𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽

Forms

𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wiljan), an anomalous verb.^[1][2] Its present has the endings of the preterite optative of a strong verb: 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌿 (wiljau), 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍃 (wileis), 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌹 (wili); its preterite 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌳𐌰 (wilda) is weak, and no past participle is recorded.^[3] The commonest forms are wiljau (26 times), wili (21), wilda (19), wileiþ (14) and the infinitive wiljan (14), in the Wulfila project's count.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wiljaną (“to want”),^[5] Kroonen's *weljan-,^[6] from Proto-Indo-European *uelh₁-.^[5][6] The Germanic cognates are Old Norse vilja, Old English willan, Old Frisian willa, Old Saxon willian and Old High German wellan.^[7][8][6] Kroonen explains the infinitive as built on the subjunctive conjugation, whose present forms continue an old optative paradigm, and takes the original present to have been athematic.^[6] Orel also notes that the verb is irregular in every Germanic language and was originally athematic.^[9] Outside Germanic it is related to Latin volō (“to want”) and Lithuanian pa-velti (“to want”).^[6][9]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 153 tokens (14 of them ambiguous) and Köbler 129, in the Gospels, the Pauline epistles and the Skeireins.^[4][10] They are in manuscripts CA, A, B, E and Car.^[4] The first record in canonical order is Matthew 5:40.^[4] In PROIEL's alignment it renders Ancient Greek ἐθέλω (ethélō) 109 times and βούλομαι (boúlomai) nine times.^[11] Matthew 5:42 has þamma wiljandin af þus leiƕan sis ni uswandjais, "do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you".^[12]

Meanings

1. to will, to be willing, to wish, to want; for ἐθέλω and βούλομαι^[3][13][11]

Word family

• 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰 (wilja, “will, desire”)
• 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌸𐌴𐌹 (wiljahalþei, “partiality”)
• 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌹𐍃 (gawiljis, “unanimous”)
• 𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌱𐌰𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌹𐍃 (silbawiljis, “voluntary”)
• 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌴𐌹 (anawiljei, “equanimity, moderation”)

Related words

• 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌰 (waila)
• 𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌹𐍃𐌰 (walisa)
• 𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (waljan)

References

1. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 303
2. ^ Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. wiljan
3. ^ a b Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 181
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. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽
6. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 578
7. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. wiljan
8. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 171
9. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 453
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wiljan
11. ^ a b 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. Mt 5:42
13. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. wiljan