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Gothic Online

Lesson 1

Todd B. Krause and Jonathan Slocum

Literary Origins of the Goths

The earliest literary references to the Goths are found in the works of Pliny, Strabo, and Tacitus. In his Natural History, Pliny the Elder mentions a certain Pytheas of Messalia, a Greek historian who records his observations on a journey through the 'parts near Ocean', sometime around the time of Alexander the Great. Pliny states that Pytheas believed a tribe called Gutones inhabited regions of Germania. Pliny's statement of Pytheas' findings concerning the Goths, however, presents scholars with two difficulties: (1) that the statement in question actually contains Guiones, which must be emended to Gutones to bring it in line with other presumed references to the Goths in Pliny; (2) the reference to Germania is clearly Pliny's own, since no such province was in existence in the time of Pytheas. Hence we cannot be sure what Pytheas himself said about their location. Pliny later mentions the Gutones as one of five tribes of the Germani.

Strabo, in his Geography, mentions the Gutones in a discussion of the Hercynian Forest. Once again, however, such an association rests on textual emendment: the manuscript reads Boutones, which scholars emend to Goutones. The location is not specified, which is not unexpected, since few authors could claim to know anything certain about regions beyond the Danube in this period.

Tacitus, in his work the Germania, written sometime around 98 AD, says in chapter 43: "beyond the Lugii, the Gotones are ruled by kings..., and next, close to the Ocean, the Rugii" and others. According to his account, the Suebi are in northern Europe, the Lugii beyond them, and the Gotones beyond them; but the latter must not quite be on the Baltic coast, since the Rugii and others are closer to the Baltic than the Gotones. Tacitus also mentions in his later work the Annales, chapters 2.62-63, that a certain Catualda was a noble among the Gotones.

In his Geography, Ptolemy locates the Guthones near the Vistula river. He elsewhere lists the Goutai as one of the seven tribes inhabiting Skandiai, presumably Sweden. It is not clear if both of these terms refer to the same tribe. If so, these are perhaps reflexes of strong and weak forms of the name. If not, one is not sure which ones are 'the' Goths. Some link the Goutai to the Geats of Beowulf, whose history thereafter is know from other medieval sources. But it is not clear that these are the Goths of Scandinavia.

The late 4th century, non-Christian author Ammianus Marcellinus is an important source for our understanding of the early movements of the Gothic tribes and their interaction with imperial forces. But he mentions nothing of Gothic origins, even though he mentions origins of others, such as the Alans, who descended from the Massagetae, and the Persians from the Scythians. Ammianus focuses on the movements of individual Gothic groups, most importantly the Tervingi and the Greuthungi.

Bishop Ambrose of Milan, in composing his work De Fide sometime around 380 AD for the emperor Gratian, links the Gothi with the Biblical Gog, ruler of the land Magog, which is perhaps set to the north, and maybe connected with islands. Ambrose seems to have taken the occasion to place Gratian's struggle with the Goths in a more divine setting, since in Revelations 20.7-10, Gog is destined to compass 'the camp of the saints'. The genealogist Josephus, earlier writing the Antiquitates in 93-94 AD, links Magogites with Scythians; Josephus is directly quoted by the later Gothic historian Jordanes.

Jerome, writing sometime c. 390, challenges the identification of the Goths with Gog and his people. He identifies Getae and Gothi. Orosius, writing the Historia adversum paganos in 417 AD and seeking to play down the prophetic overtones of a link between Goths and Gog, follows Jerome's association. The association was a simple one, since the Getae had lived along the lower Danube, and this was the origin of the Gothi in their attack on Rome. Augustine, however, writing De civitate Dei between 413 and 427 AD, denies the equation of Goths and Scythians, as well as that of Goths and Getae.

One of our most important sources of Gothic history is Jordanes, who wrote the Origins and Acts of the Goths or Getica in 550 AD in Constantinople. Though he wrote in Latin, Jordanes is unique among our sources because he is the only one who is himself a Goth. He states in his work that he relies on Gothic oral tradition, but nevertheless claims some personal acquaintance with the material he treats. He also mentions that he closely follows the written work of another historian, the Gothic History written by Cassiodorus, a Roman Senator in the 520s in the court of Theodoric the Great, the Ostrogothic king of Italy. He thrice mentions another historian, Ablabius, who perhaps wrote in the court of a Visigothic king.

