𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌹

Forms

𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌹 (twai), the cardinal number "two", declined in three genders: masculine 𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌹 (twai), feminine 𐍄𐍅𐍉𐍃 (twōs), neuter 𐍄𐍅𐌰 (twa).^[1][2][3] The genitive is 𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌳𐌳𐌾𐌴 (twaddje), the dative 𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌼 (twaim) for all genders, and the masculine accusative 𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌽𐍃 (twans); no feminine genitive is recorded.^[3] The Wulfila project counts twans 20 times, twaim 11, twōs and twai eight each, twa seven and twaddje six.^[4] Miller adds one spelling twadje beside the regular twaddje.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *twai (“two”),^[6][7] from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (“two”).^[6] Feist explains that the Indo-European forms took on pronominal plural endings in Gothic.^[8] Its Germanic cognates are Old Norse tveir, Old English twēgen, Old Frisian twēn, Old Saxon twēne and Old High German zwēne (all masculine).^[9][10] The genitive corresponds to tveggja in Old Norse.^[8] Miller derives both from a Proto-Germanic genitive *twajj-an.^[5] Feist notes that the masculine accusative was replaced by the nominative in the other Germanic languages.^[8] Outside Germanic it is cognate with Ancient Greek δύο (dúo) and Latin duo.^[11][6]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 60 tokens, in all four Gospels, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy and the Skeireins.^[4] Köbler counts 59 records.^[4][2] Most are in CA (40); the others are in A, B, C, E, Lat5750 and Speyer.^[4] The first is twōs at Matthew 5:41 in CA.^[4] In PROIEL's Gospels and Epistles it renders Ancient Greek δύο (dúo) 44 times.^[12] At Matthew 6:24 the verse reads ni manna mag twaim fraujam skalkinon, "no one can serve two masters".^[13]

Meanings

1. two.^[1][2][6]
   1. twai tigjus twenty, for εἴκοσι.^[2][3]
   2. twa hunda two hundred.^[2]
   3. twōs þūsundjōs two thousand.^[2]
   4. twans ƕanzuh two by two, in twos.^[2][3]
   5. twaim sinþam twice, for δίς.^[2]

Related words

• 𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌹𐍆 (twalif, “twelve”)
• 𐍄𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍆𐌻 (tweifl, “doubt”)

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. twai
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. twai
3. ^ a b c d Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 154
4. ^ a b c d e 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 Miller, D. Gary (2019), The Oxford Gothic Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 54
6. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌹
7. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 529
8. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. twai
9. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 414
10. ^ 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. twai
11. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Gotisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. twai
12. ^ 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 6:24