𐍈𐌰𐍂

Forms

𐍈𐌰𐍂 (ƕar), an indeclinable interrogative adverb, also used as a relative.^[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hwar (“where”),^[4][5] with cognates in Old Norse hvar, Old English hwǣr, Old Frisian hwār, Old Saxon hwar and Old High German hwār.^[5] Kroonen describes it as an adverb made from the interrogative root Proto-Indo-European *kʷo- with a locative suffix in r, as in *þar (“there”).^[5] He takes the long vowel of the West Germanic forms as a lengthening of the monosyllable, as in Latin cūr (“why”) from Old Latin quōr.^[5] Lehmann, Uhlenbeck and Holthausen also compare Lithuanian kur (“where”),^[6][7][8] and Lehmann and Holthausen Albanian kur (“when”).^[6][8] Lehmann and Uhlenbeck connect it with 𐍈𐌰𐍃 (ƕas, “who”).^[6][7]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 22 tokens: one in Matthew, four in John, four in Luke, three in Mark and ten in 1 Corinthians.^[3] They are in manuscripts CA (12), A (8) and B (2).^[3] The first is Matthew 8:20.^[3][9] PROIEL aligns all its 20 tokens with Ancient Greek ποῦ (poû).^[10] Matthew 8:20 reads iþ sunus mans ni habaiþ ƕar haubiþ sein anahnaiwjai, "but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head".^[11]

Meanings

1. where?, in what place, for ποῦ.^[1][9][10]
2. As a relative, where, wherever, at which place.^[2][9]

Word family

• 𐍈𐌰𐍂𐌿𐌷 (ƕaruh)
• 𐌸𐌹𐍃𐍈𐌰𐍂𐌿𐌷 (þisƕaruh, “wherever”)
• 𐍈𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌹𐍃 (ƕarjis, “which”)

Related words

• 𐍈𐌰𐍃 (ƕas, “who”)
• 𐍈𐌰𐌳𐍂𐌴 (ƕadrē, “whither”)
• 𐍈𐌰𐌸𐍂𐍉 (ƕaþrō, “whence”)

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. ƕar
2. ^ a b Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 84
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍈𐌰𐍂
5. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 263
6. ^ a b c 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. ƕar
7. ^ a b Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 86
8. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Gotisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 51
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ƕar
10. ^ 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
11. ^ 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 8:20