Gothic declension

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.

Grammatical cases

A complete declension consists of five grammatical cases.

Description of cases

• The nominative case, which is used to express the subject of a statement. It is also used with copulative verbs.
• The vocative case, which is used to address someone or something in direct speech. This case is indicated in English by intonation or punctuation, e.g. "Mary is going to the store" ("Mary" is nominative) compared to "Mary, are you going to the store?" or "Mary!" ("Mary" is vocative).
• The accusative case, which expresses the direct object of a verb. In English, except for a small number of words which display a distinct accusative case (e.g., who > whom, I > me, he > him), the accusative and nominative cases are identical.
• The genitive case, which expresses possession, measurement, or source. In English, the genitive case is represented analytically by the preposition of or by the enclitic "–'s", which itself developed from the genitive case. This –'s is related to the common Gothic "-s".
• The dative case, which expresses the recipient of an action, the indirect object of a verb. In English, the prepositions to, from and for most commonly denote this case analytically.
• The instrumental case, which is used to express the place in or on which, or the time at which, an action is performed. The instrumental case only survives in a few preposition forms in Gothic.

Order of 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").

Short vs. long stems

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:

• Either a short vowel followed by at most a single consonant (consonants at the beginning of an ending do not count),
• Or a long vowel or diphthong with no following consonant (other than possibly a consonant at the beginning of an ending),

A long stem is all other types of stems:

• Either a long vowel or diphthong followed by at least a single consonant (not counting consonants at the beginning of an ending),
• Or a short vowel followed by at least two consonants (same caveat concerning consonants at the beginning of an ending),
• Or a word whose root (minus any prefixes and suffixes) is more than one syllable in length, e.g. ragineis "counsellor", with root ragin- and -eis being the long-stemmed -ja declension ending.

Strong declensions

The -a declension

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	dags, dagōs day m.				waúrd, waúrda word n.
	Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural
Nominative	dags	–s	dagōs	–ōs	waúrd	–	waúrda	–a
Accusative (Vocative)	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.:

• Stem ending in f changes in b. See table with further explanation below.

• Stem ending in short vowel + r does not receive s (-z) in the nominative case.

• Stem ending in -z does not lose the z in her nominative case. This has to do with the other cases and their pronounceability.

• The Gothic language lost her -z as it changed into a -s in many words, though it remained when it is protected by a particle. For example: wileiz-u? (wilt thou).

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	hláifs, hláibōs loaf, bread m.				háubiþ, háubida head n.
	Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural
Nominative	hláifs	–s	hláibōs	–ōs	háubiþ	–	háubida	–a
Accusative (Vocative)	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:

• masculine þius "servant" (accusative singular þiu but genitive singular þiwis, nominative plural þiwōs, etc.)
• neuter kniu "knee" (accusative singular kniu but genitive singular kniwis, nominative plural kniwa, etc.);
• neuter triu "tree" (forms parallel to kniu).

The -ja declension

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	harjis, harjōs army m.				haírdeis, haírdjōs herdsman m.				kuni, kunja race n.
	Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural
Nominative	harjis	–jis	harjōs	–jōs	haírdeis	–eis	haírdjōs	–jōs	kuni	-i	kunja	–ja
Accusative (Vocative)	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. harjis "army" is a prototypical short-stem noun, and 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 andbahteis or andbahtjis "of service", gawaírþeis or gawaírþjis "of peace", from neuter nouns andbahti "service" and 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:

• gawi "region, district" (genitive gáujis)
• hawi "hay" (genitive háujis)
• taui "deed, work" (genitive tōjis)

The -ō declension

This declension counterparts the first declension (a) of Latin, and the alpha declension (a/as) of Greek. It contains feminine nouns.

Case	giba, gibōs gift f.
	Singular		Plural
Nominative-Accusative	giba	–a	gibōs	–ōs
Genitive	gibōs	–ōs	gibō	–ō
Dative	gibái	–ái	gibōm	–ōm

The -jō declension

Nouns ending in -jō that have a short stem (see discussion above) behave identically to normal -ō stems, e.g. brakja "strife", sibja "relationship", sunja "truth". However, long-stemmed nouns in -jō have a different nominative singular ending in -i:

Case	bandi, bandjōs band f.
	Singular		Plural
Nominative	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:

• mawi (genitive máujōs) "maiden"
• þiwi (genitive þiujōs) "maidservant"

