Gothic is an inflected language, and as such its nouns, pronouns, and adjectives must be declined in order to serve a grammatical function. A set of declined forms of the same word pattern is called a declension. There are five grammatical cases in Gothic with a few traces of an old sixth instrumental case.
A complete declension consists of five grammatical cases.
Gothic language grammars often follow the common NOM-ACC-GEN-DAT order used for the Germanic languages. VOC is usually attached to the same line as ACC as a combined VOC-ACC, but if not, it may be placed between NOM and ACC (as in Wright's "Grammar of the Gothic Language").
An important distinction in many of the declension classes below is the difference between "short" and "long" stems. Frequently declension classes are divided into two subclasses, one for short-stemmed nouns and one for long-stemmed nouns.
A short stem contains:
A long stem is all other types of stems:
This declension has as counterparts the second declension (us/um) of Latin, and the omicron declension (os/on) of Greek. It contains masculine and neuter nouns.
| Case | Gothic: dags, dagōs day m. | Gothic: waúrd, waúrda word n. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Nominative (+ vocative plural) | dags | –s | dagōs | –ōs | waúrd | – | waúrda | –a | |
| Accusative (+ vocative singular) | dag | – | dagans | –ans | |||||
| Genitive | dagis | –is | dagē | –ē | waúrdis | –is | waúrdē | –ē | |
| Dative | daga | –a | dagam | –am | waúrda | –a | waúrdam | –am | |
A varied set of nouns have two stems, one occurring with endings that are null or begin with a consonant (the nominative, accusative and vocative singular) and another that occurs with endings beginning with a vowel (all but the previously listed forms).
One common situation leading to two-stem nouns is the automatic devoicing of voiced fricatives at (or near) the end of a word, e.g.:
More information about the exceptions in the -a declension can be found at page 82, §175 of Grammar of the Gothic Language written by Joseph Wright. (Link can be found at the bottom.)
| Case | Gothic: hláifs, hláibōs loaf, bread m. | Gothic: háubiþ, háubida head n. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Nominative (+ vocative plural) | hláifs | –s | hláibōs | –ōs | háubiþ | – | háubida | –a | |
| Accusative (+ vocative singular) | hláif | – | hláibans | –ans | |||||
| Genitive | hláibis | –is | hláibē | –ē | háubidis | –is | háubidē | –ē | |
| Dative | hláiba | –a | hláibam | –am | háubida | –a | háubidam | –am | |
Other nouns with two stems are:
This declension is really just the -a declension with a j immediately preceding. However, due to various sound laws, a new declension subcategory has arisen that does not exactly follow the form of the plain -a declension. Similar developments occurred in Greek and the Slavic languages, among others.
This declension has as counterparts the second declension nouns in (-ius/-ium) of Latin. The counterparts in Greek are some second declension nouns in (-ios/-ion), as well as many that show effects of palatalization (e.g., -zdos < *-gyos or *-dyos; -llos < *-lyos; -ptos < -*pyos; -ssos or -ttos < -*tyos; -airos/-eiros/-oiros < *-aryos/-eryos/-oryos; -ainos/-einos/-oinos < *-anyos/enyos/onyos; etc., and similarly for neuter nouns in -ion or *-yon). It contains masculine and neuter nouns.
| Case | Gothic: harjis, harjōs army m. | Gothic: haírdeis, haírdjōs herdsman m. | Gothic: kuni, kunja race n. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||||
| Nominative (+ vocative plural) | harjis | –jis | harjōs | –jōs | haírdeis | –eis | haírdjōs | –jōs | kuni | -i | kunja | –ja | |
| Accusative (+ vocative singular) | hari | -i | harjans | –jans | haírdi | -i | haírdjans | –jans | |||||
| Genitive | harjis | –jis | harjē | –jē | haírdeis | –eis | haírdjē | –jē | kunjis | –jis | kunjē | –jē | |
| Dative | harja | –ja | harjam | –jam | haírdja | –ja | haírdjam | –jam | kunja | –ja | kunjam | –jam | |
The masculine nouns have a distinction between short- and long-stemmed nouns, as described above. Gothic: harjis "army" is a prototypical short-stem noun, and Gothic: haírdeis is a prototypical long-stem noun. Neuters, however, have merged the two types in favor of the short-stem endings. Properly, there should be a distinction in the genitive singular between short-stem -jis and long-stem -eis, as for the masculine nouns, but -jis has mostly taken over. For a few nouns, however, both forms can be used, as in genitive Gothic: andbahteis or Gothic: andbahtjis "of service", Gothic: gawaírþeis or Gothic: gawaírþjis "of peace", from neuter nouns Gothic: andbahti "service" and Gothic: gawaírþi "peace", respectively.
