Keyboard Layouts : Gothic

Gothic Keyboard Layout

This page provides a Keyboard Layout for the Gothic script, for use with PCs running Windows 2000, XP or Vista (N.B. the keyboard layout cannot be installed or run on systems running Windows 95, 98 or ME).

Please scroll to the bottom of the page for instructions on downloading and installing the Gothic Keyboard Layouts.

About the Gothic Script

The Gothic script was devised by Bishop Wulfila (circa 311-383) in order to facilitate his translation of the Bible into the Gothic language spoken by the Visigoths in the area between the Danube and Dniester rivers west of the Black Sea.

The script devised by Bishop Wulfila consists of a mixture of letters that are derived from the Greek, Latin and Runic scripts. There is no upper/lower case distinction, and so all the Gothic letters have a single immutable form. It is probable that some Goths had on occasion written their language in the Runic script (although the earliest extant Gothic Runic inscriptions only date from the early 5th century), but there had been no systematic attempt to write the Gothic language prior to the creation of the Gothic script by Bishop Wulfila sometime after 341 (the year that he was consecrated a bishop in Constantinople).

Bishop Wulfila is reputed to have translated the entire Bible, with the exception of the Book of Kings (which he supposedly missed out in order to avoid inflaming the warlike passions of the Goths). However, all that remains of his translation is about three quarters of the New Testament, preserved in a number of manuscripts. The most important manuscript is the Codex Argenteus (preserved at Uppsala in Sweden), which comprises much of the Gospels of Matthew, John, Luke and Mark.

There are very few other surviving examples of written Gothic. Aside from three examples of the Gothic alphabet (with the names of the Gothic letters), some sample Gothic sentences, and various Gothic names and words included in Greek and Latin texts, the only extensive examples of written Gothic other than Wulfila's New Testament are :

• An eight-page commentary on the Gospel of Mark, entitled the Skeireins;
• A three-page fragment of the Book of Nehemiah (but, on stylistic grounds, clearly not translated by Wulfila);
• Parts of the months of October and November from a Gothic church calendar.

Sample Text

Gabriel and Mary [Luke 1.26-38]

𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌿𐌷 𐌸𐌰𐌽 𐌹𐌽 𐌼𐌴𐌽𐍉𐌸 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌽 𐌹𐌽𐍃𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌹𐌸𐍃 𐍅𐌰𐍃 𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌿𐍃 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌴𐌻 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌼 𐌲𐌿𐌸𐌰 𐌹𐌽 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌰𐍃 𐍃𐌴𐌹 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌳𐌰 𐌽𐌰𐌶𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌸, 𐌳𐌿 𐌼𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌸𐌰𐌹 𐌹𐌽 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌱𐍄𐌹𐌼 𐌰𐌱𐌹𐌽, 𐌸𐌹𐌶𐌴𐌹 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 𐌹𐍉𐍃𐌴𐍆, 𐌿𐍃 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌰 𐌳𐌰𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌳𐌹𐍃, 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 𐌸𐌹𐌶𐍉𐍃 𐌼𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌸𐌰𐌹𐍃 𐌼𐌰𐍂𐌹𐌰𐌼. 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 𐌹𐌽𐌽 𐍃𐌰 𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌿𐍃 𐌳𐌿 𐌹𐌶𐌰𐌹 𐌵𐌰𐌸 : "𐍆𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌽𐍉, 𐌰𐌽𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹 𐌰𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌷𐌰𐍆𐍄𐌰, 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰 𐌼𐌹𐌸 𐌸𐌿𐍃; 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌸𐌹𐌳𐍉 𐌸𐌿 𐌹𐌽 𐌵𐌹𐌽𐍉𐌼. ..." 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌵𐌰𐌸 𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌿𐍃 𐌳𐌹 𐌹𐌶𐌰𐌹: "𐌽𐌹 𐍉𐌲𐍃 𐌸𐌿, 𐌼𐌰𐍂𐌹𐌰𐌼, 𐌱𐌹𐌲𐌰𐍃𐍄 𐌰𐌿𐌺 𐌰𐌽𐍃𐍄 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌼 𐌲𐌿𐌸𐌰. 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍃𐌰𐌹, 𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌹𐍃 𐌹𐌽 𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌹𐍃 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌿, 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍃 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 𐌹𐍃 𐌹𐌴𐍃𐌿. 𐍃𐌰𐌷 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌹𐌸 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐍃, 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌿𐍃 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌷𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌽𐍃 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌳𐌰, 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌹𐌳 𐌹𐌼𐌼𐌰 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰 𐌲𐌿𐌸 𐍃𐍄𐍉𐌻 𐌳𐌰𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌳𐌹𐍃 𐌰𐍄𐍄𐌹𐌽𐍃 𐌹𐍃. 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽𐍉𐌸 𐌿𐍆𐌰𐍂 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌳𐌰 𐌹𐌰𐌺𐍉𐌱𐌹𐍃 𐌹𐌽 𐌰𐌾𐌿𐌺𐌳𐌿𐌸, 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌹𐌽𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌰𐌿𐍃 𐌹𐍃 𐌽𐌹 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌹𐌸 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌴𐌹𐍃." 𐌵𐌰𐌸 𐌸𐌰𐌽 𐌼𐌰𐍂𐌹𐌰𐌼 𐌳𐌿 𐌸𐌰𐌼𐌼𐌰 𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌿 : "𐍈𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌰 𐍃𐌹𐌾𐌰𐌹 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌰, 𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌴𐌹 𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 𐌽𐌹 𐌺𐌰𐌽𐌽?" 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌷𐌰𐍆𐌾𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 𐍃𐌰 𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌿𐍃 𐌵𐌰𐌸 𐌳𐌿 𐌹𐌶𐌰𐌹 : "𐌰𐌷𐌼𐌰 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐍃 𐌰𐍄𐌲𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌹𐌸 𐌰𐌽𐌰 𐌸𐌿𐌺, 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌷𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌽𐍃 𐌿𐍆𐌰𐍂𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌳𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌳 𐌸𐌿𐍃, 𐌳𐌿𐌸𐌴 𐌴𐌹 𐍃𐌰𐌴𐌹 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌳𐌰 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐍃 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌳𐌰 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌿𐍃 𐌲𐌿𐌸𐍃. ..." 𐌵𐌰𐌸 𐌸𐌰𐌽 𐌼𐌰𐍂𐌹𐌰𐌼 : "𐍃𐌰𐌹, 𐌸𐌹𐍅𐌹 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌹𐌽𐍃, 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌹 𐌼𐌹𐍃 𐌱𐌹 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌳𐌰 𐌸𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌼𐌰." 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌸 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍂𐌰 𐌹𐌶𐌰𐌹 𐍃𐌰 𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌿𐍃.

Source : Old English and Its Closest Relatives pp.51-52.

Note

Most browsers do not yet support the display of text encoded beyond the Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP) of Unicode, as is the case with the Gothic script. If your browser cannot display the Gothic text on this page, then you may copy the text and paste it into any conformant Unicode application (e.g. Notepad under Windows NT4/2000/XP) for viewing. However, you must ensure that you have a font that supports the Gothic script installed and selected (Code2001 is recomended).

Keystroke Mapping

Notes

1. All keystrokes are case sensitive.
2. Alphabetic keystrokes not listed will be ignored.
3. All other non-alphabetic keystrokes will behave as for the English (UK) keyboard layout.
4. Gothic Letter Names, Rune Names and corresponding Runes are based on R.W.V. Elliot's Runes Table V.
5. Each Gothic letter may also be used to represent a number, as in "𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌱𐌰𐍂 𐌰𐌹𐌽 .𐌻. 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌰𐌹𐌽 .𐌾. 𐌾𐌰𐌷 𐌰𐌹𐌽 .𐍂." (... and one bore 30, one 60, and one 100) [Mark 4.9]. To complete the number system, there are two letters that have no phonetic value, and are used exclusively to represent the numbers 90 and 900.

Download and Installation Instructions

1. Download Gothic.zip.
2. Unzip Gothic.zip to a temporary folder.
3. Double-click on the file setup.exe in the extracted Gothic folder, and follow the instructions.

If you are running Vista the keyboard layout will be installed and ready to use under the OL ("Other Languages") icon of the language bar. If you have installed multiple BabelStone keyboard layouts then you will need to select the particular layout to use by clicking the keyboard icon next to OL.

If you are running 2000 or XP you will need to map the keyboard layout to an unused input locale from Control Panel : Regional Option before you can use it.

Please note that this keyboard layout cannot be installed or run under Windows 95, 98 or ME.

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