The Gothic language is a Germanic language that disappeared about 500 AD, although there is some evidence that it continued to be spoken in some form in isolated places long after that time.

The Gothic character set uses a Runic alphabet. In the Unicode character encoding, the Gothic characters are above 16 bits. Thus, Python 2.7 (narrow build) and Java (default build) do not support these extended character ranges (i.e., without certain tricks).

In the verses displayed, the Gothic characters are transliterated using a somewhat standard translation. To make searching (and reading) easier, the following transformations are made.

• Aether "æ" (one character) converted to "ae" (two characters).
• Eth "ð" converted to "th".
• Thorn "þ" converted to "th".

For most purposes, the subtle pronunciation difference between eth "ð" and thorn "þ" is not important here.

Here is a chart that depicts just a few branches of the Proto-Indo-European languages. Note that English, Gothic, and German are more related than, say Hellenic, Latin, Celtic, or other languages (omitted in the above diagram).

The Latin form of Wulfila is Ufilas. Most of that translation has been lost but a lot of the New Testament and a few fragments of the Old Testament have been preserved. This translation constitutes the bulk of what is know about the Gothic language. Since many Greek words were transliterated into Gothic, and the pronunciation of those Greek words are fairly certain, it is then known with some certainty how Gothic was pronounced. Wulfila was influenced by Arianism but the details here are not important. The Gothic Bible is used here mostly for linguistic purposes.

• The German word "wolf" ≈ "wolf".
• The Gothic word "wulfe" ≈ "wolf".
• The modern Greek word "λύκος" (LEE-kos) ≈ "wolf".
• The Latin word "lupus" ≈ "wolf".
• The Spanish word "lobo" ≈ "wolf".

Later, the Ostragoths would settle in northern Italy. The Visagoths would settle in Spain.

Note that some English versions have "communication" while some have "word". In Old English, "word" meant more of speech, talk, etc. and gradually took the more restricted meaning it has today. We still say phrases such as "you have my word" or "have the last word".

• The modern Greek word "λέξη" (LEH-ksee) ≈ "word" from which we get "lexicon".
• The modern Greek word "λόγος" (LO-gos) ≈ "reason, speech" from which we get the word "logic" and many words ending in "ogy" such as "biology".
• The Latin word "sermo" ≈ "word, speech" from which we get "sermon" as an expository speach.
• The German word "Rede" ≈ "speech", as used above.
• The German word "Wort" ≈ "word".
• The Gothic word "waurd" ≈ "word" is related to the German "Wort" and the English "word".

• The Middle English words for "evil" above are "yvell", "yuel", and "euill".
• The German word "Übel" ≈ "evil".
• The Latin word "malum" ≈ "evil".
• The Gothic word "ubilin" ≈ "evil".

• The German word "Ja" ≈ "yes" where the German "J" is pronounced as the English "Y".

The Gothic Bible was translated by Wulfila from Greek and Latin in the fourth century. Since there is no known Old English Bible, the Gothic Bible provides an interesting Germanic to English linguistic connection from that time to today.

Here are some interesting Gothic words from several verses in the crucifixion passages in Mark 15:16-32, together with some Greek, Latin, German, and middle English words.

The modern Greek word "στρατιώτης" (stra-tee-O-tees) ≈ "soldier" from which we get the word "strategy".

The Latin word "milites" ≈ "soldier" from which we get the word "military".

The Wycliffe version uses "knyytis" which would be a "knight". The German word "Knecht" ≈ "servant" while the German word "Kriegsknechte" ≈ "soldiers" where the German word "Krieg" ≈ "war". The Tyndale and Geneva versions use "souddeers" and "souldiers" respectively. The word "soldier" is of French origin and goes back to the Latin.

The Gothic word is "gadrauhteis" ≈ "soldiers". The "ga" appears as a prefix in many words and the "draughteis" has to do with "drawing together" as in a "band of people" or a "band of soldiers". The German word "tragen" ≈ "carry, bear". This Gothic word appears to be related to the Latin word "trahere" ≈ "pull" with the idea of "draw" or "pull" together.

