Note. Gothic ai for Greek η is exceptional; e. g., Hairodiadins, gen. to Ἡρωδίας (Mk. VI, 17); Neikaúdaimus (Skeir. 52); Νικόδημος (for Nikaúdêmus elsewhere.)
au
Also Goth. au (like ai) stands for historically and fonetically different sounds.
§ 24. I. The short vowel aú.—au in Gothic denotes a short open o-sound. In this case grammarians put an accute accent over the u (aú) in order to keep it apart from the difthong au. Goth. aú corresponds to o or u in OHG. and in the other Germanic languages.
The aú, before h and r in Gothic words, has in every instance developt from a short u which, when immediately followd by these sounds, was 'broken' to short ŏ. E. g.
waúrms, wurm; haúrn, horn; baúrgs (OHG. burg), city; waúrd, word; waúrpum, prt. pl. of waírpan, to throw (cp. § 32); saúhts (OHG. suht), sickness; daúhtar, daughter; aúhsa, ox; taúhum, prt. pl. of tiuhan, to pul; baúhta, prt. of bugjan, to buy.
Note 1. aú before other sounds is entirely exceptional and sumwhat doutful. Thus, in auftô, perhaps (onse also ufto; Mt. XXVII, 64), bisauljan, to sully; bisaulnan, to becum sullied. Holtzmann (altd. gr., p. 14) regards also ufbauljan (II. Tim. III, 4) as belonging to this class.
Note 2. The change of short u into aú before h is without exception. An apparent exception is the enclitic -uh, and, the u of which must be referd to a secondary development; it is never found after a short accented vowel, nor after a long vowel or difthong; e. g., sa-h, ni-h, þai-h, wiljáu-h, ƕarjanô-h; u occurs after consonants, and in polysyllabic words in which a final short a before the u was elided; as, ƕaz-uh, þammuh (= þamma uh), qiþuh (= qiþa uh). Sum, however, assume -ûh (cp. Beitr. 18, 299).—Other us before h ar all long: þûhta (cp. § 15).—There ar a few cases of u before r in unaccented syllabls (§ 13, n. 1), namely in the foren words spaikulâtur and paúrpura (beside paúrpaúra), purpl; so, also, in the Gothic fidur- (§ 141, n. 1) which, however, stands perhaps for fidûr- (cp. IF. 4, 334).—The prefix ur- (in urreisan, urruns, etc.) does not belong here; it is a late form for us the s of which was assimilated to a following r (§ 78, n. 4).
Note 3. Not every au before h and r has developt from u, but may also be the difthong au; as, háuhs, high; táuh, prt. of tiuhan (but pl. taúhum, § 31); gáurs, sorry (cp. OHG. gôrag, wreched, and Goth. gaunôn, to mourn).
Note 4. The au for u in the endings of the u-declension may be aú, but also áu which would be due to confusion caused by analogy. Beitr., 18, 280.—Cp. also uftô for auftô, § 24, n. 1.
Note 5. As a rule, the Greek ο is represented by aú; e. g., apaustaulus, ἀπόστολος; alabalstraun, ἀλάβαστρον; Barþaulaumaius, Βαρθολομαῖος; Pauntius, Πόντιος; aú = υ in Saúr, Σύρος; paúrpaúra, πορφύρα.—Goth. aú = o in the East Gothic name Thorisa. (Wrede, 'Ostg.', 76. 165).
§ 25. II. The old difthong au [= ou in E. house]. Every au not broken from u (before h, r; s. § 24 and note 3) is a difthong; it corresponds to OHG. au, ou, or ô (ahd. gr., §§ 45. 46), OS. ô, ON. au. Whenever it is likely to be confused with aú, we put (according to Grimm), an accute accent over the a (áu). E. g.
The prts. sg. of the II. ablaut-series (§ 31): gaut, I pour (inf. giutan); laug, I lied, etc.; laugnjan, to deny; daupjan, to baptize; galaubjan, to believ; galaubeins, belief; rauþs, red; dauþus, deth; —aukan, to increase; hlaupan, to run; stautan, to push, strike; —haubiþ, hed; augô, ey.
au in inflections and final occurs in the u-declension: sunaus, sunau; 1st pers. sg. opt.: nimau, nêmjau; 3d pers. sg. imper.: lausjadau; opt. midl: haitaidau.
Note 1. au often interchanges with aw (cp. § 42); e. g., taujan, prt. tawida, to do; mawi, gen. maujôs, girl; sniwan, prt. snau, to hasten.
Note 2. Latin writers express Goth. au by au; as, Ausila, Austrovaldus, Audericus. Cp. Wrede, 'Wand.', 96 et seq. Concerning East Gothic monofthongizations, s. Wrede, 'Ostg.', 165 et seq. (Zs. fda., 36, 2732).
Note 3. In the u-declension u is often found for áu; cp. § 24, n. 4; § 105, n. 2.
§ 26. Another au, historically, and probably also fonetically, different from the preceding ones occurs before vowels.
(a) For original ô: stauida, prt. of stôjan, to judge; staua, f., judgment; staua, m., judge; taui, n., gen. tôjis, deed (cp. also ubiltôjis, evil-doer; taujan, to do, prt. tawida); afmauidai and afdauidai, pps. of *afmôjan, and *afdôjan, to tire out, weary; sauil, n., sun.
(b) For û in the other Germanic languages: trauan (OHG. trûên), to trust; bauan (OHG. bûan), to dwel; bnauan, to rub (to pieces or powder. ON. (g)núa, OHG. nûan). Cp. also § 179, n. 2.
Sinse this au does not change into aw before vowels, it must denote a monofthong which is likely to be the long of aú, hense a long open o (= a in E. fall), while long close o (shading very much to û, like ô in E. home) is denoted by ô. Accordingly, Goth. antevocalic ô, û past into au. Cp. Brgm., I, 156. For the extensiv literature on this question, s. Noreen's 'Urgerm. Lautlehre', p. 34; also Beitr., 17, 563-567.
Note 1. Also Gr. ω before a vowel, which is represented as a rule by ô, is renderd by au: Trauada, Τρῳάς; Nauêl, Νωέ; Lauidja, Λωίς.
Note 2. ô before u occurs, however, in the preterit forms waiwôun (inf. waian, § 182), lailôun (inf. *lauan, § 179, 4). Cp. Beitr., 11, 742.
APPENDIX.
§ 27. Beside the vowel-signs discust in the foregoing paragrafs, a few consonant-signs may likewise discharge the function of vowels, for the Gothic liquids l, r and the nasals m, n ar very often vocalic (i. e. syllabic) at the end of a word after a consonant. Here an original suffixal vowel was lost in most cases, and in its place the following liquid or nasal became the bearer of the accent. Thus the Gothic has dissyllabic words with vocalic liquids or vocalic nasals (sonant liquids or sonant nasals); as, akrs, field; fugls, bird; taikns, token; maiþms, present.
Note In the West Germanic languages a new vowel (OHG. a) has developt from these vocalic liquids and nasals; e. g., OHG. akkar, fogal, zeihhan, OS. mêþom. Cp. ahd. gr., § 65, and Brgm., I, 190. 237.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] For the values of this sign according to 'Amended Spelling', s. 'Standard Dictionary', p. 568.