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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) 5.: THE GOTHIC ALPHABET OF ULFILAS — ( P. 181 ) - The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 6
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5.: THE GOTHIC ALPHABET OF ULFILAS — ( P. 181 ) - Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 6 [1776]Edition used:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ed. J.B. Bury with an Introduction by W.E.H. Lecky (New York: Fred de Fau and Co., 1906), in 12 vols. Vol. 6.
Part of: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 12 vols.
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5.THE GOTHIC ALPHABET OF ULFILAS — (P. 181 )The statements of Gibbon that the alphabet of Ulfilas consisted of twenty-four letters, and that he invented four new letters, are not quite accurate. The Goths before Ulfilas used the Runic alphabet, or futhorc (so called from the first six letters), consisting of twenty-four signs. Ulfilas based his alphabet on the Greek, adopting the Greek order; and adapted it to the requirements of Gothic speech. But his alphabet has twenty-five letters; five of them are derived from the Runic, one from the Latin (S), and one is of uncertain origin. This uncertain letter has the value of Q, and corresponds, in position in the alphabet, to the Greek numeral sigma (between E and Z). It is remarkable that the letters Θ and Ψ are interchanged. Ψ is adopted to represent th, and occupies ninth place, corresponding to Θ, while Θ is used for the sound W and holds the place corresponding to Ψ. Thus the two additional symbols which Gibbon selects for special mention are Greek, but applied to a different use. The English equivalents of the Gothic letters are as follows, in alphabetical order: — A, B, G, D, E, Q, Z, H, Th, I, K, L, M, N, J (runic), U (runic), P, R (runic), S, T, V, F (runic), Ch, W, O (runic). |
