𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌽

Forms

𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌽 (wairþan), a strong verb of the third class.^[1][2][3] Its principal parts are the preterite 𐍅𐌰𐍂𐌸 (warþ), the preterite plural 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐌿𐌼 (waurþum) and the past participle 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌽𐍃 (waurþans).^[4][5] The commonest recorded forms are warþ (205 times), 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌹𐌸 (wairþiþ, 83), 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌹 (wairþai, 35) and 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐌿𐌽 (waurþun, 35), in the Wulfila project's count.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *werþaną (“to become”),^[7][8] from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”).^[7][9][2] The cognates are Old Norse verða, Old English weorþan, Old Frisian wertha, Old Saxon werthan and Old High German werdan.^[9][10] Outside Germanic the root is continued in Latin vertō (“to turn”), Lithuanian versti (“to turn”), Avestan varət- (“to turn”) and Tocharian A wärt- (“to throw”).^[9][10][11] Kroonen explains the meaning "to become" as a Germanic development of "to turn".^[8] Lehmann sees the older sense in compounds such as 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐍃 (anawairþs, “future”), "turned towards", and Feist compares the English use of turn in "the milk turned sour".^[9][11] Uhlenbeck likewise takes "to turn oneself" as the original meaning, still clear in the adjectives in -𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐍃 (-wairþs).^[12]

Attestation

It is one of the commonest Gothic verbs: the Wulfila project counts 541 tokens (74 of them ambiguous), Köbler 479 records.^[6][2] It occurs in all four Gospels, in the Pauline epistles, in Nehemiah and the Skeireins, and four times in the signatures of a deed (witness Naples); most tokens are in manuscripts CA, A and B.^[6] The first in canonical order is wairþiþ at Matthew 5:18.^[6] Of the 440 tokens PROIEL aligns, 233 render Ancient Greek γίγνομαι (gígnomai) and 37 εἰμί (eimí, “to be”).^[13] Matthew 5:18 ends unte allata wairþiþ, "until all comes to pass".^[14]

Meanings

1. To become, come to be (for γίγνομαι); with an adjective it marks the reaching of a state, as the perfective counterpart of 𐍅𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌽 (wisan, “to be”).^[1][15][7]
2. To happen, come to pass, take place; to arise, be born.^[2][4][16]
3. As an auxiliary verb forming the passive.^[4]
4. With the dative: to take up with, reside with.^[3]

Word family

• 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌽 (frawairþan, “to perish, be corrupted”)
• 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐍅𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (frawardjan, “to corrupt, destroy”)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐍃 (anawairþs, “future”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌹 (gawairþi, “peace”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌲𐍃 (gawairþeigs, “peaceful”)
• 𐍃𐍅𐌿𐌻𐍄𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌾𐌰 (swultawairþja, “one near death”)

Usage notes

Feist finds the same verb in the Crimean Gothic phrase tel vburt, "may it be healthy".^[11]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. wairþan
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. waírþan
3. ^ a b Lambdin, Thomas O. (2006), An Introduction to the Gothic Language, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock, p. 187
4. ^ a b c Skeat, Walter W. (1868), A Moeso-Gothic Glossary, with an Introduction, an Outline of Moeso-Gothic Grammar, and a List of Anglo-Saxon and Old and Modern English Words Etymologically Connected with Moeso-Gothic, London: Asher, p. 262
5. ^ Miller, D. Gary (2019), The Oxford Gothic Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌽
8. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 581
9. ^ a b c d 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. wairþan
10. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 457
11. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. wairþan
12. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 165
13. ^ 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
14. ^ 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 5:18
15. ^ Lambdin, Thomas O. (2006), An Introduction to the Gothic Language, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock, p. 26
16. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. waírþan