𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽

Forms

𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (waljan), a weak verb of the first class.^[1][2][3] The recorded forms are the first person plural present 𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌼 (waljam) and the first person singular present optative 𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌿 (waljau).^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *waljaną (“to choose, to pick, to select”),^[6][4][7] the source also of Old Norse velja, Old Saxon wellian and Old High German wellen.^[7][8][9] Feist, Uhlenbeck and Kroonen take it as a causative formation to the root of 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wiljan, “to want”), which Kroonen writes Proto-Indo-European *uelh₁- (“to choose, to want”).^[10][11][7]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts three tokens, at 2 Corinthians 5:8 in manuscripts A and B and at Philippians 1:22 in manuscript B; Köbler counts two records.^[5][4] It renders Ancient Greek εὐδοκέω (eudokéō) in 2 Corinthians and αἱρέω (hairéō) in Philippians.^[12] 2 Corinthians 5:8 reads gatrauam jah waljam mais usleiþan us þamma leika, "we are confident and would rather depart from the body".^[13]

Meanings

1. To choose, select (for αἱρέω and εὐδοκέω).^[6][3][14]

Word family

• 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gawaljan, “to choose, elect”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (gawaleins, “selection, election”)

Related words

• 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wiljan, “to want”)

References

1. ^ Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. waljan
2. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 302
3. ^ a b Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 176
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. waljan*
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽
7. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 570
8. ^ 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. waljan
9. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Gotisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 120
10. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. waljan
11. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 166
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. 2Cor 5:8
14. ^ Balg, G. H. (1887–1889), A Comparative Glossary of the Gothic Language, with Especial Reference to English and German, Mayville, Wis.: the author, p. 526