The gotic alphabet is a Alphabet used exclusively to note the gotic language of Wulfila, Skeireins and various manuscripts in gotic language. It is an original alphabet probably invented by Wulfila itself and which has nothing to do with what is called commonly the “Gothic letters”, which are, they, of the letters of the Latin alphabet as written in Occident in the manuscripts of, become later what one indicates in Germany under the term of Fraktur .

Certificates

This alphabet was mainly used at the 6th century of the Christian era in two posterior manuscripts with Wulfila (which lived at the end of the 4th century), the Codex Ambrosianus and the Codex Argenteus . Other documents attest it, profane and crowned, and the last texts are dated from the 9th century (at one time when the language was not spoken probably any more). The alphabet gotic was not the only possible writing of this language: one finds also some inscriptions in rune S Germanic.

One will find more details in the principal article.

Letters

History

The alphabet gotic is mainly an adaptation of the Greek alphabet (in its C-W communication Onciale) supplied with three natures of uncial Latin like five borrowed from the Germanic Rune S (according to a current interpretation). Each letter has a numeral value by imitation of the Greek Numération and two of them do not have an other function. The article gotic Numération describes the operation of this numeration. Ernst Ebbinghaus (cf bibliography) reference mark two grindings of the alphabet (standard in S and standard in Σ ), according to the shape of the letter for S and the use of the nasal suspension (practical consisting in replacing the nasal consonants final by an abbreviatory sign ).

Transcription/transliteration

One it transliterates in the scientific and didactic works by means of part of the Transcription of the Germanists (i.e. here the Latin alphabet increased of two special signs, among which the binding, ƕ (h+v ) and the letter thorn , þ , borrowed from the Vieil English; the notation of Wulfila being often ambiguous (same a Digramme have being able, for example, to note, or), the transcription has recourse to diacritic S to overcome the difficulties of reading.

One will consult Phonologie of gotic the for precise details on the pronunciation of the language.

List graphèmes

The type in S of the alphabet was represented here.

(Version in image)

Notes :

• the lines are in the following order: gotic , translitt (eration) , valley (or) num (érale) and étymon ;
• the étymon indicated gives the Greek letter (in its uncial C-W communication) at the origin of the gotic letter. Those which are inherited the Germanic runes are on a blue bottom, those which are borrowed from Latin on a mauve bottom.

Difficulties of interpretation

Let us étymons proposed are only conjectures representing the current interpretation of the origin of the gotic letters: indeed, several possibilities exist as for the origin of some, like, which could also come from the runes, more especially as these same runes is partly built on the Latin alphabet.

The origin of the letter raises problems of interpretation. One can make it go back to the Greek Koppa in his C-W communication Onciale, which is not without raising a paradox: the numeral sign coming clearly from the uncial koppa , one sees badly how two different layouts could have been born from a single étymon. The most effective solution seems to be to make derive the letter from the Stigma in its uncial C-W communication (currently Ϛ), (which replaced the Digamma ), to which the layout is very close to the uncial koppa and who would explain the similarity striking between the letter and the sign. Both would have evolved/moved while following same simplifications (to consult the article on the gotic Numération for more details on the sign for 90 ). In this case, Wulfila did not use the letter by respecting any phonetic value since Ϛ notes /st/ (and old a Digamma being worth replaces /w/) but made use of a site available in the numeral Greek alphabet ( stigma being an abbreviatory binding and not a letter) enabling him to add a full letter whose pronunciation was unknown of the Byzantine Greek while preserving his numeral value. The Latin letter Q uncial could also be at the origin of this letter, but this assumption is much less convincing.

In addition, the signs for 90 () and 900 () result quite from the Greek: they are the misadventures of the antiquated letters Greek koppa and Sampi preserved in the Greek Numération, letters which, having lost their statute of literal natures, became deformed during the Byzantine time, so much so that of Ϙ one arrived the current form Ϟ while passing by, which gives and that of one arrived at Ϡ, via a C-W communication (in fact, the passage from one C-W communication to another is more complex) which explains the gotic letter.

Certain specialists, whose Ernst Hebbinghaus (cf bibliography), consider that one can make derive all the letters from uncial Greek. If this assumption can be checked for, that one makes derive traditionally from the Rune ᚦ but which one could interpret as the adaptation of (possible derivation phonetically since in Byzantine Greek θ decided, like), it is less obvious with other letters. For example, can go back with difficulty to the Greek omega , traced at the time and not Ω (C-W communication which, for the blow, could be satisfactory). Other difficulties are raised with, that it would seem much simpler to make go back to a F Latin than with the rune ᚠ or the Greek.

Other signs

The alphabet gotic is unicaméral (it does not make the difference between capitals and tiny) and is written in scriptio continued , i.e. all the words are attached, without space between them.

One places in the manuscripts a dieresis on the I when the letter is with initial word, with initial of a Syllabe after vowel (to distinguish it from a diphthong, true or false and to indicate that the I does not belong to the preceding syllable): ïk (“I”, cf German ich ), gaïddja ( ga-iddja ; “I passed”, preterite of ga-gaggan ).

The superscribed line indicates abbreviations: gþ̅ represents guþ (“God”, cf English God ).

As for the punctuations, the manuscripts use the median point “ · ” and the colon “: ” like indicators of pauses. Sometimes, space plays this part. When the letters are used like numeral symbols, they are surrounded by median points or surlignées and/or underlined.

The alphabet gotic is now included in the additional multilingual plane of Unicode, of the U+10330 sites with U+1034F.

In addition, some inscriptions would be written by means of the Germanic Rune S.

Example of text into gotic

the following text is coded directly; it is possible that it is illegible because it requires that the system accepts the Unicode characters of the additional multilingual plan and that a police force having the characters gotic is installed (for more details, to consult the site of Alan Wood).

They are verses 1 and 2 of chapter 18 of the Évangile according to Jean.

𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌰𐌵𐌹𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃𐌹𐌴𐍃𐌿𐍃𐌿𐍃𐌹𐌳𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌼𐌹𐌸

Þata qiþands Iesus usiddja miþ

𐍃𐌹𐍀𐍉𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌼𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌿𐍆𐌰𐍂𐍂𐌹𐌽𐌽𐍉𐌽𐌸𐍉

siponjam seinaim ufar rinnon þo

𐌺𐌰𐌹𐌳𐍂𐍉𐌽𐌸𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍅𐌰𐍃𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍄𐌹𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌳𐍃𐌹𐌽

Kaidron, þarei was aurtigards, in

𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌴𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌸𐌹𐌴𐍃𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌷𐍃𐌹𐍀𐍉𐌽𐌾𐍉𐍃𐌹𐍃

þanei galaiþ Iesus jah siponjos is

𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍃𐌿𐌷𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌷𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌴𐍅𐌾𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌰

wissuh þan jah Iudas its galewjands ina

𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌳𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌿𐍆𐍄𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌹̈𐌳𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌹𐌴𐍃𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌰𐍂

þana stad, þatei ufta gaïddja Iesus jainar

𐌼𐌹𐌸𐍃𐌹𐍀𐍉𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌼𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌹𐌼

miþ siponjam seinaim.

and spaces added in the transcription to facilitate the lecture

“When Jesus had said that, it left with its disciples on the edges Kédron, where there was a garden which it entered with his disciples. Judas, which betrayed it, knew this place because Jesus and his disciples often met there. ”

Here the same text in image:

Others

• code ISO 15924: Goth
• Gotique in Unicode 4.1

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