GOTHIC LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. The words Goth and Gothic have a somewhat vague signifiCation, being popularly associated with much legendary his tory and many rash ethnological speculations. In early times they were used contempt uously to designate anything deemed medimvai or romantic as opposed to classical. Such a use of the Gothic name must be carefully distinguished from the history of the true national Goths who played so great a part in Europe from the 3d to the Sth c. of the Christian era, and who may, on many grounds, claim a foremost place among the Teutonic nations which had so prominent a share in the of the RomAn empire. They were among the earliest of those nations to establish themselves within the empire, and no other Teutonic people has left behind it such early remains of a written literature. The wonderful thing is that a people who played so great a part for several ages should have wholly passed away. Not for many ages have they existed auywhere as a distinct nation, nor have they given an abiding name to any part of Europe. Their first certain historical appearance was in the lands north of the lower Danube in the 3d c. of our era; for any earlier account of them we must resort to tra ditions and myths, as confusing as they are abundant. Of the character of the Gothic language our earliest direct. evidence is in fragments of a translation of the Bible and some other religious writings, which, although preserved in manuscripts not dating further back than the 5th c., and clearly written in Italy during the rule of the east Goths, are commonly assumed to have originated among the west Goths in Minsia, and to be older by a century than the manuscripts themselves. The Finnish tribes, originally dwelling in the interior of Russia, borrowed numerous words from the Gothic at a much earlier clay, and from a careful examination of these some conclusions have been drawn regarding a more archaic state of the language. Some of these words, it may be safely
assumed, still retain forms of the Gothic language from as early a period as the 1st or 2d C. B. C—Ulfida, a Gothic bishop, who lived in the 4th c. of our era, invented an alpha bet of twenty-four letters based on the Greek, and translated into Mceso-Gothic the whole Bible except the Book of Kings. Only fragments of this version are now in existence, though it was in constant use among the Goths while they retained their nationality. 'These fragments embrace the greater part of the gospels, considerable portions of the epistles, and a few remnants of the Old Testament. .There are besides a few fragments of a commentary on John's gospel, and part of a Gothic calendar, giving the name of the Gothic people as Gut-a/licks, from which it may be inferred that the Goths called them selves Gutos. The language as known to us, although very archaic in many of its forins and sounds, is still far removed from the original features of the common language as spoken before any separation of the Teutonic tribes had taken place. Most nearly related to it seem to have been the Scandinavian languages, which are now generally assumed to have formed, together with Gothic, the so-called eastern branch of the Teutonic family, while English, Frisian, and low and high German belong to a western division. The latter is chiefly marked by the introduction of a considerable number of forms and sounds of a less archaic stamp, while the eastern idioms are found to have adhered more closely to the Driginal forms.