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 (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".