before vowels appears as ai; s. § 22.
Note 2. ei occurs quite often for ê, especially in the Gospel of St. Luke; as, qeins (= qêns), faheid (= fahêd), fraleitais (= fralêtais); Lu. II, 5. 10. 29; afleitan; Mt. IX, 6, etc.
Note 3. Sporadically also i for ê; so, frequently, in the Gospel of St. Lu.; as, birusjôs; Lu. II, 41; qiþeina; VIII, 56. IX, 21; tawidideina; VI, 11; duatsniwun; Mk. VI, 53. Only i is found in wriþus, herd; Lu. VIII, 33 (for wrêþus; cp. Bezzenb. Beitr. 3, 114).
Note 4. Reversely, also e occurs for i and ei (§ 10, n. 5; § 17, n. 1). – These deviations (in ns. 2-4) seem due to East Gothic writers; cp. Wrede, 'Ostg.', 161.
§ 8. From the preceding ê must be separated the ê of sum Gothic words in which it corresponds to OHG. ea, ia (not â): hêr, here; Krêks, Greek; fêra, side, region; mês, table. Cp. ahd. gr., §§ 35. 36; Beitr., 18, 409 et seq.
i
§ 9. Gothic i, as a rule, denotes the short vowel i [as in E. it], while its corresponding long sound is represented by ei [= ie in E. believ]; s. § 16.
Note 1. The i in Greek words stands for short ι, only exceptionally for η which is generally represented by ê; e. g., Aúnisimus, Ὀνήσιμος; Biþania, Βηθανία.
Note 2. i in Gothic words is long, when it is incorrectly employd for ê (cp. § 7, n. 3).
§ 10. The Gothic i, from an historical point of view, is of two kinds: It represents two originally distinct sounds which, from a purely Gothic standpoint, can not be separated.
(a) Goth. i = proethnic Germanic e (OHG. ë or i; cp. ahd. gr., §§ 28-30), as in the prs. tense of verbs of the III. – V. ablaut-series (§§ 32-34): niman, OHG. nëman; giban, OHG. gëban; giba, OHG. gëba; bindan, OHG. bintan; itan, to eat; midjis, 'medius'; hlifan, to steal; swistar, OHG. swëster; fidwôr, four; gifts, gift; -qiss, speech; the pps. of the V. ablaut-series: gibans, itans, lisans, wigans, qiþans.
(b) Goth. i = proethnic Germanic i (OHG. i; ahd. gr., § 31); e. g., lists, stratagem; fisks, fish; is, he; wissa, I knew; skritnan, to rend (intr.); prt. pl. and pp. of the verbs of the I. ablaut-series (§ 30): bitun, bitans (inf. beitan); stigun, stigans (inf. steigan); liþun, liþans (inf. leiþan).
Note 1. Final i occurs in ni, bi, si, hiri; in the nominativs of feminin and neuter j-stems: bandi (§ 96), kuni (§ 93); in the acc. and voc. sg. of the masculin j-stems: hari (§ 90); 3d pers. sg. prt. opt.: nêmi. This final i appears as j, when it becums medial (§ 45).
Note 2. Final i before a following i of an enclitic word is elided in nist (= ni-ist), sei (= si-ei), niba (= ni-iba).
Note 3. Every i before h and r is broken to aí; cp. § 20.
Note 4. ij is found in ija, 'eam'; þrija, 'tria'; fijan, to hate; frijôn, to luv; sijum, we ar; kijans, germinated, etc. i for ij is rare: fian, sium, etc., but friaþwa (beside frijaþwa), luv, occurs very often.
Note 5. Occasionally e takes the place of i; as, usdrebi; Mk. V, 10; seneigana; I. Tim. V, 1.
Note 6. For i in the difthong iu, s. §§ 18. 19.
Note 7. For a separation of the two is (= OHG. ë and i) in East Gothic names, s. Wrede, 'Ostg.', 162.
o
§ 11. The Gothic character o always denotes a long close o approaching sumwhat the sound of û (= o in E. home).
Note 1. In Greek words o, as a rule, corresponds to ω, rarely to ο; e. g., Makidonja, Μακεδονία; it also stands for ου: Iodas, Ἰούδας; Lu. III, 26.
Note 2. o in Gothic words often stands for (short) u (§ 14, n. 3).
§ 12. ô (= OHG. uo; s. ahd. gr., § 38 et seq.) is frequent in Gothic words. E. g., brôþar, brother; bôka, beech; frôþs, wise; flôdus, flud; fôtus, foot.
In the prt. of the VI. series (§ 35) and of the ê – ô-series (§ 36): ôl, hôf, ôg, pl. ôlum, hôfum, ôgum; laílôt, laílôtum, aísô. In endings, as in nom. pl. gibôs, dagôs; wvs. II.: salbôn; final, in gen. pl. f. gibô, tuggônô; nom. sg. tuggô, haírtô. Prns.: ƕô, þô, sô, ƕanô-h, ainnô-hun, ƕarjanô-h. Verb salbô. Advs. in -ô (§ 211).
Note 1. For ô we sumtimes find u: gakrôtûda
