§ 1. The monuments of the Gothic language ar handed down to us in a
peculiar alfabet which, according to Greek ecclesiastic writers, was
invented by Wulfila (s. § 221). The Gothic alfabet, however, is not
entirely a new creation, but Wulfila based it on the Greek alfabet
which he accomodated to the Gothic sounds, increasing it by several
signs from the Latin alfabet, and, in a few cases, availing himself
of the familiar runic alfabet. Of the Greek alfabet he also retaind
the order and numerical value. The Gothic alfabet is now sufficiently
represented in Roman letters. In the following we giv in the first line
the original Gothic characters, in the second their numerical values,
in the third the transliteration of the Gothic characters by Roman
letters, which latter we shall uze exclusivly in this book.
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