Note that the neuters in this declension can be said to follow the two-stem pattern (e.g. kuni vs. kunj-) described above for a-stems. A few neuters in this declension follow the same overall pattern but have additional vowel changes between the stems:
This declension counterparts the first declension (a) of Latin, and the alpha declension (a/as) of Greek. It contains feminine nouns.
| Case | Gothic: giba, gibōs gift f. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| Nominative-Accusative-Vocative | giba | –a | gibōs | –ōs | |
| Genitive | gibōs | –ōs | gibō | –ō | |
| Dative | gibái | –ái | gibōm | –ōm | |
Nouns ending in -jō that have a short stem (see discussion above) behave identically to normal -ō stems, e.g. Gothic: brakja "strife", Gothic: sibja "relationship", Gothic: sunja "truth". However, long-stemmed nouns in -jō have a different nominative singular ending in -i:
| Case | Gothic: bandi, bandjōs band f. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| Nominative (+ vocative) | bandi | –i | bandjōs | –jōs | |
| Accusative | bandja | –ja | |||
| Genitive | bandjōs | –jōs | bandjō | –jō | |
| Dative | bandjái | –jái | bandjōm | –jōm | |
Note that in this particular case the "long-stem" declension includes nouns with a long vowel or diphthong and no following consonant. In addition, these nouns have a different stem in the nominative singular from all other cases:
This declension counterparts the vowel stems of the third declension (is) of Latin, and the third declension of Greek. It contains masculine and feminine nouns. Note that masculine nouns have become identical to -a stem nouns in the singular, while feminine nouns have preserved the original declension.
| Case | Gothic: gasts, gastis stranger, guest m. | Gothic: qēns, qēneis wife f. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Nominative (+ vocative plural) | gasts | –s | gasteis | –eis | qēns | –s | qēneis | –eis | |
| Accusative (+ vocative singular) | gast | – | gastins | –ins | qēn | – | qēnins | –ins | |
| Genitive | gastis | –is | gastē | –ē | qēnáis | –áis | qēnē | –ē | |
| Dative | gasta | –a | gastim | –im | qēnái | –ái | qēnim | –im | |
Similar to the situation with -a stems, some nouns have a different stem in the nominative and accusative singular than in other cases:
Some additional complications:
| Case | Gothic: láiseins, láiseinōs doctrine f. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| Nominative | láiseins | –s | láiseinōs | –ōs | |
| Accusative | láisein | – | láiseinins | –ins | |
| Genitive | láiseináis | –áis | láiseinō | –ō | |
| Dative | láiseinái | –ái | láiseinim | –im | |
This declension counterparts the fourth declension (us) of Latin and parts of the third declension of Greek (cf. πῆχυς). It contains nouns of all genders. Gothic: faíhu "property" is a neuter -u stem, and like all neuters from the u stem it lacks a plural. Other remnants are the invariant neuter adjective Gothic: filu "much" (with an adverbial genitive Gothic: filáus), and Gothic: qaíru or Gothic: gáiru "spike, goad", occurring once in a gloss. Gothic: leiþu "cider, fruit wine" is attested only in the accusative singular and without any context to infer its gender, so it may have been masculine or neuter.
| Case | Gothic: sunus, sunjus son m. | Gothic: faíhu property n. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | |||||
| Nominative (+ vocative plural) | sunus | –us | sunjus | –jus | faíhu | –u | |
| Accusative (+ vocative singular) | sunu | –u | sununs | –uns | |||
| Genitive | sunáus | –áus | suniwē | –iwē | faíháus | –áus | |
| Dative | sunáu | –áu | sunum | –um | faíháu | –áu | |
The an, on and in declensions constitute a Germanic word derivation, which is also used for adjectives in the weak form marking definiteness. The declension loosely parallels the Latin nouns in -ō, genitive -ōnis/-inis, which shares the same Indo-European declensional origin (the Greek descendant being the more regularized -ōn, -onos class).