The Getica gives an account of Gothic history from its inception, i.e. from the origin of the Gothic people to the time of writing, providing several concepts central to modern attempts to reconstruct Gothic history:

Under the assumption that there are no new peoples, just the same peoples with new names and new locations (a typical motif of ancient history writing), Cassiodorus, and hence Jordanes, were able to equate the Goths with Scythians, Amazons, Getes, and Dacians: the Gothic kingdom was founded before Rome, and the Goths fought in the Trojan war. Under Berig the Goths crossed the Baltic in 1490 BC, and under Filimer they moved to the Black Sea only five generations later, i.e before any of the earliest mentions of the Goths.

As modern scholarship sifts through the ancient sources it becomes clear that, by the time of the fourth century, some twelve or thirteen groups of Goths are known from the records. Five coalesce in the fifth century to form the well-known Visigoths and Ostrogoths, while the others remain distinct (after Heather, 1996):

Visigoths:   1   the greater part of the Tervingi
    2   the Greuthungi under Ermenaric
    3   Goths led by Radagaisus
         
Ostrogoths:   4   Amal-led Goths
    5   Goths under Theodoric Strabo
         
Others:   6   the remaining Tervingi, perhaps the same as those led by Arimer
    7   Greuthungi led by Farnobius
    8   Greuthungi led by Odotheus
    9   Goths under Bigelis
    10   Goths under Dengizich
    11   Crimean Goths
    12   Goths near the Sea of Azov

Ammanianus mentions that the Tervingi, groups 1 and 6, formed one unit; the Greuthungi under Ermenaric were another important political group of the 4th century. If the other groups eventually came under the control of Ermenaric, this might fall in line with the history of Jordanes; but the latter's account of Ermenaric is believed by some scholars to be more an embellished version of Ammianus' history rather than a previously attested tradition, and so Ermenaric's conquests have been exaggerated by Jordanes to put the Gothic leader on par with the later Attila.

In 399 the Roman poet Claudian wrote (In Eutropium, 2.152-153):

    Ostrogothis colitur mixtisque Gruthungis Phryx ager
    The Phrygian plain is inhabited by Ostrogoths and mixed Greuthungi.

If not merely a rhetorical device, this would make a further distinction between Ostrogoths and Greuthungi, both separate from the Tervingi, and thus adding to the number of Gothic tribes known in the 4th century.

Reading and Textual Analysis

The following passage is the nativity scene found in Luke 2:1-14. The Gothic text has somewhat redundant material in Luke 2.2: at [wisandin kindina Swriais] raginondin Saurim Kwreinaiau, leading scholars to believe that a marginal gloss has crept into the text during its transmission. This particular phrase shows the common construction at + substantive + participle, an absolute construction in Gothic similar to the genitive absolute in Greek, or the ablative absolute in Latin.

The text also contains other notable grammatical features. Luke 2.3 shows the occasional use in Gothic of ei + subjunctive for purpose clauses: iddjēdun allái, ei melidái wēseina. The demonstrative þō appears in Luke 2.6 to refer to Joseph and Mary; Gothic uses the neuter plural to refer to individuals of different genders. This however is not exclusive: compare ins in Luke 2.9. Luke 2.7 gives an example of the use of the genitive in negated clauses: ni was im rumis, literally 'there was not for them of room'.

In Luke 2.14 we find an instance of the Gothic translation remaining more faithful to the Greek than the English of the King James Version. Where the English is 'and on earth peace, good will toward men', with 'peace' and 'good will' in apposition, Gothic in fact preserves the Greek genitive in godis wiljins 'of good will', qualifying the phrase 'among men': 'among men of good will'. Compare the Vulgate in hominibus bonae voluntatis, which is elaborated in the Spanish en la tierra paz, a los hombres que aman el Senor 'on earth peace to those men who love the Lord.'

2:1 - Warþ þan in dagans jainans, urrann gagrefts fram kaisara Agustau, gameljan allana midjungard.

2 - soh þan gilstrameleins frumista warþ at [wisandin kindina Swriais] raginondin Saurim Kwreinaiau.

3 - jah iddjedun allai, ei melidai weseina, ƕarjizuh in seinai baurg.

4 - Urrann þan jah Iosef us Galeilaia, us baurg Nazaraiþ, in Iudaian, in baurg Daweidis sei haitada Beþlahaim, duþe ei was us garda fadreinais Daweidis,

5 - anameljan miþ Mariin sei in fragiftim was imma qeins, wisandein inkilþon.

