𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌽

Forms

𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌽 (fraihnan), an irregular strong verb of the fifth class.^[1][2][3] The -n- belongs only to the present: the preterite is 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌷 (frah), plural 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌷𐌿𐌽 (frēhun), and the past participle 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽𐍃 (fraihans).^[4][5][6] The Wulfila project counts 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌷 (frah) 21 times, 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌷𐌿𐌽 (frehun) 16, the infinitive 6, 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌹𐌸 (fraihniþ) 4, 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰 (fraihna) 3, 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌹 (fraihnai) 2, and 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌹𐍃 (fraihnis), 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌽 (fraihn), 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌽 (fraihnandan) and 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽𐍃 (fraihans) once each.^[7]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *frehnaną (“to ask, inquire”),^[8][9] a strong verb with a nasal suffix that was originally limited to the present, as in Gothic and in Old Norse fregna.^[9] Old Saxon and Old English extended the nasal to the whole verb and moved it to the third class: Old Saxon fregnan and Old English frignan.^[9] Lehmann reports Meillet's view of an inherited present in -nā- and Marstrander's of a Proto-Germanic new formation.^[4] Related Germanic words without the nasal are Old High German frāga (“question”), Old Saxon frāgōn and Old High German frāgēn (“to ask”), and Old Norse frægr and Old English gefrǣge (“famous”).^[5][4][10] The root is Proto-Indo-European *preḱ- (“to ask”),^[2][11][5] which elsewhere mostly forms presents in -sk-: Latin poscō (“to demand”) and Old High German forscōn (“to investigate”).^[4][11] Other cognates are Latin precor (“to pray, ask”) and procus (“suitor”), and Lithuanian prašýti (“to ask, demand”).^[9][10][4]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 56 tokens, Köbler 57, all in the Gospels (24 in Mark, 17 in Luke, 14 in John, one in Matthew) and all in manuscript CA.^[7][2] The first is frah at Matthew 27:11.^[7] In PROIEL's alignment it renders Ancient Greek ἐπερωτάω (eperōtáō) 38 times, Ancient Greek ἐρωτάω (erōtáō) 16 times and Ancient Greek πυνθάνομαι (punthánomai) twice.^[12] Matthew 27:11 reads jah frah ina sa kindins qiþands: þu is þiudans Iudaie?, "and the governor asked him, saying: Are you the king of the Jews?"^[13]

Meanings

1. to ask, question someone (for ἐπερωτάω, ἐρωτάω, πυνθάνομαι).^[1][2][14]

Word family

• 𐌲𐌰𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌽 (gafraihnan, “to ask about; to find out by asking”)

Usage notes

The person asked is in the accusative; the thing asked about is in the genitive (where Greek has the accusative) or is expressed with bi or an indirect question.^[1][15]

References

1. ^ a b c Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. fraihnan
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fraíhnan
3. ^ Lambdin, Thomas O. (2006), An Introduction to the Gothic Language, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock, p. 174
4. ^ a b c d e 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. fraihnan
5. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. fraihnan
6. ^ Miller, D. Gary (2019), The Oxford Gothic Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 171
7. ^ a b c 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
8. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌽
9. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 154
10. ^ a b Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 48
11. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 112
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 27:11
14. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. fraíhnan
15. ^ Balg, G. H. (1887–1889), A Comparative Glossary of the Gothic Language, with Especial Reference to English and German, Mayville, Wis.: the author, p. 102