^[13]

Meanings

1. salt; for ἅλας.^[1][2][12]

Related words

• 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄𐌰𐌽 (saltan, “to salt”)
• 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄𐌰𐌽𐍃 (unsaltans, “unsalted”)

Usage notes

Feist, Lehmann and Uhlenbeck also list a Crimean Gothic salt.^[7][8][11]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. salt
2. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. salt
3. ^ Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 131
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐍄
6. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 424
7. ^ a b c d Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. salt
8. ^ 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. salt
9. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 316
10. ^ a b Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 126
12. ^ 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
13. ^ 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 14:34