6 - warþ þan, miþþanei þo wesun jainar, usfullnodedun dagos du bairan izai.

7 - jah gabar sunu seinana þana frumabaur jah biwand ina jah galagida ina in uzetin, unte ni was im rumis in stada þamma.

8 - jah hairdjos wesun in þamma samin landa, þairhwakandans jah witandans wahtwom nahts ufaro hairdai seinai.

9 - iþ aggilus fraujins anaqam ins jah wulþus fraujins biskain ins, jah ohtedun agisa mikilamma.

10 - jah qaþ du im sa aggilus: ni ogeiþ, unte sai, spillo izwis faheid mikila, sei wairþiþ allai managein,

11 - þatei gabaurans ist izwis himma daga nasjands, saei ist Xristus frauja, in baurg Daweidis.

12 - jah þata izwis taikns: bigitid barn biwundan jah galagid in uzetin.

13 - jah anaks warþ miþ þamma aggilau managei harjis himinakundis hazjandane guþ jah qiþandane:

14 - wulþus in hauhistjam guda
        jah ana airþai gawairþi in mannam godis wiljins.

Lesson Text

2:1 Warþ þan in dagans jainans, urrann gagrefts fram kaisara Agustau, gameljan allana midjungard. 2 soh þan gilstrameleins frumista warþ at [wisandin kindina Swriais] raginondin Saurim Kwreinaiau. 3 jah iddjedun allai, ei melidai weseina, ƕarjizuh in seinai baurg. 4 Urrann þan jah Iosef us Galeilaia, us baurg Nazaraiþ, in Iudaian, in baurg Daweidis sei haitada Beþlahaim, duþe ei was us garda fadreinais Daweidis, 5 anameljan miþ Mariin sei in fragiftim was imma qeins, wisandein inkilþon. 6 warþ þan, miþþanei þo wesun jainar, usfullnodedun dagos du bairan izai. 7 jah gabar sunu seinana þana frumabaur jah biwand ina jah galagida ina in uzetin, unte ni was im rumis in stada þamma.

8 jah hairdjos wesun in þamma samin landa, þairhwakandans jah witandans wahtwom nahts ufaro hairdai seinai. 9 iþ aggilus fraujins anaqam ins jah wulþus fraujins biskain ins, jah ohtedun agisa mikilamma. 10 jah qaþ du im sa aggilus: ni ogeiþ, unte sai, spillo izwis faheid mikila, sei wairþiþ allai managein, 11 þatei gabaurans ist izwis himma daga nasjands, saei ist Xristus frauja, in baurg Daweidis. 12 jah þata izwis taikns: bigitid barn biwundan jah galagid in uzetin. 13 jah anaks warþ miþ þamma aggilau managei harjis himinakundis hazjandane guþ jah qiþandane:

        14 wulþus in hauhistjam guda
        jah ana airþai gawairþi in mannam godis wiljins.

Translation

From the King James version:
2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
    14 Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Grammar

1. The Alphabet

The Gothic alphabet closely resembles the Greek uncial alphabet of the fourth century AD. Where the Greek uncials proved insufficient for rendering some of the sounds, Roman or runic letters were borrowed. These alphabetic characters are also used to represent numerals. Rather than work with the Gothic alphabet itself, scholars generally work with a transliteration using the Roman alphabet, augmented with two additional characters and with the acute accent mark. The following chart lists the transliterated letters, their corresponding numerical values, and a rough guide to pronunciation.

Letter   Number   Pronunciation   Environment
             
a   1   [a], o as in 'cot'    
        [ā], a as in 'father'    
b   2   [v], v as in 'have'   medially after vowel or diphthong
        [b], b as in 'bob'   otherwise
g   3   [ŋ], n as in 'sing'   before k, g, q
        [x], ch as in 'Bach'   finally, or before s, t
        [ḡ], g as in North Ger. 'sagen'   otherwise
d   4   [ð], th as in 'father'   medially after vowel or diphthong
        [d], d as in 'did'   otherwise
e   5   [ē], a as in 'gate'    
q   6   [kw], qu as in 'queen'    
z   7   [z], z as in 'buzz'    
h   8   [x], ch as in 'Bach'    
þ   9   [þ], th as in 'with'    
i   10   [i], i as in 'with'    
k   20   [k], k as in 'kick'    
l   30   [l], l as in 'lazy'    
m   40   [m], m as in 'mouth'    
n   50   [n], n as in 'nose'    
j   60   [j], y as in 'you'    
u   70   [u], o as in 'do it'    
        [ū], oo as in 'boot'    
p   80   [p], p as in 'pin'    
    90        
r   100   [r], trilled r as in Sp. 'rueda'    
s   200   [s], s as in 'hiss'    
t   300   [t], t as in 'tin'    
w   400   [u], oo as in 'boot'   between consonants, finally after consonant
        [w], w as in 'with'   otherwise
f   500   [f], f as in 'fife'    
x   600   [k], k as in 'kick'    
ƕ   700   [xw], ch w as in 'Bach was'    
o   800   [ō], o as in 'phone'    
    900        