The modern Greek word "αυλή" (av-LEE) ≈ "courtyard, yard" though many English translations say "hall".

The Latin word used here is "atrium" ≈ "atrium".

The Gothic word used here is "gardis" ≈ "garden, yard".

The German word "Garten" ≈ "garden" from which we get the word Kindergarten - literally garden of children where the German word "die Kinder" ≈ "the children".

Many Germanic words with a hard "g" changed in English over time to start with a "y" sound. So German "gestern" (yesterday) became English "yester-day". German "gelb" (yellow) became English "yellow". German "garten" (garden) or Gothic "gardis" became English "yard".

The Wycliffe version uses "porche" as in "porch".

The Luther version leaves the word for hall to be inferred.

The Gothic word used here for "band" or "battalion" is "hansa" ≈ "band, group".

The German word Hansa was later known as the Hanseatic League - a group of European trading groups or cities in the Middle Ages. Today, a German airline is named Lufthansa where The German word "Luft" ≈ "air, sky".

The Latin word used here is "cohortem" ≈ "cohort".

The Luther version uses the German word "Schar" ≈ "crowd".

The modern Greek word "ασπαζέσθαι" (a-spa-ZEH-stheh) ≈ "you are welcome" as in a greeting. That is the sense used above and which is translated as "salute" in most versions.

The Gothic "goljan" ≈ "greet"and may be related to "call". The Latin word "salutare" ≈ "greet, pay respects" which was literally used to "wish health to" someone. In the Latin Vulgate the word appears only once whereas the other versions above use the word twice - once for "salute" and then for once "hail" - as in the Greek.

The Middle English words for the first usage are "salute" and "grete" as in "greet".

The Middle English words for the second usage are "hayle", "helle", and "haile".

Today one "hails" a cab when one wants to get the cab driver's attention that one desires to use the cab.

In ancient times, the "hail" was a greeting.

The modern Greek word "χαίρετε" (HEH-reh-teh) ≈ "hello, greetings, rejoice" and meant "rejoice" as used in the GNT (Greek New Testament).

The Luther version uses the word for "greet" both times. Note that the modern German word "heil" ≈ "salvation, well-being, wholeness" is the same as used in the Luther version. Confusing the meaning of the word, however, is the fact that Adolf Hitler co-opted the word to create/popularize the German phrases/idioms "Heil Hitler" and "Sieg Heil".

Since the beginning of time, humans have been fascinated by fate, destiny, probability, etc. In the above verse, the soldiers cast "lots" to see who should get what. The word goes back to ancient times.

The Gothic word "hlauta" ≈ "lots". The Old English word "hlot" ≈ "lot". The German word "Los" ≈ "lot". These English word "lot" is the source of the English word "lottery". The Tyndale version uses "loottes".

The modern Greek word "κλήρον" (KLEE-ron) ≈ "lot, inheritance, clergy" meant "lot" as in the sense of fate, destiny, and being called. The English word "clergy" comes from the idea of being "called" by God. The modern Greek word "κλήρος" (KLEE-ros) ≈ "lot, inheritance, clergy".

The modern Greek word "εκκλησία" (ehk-klee-SEE-a) ≈ "those called out, church" though the original Greek word literally meant those who are "called out". That idea is better expressed with the word "congregation" rather than "church" but Tyndale became a martyr by angering church officials, many of whom thought that they should have the power over the people.

The Latin word is "sortem" ≈ "lot" from which we get the English word "sort". The original meaning was one of "lot" as in selection by fate, destiny, chance, etc., but changed over time to that of a group as in a rank, class, or order. Thus, when one "sorts" laundry one arranges it into a type of order or groupings.

This document has provided a brief overview of Gothic and the Gothic Bible with some interesting linguistic examples.