Masculines and neuters belong to this declension.
| Case | Gothic: guma, gumans man m. | Gothic: haírtō, haírtōna heart n. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Nominative (+ vocative) | guma | –a | gumans | –ans | haírtō | –ō | haírtōna | –ōna | |
| Accusative | guman | –an | gumans | –ans | |||||
| Genitive | gumins | –ins | gumanē | –anē | haírtins | –ins | haírtanē | –anē | |
| Dative | gumin | –in | gumam | –am | haírtin | –in | haírtam | –am | |
There are a few neuter irregularities:
| Case | Gothic: watō, watna water n. | Gothic: namō, namna name n. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Nominative-Accusative (Vocative) | watō | – | watna | –na | namō | – | namna | –na | |
| Genitive | watins | –ins | watnē | –nē | namins | –ins | namnē | –nē | |
| Dative | watin | –in | watnam | –nam | namin | –in | namnam | –nam | |
This declension is the feminine counterpart of the an declension.
| Case | Gothic: tuggō, tuggōns tongue f. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| Nominative | tuggō | –ō | tuggōns | –ōns | |
| Accusative | tuggōn | –ōn | |||
| Genitive | tuggōns | –ōns | tuggōnō | –ōnō | |
| Dative | tuggōn | –ōn | tuggōm | –ōm | |
Note: the first g in Gothic: tuggō is pronounced pronounced as /[ŋ]/. The Gothic language borrowed the practice of denoting pronounced as /[ŋɡ]/ by gg and pronounced as /[ŋk]/ by gk from the Koine Greek in which the New Testament was originally written.
This declension contains abstract feminines only.
| Case | Gothic: frōdei, frōdeins wisdom f. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| Nominative | frōdei | –ei | frōdeins | –eins | |
| Accusative | frōdein | –ein | frōdeins | ||
| Genitive | frōdeins | –eins | frōdeinō | –einō | |
| Dative | frōdein | –ein | frōdeim | –eim | |
A few family nouns inherited from Proto-Indo-European have a very archaic declension. Feminines and masculines have identical forms.
| Case | Gothic: swistar, swistrjus sister f. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| Nominative | swistar | –ar | swistrjus | –rjus | |
| Accusative | swistruns | –runs | |||
| Genitive | swistrs | –rs | swistrē | –rē | |
| Dative | swistr | –r | swistrum | –rum | |
Inflected thus are also Gothic: brōþar m., "brother", Gothic: fadar m., "father", Gothic: daúhtar f., "daughter".
These nouns are old present participles, corresponding to nouns in -nt in Latin and Greek.
| Case | Gothic: frijōnds, frijōnds friend m. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| Nominative | frijōnds | –s | frijōnds | –s | |
| Accusative | frijōnd | – | |||
| Genitive | frijōndis | –is | frijōndē | –ē | |
| Dative | frijōnd | – | frijōndam | –am | |
These nouns correspond to the consonant declensions in Latin and Greek (in both cases, part of the third declension). Only traces of masculines are extant, but feminines are fairly well attested.
| Case | Gothic: reiks, reiks ruler m. | Gothic: baúrgs, baúrgs city f. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Nominative | reiks | –s | reiks | –s | baúrgs | –s | baúrgs | –s | |
| Acc. | reik | – | baúrg | – | |||||
| Gen. | reikis | –is, –s | reikē | –ē | baúrgs | –s | baúrgē | –ē | |
| Dative | reik | – | reikam | –am, um | baúrg | – | baúrgim | –im | |
There are nine feminine nouns attested. Note the following irregularities:
The other five feminine nouns are Gothic: alhs "temple", Gothic: baúrgs "city", Gothic: brusts "breast", Gothic: miluks "milk", and Gothic: spaúrds "racecourse".
