0

What periphrastic verb form are attested in the Gothic language, the oldest Germanic language we have substantial records from?

Skimming through a grammar of Gothic I found that for the past tense passive a periphrastic construction was used (which is remarkably identical to the Modern German one, using the Gothic cognate of Modern German werden and the past participle; Gothic also has a be passive comparable to the English one).

I have not found any traces of a have perfect but this may just be outside the scope of the grammar and is maybe attested in the Gothic corpus (similarly, short Latin grammars probably don't mention probatum habeo as a periphrastic perfect active form).

Are there periphrastic verb form other than the passive I have already mentioned attested in the corpus of Gothic text we have?

This question is inspired by Where did the use of the two auxiliaries in the Romance languages come from? and its answers and comments.

1
  • 1
    Check German translations of the New Testament for potential cognates. Practically all the Gothic we have is bible translations.
    – jlawler
    Mar 3, 2018 at 19:07

1 Answer 1

2

Michail Kotin - it's worth checking out his monograph Gotisch Im (diachronischen und typologischen) Vergleich (Kotin 2012) - argues that

"Gothic does not have the construction with have and past participle, which was the main indicator of the latest analytic form in Western Germanic encoding perfect."

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.