We use the numerical values to establish the order of the alphabet. The numerical value assigned to each letter corresponds closely to the Greek system employed at the time, supporting the assertion initially based on visual similarity that the Gothic alphabet was in fact modeled on the Greek. The symbols used to represent 90 and 900 occur only in their numeral function, never representing sounds of the Gothic language. They consequently have no transliterations.

The duration of doubled consonants is roughly twice that of their single counterparts. For example, inn 'within' has the prolonged n sound in English 'penknife', while in 'into' has the short n of 'cannon'; fulla 'full' (strong adj., fem. nom. sg.) has the prolonged l of 'call later', while fula 'foal' (noun, fem. nom. sg.) has the short l of 'caller'. Similarly atta 'father' has the prolonged t of 'Fat Tuesday', and likewise for other consonants. The exception to this practice is gg. As in Greek, gg is used to represent the the sound of ng in English 'finger', cf. Goth. figgrs. This practice extends to all velars, so that g before any velar represents the same nasal sound before that velar. For example, gk in drigkan represents the nasal plus unvoiced velar plosive as in the corresponding English 'drink'; gq in sigqan 'sink' represents roughly the sound of nkw in English 'inkwell'. Some words -- e.g. bliggw- 'scourge', glaggw- 'accurate', skuggw- 'mirror', triggw- 'faithful' -- may have contained a true prolonged g as in (a slow pronunciation of) English 'doggone', but this has probably given way to the sound [ŋ] by the time of Wulfila's translation.

The letter w is often found in words borrowed from Greek, where the Greek contains upsilon. As can be seen from the alphabetic order and numerical value, the Gothic symbol for w actually is the Greek upsilon. For this reason some editors of Gothic texts instead use y in such loanwords, breaking from a more uniform transliteration with w. Thus Lwstrws, the dative plural of 'Lystra', is transcribed by some editors as Lystrys.

Other sounds of the Gothic language are represented by digraphs. Specifically, the long-i sound [ī] is represented by ei, mimicking the contemporaneous Greek pronunciation of epsilon followed by iota. The digraph ai has a threefold distinction. In some instances ai represents the short-e vowel [ɛ] found in Modern English 'bet' (or perhaps a slightly more open sound, as in the a of 'hat'). In other instances ai represents the long version of the same sound. And in the last instance ai represents the diphthong formed by its two constituents, namely the sound of i in Modern English 'white'. In transcription, these three values are distinguished by placement of an acute accent mark: aí is [ɛ], ai is [ɛ̄], and ái is [ai]. A similar threefold distinction holds for the digraph au: aú is the vowel sound in Modern English 'bought', au is a long version of the same sound, and áu is the diphthong represented by ou in Modern English 'about'. The digraph iu represents a falling diphthong (i.e. a diphthong accented on its first element) much like the eu of Modern English 'reuse' when the re- carries the stress. The situation is summarized in the following chart.

Digraph   Pronunciation
     
ei   [ī], ee as in 'meet'
aí   [ɛ], e as in 'bet'
ai   [ɛ̄], same as above, but prolonged
ái   [ai], i as in 'white'
aú   [ɔ], ou as in 'bought'
au   [ɔ̄], same as above, but prolonged
áu   [au], ou as in 'about'
iu   [íu], eu as in 'reuse'

It appears that these sounds were in fact all distinct in the period leading up to the emergence of Gothic and in its earliest stages. But the three values of ai may have merged by the time of Wulfila's translation, and likewise the three values of au may also have merged.