Adjectives in Gothic, as in the other Germanic languages, can be declined according to two different paradigms, commonly called "strong" and "weak". This represents a significant innovation in Germanic, although a similar development has taken place in the Baltic and Slavic languages.
Adjectives in Proto-Indo-European -- as is still the case in Latin, Greek, and most other daughters—are declined in exactly the same way as nouns. Germanic "strong" adjectives, however, take many of their endings from the declension of pronouns. These pronominal endings are likely to have entered the adjective inflection in the Germanic proto-language, via the inflection of possessive adjectives and other "pronominal" word classes, as evidenced by the variation between the bare stem and -ata in the neuter nominative and accusative singular of Gothic adjectives and possessive pronouns. [1] "Weak" adjectives take the endings of -n stem nouns, regardless of the underlying stem class of the adjective.
In general, weak adjectival endings are used when the adjective is accompanied by a definite article, and strong endings are used in other situations. However, weak endings are occasionally used in the absence of a definite article, and cause the associated noun to have the same semantics as if a definite article were present. Weak adjectives are also used when the associated noun is in the vocative case. In addition, some adjectives are always declined weak or strong, regardless of any accompanying articles.
| Case | Gothic: blinds, blind/blindata, blinda blind | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||||||||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||||||
| Nominative | blinds | –s | blind(ata) | –(ata) | blinda | –a | blindái | –ái | blinda | –a | blindōs | –ōs | |
| Accusative | blindana | –ana | blindans | –ans | |||||||||
| Genitive | blindis | –is | blindis | –is | blindáizōs | –áizōs | blindáizē | –áizē | blindáizē | –áizē | blindáizō | –áizō | |
| Dative | blindamma | –amma | blindamma | –amma | blindái | –ái | blindáim | –áim | blindáim | –áim | blindáim | –áim | |
Similar to the situation with nouns, the ja-stem adjectives are divided into two subtypes, depending on whether the stem is short or long.
| Case | Gothic: midjis, midi/midjata, midja middle | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||||||||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||||||
| Nominative | midjis | –jis | midi, midjata | –i, –jata | midja | –ja | midjái | –jái | midja | –ja | midjōs | –jōs | |
| Accusative | midjana | –jana | midjans | –jans | |||||||||
| Genitive | midjis | –jis | midjis | –jis | midjáizōs | –jáizōs | midjáizē | –jáizē | midjáizē | –jáizē | midjáizō | –jáizō | |
| Dative | midjamma | –jamma | midjamma | –jamma | midjái | –jái | midjáim | –jáim | midjáim | –jáim | midjáim | –jáim | |
This declension has only the following extant adjectives: Gothic: aljis "other", Gothic: freis "free" (stem Gothic: frij-, see below), Gothic: fullatōjis "perfect", Gothic: gawiljis "willing", Gothic: midjis "middle", Gothic: niujis "new", Gothic: sunjis "true", Gothic: ubiltōjis "evil-doing", and Gothic: unsibjis "lawless".Notes about the above adjectives:
| Case | Gothic: wilþeis, wilþi/wilþjata, wilþi wild | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||||||||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||||||
| Nominative | wilþeis | –eis | wilþi, wilþjata | –i, –jata | wilþi | –i | wilþjái | –jái | wilþja | –ja | wilþjōs | –jōs | |
| Accusative | wilþjana | –jana | wilþja | –ja | wilþjans | –jans | |||||||
| Genitive | wilþeis | –eis | wilþeis (or -jis?) | –eis (–jis?) | wilþjáizōs | –jáizōs | wilþjáizē | –jáizē | wilþjáizē | –jáizē | wilþjáizō | –jáizō | |
| Dative | wilþjamma | –jamma | wilþjamma | –jamma | wilþjái | –jái | wilþjáim | –jáim | wilþjáim | –jáim | wilþjáim | –jáim | |
This declension is built out of long-stemmed -ja masculine and neuter nouns and long-stemmed -jō feminine nouns.