The -i declension

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	gasts, gastis stranger, guest m.				qēns, qēneis wife f.
	Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural
Nominative	gasts	–s	gasteis	–eis	qēns	–s	qēneis	–eis
Accusative (Vocative)	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:

• drus (acc. drus, gen. drusis) "fall", masc.
• baúr (acc. baúr, gen. baúris) "child, son", masc.
• náus (acc. náu, gen. nawis) "corpse", masc.
• brūþfaþs (gen. brūþfadis) "bridegroom", masc.; similarly sáuþs "sacrifice", staþs "place"
• usstass (acc. usstass, gen. usstassáis) "resurrection", fem.
• arbáiþs (gen. arbáidáis) "labor", fem.; similarly dēþs "deed", fahēþs "joy"

Some additional complications:

• háims "village" (fem.) is declined like a feminine -i stem in the singular, but like an -ō stem in the plural.
• Feminine abstract -i stems in -eins are declined partly like -ō stems in the plural:

Case	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

The -u declension

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. 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 filu "much" (with an adverbial genitive filáus), and qaíru or gáiru "spike, goad", occurring once in a gloss. 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	sunus, sunjus son m.				faíhu property n.
	Singular		Plural		Singular
Nominative	sunus	–us	sunjus	–jus	faíhu	–u
Accusative (Vocative)	sunu	–u	sununs	–uns
Genitive	sunáus	–áus	suniwē	–iwē	faíháus	–áus
Dative	sunáu	–áu	sunum	–um	faíháu	–áu

The weak declension, n-stems

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 descendent being the more regularized -ōn, -onos class).

The -an declension

Masculines and neuters belong to this declension.

Case	guma, gumans man m.				haírtō, haírtōna heart n.
	Singular		Plural		Singular		Plural
Nominative	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	watō, watna water n.				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

The -ōn declension

This declension is the feminine counterpart of the an declension.

Case	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 tuggō is pronounced [ŋ], the Gothic language borrowed the practice to denote [ŋɡ] by gg and [ŋk] by gk from Koine Greek in which the New Testament was originally written.

The -ein declension

This declension contains abstract feminines only.

Case	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

Minor declensions

The -r declension

A few family nouns inherited from Proto-Indo-European have a very archaic declension. Feminines and masculines have identical forms.

Case	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 brōþar m., brother, fadar m., father, daúhtar f., daughter.

The -nd declension

These nouns are old present participles, corresponding to nouns in -nt in Latin and Greek.

Case	frijōnds, frijōnds friend m.
	Singular		Plural
Nominative	frijōnds	–s	frijōnds	–s
Accusative	frijōnd	–
Genitive	frijōndis	–is	frijōndē	–ē
Dative	frijōnd	–	frijōndam	–am

The root nouns

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	reiks, reiks ruler m.				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

The only masculine nouns extant are mēnōþs "month" (gen. sg. mēnōþs or mēnōþis?, dat. pl. mēnōþum); reiks "ruler" (gen. sg. reikis, dat. pl. reikam); and weitwōds "witness" (gen. sg., dat. pl. not attested).

There are nine feminine nouns attested. Note the following irregularities:

• mitaþs "measure" (gen. sg. mitads)
• nahts "night" (dat. pl. nahtam, formed after dat. pl. dagam "days")
• dulþs "feast" and waíhts "thing", also declined as i-stems.

The other five feminine nouns are alhs "temple", baúrgs "city", brusts "breast", miluks "milk", and spaúrds "racecourse".

Adjectives

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. "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.

The strong -a declension

Case	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

The strong -ja declension

Similar to the situation with nouns, the ja-stem adjectives are divided into two subtypes, depending on whether the stem is short or long.

Short-stemmed -ja declension

Case	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	–ana					midjans	–ans			midjōs
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: aljis "other", freis "free" (stem frij-, see below), fullatōjis "perfect", gawiljis "willing", midjis "middle", niujis "new", sunjis "true", ubiltōjis "evil-doing", and unsibjis "lawless". Notes about the above adjectives:

• freis "free"has the stem frij- outside of the nominative masculine singular and presumably also the short-form nominative and accusative neuter singular and genitive masculine and neuter singular, although apparently it is unattested in those forms.
• fullatōjis "perfect" and ubiltōjis "evil-doing" should end in –taui in the short-form nominative and accusative neuter singular, although apparently it is unattested in those forms.
• Similarly, niujis "new" should have niwi as its short-form nominative and accusative neuter singular, although apparently it is unattested in those forms.

