𐍆𐌹𐌼𐍆

Forms

𐍆𐌹𐌼𐍆 (fimf), the cardinal number "five", indeclinable.^[1][2][3] It is written 𐍆𐌹𐌼 (fim) once, in fim tiguns at Luke 16:6, and twice with the numeral letter ·𐌴· (·e·).^[4][5] With 𐍄𐌹𐌲𐌾𐌿𐍃 (tigjus) it forms "fifty", with 𐌷𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌰 (hunda) "five hundred" and with 𐌸𐌿𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌾𐍉𐍃 (þūsundjōs) "five thousand".^[4][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *fimf (“five”),^[6][7] from Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe (“five”).^[6][7][8] In Germanic the labiovelar was assimilated to the initial labial, which is why the word has f twice.^[9][10] The other Germanic languages have Old Norse fimm in Old Norse, Old English fīf in Old English, Old Frisian fīf in Old Frisian, Old Saxon fīf in Old Saxon and Old High German fimf in Old High German.^[8][7][11] Outside Germanic the number is Ancient Greek πέντε (pénte), Latin quīnque, Lithuanian penkì and Old Irish cóic in Old Irish.^[10][11] Feist takes Old High German funf from a zero-grade variant.^[8] Lehmann reports Sabler's view that the word first meant "the five fingers of a hand", compare 𐍆𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍂𐍃 (figgrs, “finger”), and Polomé's, that it went from "totality" to "the full number of fingers".^[9]

Attestation

Köbler counts 23 records, including the compound numerals, in the Bible, the Skeireins and other texts.^[4] The Wulfila project counts 19 tokens: three in John, ten in Luke, two in Mark, one each in 1 and 2 Corinthians and two in the Skeireins, fifteen of them in manuscript CA.^[12] In PROIEL's Gospels and Epistles it renders Ancient Greek πέντε (pénte) nine times, and is part of the renderings of πεντακόσιοι "five hundred" and πεντήκοντα "fifty".^[5] The first record in canonical order is John 6:10, where the men are counted at about five thousand.^[12] John 6:13 reads gafullidedun ·ib· tainjons gabruko us fimf hlaibam þaim barizeinam, "they filled twelve baskets with pieces from the five barley loaves".^[13]

Meanings

1. five; for πέντε.^[1][4][5]

Word family

• 𐍆𐌹𐌼𐍆𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿𐌽 (fimftaihun, “fifteen”)
• 𐍆𐌹𐌼𐍆𐍄𐌰𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌰 (fimftataihunda, “fifteenth”)

Related words

• 𐍆𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍂𐍃 (figgrs, “finger”)

Usage notes

Feist and Uhlenbeck cite a Crimean Gothic fyuf, which they read as fynf.^[8][10]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. fimf
2. ^ Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 61
3. ^ a b Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 276
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fimf
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍆𐌹𐌼𐍆
7. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 140
8. ^ a b c d Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. fimf
9. ^ a b 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. fimf
10. ^ a b c Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 46
11. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 98
12. ^ 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
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. Jn 6:13