This declension has only five extant adjectives: Gothic: aírzeis "astray", Gothic: alþeis "old", Gothic: faírneis "old", Gothic: wilþeis "wild", and Gothic: wōþeis "sweet". None of these adjectives are extent in any genitive singular forms, and hence the forms given above are reconstructions based on the behavior of the corresponding nouns. The hesitation between Gothic: wilþeis or Gothic: wilþjis as the neuter genitive singular form stems from the following facts:
Adjectives of this class have replaced most forms with forms taken from the -ja declension. Only the nominative singular, the neuter accusative singular and the masculine and neuter genitive singular have genuine -i stem forms.
| Case | Gothic: hráins, hráin, hráins clean | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||||||||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||||||
| Nominative | hráins | –s | hráin | – | hráins | –s | hráinjái | –jái | hráinja | –ja | hráinjōs | –jōs | |
| Accusative | hráinjana | –jana | hráinja | –ja | hráinjans | –jans | |||||||
| Genitive | hráinis | –is | hráinis | –is |
|
| hráinjáizē | –jáizē | hráinjáizē | –jáizē | hráinjáizō | –jáizō | |
| Dative | hráinjamma | –jamma | hráinjamma | –jamma | hráinjái | –jái | hráinjáim | –jáim | hráinjáim | –jáim | hráinjáim | –jáim | |
The following adjectives of this type are extant (along with a few others): Gothic: analáugns "hidden", Gothic: anasiuns "visible", Gothic: andanēms "pleasant", Gothic: áuþs "desert", Gothic: brūks "useful", Gothic: gafáurs "well-behaved", Gothic: gamáins "common", Gothic: hráins "clean", Gothic: sēls "kind", Gothic: skáuns "beautiful", Gothic: skeirs "clear", Gothic: suts (Gothic: ?sūts) "sweet".
Similarly to -i stem adjectives, -u stem adjectives have replaced most forms with those taken from the -ja declension.
| Case | Gothic: hardus, hardu/hardjata, hardus hard | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||||||||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||||||
| Nominative | hardus | –us | hardu, hardjata | –u, –jata | hardus | –us | hardjái | –jái |
|
| hardjōs | –jōs | |
| Accusative | hardjana | –jana | hardjans | –jans | |||||||||
| Genitive |
|
|
|
|
|
| hardjáizē | –jáizē | hardjáizē | –jáizē | hardjáizō | –jáizō | |
| Dative |
|
|
|
|
|
| hardjáim | –jáim | hardjáim | –jáim | hardjáim | –jáim | |
The following adjectives of this type are extant: Gothic: aggwus "narrow", Gothic: aglus "difficult", Gothic: hardus "hard", Gothic: hnasqus "soft", Gothic: kaúrus "heavy", Gothic: manwus "ready", Gothic: qaírrus "gentle", Gothic: seiþus "late", Gothic: tulgus "steadfast", Gothic: twalibwintrus "twelve years old", Gothic: þaúrsus "withered", Gothic: þlaqus "soft".
Weak adjectival endings are taken from the corresponding endings of masculine, feminine and neuter n-stems, e.g. masculine Gothic: guma "man", feminine Gothic: tuggō "tongue", neuter Gothic: haírtō "heart". All adjectives have the same endings, regardless of the underlying stem class of the adjective. The only difference is that ja-stems, i-stems and u-stems have a -j- at the end of the stem, e.g. masculine singular nominative weak Gothic: niuja "new", Gothic: wilþja "wild", Gothic: hráinja "clean", Gothic: hardja "hard", corresponding to the strong forms Gothic: niujis (short ja-stem), Gothic: wilþeis (long ja-stem), Gothic: hráins (i-stem), Gothic: hardus (u-stem).
