𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃

Forms

𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (stains), a masculine a-stem noun.^[1][2][3] The Wulfila project records the dative singular 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰 (staina, 14 times), the dative plural 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌼 (stainam, 7), the accusative singular 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽 (stain, 7), the nominative singular 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (stains, 3), the nominative plural 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍉𐍃 (stainōs, 2) and the accusative plural 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌽𐍃 (stainans, 2).^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (“stone”),^[5][6][7] with the cognates Old Norse steinn, Old English stān, Old Frisian stēn, Old Saxon stēn and Old High German stein.^[6][8] The n is a suffix.^[8][9] Kroonen takes it as a stem with the suffix ⟨-no-⟩ built to the PIE root *steih₂- (“to stiffen”), seen in a Sanskrit verb meaning "to coagulate", and relates Proto-Slavic *stěna (“wall”) and Ancient Greek στία (stía, “pebble”).^[6] Orel and Lehmann connect the same words.^[7][10] Casaretto finds no certain match outside Germanic and treats the Greek word as related by root only.^[11] Whether the Slavic word was borrowed from Germanic is disputed: Lehmann reports Meillet for a loan and Vasmer against, Feist thinks a loan hardly likely, and Kiparsky treats the Slavic word as native and cognate.^[10][9][12]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 35 tokens, in Matthew, John, Luke and Mark, in Romans and 2 Corinthians.^[4] Köbler counts 34.^[13] Most are in manuscript CA (31), the rest in A (3) and B (1).^[4] In canonical order the first is Matthew 7:24.^[4] PROIEL aligns it with Ancient Greek λίθος (líthos) 21 times, with πέτρα (pétra) 8 times and once with θύρα (thúra).^[14] Matthew 7:24 compares the man who hears and does the words to one saei gatimrida razn sein ana staina, "who built his house on rock".^[15]

Meanings

1. A stone; for Ancient Greek λίθος (líthos).^[1][13]
2. A rock; for πέτρα (pétra).^[3][13]

stainam wairpan and stainam afwairpan, "to throw stones at", mean "to stone".^[13][16]

Word family

• 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌷𐍃 (stainahs, “stony, rocky”)
• 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (staineins, “made of stone”)
• 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (stainjan, “to stone”)
• 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍃𐍄𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (waihstastains, “cornerstone”)

Usage notes

Balg notes its use as a name of Peter in the Skeireins.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. stains
2. ^ Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 142
3. ^ a b Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 295
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. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃
6. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 472
7. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 369
8. ^ a b Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 139
9. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. stains
10. ^ 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. stains
11. ^ Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Kiparsky, Valentin (1934), Die gemeinslavischen Lehnwörter aus dem Germanischen, Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae B XXXII,2, Helsinki
13. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. stains
14. ^ 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
15. ^ 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 7:24
16. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. stains
17. ^ Balg, G. H. (1887–1889), A Comparative Glossary of the Gothic Language, with Especial Reference to English and German, Mayville, Wis.: the author, p. 390