𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌽

Forms

𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌽 (skulan), a preterite-present verb of the fourth class.^[1][2][3] Its principal forms are the present 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌻 (skal), the preterite 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌳𐌰 (skulda) and the participle 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌳𐍃 (skulds).^[4][5] The Wulfila project, which counts the participle with the verb, records skal 24 times, skuld 16, skulda 13, skuli and skulds 5 each, skulun and skuldu 4 each, and the infinitive skulan once.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *skulaną (“to owe, shall”),^[7][1] Orel's *skala.^[8] The cognates are Old Norse skulu, Old English sculan, Old Frisian skela, Old Saxon skolan and Old High German scolan.^[2][9][10] Lehmann derives it from a Proto-Indo-European root *(s)kel- (“to owe, should”), found elsewhere only in Baltic: Lithuanian skelėti (“to owe”), skolà (“debt”) and Old Prussian skellānts (“indebted”).^[2][9][8] Uhlenbeck, after Siebs, adds the forms without s-, kaltas (“guilty”) and kaltė (“guilt”).^[11][2] Uhlenbeck and Feist also compared Latin scelus (“crime”);^[9][10] Lehmann thinks it probably unrelated and assigns it, with Ancient Greek σκολιός (skoliós, “crooked”), to a root for "bend".^[2]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 92 tokens (5 of them ambiguous), in the Gospels, the Epistles and the Skeireins, in manuscripts CA, A, B, Car, E and Lat5750.^[6] Köbler counts 75 records.^[1] In PROIEL it renders Ancient Greek δεῖ (deî) 31 times, ὀφείλω (opheílō) 11 times, μέλλω (méllō) 10 times and ἔξεστι (éxesti) 4 times.^[12] The first record is Matthew 11:14, which reads jah jabai wildedeiþ miþniman, sa ist Helias saei skulda qiman, "and if you are willing to accept it, this is Elijah, who was to come".^[13]

Meanings

1. To owe, to be indebted; for ὀφείλω.^[3][1][7]
2. To have to, must, to be obliged; for δεῖ.^[1][12]
3. shall, will, to be about to; for μέλλω, and used to mark the future.^[2][5]
4. skuld ist: it is lawful, it is permitted; for ἔξεστιν.^[1][14][5]

Word family

• 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌳𐍃 (skulds, “obliged, due”)
• 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌳𐍉 (skuldō, “what is owed”)
• 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰 (skula, “debtor”)
• 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰 (faihuskula, “debtor”)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. skulan*
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. skulan
3. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. skulan
4. ^ Gabelentz, Hans Conon von der; Loebe, Julius (1843), Ulfilas: Veteris et Novi Testamenti versionis gothicae fragmenta quae supersunt, vol. II.1: Glossarium der gothischen Sprache, Leipzig: Brockhaus
5. ^ a b c Stamm, Friedrich Ludwig; Heyne, Moriz (1920), Ulfilas oder die uns erhaltenen Denkmäler der gotischen Sprache: Text, Wörterbuch und Grammatik, 13th–14th ed. by Ferdinand Wrede, Paderborn: Schöningh, p. 466
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌽
8. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 332
9. ^ a b c Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 135
10. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. skulan
11. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1905), Bemerkungen zum gotischen Wortschatz, Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur 30, 252ff.
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. Mt 11:14
14. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press