Gothic is the only substantially recorded East Germanic language and the earliest well attested Germanic language of any branch. It survives principally because the Gothic bishop Wulfila (Ulfilas) translated the Bible into it in the fourth century CE, devising a new alphabet for the purpose, an accident of preservation on which the entire comparative reconstruction of the Germanic language family leans. The rest of East Germanic is lost entirely, which is why this one translated Bible carries so much evidential weight.
Facts
Origins
Language FamilyEast Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, the only member of that branch substantially recorded before its extinction; spoken by the Goths from roughly the 3rd to the 6th centuries CE, with a Crimean remnant attested as late as the 16th century. 1 Place of OriginGothic originated among the East Germanic Gothic peoples of southeastern Europe, recorded almost entirely through Bishop Wulfila's fourth-century translation of the Bible for the Visigoths. 2 Practice
Liturgical and Scriptural RoleThe language of Wulfila's fourth century Gothic Bible, the earliest substantial Bible translation into any Germanic tongue and the language's only major surviving text, preserved chiefly in the sixth century Codex Argenteus. 1 Identity
Native ScriptThe Gothic alphabet, devised by Wulfila for his Bible translation and based mainly on Greek uncial letters with some Latin and Runic additions. 1 Attestation
Era of AttestationGothic is attested almost entirely through Bishop Wulfila's fourth-century CE translation of the Bible, the earliest substantial text in any Germanic language. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Gothic directly: "A French Gothic ivory panel, dated 1330, from a casket carved with scenes drawn from courtly romances such as the Roman de la Rose and the poems of Chretien de Troyes."
This source names Gothic directly: "Romances," a French (Lorraine?) Gothic ivory panel dated 1330, from a casket carved with scenes drawn from courtly romances."
This source names Gothic directly: "raised wooden cathedra within an open Gothic hall, absorbed in reading at a writing desk."
This source names Gothic directly: "cathedra absorbed in reading, within a Gothic architectural study accompanied by a lion, a peacock and a partridge, lit by chiaroscuro effects from the central archway and side windows."
Named or Composed in This Language
Related To
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