| Case | Gothic: blinda, blindō, blindō blind | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||||||||||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||||||
| Nominative | blinda | –a | blindō | –ō | blindō | –ō | blindans | –ans | blindōna | –ōna | blindōns | –ōns | |
| Accusative | blindan | –an | blindōn | –ōn | |||||||||
| Genitive | blindins | –ins | blindins | –ins | blindōns | –ōns | blindanē | –anē | blindanē | –anē | blindōnō | –ōnō | |
| Dative | blindin | –in | blindin | –in | blindōn | –ōn | blindam | –am | blindam | –am | blindōm | –ōm | |
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd Person | Reflexive | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |||||||||
| Nominative | ik | wit | weis | þu | jut | jus | is | eis | ita | ija | si | ijōs | ||
| Accusative | mik | ugkis | uns, unsis | þuk | igqis | izwis | ina | ins | ija | sik | ||||
| Genitive | meina | ugkara | unsara | þeina | igqara | izwara | is | izē | is | izē | izōs | izō | seina | |
| Dative | mis | ugkis | unsis, uns | þus | igqis | izwis | imma | im | imma | im | izái | im | sis | |
| Possessee | ||||||||||||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |||||||||
| Possessor | Singular | Nominative | meins | -s | meináí | -ái | mein(ata) | -(ata) | meina | -a | meina | -a | meinōs | -ōs |
| Accusative | meinana | -ana | meinans | -ans | ||||||||||
| Genitive | meinis | -is | meináizē | -áizē | meinis | -is | meináizē | -áizē | meináizōs | -áizōs | meináizō | -áizō | ||
| Dative | meinamma | -amma | meináim | -áim | meinamma | -amma | meináim | -áim | meinái | -ái | meináim | -áim | ||
| Dual/ Plural | Nominative | unsar | -_ | unsarái | -ái | unsar | -_ | unsar | -a | unsara | -a | unsarōs | -ōs | |
| Accusative | unsarana | -ana | unsarans | -ans | ||||||||||
| Genitive | unsaris | -is | unsaráizē | -áizē | unsaris | -is | unsaráizē | -áizē | unsaráizōs | -áizōs | unsaráizō | -áizō | ||
| Dative | unsaramma | -amma | unsaráim | -áim | unsaramma | -amma | unsaráim | -áim | unsarái | -ái | unsaráim | -áim | ||
| The/ This | |||||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||
| Nominative | sa | þái | þata | þō | sō | þōs | |
| Accusative | þana | þans | þō | ||||
| Genitive | þis | þizē | þis | þizē | þizōs | þizō | |
| Dative | þamma | þáim | þamma | þáim | þizái | þáim | |
| Interrogative pronouns | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||
| What/ Who | Nominative | ƕas |
| ƕa |
| ƕō |
|
| Accusative | ƕana | ƕans | |||||
| Genitive | ƕis |
| ƕis |
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| |
| Dative | ƕamma |
| ƕwamma |
| ƕizái |
| |
| Which one (of two) | Nominative | ƕaþar |
| ƕaþara(ta) |
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| Accusative |
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| Genitive |
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| Dative |
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| Which (of more than two) | Nominative | ƕarjis | ƕarjái | ƕarjata, ƕari | ƕarja | ƕarja | ƕarjōs |
| Accusative | ƕarjana | ƕarjans | |||||
| Genitive | ƕarjis | ƕarjáizē | ƕarjis | ƕarjáizē | ƕarjáizōs | ƕarjáizē | |
| Dative | ƕarjamma | ƕarjáim | ƕarjamma | ƕarjamma | ƕarjái | ƕarjáim | |
The plural form Gothic: *ƕans (masculine accusative) occurs once as part of the indefinite pronoun Gothic: ƕanzuh "each, every"; the other plurals are reconstructed. Hwas is declined irregular, but shares similar forms with sa, the others are declined mostly like strong (j)a-stem adjectives. Hwaþar is only extant in the nominative masculine singular and neuter singular nominative/ accusative; the other forms are reconstructed.
The following additional pronouns exist, all declined strong as a-stems:
Three indefinite pronouns are formed by appending -uh "and" to the interrogative pronouns Gothic: ƕas "who, what", Gothic: ƕarjis "which (of many)", and Gothic: ƕaþar "which of two"; compare the analogously formed Latin pronoun Latin: quisque "each", formed from Latin: quis "who" and Latin: -que "and". Both Gothic: ƕazuh and Gothic: ƕarjizuh mean "each, every"; Gothic: *ƕaþaruh means "each of two".