2. The Sound System

Being that of the earliest documented Germanic language, the sound system of Gothic is of great importance for historical studies. Some sound changes have occurred, however, in the span of time leading up to Wulfila's translation, so that Wulfila's own pronunciation is not necessarily the nearest approximation to the original sound system which Gothic inherited from Proto-Germanic. From a synchronic point of view, it is clear that o [ō] is already colored with some of the qualities of u, since we find spelling mistakes confusing the two, e.g. supūda for supōda. Likewise e [ē], though open, was close enough to be confused with ei [ī], e.g. qeins for qēns. It is also likely that h is in Wulfila's time closer to the h of Modern English 'he' than it is to the ch of 'Bach', and similarly with ƕ. Nevertheless, on etymological grounds and because of the archaic nature of the morphology, it is common in scholarship to ascribe values to Gothic letters which preserve the distinctions between, say, ei and ē, or between ái, ai, and aí, though they may be prior to Wulfila's time, and not in accordance with Wulfila's own pronunciation. By the same token, given the fact that the same spelling mistakes are made in several languages of the other branches of Germanic, it is possible that the distinctions were never actually as clean as the historical linguist would like. In this scenario, the marking of these distinctions is merely a theoretical construct, but one to which we shall nevertheless adhere.

2.1. Consonants

We may group the archaic pronunciation of the Gothic consonants according to points of articulation. This is done in the following chart.

Consonants       Labial   Dental   Palatal (Alveolar)   Velar   Labio-Velar
                         
Stops                        
    Voiceless:   p   t, tt       k (x), kk   q
    Voiced:   b   d, dd       g, gg [gg]    
Fricatives                        
    Voiceless:   f   þ, þþ       h   ƕ
    Voiced:   b [v]   d [ð]       g [ḡ]    
Sibilants                        
    Voiceless:       s, ss            
    Voiced:       z            
Nasals       m, mm   n, nn       gg [ŋ]    
Liquids                        
    Continuant:           (l, ll)        
    Trilled:           (r, rr)        
Semi-Vowels       w       j        

Note that gg is listed among the nasals, reducing to g when marking a nasal before k or q. The letters b, d, and g appear both as stops and fricatives. The above chart is a phonetic, rather than phonemic, description. For example the difference in pronunciations of d is purely conditioned by environment (allophonic), never serving as the sole distinction of a word's change in meaning.

2.2. Vowels

The vowels may similarly be organized according to articulation. This is done in the following chart.

Short Vowels   Front           Central           Back
    Unrounded           Unrounded           Rounded
High   i                       u
                             
Middle                            
            aí       aú        
Low               a            
                             
Long Vowels                            
                             
High   ei                       ū
        ē               ō    
Middle           ai       au        
                             
Low               ā            

Note that the Gothic letters e and o always denote long vowels, ē and ō respectively. On the other hand, i always denotes a short vowel.

The above system is complemented by the three diphthongs ái, áu, iu, which are all stressed on the initial vowel. The resonants l, m, n, r may also function as vowels. For example: fugls 'bird', máiþms 'treasure', táikns 'token', ligrs 'bed'. The semivowel w may also form the nucleus of a syllable. For example, waúrstw 'work'.

2.3. Syllables and Stress

Conventionally scholars divide syllables in the Gothic language so that non-initial syllables begin with a consonant. Thus haír-tō 'heart', slē-piþ 'sleeps', af-lēt 'forgive thou'. Syllables ending in a short vowel are short, all others are considered long.

In general initial stress is the norm, though there are some exceptions. We may say there are three types of stress: primary, secondary, and weak stress. If we use bold italics to represent primary stress, italics for secondary stress, and no marking for weak stress, then these correspond to the stresses in the Modern English word 'incubate'. Primary stress falls on the first syllable, secondary stress on the last, and weak stress on the intervening syllable. The stress system of Gothic is similar. More specifically, root syllables bear primary stress when initial, secondary when non-initial. Consider the following examples:

Root   Initial   Non-initial
         
haírtō 'heart'   haírtō   hráinja-haírts
gulþ 'gold'   gulþ   figgra-gulþ

In matters of stress, it helps to realize that not all prefixes are equal. Adverbial prefixes to nouns, and the reduplicated syllables of verbs, follow the same rule as above. For example:

Prefix   Unprefixed   Prefixed
         
un- 'un-, not'   mahts   unmahts
saí- (redupl. syll.)   slē-piþ   saí-slēp

However, adverbial prefixes to verbs (i.e. preverbs) bear secondary stress. For example:

Prefix   Unprefixed   Prefixed
         
af 'from'   lēt   af-lēt
ana 'into'   saí-slēp   ana-saí-slēp

Thus stress alone may in some instances serve to distinguish verbs and nouns. Consider the following pair:

Prefix   Infinitive   Verb   Noun
             
af 'from'   lētan 'let'   af-lēt 'forgive thou'   af-lēt 'forgiveness' (acc.)