Long-stemmed –ja declension

Case	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	–ana			wilþja	–ja	wilþjans	–ans
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: aírzeis "astray", alþeis "old", faírneis "old", wilþeis "wild", and 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 wilþeis or wilþjis as the neuter genitive singular form stems from the following facts:

• The –eis ending is the phonologically expected ending, and masculines genitive singulars use this ending.
• Neuter genitive singulars of long-stem nouns, on the other hand, generally use –jis, by analogy with short-stem neuter nouns.
• However, some long-stem neuter nouns use both the (phonologically regular) –eis and the (analogically replaced) –jis, as in genitive andbahteis or andbahtjis "of service", gawaírþeis or gawaírþjis "of peace".
• Given that masculine and neuter adjectives have the same genitive and dative forms in all other types of adjectives, the influence of the masculine on the neuter is expected to be very strong. This is why the most likely form is assumed to be the one in –eis, despite the impact of the corresponding neuter nouns.

The strong -i declension

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	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	–ans
Genitive	hráinis	–is	hráinis	–is	*hráinjáizōs	*–jáizōs	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): analáugns "hidden", anasiuns "visible", andanēms "pleasant", áuþs "desert", brūks "useful", gafáurs "well-behaved", gamáins "common", hráins "clean", sēls "kind", skáuns "beautiful", skeirs "clear", suts (?sūts) "sweet".

The strong -u declension

Similarly to -i stem adjectives, -u stem adjectives have replaced most forms with those taken from the -ja declension.

Case	hardus, hardu/hardjata, hardus hard
	Singular						Plural
	Masculine		Neuter		Feminine		Masculine		Neuter		Feminine
Nominative	hardus	–us	hardu, hardjata	–u, –jata	hardus	–us	hardjái	–jái	*hardja	*–ja	hardjōs	–jōs
Accusative	hardjana	–jana					hardjans	–ans
Genitive	*hardáus	*–áus	*hardáus	*–áus	*hardjáizōs	*–jáizōs	hardjáizē	–jáizē	hardjáizē	–jáizē	hardjáizō	–jáizō
Dative	*hardjamma	*–jamma	*hardjamma	*–jamma	*hardjái	*–jái	hardjáim	–jáim	hardjáim	–jáim	hardjáim	–jáim

The following adjectives of this type are extant: aggwus "narrow", aglus "difficult", hardus "hard", hnasqus "soft", kaúrus "heavy", manwus "ready", qaírrus "gentle", seiþus "late", tulgus "steadfast", twalibwintrus "twelve years old", þaúrsus "withered", þlaqus "soft".

The weak declension

Weak adjectival endings are taken from the corresponding endings of masculine, feminine and neuter n-stems, e.g. masculine guma "man", feminine tuggō "tongue", neuter 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 niuja "new", wilþja "wild", hráinja "clean", hardja "hard", corresponding to the strong forms niujis (short ja-stem), wilþeis (long ja-stem), hráins (i-stem), hardus (u-stem).

Case	blinda, blindō, blindō blind
	Singular						Plural
	Masculine		Neuter		Feminine		Masculine		Neuter		Feminine
Nominative	blinda	–a	blindō	–ō	blindō	–ō	blindái	–ái	blindōna	–ōna	blindōns	–ōns
Accusative	blindan	–an			blindōn	–ōn	blindans	–ans
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

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Case	First person
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ik	wit	weis
Accusative	mik	ugkis	uns, unsis
Genitive	meina	ugkara	unsara
Dative	mis	ugkis	unsis, uns

Case	Second person
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	þu	jut	jus
Accusative	þuk	igqis	izwis
Genitive	þeina	igqara	izwara
Dative	þus	igqis	izwis

Case	Third person
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	is	ita	si	eis	ija	ijōs
Accusative	ina		ija	ins
Genitive	is		izōs	izē		izō
Dative	imma		izái	im

Reflexive pronouns

Accusative	sik
Genitive	seina
Dative	sis

Possessive pronouns

Case	Number	First person
		Singular			Dual			Plural
		Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	Singular	meins	mein(ata)	meina	ugkar	ugkar	ugkara	unsar	unsar	unsara
Accusative		meinana			ugkarana			unsarana
Genitive		meinis		meináizōs	ugkaris		ugkaráizōs	unsaris		unsaráizōs
Dative		meinamma		meinái	ugkaramma		ugkarái	unsaramma		unsarái
Nominative	Plural	meinái	meina	seinōs	ugkarái	ugkara	ugkarōs	unsarái	unsara	unsarōs
Accusative		meinans			ugkarans			unsarans
Genitive		meináizē		seináizō	ugkaráizē		ugkaráizō	unsaráizē		unsaráizō
Dative		meináim			ugkaráim			unsaráim