Before -uh, -s appears in the original form of -z-, and after long vowels and stressed short vowels, the u of -uh is elided. Unstressed short vowels are dropped before -uh in the declension of Gothic: ƕazuh; however, in the other two pronouns, long vowels appear in place of unstressed short vowels, preserving an older state of affairs, and the u of -uh is elided. Declension tables of Gothic: ƕazuh and Gothic: ƕarjizuh are presented below. Of Gothic: *ƕaþaruh, only a single form is extant, the dative singular Gothic: *ƕaþarammēh, occurring in the compound form Gothic: áinƕaþarammēh "to each one of two".
The plural form Gothic: ƕanzuh (masculine accusative) occurs once, in the expression Gothic: insandida ins twans ƕanzuh "he sent them forth two and two".
| Case | Indefinite #1: Each/Every | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | ||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||
| Nominative | ƕazuh | ƕah | ƕōh | |
| Accusative | ƕanuh | |||
| Genitive | ƕizuh | ƕizōzuh | ||
| Dative | ƕammuh | ƕizáih | ||
| Case | Indefinite #2: Each/Every | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | ||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||
| Nominative | ƕarjizuh | ƕarjatōh | ƕarjōh | |
| Accusative | ƕarjanōh | |||
| Genitive | ƕarjizuh | ƕarjizōzuh | ||
| Dative | ƕarjammēh | ƕarjáih | ||
Additional pronominal forms are
| Case | Gothic: þisƕazuh saei "Whoever/Whatever" | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | |||
| Masculine | Neuter | ||
| Nominative | þisƕazuh saei | þisƕah þei, þisƕah þatei | |
| Accusative | þisƕanōh saei | ||
| Genitive | ? | þisƕizuh þei | |
| Dative | þisƕammēh saei | þisƕammēh þei | |
| Case | Gothic: ni mannahun "No one" | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | ||
| Masculine | ||
| Nominative | ni mannahun | |
| Accusative | ni mannanhun | |
| Genitive | ni manshun | |
| Dative | ni mannhun | |
| Case | Gothic: ni áinshun "No one, no, none, nothing" | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | ||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||
| Nominative | ni áinshun | ni áinhun | ni áinōhun | |
| Accusative | ni áinnōhun, ni áinōhun | |||
| Genitive | ni áinishun | ni áinishun |
| |
| Dative | ni áinummēhun | ni áinummēhun | ni áináihun | |
| Cardinal | Ordinal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Word | Declension | Word | Declension | |
| 1 | áins | strong singular a-stem | fruma | irregular |
| frumists | strong a-stem | |||
| 2 | twái | irregular | anþar | irregular |
| 3 | þreis | irregular | þridja | Weak a-stem |
| 4 | fidwōr | undeclined or i-stem |
| |
| 5 | fimf | fimfta | ||
| 6 | saíhs | saíhsta | ||
| 7 | sibun |
| ||
| 8 | ahtáu | ahtuda | ||
| 9 | niun | niunda | ||
| 10 | taíhun | taíhunda | ||
| 11 | áinlif |
| ||
| 12 | twalif |
| ||
| 13 |
|
| ||
| 14 | fidwōrtaíhun |
| ||
| 15 | fimftaíhun | fimtataíhunda | ||
| 16 | saíhstaíhun |
| ||
| 17 | sibuntaíhun |
| ||
| 18 | ahtáutaíhun |
| ||
| 19 | niuntaíhun |
| ||
| 20 | twái tigjus | tigjus is a plural masculine u-stem; multiplier agrees in case | ||
| 30 | þreis tigjus | |||
| 40 | fedwōr tigjus | |||
| 50 | fimf tigjus | |||
| 60 | saihs tigjus | |||
| 70 | sibuntēhund | undeclined or uncertain declension | ||
| 80 | ahtáutēhund | |||
| 90 | niuntēhund | |||
| 100 | taíhuntēhund | |||
| 100, 120 | hund | neuter a-stem | ||
| (#) x 100 (or x 120) | (#) hund | multiplier agrees in case + hund | ||
| 1000, 1200 | þūsundi | feminine jō-stem | ||
| (#) x 1000 (or x 1200) | (#) þūsundi | multiplier agrees in case + þūsundi | ||
Numbers below 20 behave as adjectives, whereas those starting at 20 behave as nouns and govern the genitive case of an associated object, e.g. dagē fidwōr tiguns "for forty days", fimf þūsundjōs waírē "five thousand men", miþ twáim tigum þūsundjō mannē "with twenty thousand men". Ordinal numbers are always adjectives.
