The clitic particle -uh

1. Verb + verb
2. This + this (recapitulation)
3. This + that (contrast)
4. New topic
5. Lists
6. Dialogue
7. Narrative
8. Indefinite & negative pronouns
9. General co-ordination
10. Concessive
11. Causal
12. Emphatic

§ 1 VERB + VERB. Links two verbs with same subject, signalling that they are both part of the same action.

1.a With two imperatives for Greek asyndeton: gaggiþ qiþiduh 'go [and] tell'.

1.b Where Greek indicates this relationship with a present participle and a finite verb (in either order), Gothic sometimes has two finites, with -uh attached to the second: jah usstigun in skip, iddjedunuh ufar marein 'and climbing aboard the ship they crossed over the sea'. Occasionally the first verb is left as present participle in Gothic (Mk 8,1; J 11,31).

1.c Sometimes also Go. VERB(Fin) VERB(Fin)-uh = Gk. VERB(Fin) kai VERB(Fin) -- e.g. J 18,33; and with subject repeated and elaborated J 7,32.

 

§ 2 THIS + THIS. Recapitulation.

2.a Shows or emphasises the identity of the pronoun with a preceding relative, or word or phrase: sa(ei)...sah 'he (who)...he' (not essential in this combination, but very common); gahausjands þan Herodes qaþ þatei þammei ik haubiþ afmaimait Iohanne, sa ist: sah urrais us dauþaim (Mk 6,16); þatei saijiþ, þatuh jah sneiþiþ 'what you sow, that you shall also reap'; þanuh...þanuh þan (1Cor 15,28); þatuh ganah unsis (J 14,8 = Greek kai 'and').

2.b As equivalent to relative pronoun. In a few instances, sah/soh signals a second (or third, etc. at L 2,36-8) piece of information about a new character just introduced (the first being typically their name). In this role it can be translated "who", "and who" or sometimes rather "and he/she" (Mt 27, 57-8; L 8,41; L 16,20; L 19,2; L 3,15; L 1,31-32; L 2,36-8; J 18,26). In two of these instances, sah follows an embedded clause introduced by a relative prounoun formed with -ei. At Mt 27,57-8 the different methods of forming the relative alternate: þizuh...saei...sah. Compare also Phm 1,11-13 þanuh...þanei, both rendered "whom" by the King James Bible. Streitberg characterised this usage as being on the borderline between parataxis and hypotaxis.

2.c With adverbs: þarei im ik, þaruh sijuþ jah jus 'where I am, there you will also be'; þar saljiþ...jah þaþroh 'there where you dwell...from that place [previously mentioned]'.

2.d Comparison: swaswe...swah (=swa jah) 'just as...so too'.

2.e Conclusive: an nuh? 'so...?' (given what's been said), hva nuh? 'what then?'.

2.f Distributive: twans hvanzuh 'two by two'.

2.g Cumulative interrogation: hvas auk þuk ussokeiþ? hvauþ þan habais þatei ni namt? Good News Bible: 'Who made you superior to others? Didn't God give you everything you have?'; King James: 'For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?' (1Cor 4,7 = Gk. de).

 

§ 3 THIS + THAT. Contrast: negative recapitulation and anticipation.

3.a Emphasises a distinction to the preceding pronoun or particle in a dichotomy or contrasting pair. Usually attached to the second, but sometimes also the first: sumai(h)...sumaih 'some...others'; anþar...anþaruh þan 'the one...the other'; ni(h)...nih 'neither...nor', 'not...and neither'; -u(h)?...þau -u(h)? '...? or ...?'. At Mt 6,20, the first -h has been added as a superscript correction: nih malo nih nidwa 'neither moth nor rust'. Here too belongs to phrase: andizuh...aiþþau 'either...or'. At Eph 4,23, -uh þan attached to a verb introduces the second part of a contrast: "put off the old...and be renewed" (anuh-þan-niujaiþ) = Gk. de, KJB 'and'.

3.b At 1Cor 4,10 uþ-þan (no Gk equivalent) marks off the first items in two iþ-dichotomies: weis dwalai in Xristaus, iþ jus frodai in Xristau; weizuþ-þan unmahteigai, iþ jus swinþai; juzuþ-þan wulþagai, iþ weis unswerai. (iþ = Gk. de). This is not so much contrasting the facts contained in each dichotomy, as signalling that they form seperate, parallel statements.

3.c Eph ch. 4 concludes with a list of things to avoid followed by a list of good qualities to aim at, this good list beginning: wairþaiduh miþ izwis misso seljai... (Eph 4,32).

 

§ 4 NEW TOPIC.

