LANGUAGE. 
19S 
mixture of Welfti, Saxon, and Danifli, words. The radixes, 
indeed, are chiefly Welfti. The New Teftament, and fe- 
veral fcriptural publications, have been tranflated into the 
Manks tongue ; and in the country parifhes it is cuftomary 
to preach in this language and in Englifli every alternate 
Sunday. 
Of the GOTHIC and its Derivatives. 
The Celtic and Gothic tongues at one time divided Eu¬ 
rope between them. Both were of equal antiquity, both 
originated in Afia, both were dialeds of the original lan¬ 
guage of mankind. The Celtic, however, was firft im¬ 
ported into Europe. The Gauls, or Celts, had penetrated 
fartheft towards the well; a circumftance which plainly 
Intimates the priority of their arrival. In the population 
of countries, we believe it may be held as a maxim, that 
the colonies who emigrated firft were generally impelled 
by fucceeding emigrants ; and that of conl'equence the 
moft early were puffied forward to the parts molt diftant. 
The Celts, then, having overfpread the moft weftern parts 
of Europe, muft have arrived more early in thofe regions. 
The Goths and Gette were the fame race of people, ac¬ 
cording to Procopius; and Strabo informs us, that they 
fpoke the fame language with the Thracians, from whole 
confines they had fpread themfelves northward as far as 
the weftern banks of the Danube. Vopifcus, in the Hif- 
tory of Probus, tells us, that this emperor obliged “ the 
Thracians, and all the Getic tribes, either to furrender or 
accept of his friendfhip.” This expreftion indicates, that 
the Thracians and the Getic tribes were deemed the fame 
race of people. From this dedudion it is clear, that the 
'Getae and Thracians were brethren ; that they fpoke the 
fame language ; and that their laws, manners, cuftoms, 
and religious tenets, were the fame, might eafily be Ihown, 
were this a proper place for an inquiry of that nature. 
Now the Thracian language, as might be demonllrated 
from names of perfons, offices, places, and cuftoms, among 
that people, was nearly related to the Chaldean and other 
oriental languages. They r.re thought to have been the 
-defcendants of Tiras, one of the fons of Japhet, and con- 
iequently muft have preferved the fpeech of the Noachic 
family. The Gothic language abounds with Pahlavi, or 
old Perilc words, which are no doubt remains of the pri¬ 
meval dialed of mankind. The Thracians peopled a con- 
fiderable part of the northern coaft of Alia Minor; and 
confequently we meet with many names of cities, moun¬ 
tains, rivers, &c. in thofe parts, exactly correfponding 
with many names in Europe, evidently impofed by our 
Gothic progenitors. Any perfon tolerably acquainted 
with the remains of the Gothic tongue, will be able to 
trace th-efe with little difficulty. 
We learn from Herodotus, that Darius, in his expedi¬ 
tion again!! the wandering Scythians who lived on the 
other fide of the Ifter or Danube, in his progrefs fubdued 
the Getx ; and in the fame paflage the hifto.rian informs 
us, that thefe people held the immortality of the human 
foul, and that they were the braveft and moft juft of all 
the Thracians. After this period, vve find them menti¬ 
oned by almoft every Greek writer, even familiarly; for 
Geta, in the comedies of that nation, -is a common name 
for a flave. The Getae then occupied all that large trad 
of country which extended from the confines of Thrace 
to the banks of the Danube ; were a brave and virtuous 
people 5 and fpoke the fame language with the Thracians, 
with whoirT they are often confounded both by Greek and 
Roman hiftoriar.s. But the name oi Goths is by no means 
fo ancient. It was utterly unknown both to the ancient 
Greeks and Romans. The firft time that the name Goth 
is mentioned is in the reign of the emperor Decius, about 
the year of Chrilt 250. About that time they bnrft out 
of Getia, and, ruihing like a torrent into the empire, laid 
wade ever)' thing with fire and fword. The.naine of their 
leader or king was Cncva. Decius, endeavouring to expel 
them from Thrace, was vanquished and flain. See the 
article Goths,, vol. viii. p. 707. After this irruption, 
we find them frequently in the Latin authors under the 
name of Geta or Gothic though the Greeks generally de¬ 
nominate them Scytha. Torfxus tells us, that get and got 
are actually the fame word, which anciently, according to 
him, denoted a foldier. Got in Icelandic fignifies a horfe 
or horfeman, and gata a wanderer; and this laft was per¬ 
haps the import of the term Geta, they being originally 
an unfettled vagrant people. As nations generally aflume 
to themfelves fome high aufpicious denomination, we tnay 
believe the Goths did the fame. We may therefore reft 
fatisfied, that the Gette alfumed the Icelandic name above- 
mentioned as their national one; or perhaps, notwith- 
ftanding their Greek denomination, they called themfelves 
Gots or Goths from the beginning. 