The contrast is similar to that found in Modern English 'project' (noun) vs. 'project' (verb). An exception to the secondary stress of preverbs is ga-, which carries weak stress: ga-saƕ 'saw'.

Suffix syllables (but not endings), when following a weakly stressed syllable, follow the accentuation rules of root syllables. Compare sal-bōnd 'they anoint' vs. salbō-dēdeina 'they might anoint'; mi-kils 'great' vs. mikil-dūþs 'greatness'.

Weak stress falls on syllables between those with primary or secondary stress. Compare -ra- in figgra-gulþ above, and also -na- in ana-saí-slēp. In general, the prefix ga-, the interrogative particle -u, and the conjunction -uh 'and' carry weak stress. For example: ga-leiks 'like'; ga-u-laubjats 'do ye two believe'; ub-uh-wōpida 'and he cried out'.

3. Noun Inflection and Strong Declension

Nouns in Gothic are inflected for case, number, and grammatical gender. There are three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, neuter. For nouns with clear sexual gender, the grammatical gender generally agrees with the sexual gender. For example, qēns 'woman' is feminine, so that natural gender and grammatical gender agree; but graba 'ditch' is also feminine, though the referent has no natural gender. There are two numbers: singular and plural (though personal pronouns and verbs also have a dual number). There are four cases: nominative (N), accusative (A), genitive (G), dative (D).

Case inflection is essentially a means of marking by suffixes grammatical functions which would otherwise be signalled by prepositions in Modern English. The most obvious remnant of the older case system in English is 's (apostrophe-s), which at the end of a noun fills the same role as the preposition of before a noun. For example, the bark of a dog is the same as a dog's bark. In much the same way, the nouns of Gothic use suffixes in order to denote grammatical function within a clause. Below is a short description of the case system of Gothic.

We may get a jump-start on nominal syntax if we step back for a moment and discuss what we might term logical cases. That is to say, before we pin down the meanings of the specific cases found in Gothic, we may first discuss a number of possible cases. We will take as our starting point the case system of Sanskrit, as being reasonably robust among the Indo-European languages. The chart below gives the eight cases found in the Sanskrit language, along with the basic meanings associated with those cases. (The fact that Sanskrit's case system is being used is immaterial -- the only purpose is to make certain logical distinctions among types of grammatical occurrences; the fact that these distinctions also happen to be made explicit in the suffixal system of a particular language is merely an added bonus.)

Logical Case   Description of Use   Basic Preposition   Example of Use
             
Nominative   case of the subject   (none)   I killed him.
    case of something predicated to the subject   (none)   The sky is blue.
Accusative   case of the direct object   (none)   I killed him.
    case of the terminus of directed motion   (none), to(wards)   I ran (to the) east.
    case of an expression involving extent in time or space   (none), for   The event lasted (for) five days.
Instrumental   case of the instrument of an action   with   I killed him with a knife.
    case of accompaniment   with   I travelled with my friend.
Dative   case of the indirect object   (none)   He gave me a book.
        to   He gave a book to me.
        for   I wrote a recommendation letter for my student.
Ablative   case of origin, source, or separation   from   I went from New York to Austin.
Genitive   case of possession   of   The shoes of the man are dirty.
        's   The man's shoes are dirty.
    case of the sphere of relation   of   I shed tears of joy.
            This soup needs a pinch of salt.
            The canyon is a day's journey from here.
    case of the subject or object of nominalized action   of, 's (s')   Man's killing of man speaks to human nature.
Locative   case of location in space or time   in, on, at, within   I stood on the corner for an hour.
Vocative   case of direct address   (none), o!   (O) Luck, be a lady tonight!

As one can see from the chart, the logical meanings of the cases may be expressed in a language, even if such a case system is not present. English retains overt marking only of the genitive, so that prepositions take over the role of the case system. Gothic declension, however, is more robust than that of Modern English, though more sparse than that of Sanskrit. One may then envision the syntax associated with the Gothic case system in terms of the following question: how do the eight logical cases above fit into the four extant cases of Gothic? The following chart gives the cases of Gothic, along with the logical cases whose role each has subsumed.

Gothic Case   Logical Case   Example   Translation
             
Nominative   Nominative   frija ist þis witōdis   'she is free of that law'