𐍃𐍅𐌴𐍃

Forms

𐍃𐍅𐌴𐍃 (swēs), an adjective of the a-declension, also used as a neuter a-stem noun "property".^[1][2][3] The Wulfila project records the adjective forms 𐍃𐍅𐌴𐍃𐌰𐌹𐌼 (swēsaim) (10 times), 𐍃𐍅𐌴𐍃𐌰 (swēsa) (8), 𐍃𐍅𐌴𐍃𐌰𐌼𐌼𐌰 (swēsamma) (5), 𐍃𐍅𐌴𐍃𐍉𐌽𐌰 (swēsōna) (4), 𐍃𐍅𐌴𐍃𐌰𐌽𐍃 (swēsans) (3), 𐍃𐍅𐌴𐍃𐌰𐌽𐌰 (swēsana) (3), 𐍃𐍅𐌴𐍃𐌰𐍄𐌰 (swēsata) (2), 𐍃𐍅𐌴𐍃 (swēs) and 𐍃𐍅𐌴𐍃𐌰𐌹 (swēsai) (once each), and for the noun swēs (4) and swēsa (4).^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *swēsaz (“one's own, familiar”),^[5][6] with cognates in Old Norse sváss (“dear, beloved”), Old English swǣs (“dear, one's own”), Old Frisian swēs (“related”), Old Saxon swās and Old High German swās.^[7][8][9] Feist and Uhlenbeck explain it as a derivative of the pronominal stem Proto-Indo-European *swe-, *swo-, Feist as its lengthened grade.^[9][8] The same stem gives the possessives Latin suus, Ancient Greek ἑός (heós), Lithuanian sávas and Old Prussian swais.^[8][9][7] Lehmann puts the root with that of the reflexive 𐍃𐌹𐌺 (sik) and compares 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (swikunþs), 𐍃𐌹𐌳𐌿𐍃 (sidus) and 𐍃𐌹𐌱𐌾𐌰 (sibja).^[7] The noun is the adjective used as a substantive.^[3][5]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 37 tokens of the adjective, in John, Luke, Mark, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Galatians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy and Titus, and five in the Skeireins;^[4] Köbler counts 29 records, one of them outside the Bible and the Skeireins, in a text he labels GotBon.^[4][6] The manuscripts are CA (6), A (13), B (13) and, for the Skeireins, E (5).^[4] The noun occurs eight times, three of them in Luke 15 (CA).^[4][10] The first record in canonical order is swēsōna at John 10:3.^[4] PROIEL aligns the adjective 19 times with Ancient Greek ἴδιος (ídios) and once with Ancient Greek οἰκεῖος (oikeîos), and the noun with Ancient Greek βίος (bíos) (twice) and Ancient Greek οὐσία (ousía) (once).^[11] John 10:3 reads jah þo swesona lamba haitiþ bi namin, "and he calls his own sheep by name".^[12]

Meanings

1. One's own, belonging to one, for ἴδιος.^[1][6][11]
2. due, proper (of the right time, with mēl), for ἴδιος.^[13][14]
3. As a plural noun, swēsai, one's own people;^[14] swēs galaubeinai, a fellow believer, for οἰκεῖος τῆς πίστεως.^[14][6]
4. As a neuter noun, property, one's means of living, for οὐσία and βίος.^[1][10][11]

Word family

• 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (swikunþs, “manifest”)

Related words

• 𐍃𐌹𐌺 (sik, “oneself”)
• 𐍃𐌹𐌱𐌾𐌰 (sibja, “kinship”)
• 𐍃𐌹𐌳𐌿𐍃 (sidus, “custom”)

References

1. ^ a b c Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. swes
2. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 296
3. ^ a b Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
4. ^ a b c d e f 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. 𐍃𐍅𐌴𐍃
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. swēs 1
7. ^ a b c 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. swes
8. ^ a b c Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 144
9. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. swes
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. swēs* 2
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. Jn 10:3
13. ^ Balg, G. H. (1887–1889), A Comparative Glossary of the Gothic Language, with Especial Reference to English and German, Mayville, Wis.: the author, p. 419
14. ^ 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. 470