Tiie original feat of the Goths was the country now 
called Little Tartary, into which they had extended them¬ 
felves from the frontiers of Thrace. This country was 
called Little Scythia by the Greek writers ; and it was the 
ftation whence thofe innumerable fvvarms advanced, which, 
in conjunction with the Alani and other barbarous tribes, 
at length overran and lubverted the weftern empire. One 
part of the Gothic nation was allowed by Conftantine to 
fettle in Mcefia. Before the year 420 moft of the Gothic 
nations who had fettled within the limits of the Roman 
empire had been converted to the Chriftian faith ; but, 
unhappily, the greater part of the apoftles by whom they 
had been profelyted were Arians, which proved fatal to 
many of the orthodox Chriftians; for the Arian Goths 
perfecuted them with unrelenting cruelty. About the 
year 367, Ulphilas, bithop of the Mcefian Goths, tranflated 
the New Teftament into the Gothic language. The re¬ 
mains of this tranflation furniffi a genuine, and at the 
fame time venerable, monument of the ancient Gothic 
dialed. No more is now extant of that valuable tranfla¬ 
tion than the four Gol'pels, and another fragment con¬ 
taining part of the Epiitle to the Romans. The Gofpels 
have been repeatedly publiflied fince the firft edition by 
Junius 1665, down to that of Mr. Lye. Other fragments 
of the Gothic language have alfo been found, which our 
curious readers may fee in Lye’s Notes to his Edition of 
the Gothic Gofpels. The fragment of the Epiftle to,the 
Romans was lately difcovered in the library at Wolrenbut- 
tle, and publiflied by Knitel archdeacon of Wolfenbuttle. 
The Goths, prior to the age of Ulphilas, were igno¬ 
rant of the ufe of alphabetical characters. The biffiop fa¬ 
bricated an alphabet for them, which is a medley of Greek 
and Roman letters, but rather inclining to the former. 
This alphabet confifts of 25 letters: Junius has carefully 
analyzed thofe letters, and pointed out their powers and 
founds in his Gothic alphabet, prefixed to his Gloflarium 
Gothicum. They were long retained in all the European 
languages derived from the Gothic fource, which will be 
enumerated in the fequel. 
What kind of language the ancient Gothic was, is plain 
from the fragments above mentioned ; but in what refpeCts 
it agrees with the oriental tongues, or differs from them, 
is not eafy to afcertain with precifion. We have obferved 
in our feCtion on the Greek, that a confiderable part of 
that language muft have been derived from the Thracian ; 
which, according to Strabo there quoted, was the lame 
with the Getic or Gothic. The Thracian tongue will, 
we are convinced, upon comparifon, be found analogous 
to the Chaldean or Syrian. The German, which is a ge¬ 
nuine defcendant of the Gothic, is full of Perfian words; 
the old Perfian, or Pahlavi, appears to be a dialed of the 
Chaldean. The learned Junius, near the beginning of 
his Gothic alphabet, remarks, that a very confiderable 
part of the language in queftion is borrowed from the 
moft ancient Greek. 
Both the learned Thre in hisGloffarium Suio-Gothicum, 
and Wachter in his excellent German and Latin Diftio- 
nary, often remark the coincidence of Gothic and Ger¬ 
man words with oriental vocables of the like found and 
of the fame fignification. In the old Saxon, which is 
another ramification of the Gothic tongue, itumberlefs 
terms 
