Gothic Language Resources

In this articles you find a list of Resources about the Gothic languages: websites, online books, grammars etc.

Websites

Wulfila projectOpens in a new tab.:

This Website is by far the most important Website about the Gothic language. It contains the complete corpus of the Gothic language. All gothic texts that remain can be found here. The Bible text can be read in Gothic (Latin script) parallel with English and Greek. All words are linked to a dictionary.

For each entry you find the translation of the word into English, the grammatical details (e.g. grammatical case) and a complete list of Bible verses where this word occurs, sorted by word form (case, singular, plural) etc.

This allows you to follow the Gothic text even with (so far) little knowledge of Gothic grammar and vocabulary.

University of Texas at Austin – Linguistics Resource Center

This website offers a comprehensive introduction into the Gothic language. The grammar is explained in great detail.

I would also like to recommend the Gothic language examples. Several Gothic passages, most of the Bible, but also one of the Skeireins, are discussed in great detail with a word by word explanation.

The Website also offers similar introductions into other languages. So if you besides Gothic also want to learn Hittite, Sanskrit or Tocharian, this is definitely the place to go.

Wikisource

At Wikisource you will find the text of the Gothic Bible taken from Wilhelm Streitberg’s 1920 edition in Latin script (linkOpens in a new tab.). Somone has even transcribed it back into the Gothic Alphabet (linkOpens in a new tab.). If you are looking for a long text in the Gothic Alphabet this might be a place to go to.

However when Latin Script is sufficient (as it mostly is) then the edition at Wulfila projectOpens in a new tab. should be preferred. The reason is the integration of the word-by-word dictionary that you can find there.

An Introduction to Gothic

David Solo published this seriesOpens in a new tab. of 8 gothic lessons starting in 1999.

Himma Daga – News in the Gothic langauge

This Website presents news in the Gothic language. It contains dozens of news articles.

Books

  • “Grammar of the Gothic Language and the Gospel of St. Mark, Selections from the Other Gospels, and the Second Epistle to Timothy, with Notes and Glossary” by Joseph Wright, published 1910. Online at Germanic Lexicon ProjectOpens in a new tab.
  • “Ulfilas” by By Stamm, Heyne, and Wrede, published 1896. Online at Germanic Lexicon ProjectOpens in a new tab.
  • “A Comparative Glossary of the Gothic Language” by G. H. Balg, published 1887. Online at Germanic Lexicon ProjectOpens in a new tab.
  • “Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestückchen und Worterverzeichnis”, eighth edition, by Wilhelm Braune, published 1912, online at Germanic Lexicon ProjectOpens in a new tab.
  • “Gothic Grammar, with Selections for Reading and a Glossary”, Second Edition, Wilhelm Braune (translated by Gerhard H. Balg), published 1895. This is the same book as the one above, but in English. Online at Germanic Lexicon ProjectOpens in a new tab. (collection of scans, one per page) or complete digitized text at gutenberg.orgOpens in a new tab..

image credit: imageOpens in a new tab. by Наталия КогутOpens in a new tab. on PixabayOpens in a new tab.