Case	Number	Second person
		Singular			Dual			Plural
		Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	Singular	þeins	þein(ata)	þeina	igqar	igqar	igqara	izwar	izwar	izwara
Accusative		þeinana			igqarana			izwarana
Genitive		þeinis		þeináizōs	igqaris		igqaráizōs	izwaris		izwaráizōs
Dative		þeinamma		þeinái	igqaramma		igqarái	izwaramma		izwarái
Nominative	Plural	þeinái	þeina	þeinōs	igqarái	igqara	igqarōs	izwarái	izwara	izwarōs
Accusative		þeinans			igqarans			izwarans
Genitive		þeináizē		þeináizō	igqaráizē		igqaráizō	izwaráizē		izwaráizō
Dative		þeináim			igqaráim			izwaráim

Case	Third person reflexive
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	seins	sein(ata)	seina	seinái	seina	seinōs
Accusative	seinana			seinans
Genitive	seinis		seináizōs	seináizē		seináizō
Dative	seinamma		seinái	seináim

Demonstrative pronouns

Case	Simple Demonstrative: This/That, The
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	sa	þata	sō	þái	þō	þōs
Accusative	þana		þō	þans
Genitive	þis		þizōs	þizē		þizō
Dative	þamma		þizái	þáim

Case	Compound Demonstrative: This/That
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	sah	þatuh	sōh	þáih	þōh	þōzuh
Accusative	þanuh		þōh	þanzuh
Genitive	þizuh		þizōzuh	þizēh		þizōh
Dative	þammuh		þizáih	þáimuh

Relative pronouns

Case	Relative pronoun: That/Who/Which
	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	saei, izei, izē	þatei	sōei, sei	þáiei, izei, izē	þōei	þōzei
Accusative	þanei		þōei	þanzei
Genitive	þizei		þizōzei	þizēei		*þizōei
Dative	þammei		þizáiei	þáimei		þáimei

First and second person relative pronouns also exist, formed by compounding -ei to the normal first and second person pronouns, with final -s becoming -z. The following forms are extant: first person singular nominative ikei; second person singular nominative þuei, accusative þukei, dative þuzei; second person plural nominative juzei, dative izwizei.

Interrogative pronouns

Case	Interrogative: Who/What
	Singular
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	ƕas	ƕa	ƕō
Accusative	ƕana
Genitive	ƕis		*ƕizōs
Dative	ƕamma		ƕizái

The plural form *ƕans (masculine accusative) occurs once as part of the indefinite pronoun ƕanzuh "each, every"; see below.

The following additional pronouns exist:

• ƕaþar "which of two" (extant only in the nominative singular masculine and neuter);
• ƕarjis "which (of many)", declined as a short-stem -ja stem except that only the longer neuter singular form ƕarjata exists;
• ƕileiks "what sort of", declined as an -a stem;
• ƕēláuþs (stem ƕēláud-) "how great", declined as an -a stem;
• swaleiks "such", declined as an -a stem;
• swaláuþs (stem swaláud-) "so great", declined as an -a stem.

Indefinite pronouns

Three indefinite pronouns are formed by appending -uh "and" to the interrogative pronouns ƕas "who, what", ƕarjis "which (of many)", and ƕaþar "which of two"; compare the analogously formed Latin pronoun quisque "each", formed from quis "who" and -que "and". Both ƕazuh and ƕarjizuh mean "each, every"; *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. Ustressed short vowels are dropped before -uh in the declension of 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 ƕazuh and ƕarjizuh are presented below. Of *ƕaþaruh, only a single form is extant, the dative singular *ƕaþarammēh, occurring in the compound form áinƕaþarammēh "to each one of two".

The plural form ƕanzuh (masculine accusative) occurs once, in the expression 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

• áinƕarjizuh "every one"
• ƕazuh saei, saƕazuh saei, saƕazuh izei, all meaning "whoever" and involving the relative pronoun saei/izei. The corresponding neuter form is þataƕah þei "whatever", extant only in the accusative singular.
• þisƕazuh saei "whoever/whatever", formed from indeclinable þis "of this" and ƕazuh saei, extant in the following forms:

Case	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

• sums "some, a certain", declined as an -a stem with an associated genitive plural object.
• sums ... sums "the one ... the other", in plural "some ... and others". -uh is generally attached to the second form and sometimes the first, as in nominative plural sumái(h) ... sumáih.
• Negative pronouns ni ƕashun, ni mannahun, ni áinshun, all meaning "no one, no, none, nothing"; compare the analogously formed Sanskrit pronoun ná káś caná "no one, none", lit. "not who and not". ni ƕashun occurs only in the nominative masculine singular. ni mannahun (always masculine) and ni áinshun are declined as follows:

Case	ni mannahun "No one"
	Singular
	Masculine
Nominative	ni mannahun
Accusative	ni mannanhun
Genitive	ni manshun
Dative	ni mannhun

Case	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	*ni áináizōshun
Dative	ni áinummēhun	ni áinummēhun	ni áináihun

• Plain ƕas can be used indefinitely to mean "anyone, anything".
• Plain áins can be used indefinitely to mean "one, a certain one".

Numbers

Cardinals

áins "one" is always strong and is declined as a strong -a stem. Plural forms meaning "only, alone" also occur.

Case	twái/twa/twōs two
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	twái	twa	twōs
Accusative	twans
Genitive	twaddjē		?
Dative	twáim

Case	þreis/þrija/þreis three
	Masculine	Neuter	Feminine
Nominative	þreis	þrija	þreis
Accusative	þrins		þrins
Genitive	þrijē		?
Dative	þrim

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 twái tigjus "twenty" through saíhs tigjus "sixty" have tigjus declined as a plural -u stem, e.g.

þreis tigjus thirty
Nominative	þreis tigjus
Accusative	þrins tiguns
Genitive	þrijē tigiwē
Dative	þrim tigum

Decades sibuntēhund "seventy", ahtáutēhund "eighty", niuntēhund "ninety" and taíhuntēhund/taíhuntaíhund "one hundred" are normally undeclined, but genitive niuntēhundis "of ninety" occurs.

Multiples of "hundred" decline hund "hundred" as a neuter plural -a stem, with the units digit agreeing accordingly, e.g. nominative twa hunda, dative twáim hundam "two hundred".

Multiples of "thousand" decline þūsundi "thousand" as a feminine plural -jō stem, with the units digit agreeing accordingly, e.g. nominative twōs þūsundjōs, dative *twáim þūsundjōm "two thousand".

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".

Ordinals

The extant numerals are fruma or frumists "first", anþar "second", þridja "third", fimfta "fifth", saíhsta "sixth", ahtuda "eighth", niunda "ninth", taíhunda "tenth", and fimftataíhunda "fifteenth". They are declined as follows:

• fruma is declined weak like blinda "blind" except that the feminine is declined according to the ei-stems like managei "multitude", e.g. feminine nominative frumei.
• frumists is declined strong, like blinds "blind".
• anþar has nominative masculine and neuter anþar (no -ata form exists), and otherwise is declined strong, like blinds "blind".
• Other ordinals are declined weak like blinda "blind".

Other numerals

"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

The extant forms of bái match the corresponding forms of twái "two", and evidence from other Germanic languages, e.g. Old English, indicates that all forms are constructed in this fashion.

Distributive numerals answer the question "how many at a time?". The isolated form tweihnái "two each" exists, declined as a plural strong adjective. Otherwise, distributive numerals are expressed using prepositional phrases, e.g. bi twans aíþþáu máist þrins "by twos or at most by threes"; ana ƕarjanōh fimftiguns "by fifties in each (company)"; 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 -falþs to the stem of the corresponding cardinal. Extant are áinfalþs "onefold, simple"; fidurfalþs "fourfold" (note, not *fidwōrfalþs); taíhuntaíhundfalþs "hundredfold"; 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 *sinþs "time" (lit. "a going"), and placing the result in the dative case: áinamma sinþa "once"; anþaramma sinþa "a second time"; twáim sinþam "twice"; þrim sinþam "thrice"; fimf sinþam "five times"; sibun sinþam "seven times". Compare Old English ǣne sīða "once", fīf sīða "five times".

See also

• Gothic language
• Grammar of the Gothic Language
• Proto-Indo-European noun:
  • Ancient Greek grammar
  • Latin declension
  • Sanskrit nouns

References

• Bennett, William Holmes (1980). An Introduction to the Gothic Language. New York: Modern Language Association of America.
• Wright, Joseph (1910). Grammar of the Gothic Language. Oxford: Clarendon Press.