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Gothic alphabet
The Gothic alphabet is an alphabet for writing the Gothic language. It was developed in the 4th century AD by Ulfilas (or Wulfila), a Gothic preacher of Cappadocian Greek descent, for the purpose of translating the Bible.
In form, most letters resemble letters of the Greek alphabet. The origin of the alphabet is disputed: it is debated whether (or how) the Latin and Runic alphabets were used as a source. The set of letters, and the way that they are used, show some innovations to express Gothic phonology.
The origin of the Gothic alphabet is controversial. In addition to the Gothic language, Ulfilas knew Greek and Latin. When developing the Gothic alphabet, he may have drawn on the Greek alphabet, Latin alphabet, and Runic alphabet. According to Cercignani, it is generally agreed that Ulfilas had knowledge of each of these three alphabets. However, this has been debated. It is not known that Ulfilas was familiar with runes; on the other hand, there is also lack of evidence showing that Ulfilas was unfamiliar with runes. There are a few extant runic inscriptions thought to be East Germanic, possibly Gothic (see Gothic runic inscriptions). The influence of Latin and Runic letters on the Gothic alphabet is disputed, and some scholars have argued that they were not used as inputs.
Cercignani (1988:172–178) supposes that Ulfilas used a twenty-four letter Runic fuþark alphabet as his starting point and assigned most of its letters to corresponding letters of the twenty-seven letter Greek alphabet, taking the value of the Greek letters as numerals and their alphabetical position, and using additional symbols (some taken from the Latin alphabet) to take the place of remaining unmatched Greek letters. After the correspondences were established, Cercignani supposes the form of the Runic letters were either modified or outright replaced by the corresponding Latin or Greek letters. Miller (2019:25) calls Cercignani's hypothesis of an adapted runic alphabet "not implausible".
Snædal (2015:96–97, 104–105) argues that Ulfilas's alphabet was initially and primarily adapted from the Greek alphabet (cursive and perhaps also uncial), with secondary influence from Latin and only minor, uncertain influence from Runic.
Miller (2019:25) cites a number of authors that consider the Gothic alphabet to be derived from the Greek alphabet, influenced by Latin and Runic.
Ulfilas is thought to have consciously chosen to avoid the use of the older Runic alphabet for this purpose, as it was heavily connected with pagan beliefs and customs. Also, the Greek-based script probably helped to integrate the Gothic nation into the dominant Greco-Roman culture around the Black Sea.
Below is a table of the Gothic alphabet. Two letters used in its transliteration are not used in current English: thorn ⟨þ⟩ (representing /θ/), and hwair ⟨ƕ⟩ (representing /hʷ/).
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Gothic alphabet
The Gothic alphabet is an alphabet for writing the Gothic language. It was developed in the 4th century AD by Ulfilas (or Wulfila), a Gothic preacher of Cappadocian Greek descent, for the purpose of translating the Bible.
In form, most letters resemble letters of the Greek alphabet. The origin of the alphabet is disputed: it is debated whether (or how) the Latin and Runic alphabets were used as a source. The set of letters, and the way that they are used, show some innovations to express Gothic phonology.
The origin of the Gothic alphabet is controversial. In addition to the Gothic language, Ulfilas knew Greek and Latin. When developing the Gothic alphabet, he may have drawn on the Greek alphabet, Latin alphabet, and Runic alphabet. According to Cercignani, it is generally agreed that Ulfilas had knowledge of each of these three alphabets. However, this has been debated. It is not known that Ulfilas was familiar with runes; on the other hand, there is also lack of evidence showing that Ulfilas was unfamiliar with runes. There are a few extant runic inscriptions thought to be East Germanic, possibly Gothic (see Gothic runic inscriptions). The influence of Latin and Runic letters on the Gothic alphabet is disputed, and some scholars have argued that they were not used as inputs.
Cercignani (1988:172–178) supposes that Ulfilas used a twenty-four letter Runic fuþark alphabet as his starting point and assigned most of its letters to corresponding letters of the twenty-seven letter Greek alphabet, taking the value of the Greek letters as numerals and their alphabetical position, and using additional symbols (some taken from the Latin alphabet) to take the place of remaining unmatched Greek letters. After the correspondences were established, Cercignani supposes the form of the Runic letters were either modified or outright replaced by the corresponding Latin or Greek letters. Miller (2019:25) calls Cercignani's hypothesis of an adapted runic alphabet "not implausible".
Snædal (2015:96–97, 104–105) argues that Ulfilas's alphabet was initially and primarily adapted from the Greek alphabet (cursive and perhaps also uncial), with secondary influence from Latin and only minor, uncertain influence from Runic.
Miller (2019:25) cites a number of authors that consider the Gothic alphabet to be derived from the Greek alphabet, influenced by Latin and Runic.
Ulfilas is thought to have consciously chosen to avoid the use of the older Runic alphabet for this purpose, as it was heavily connected with pagan beliefs and customs. Also, the Greek-based script probably helped to integrate the Gothic nation into the dominant Greco-Roman culture around the Black Sea.
Below is a table of the Gothic alphabet. Two letters used in its transliteration are not used in current English: thorn ⟨þ⟩ (representing /θ/), and hwair ⟨ƕ⟩ (representing /hʷ/).