Gothic alphabet

Gothic alphabet   

Gothic was originally written with a Runic alphabet about which little is known. One theory of the origins of Runes is that they were invented by the Goths, but this is impossible to prove as very few inscriptions of writing in Gothic runes survive.

The Gothic alphabet was invented around middle the 4th century AD by Bishop Wulfila (311-383 AD), the religious leader of the Visigoths, to provide his people with a written language and a means of reading his translation of the Bible. It is based on the Greek alphabet, with some extra letters from the Latin and Runic alphabets.

Used to write:

Gothic, an extinct East Germanic language that was spoken in parts of the Crimea until the 17th century.

The Goths were divided into two main tribes: the Ostrogothi or Greutungi (dune-dwellers) and the Visigothi or Tervingi (steppe-dwellers). Related tribes included the Burgundians and the Vandals.

Gothic alphabet

There are no separate numerals, but each letter has a numeric value.

Downloads

Download a Gothic alphabet chart in PDF format

Sample text in Gothic (The Lord's Prayer)

Transliteration

atta unsar þu in himinan weihnai namo þein

qimai þiudinassus þeins wairþai wilja þeins

swe in himina jah ana airþai

hlaif unsarana þana sinteinan gif uns himma daga

jah weis afletam þai skulam unsaraim

jah ni briggais uns in fraistubnjai

ak lausai uns of þamma ubilin

unte þeina ist þiudangardi

jah mahts jah wulþus in aiwins

amen