Compound words

Compound words are words which consist of multiple stems, this basically means that multiple words are combined to form a new words. There are certain rules for this in Gothic.

The formation of compound words is done by using the stem of the first word of the compound word.

According to Joseph Wright, the connecting vowel between words disappears after a long syllable when the first word has an a-stem, ja-stem, wa-stem, i-stem or w-stem.

a-stems

a-stems use -a- in between the words:

- Alamans (alls = a-stem)

- Dwalawaurdi (dwals = a-stem)

- Wairaleiko (wair = a-stem)

o-stems

o-stems use -a in between the words:

- Airþakunds

- Motastaþs

i-stems

i-stems use -i in between the words:

- Drauhtiwitoþ

- Aurtigards

ja-stems

In words with light syllables (this means that the last letter is a consonant) -ja is used between the two words:

- wadjabokos 

- aljakuns 

In words with heavy syllables (the last letter is a consonant) -i is used between the two words:

- arbinumja

- aglaiteiwaurdei

u-stems

U-stems use u as the connecting vowel:

- filudeisei

- faihugawaurki

n-stems

N-stems always use a- to connect the words, there is one exception:

- Manleika

All other instances use a-.

Some people observe a difference between already existing compounds in Gothic and newly formed compounds which received certain vowels in between the words made up by the translator:
 * a-stems use -a as the connecting vowel
 * o-stems use -a as the connecting vowel
 * w-stems keep their traditional pattern

There are also a few traditional compounds like midjungards.

Table of vowel formation
An overview of the vowel formation: