Gothic   𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌹𐍃𐌺𐌰 (Gutiska)

Gothic is an extinct East Germanic language that was spoken in parts of the Crimea until the 17th century. It was originally written with a runic alphabet about which little is known. One theory of the origins of Runes is that they were invented by the Goths, but this is impossible to prove as very few inscriptions of writing in Gothic runes survive.

The Gothic alphabet was invented around middle the 4th century AD by Bishop Wulfila (311-383 AD), the religious leader of the Visigoths, to provide his people with a written language and a means of reading his translation of the Bible. It is based on the Greek alphabet, with some extra letters from the Latin and Runic alphabets.

The Goths were divided into two main tribes: the Ostrogothi or Greutungi (dune-dwellers) and the Visigothi or Tervingi (steppe-dwellers). Related tribes included the Burgundians and the Vandals.

Gothic alphabet

Gothic alphabet

There are no separate numerals, but each letter has a numeric value.

Downloads

Download a Gothic alphabet chart in Excel, Word or PDF format

Sample text in Gothic (The Lord's Prayer)

𐌰𐍄𐍄𐌰 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌰𐍂 𐌸𐌿 𐌹𐌽 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌼,
𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌹 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽
𐌵𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌹 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌹𐌽𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌿𐍃 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃
𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌹 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃
𐍃𐍅𐌴 𐌹𐌽 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐌰 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌰𐌽𐌰 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌹
𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌽𐌰 𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌰 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌽 𐌲𐌹𐍆 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌼𐌰 𐌳𐌰𐌲𐌰
𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌰𐍆𐌻𐌴𐍄 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌴𐌹 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌽𐍃 𐍃𐌹𐌾𐌰𐌹𐌼𐌰
𐍃𐍅𐌰𐍃𐍅𐌴 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 𐌰𐍆𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌼 𐌸𐌰𐌹𐌼 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌻𐌰𐌼 𐌿𐌽𐍃𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌼
𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌽𐌹 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍃 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌹𐌽 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌿𐌱𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌹
𐌰𐌺 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌴𐌹 𐌿𐌽𐍃 𐌰𐍆 𐌸𐌰𐌼𐌼𐌰 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌻𐌹𐌽
𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌴 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰 𐌹𐍃𐍄 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌹 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃
𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍅𐌿𐌻𐌸𐌿𐍃 𐌹𐌽 𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌹𐌽𐍃

Transliteration

  1. Atta unsar þu in himinam
  2. weihnai namo þein
  3. qimai þiudinassus þeins
  4. wairþai wilja þeins
  5. swe in himina jah ana airþai.
  6. hlaif unsarana þana sinteinan gif uns himma daga
  7. jah aflet uns þatei skulans sijaima
  8. swaswe jah weis afletam þaim skulam unsaraim
  9. jah ni briggais uns in fraistubnjai
  10. ak lausei uns af þamma ubilin
  11. unte þeina ist þiudangardi jah mahts
  12. jah wulþus in aiwins.

Translation

  1. Father our, thou in heaven
  2. be holy name thy.
  3. Come kingdom thy,
  4. happen will thy,
  5. as in heaven also on earth.
  6. Bread (loaf) our, the everyday, give us this day,
  7. and forgive us, who debtors be,
  8. just as also we forgive those debtors our.
  9. And [do] not bring us in[to] temptation,
  10. but free (loose) us from the evil [one].
  11. For thine is [the] kingdom and [the] might
  12. and glory in eternity.

IPA transcription

  1. ˈatːa ˈunsar θuː in ˈhiminam
  2. ˈwiːhnɛː ˈnamoː θiːn
  3. ˈkʷimɛː ˈθiu̯ðinasːus θiːns
  4. ˈwɛrθɛː ˈwilja θiːns
  5. sweː in ˈhimina jah ana ˈɛrθɛː
  6. hlɛːɸ ˈunsarana ˈθana ˈsinˌtiːnan ɡiɸ uns ˈhimːa ˈdaɣa
  7. jah aɸˈleːt uns ˈθatiː ˈskulans ˈsijɛːma
  8. ˈswasweː jah ˈwiːs aɸˈleːtam θɛːm ˈskulam ˈunsarɛːm
  9. jah ni ˈbriŋɡɛːs uns in ˈɸrɛːstuβnijɛː
  10. ak ˈlɔːsiː uns aɸ ˈθamːa ˈuβilin
  11. ˈunteː ˈθiːna ist ˈθiu̯ðanˌɡardi jah mahts
  12. jah ˈwulθus in ˈɛːwins

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_language

A recording of this text

Sample text in Gothic

𐌰𐌻𐌻𐌰𐌹 𐌼𐌰𐌽𐌽𐌰 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌻𐍃 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍃𐌰𐌼𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍉 𐌹𐌽 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌹 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐌴𐌹𐍃 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌽𐍃. 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌴𐌹 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌼𐌹𐌸𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍃𐌴𐌹 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌽𐌰𐌽𐍃 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌻𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌿 𐍃𐍅𐌴 𐌱𐍂𐍉𐌸𐍂𐌾𐌿𐍃.

Transliteration

Allái manna freihals jah samaleikō in waírþidái jah raíhteis waúrþans. Fraþei jah miþwissei gibnans jah libandau swē broþrjus.

Translation by Roel. Other additions and corrections by Michael Peter Füstumum and Steve Porter

Hear a recording of this text by Jabnaki

Note: the pronunciation of Gothic has been reconstructed but there is some debate about how certain sounds are pronounced.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Sample video

Information about Gothic | Phrases | Numbers | Tower of Babel | Gothic books

Links

Information about Gothic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_language
http://www.wulfila.be/gothic/gotica/
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/gotol-0-X.html

Online Gothic lessons
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/gotol-0-X.html
http://ling.everywitchway.net/germanic/east/gothic/gothic-for-goths
https://inthewulfilantongue.wordpress.com/
http://learngothic.blogspot.nl/?m=1

Online Gothic dictionary
http://www.freelang.net/online/gothic.php

Gothic Grammar
http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~kurisuto/germanic/goth_wright_about.html
http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/texts/goth_wright_about.html

Project Wulfila - digital library of texts in Gothic and other Old Germanic languages
http://www.wulfila.be/

Gothic phrases
https://web.archive.org/web/20140622065727/http://besieda.in.ua/materialy/gotskiy-gothic

Gothic fonts
http://www.wazu.jp/gallery/Fonts_Gothic.html

Online Gothic news
http://airushimmadaga.wordpress.com

Music in Gothic
http://runaleiks.bandcamp.com/

Gothic on Discord
https://discordapp.com/invite/QXcXZ93
https://discord.gg/gwHjk9h6yp

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Page last modified: 09.06.24

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