Plural forms of áins meaning "some" also occur, otherwise the numbers are always declined as plural.
Higher numbers from fidwōr "four" through niuntaíhun "nineteen" are normally undeclined, but can be declined as -i stems, e.g. dative fidwōrim, genitive *fidwōrē.
Decades sibuntēhund "seventy", ahtáutēhund "eighty", niuntēhund "ninety" and taíhuntēhund/taíhuntaíhund "one hundred" are normally undeclined, but genitive niuntēhundis "of ninety" occurs.
A handful of numerals are declined irregularly, shown below:
| Numeral declension | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||
| Fruma/ Frumō/ Frumei,"1st" | Nominative | fruma | frumans | frumō | frumōna | frumei | frumeins |
| Accusative | fruman | frumein | |||||
| Genitive | frumins | frumanē | frumins | frumanē | frumeins | frumeinō | |
| Dative | frumin | frumam | frumin | frumam | frumein | frumeim | |
| Twái/ Twa/ Twōs"2" | Nominative | twái | twa | twōs | |||
| Accusative | twans | ||||||
| Genitive | twaddjē | twaddjē |
| ||||
| Dative | twáim | twáim | twáim | ||||
| Anþar/ Anþar/ Anþara"2nd" | Nominative | anþar | anþarái | anþar | anþara | anþara | anþarōs |
| Accusative | anþarana | anþarans | |||||
| Genitive | anþaris | anþaráizē | anþaris | anþaráizē | anþaráizōs | anþaráizō | |
| Dative | anþaramma | anþaráim | anþaramma | anþaráim | anþarái | anþaráim | |
| Þreis/ Þrija/ Þreis"3" | Nominative | þreis | þrija | þreis | |||
| Accusative | þrins | þrins | |||||
| Genitive | þrijē | þrijē |
| ||||
| Dative | þrim | þrim | þrim | ||||
"Both" is bái or bajōþs, of which the following forms are extant:
| Case | bái/ba/*bōs two | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||
| Nominative | bái, bajōþs | ba | bōs | |
| Accusative | bans | |||
| Genitive | ? | |||
| Dative | báim, bajōþum | |||
Distributive numerals answer the question "how many at a time?". The isolated form Gothic: tweihnái "two each" exists, declined as a plural strong adjective. Otherwise, distributive numerals are expressed using prepositional phrases, e.g. Gothic: bi twans aíþþáu máist þrins "by twos or at most by threes"; Gothic: ana ƕarjanōh fimftiguns "by fifties in each (company)"; Gothic: insandida ins twans ƕanzuh "he sent them forth two and two".
Multiplicative numerals answer the question "how many times more?" and are formed by adding the adjectival stem Gothic: -falþs to the stem of the corresponding cardinal. Extant are Gothic: áinfalþs "onefold, simple"; Gothic: fidurfalþs "fourfold" (note, not Gothic: *fidwōrfalþs); Gothic: taíhuntaíhundfalþs "hundredfold"; Gothic: managfalþs "manifold".
Numeral adverbs answer the question "how often?" or "how many times?". They are formed by combining the cardinal or ordinal with the noun Gothic: *sinþs "time" (lit. "a going"), and placing the result in the dative case: Gothic: áinamma sinþa "once"; Gothic: anþaramma sinþa "a second time"; Gothic: twáim sinþam "twice"; Gothic: þrim sinþam "thrice"; Gothic: fimf sinþam "five times"; Gothic: sibun sinþam "seven times". Compare Old English English, Old (ca.450-1100);: ǣne sīða "once", English, Old (ca.450-1100);: fīf sīða "five times".