Coat of Arms of the Principality of Theodoro

Note: this page is still being updated as I form new ideas and find new information.

On this page you will find my amateur attempt to analyze the cantilena ("little song") found in Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq's letter documenting what he could of Crimean Gothic. Keep in mind that this is not professional work.

The text of the cantilena in full:

Wara, wara, ingdolou,
Seu te gira galizu[/galtzou],
Hoemisclep dorbiza ea

Wara

It seems obvious to me that our first word, wara, means beware: confer Gothic warôn, beware, warô beware (imperative). A similar word is war cautious, alert, watchful, in any case this seems to be an imperative referring to caution, whether it is a verb (wara! beware!) or an adjective (wara! [be] careful!).

Ingdolou

Alternative readings: ingdalou, ingdolon

Perhaps the most obscure word in the cantilena, we have very few leads into the meaning of this word. My tentative guess is that it is a personal name. Ing- is likely connected to Iggws, Norse Yngvi-Freyr, the name of a character in Germanic mythology.

The second element, -dolou, leaves us with a few questions; the initial <d> isproblematic. Gothic words beginning with <d> appear in Crimean Gothic with initial /t/ (cf. thurn < daúr door; tag < dags day), so it is likely that -dolou does not descend from a Gothic element starting with <d>. I suggest that the ancestor of -dolou began with <þ> on the basis of dorbiza (see below), clearly related to Gothic þaúrban to need. I propose that a form of þulan to tolerate (þuláins patience) was the proper ancestor to -dolou. Confer boga < *buga bow and schnos < snuzô daughter-in-law for lowering of /o/ before a consonant.

For further speculation on the ending -ou, see below.

Seu

Alternative reading: scu

Regarding seu, there are two possibilities: saíƕ imperative of saíƕan to see or sijáu first person optative of wisan to be. I assume to former to be more likely.

Ottar Grønvik suggests gaskôhi pair of shoes based on the alternative reading scu.

Te

Although popularly translated as thou, such a word is already attested as tzo. I propose it is the demonstrative article, which de Busbecq attests as tzo and tze. However, it is difficult to tell which form it is.

Gira

The closest in Gothic that I could find is geirs greedy. Jones suggests that it is a loanword from a West or North Germanic language (confer German Ger, Old Norse geirr), but I don't agree. What I can say is that it's hard to determine what vowel would raise to /i/ before a liquid in Crimean Gothic.

Galizou

Alternative reading: galtzou.

I find it most likely that this is the third-person plural past tense of galeiþan to go forth, i.e. galiþun. Confer goltz < gulþ gold for /þ/ > /z/; for further speculation on -ou, see below. If -iz- (see below)is a specific morpheme, I would emend my suggestion to a past tense form of galan to sing.

In case it is galtzou, one possibility is Gothic gulþ gold, which as we have seen is already rendered goltz. If this is correct, gira galtzou could perhaps mean "greedy for gold". Galþeis infertile is another possibility, as is something related to Old Norse galdr.

Haemisclep

This is another compound word. The first element seems to be Gothic háims village, home, the second is likely slêpan sleep. Insertion of [k] between /s/ and /l/ has a precedent in Vandalic: geisl > (Godi)gisclos. However, it could just as likely be representative of [ʃ], which would fit well in accordance with schnos < snuzô daughter-in-law and schuuester < swistar sister. Indeed, slêpan is recorded as schlipen.

Another possibility is *háimisks, which would be something along the lines of "home-ish". However, this word is unattested in Gothic (hence the asterisk).

Arthur Jones suggests a compound of háims and another word, gahláifs mate, companion. I think it would be quite unlikely for final <f> to become <p>.

Dorbiza

As stated earlier, dorbiza is clearly related to þaúrban to need. However, I do believe this relation is too often taken for granted, an so alternatives are never suggested. That said, I still link it to þaúrban. Perhaps it uses the same -iz- morpheme as galizou above. For further speculation on -iz-, see below.

Arthur Jones suggests that -za should not be attached to this word, but is rather an article qualifying the following word ea.

Ea

Another small word, this one is hard to figure out. I'm quite fond of Jones's suggestion of áiwa, the sacred tribal law of the Goths. Other Possibilities include ija (singular accusative feminine pronoun, or nom./acc. plural neuter pronoun) or aíƕs horse.

-ou

The words ingdolou and galizou could both end in the same morpheme. Confer cadariou < Greek κεντυριον centurion for loss of final /n/; perhaps -on goes back to Gothic -ôn, which has many functions: 2nd class weak verb infinitive suffix, and accusative and dative feminine singular weak noun ending among them. Perhaps ingdolou is an accusative or dative, or even a vocative, so the opening sentence could read, "beware/be cautious of ingdolou", "look out for/take care of ingdolou", or "beware, ingdolou!"

-iz-

There is always the likelihood that -iza in dorbiza and -izou in galizou are related. The hypothetical morpheme -iz- could be related to the Gothic weak past tense morpheme -id-, the past participle ending -iþs, or the comparative suffix -iza. This possibility has caused me to entertain the suggestion of a simplification of the Crimean Gothic verbal system, by which one of these Gothic morphemes became a productive past tense suffix even for strong verbs and preterite-present verbs. If galizou does feature this morpheme, I would change my estimate to a past tense of galan to sing.

My translation

Cr.Goth. wara wara ingdolou
Gloss beware-IMP beware-IMP Ing.tolerate (?)
English beware! beware! Iggwiþulôn (?)
Cr.Goth. seu te gira galizou
Gloss see-IMP the-MASC-PL ? leave-3PL-PAST
English see! the ? left; went forth
Cr.Goth. hoemisclep dorbiza ea
Gloss home.sleep need her/it/them
English home-sleep? needed it

Further Reading on Crimean Gothic