4.a New paragraph: 'now, ...' Almost always: -uh þan / uþ-þan, but simple -uh appears at least twice introducing a specific time: uzuh þamma mela = ek toutou 'from that time' (J 6,66), inuh þizai hveilai = en auth th ´wra 'at this very time' (L 10,20). And see #11.a, introducing a reason, particularly the lengthy explanations of the Skeireins that begin: inuh þis... 'for this reason...' Also: bijandzuþ-þan 'meanwhile'.

4.b Parenthesis 'now,...', 'incidentally' - introducing some extra detail, such as the name of the guard whose ear is severed at J 18,10 - (usually: -uh þan, but for simple -uh, see: L 17,16; J 18,26).
Both these uses usually = Gk. de.

 

§ 5 LISTS. (usually: -uh þan)

5.a New Section: perhaps indicating a pause for breath and the start of a new part of the list (L3,1 - the only example?).

5.b Final Term: the concluding and possibly most significant term in a list (L 6,45 uzuh allis = ek gar 'for from'; L 9,13 nih þan 'nor even'; L 14,26 nauhuþ-þan 'and also/even'; 2Tim 1,5 gaþ-þan-traua jah in þus 'and, I am sure, in you too'; but see #7 for 1Cor 15,6-7 þaþroh þan...þaþroh þan 'and after that...and after that'). This final term use is similar to #6.b "punchline".

 

§ 6 DIALOGUE.

6.a Flow? (qeþunuh 'and/so they said'), e.g. J 16,18 = oun KJB 'they said therefore' (or more colloquially 'so they said'); J 9,17 = oun = nothing in KJB, but 'so' could easily be inserted. Could maybe be seen as a subset of #1 verb + verb, linking verbs with the same subject, but J 10,19 þanuh missaqiss aftra warþ miþ Iudaium in þize waurde. 20 qeþunuh maganai ize... 'and many of them said' = Gk. de. 21 sumaih qeþun = Gk. alloi elegon 'but others said'. I'm not sure if the first -uh here is pointing back to the disputers in 19 (this seems most natural), or forwards to the dichotomy 'some...but others'. #6.b is more common.

6.b iþ + -uh. Punchline: adds slight emphasis with change of speaker, for example when someone is having the last word: iþ is qaþuh 'and/but he said', or making a weighty point, or replying finally after expectation has been raised. Especially iþ...qaþuh, but sometimes other verbs too: iþ Iesus wissuh... egnw 'o Iêsous (J 16,19). Note the position in J 11,41 iþ Iesus uzuhhof augona iup jah qaþ 'and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said' ( = 'o de Iêsous êpen tous ofqalmous apw kai eipen. These translate Greek de, but so does iþ on its own. There is nothing in the Greek corresponding to the positioning of -uh here.

 

§ 7 NARRATIVE.

Used conventionally with certain narrative particles: þanuh 'and then, well' (de, 'ote, oun, tote), þaruh, 'and then, well' (de, oun, ekei, idou, kai idou, kai), þaþroh, þaþroh þan 'and then, and after that, next'; and cf. under #4 afaruh þan þata 'now after that'.

 

§ 8 INDEFINITE & NEGATIVE PRONOUNS.

8.a Indefinite: hvazuh, hvarjizuh.

8.b Negative: ni hvashun 'no one' (lit. 'not who & not'); ni hveilohun 'not for a moment', etc.

 

§ 9 GENERAL CO-ORDINATION.

jah 'and' (ja + uh); nih 'and not', 'nor' (ni + uh)--see also #12 "emphatic".

 

§ 10 CONCESSIVE.

10.a Incidental contrast: 'although' (1Cor 15,6 = de: many of whom are still alive, although some (sumaiþ-þan) have gone to sleep). Compare #4.b and #3.a.

10.b In the particle þa-u-h: þauh gabadauþniþ, libaid 'though he die, he will live'; þauhjabai 'although, even if/though'; sweþauh 'however, indeed'; iþ/jabai/(subjunctive verb)...þauh 'if...then not' (beside jabai...þau); þauh niu kunnuþ 'or don't you know'; saei ni...ni þauh 'if someone does not...then neither will they'.

 

§ 11 CAUSAL.

11.a In combinations: duþþe/duhþe, inuh þis (but reason is indicated already without -uh, which may be conventional here?; in The Skeireins long explanations begin inuh þis, which may be an example of #4.a).

11.b Occasionally simply -uh þan, translating Gk. gar (2Cor 4,15). Perhaps similar to #5.b and #6.b "punchline", or a summing up using #2.a.

 

§ 12 EMPHATIC.

jah 'also', 'even'; nih 'not even' (ni + uh)--see also #9 "general co-ordination".