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Jera (also Jeran, Jeraz, Yera) is the conventional name of the ''j''-
rune Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see '' futhark'' vs ''runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were primarily used to represent a sound value (a ...
of the
Elder Futhark The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark, ), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Per ...
, from a reconstructed
Common Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic bra ...
stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...
'Cf. Page (2005:15). The word may have been either neuter or masculine in Common Germanic. meaning "
harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...
, (good) year". The corresponding letter of the
Gothic alphabet The Gothic alphabet is an alphabet for writing the Gothic language. It was developed in the 4th century AD by Ulfilas (or Wulfila), a Gothic preacher of Cappadocian Greek descent, for the purpose of translating the Bible. The alphabet e ...
is Gothic , named '' 𐌾𐌴𐍂 (jēr)'', also expressing /j/. The Elder Futhark rune gives rise to the
Anglo-Frisian The Anglo-Frisian languages are a proposed sub-branch of the West Germanic languages encompassing the Anglic languages ( English, Scots, extinct Fingallian, and extinct Yola) as well as the Frisian languages ( North Frisian, East Frisian, ...
, named ''gēr'' , and , named ''ior'', and to the Younger Futhark ''ár'' rune , which stands for , as the phoneme disappears in late
Proto-Norse Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic; Danish and ; ; ; ) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a northern dialect of Proto-Germanic in the first centuries CE. It is the earliest stage of a c ...
. Note that also can be a variation of dotted
Isaz *Isaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic name of the ''i''-rune , meaning "ice". In the Younger Futhark, it is called ''íss'' in Old Norse. As a rune of the Anglo-Saxon runes, Anglo-Saxon futhorc, it is called ''is''. ...
used for ; e.g. in Dalecarlian runes.


Name

The reconstructed Common Germanic name ' is the origin of English
year A year is a unit of time based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. In scientific use, the tropical year (approximately 365 Synodic day, solar days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds) and the sidereal year (about 20 minutes longer) ...
(Old English '' ġēar''). In contrast to the modern word, it had a meaning of "season" and specifically "harvest", and hence "plenty, prosperity". The Germanic word is cognate with
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
(''horos'') "year" (and (''hora'') "season", whence ''hour''),
Old East Slavic Old East Slavic (traditionally also Old Russian) was a language (or a group of dialects) used by the East Slavs from the 7th or 8th century to the 13th or 14th century, until it diverged into the Russian language, Russian and Ruthenian language ...
''ꙗра (jara)'' "spring" and with the ''-or-'' in Latin ''hōrnus'' "of this year" (from ''*hōjōrō''), as well as
Avestan Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...
𐬫𐬁𐬭𐬆 (''yārə'') "year", all from a
PIE A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), fruit preserves ( jam tart ...
stem '.


Elder Futhark

The derivation of the rune is uncertain; it may have been adapted from the classical Latin alphabet's '' G'', (" C (
The ''k''-rune (Younger Futhark , Anglo-Saxon futhorc ) is called Kaun in both the Norwegian language, Norwegian and Icelandic language, Icelandic rune poems, meaning "ulcer". The reconstructed Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic name is * ...
) with stroke"), or it may be a Germanic innovation. The letter in any case appears from the very earliest runic inscriptions, figuring on the Vimose comb inscription, ''harja''. As the only rune of the Elder Futhark which was not
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, its evolution was the most thorough transformation of all runes, and it was to have numerous graphical variants. In the later period of the Elder Futhark, during the 5th to 6th centuries, connected variants appear, and these are the ones that give rise to the derivations in Anglo-Saxon (as ᛄ ''ger'' and ᛡ ''ior'') and Scandinavian (as ᛅ ''ár'') traditions.


Gothic jer

The corresponding Gothic letter is 𐌾 (''j''), named ''jēr'', which is also based on the shape of the Elder Futhark rune. This is an exception, shared with urus, due to the fact that neither the
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
nor the
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
alphabets at the time of the introduction of the Gothic one had graphemes corresponding to the distinction of '' j'' and '' w'' from ''i'' and ''u''.


Anglo-Saxon runes

The rune in the
futhorc Anglo-Saxon runes or Anglo-Frisian runes are runes that were used by the Anglo-Saxons and Medieval Frisians (collectively called Anglo-Frisians) as an alphabet in their native writing system, recording both Old English and Old Frisian (, ᚱ� ...
is continued as ''gēr'', with its epigraphical variant , and its manuscript variant (which does appear at least once epigraphically, on the Brandon Pin). Manuscripts also record an ''ior'' rune with the shape of , but its authenticity is questionable.


Younger Futhark

During the 6th and 7th centuries, the initial ''j'' in *''jāra'' was lost in
Proto-Norse Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic; Danish and ; ; ; ) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a northern dialect of Proto-Germanic in the first centuries CE. It is the earliest stage of a c ...
, which also changed the sound value of the rune from /j/ to an /a/ phoneme. The rune was then written as a vertical staff with a horizontal stroke in the centre, usually transliterated as A, with majuscule, to distinguish it from the ansuz rune, a. During the last phase of the Elder Futhark, the ''jēra''-rune came to be written as a vertical staff with two slanting strokes in the form of an X in its centre (). As the form of the rune had changed considerably, an older 7th century form of the rune () was assumed by the s-rune.Enoksen 1998:51 When the n-rune had stabilized in its form during the 6th and 7th centuries, its vertical stroke slanted towards the right (), which made it possible to simplify the ''jēra''-rune by having only one vertical stroke that slanted towards the left, giving the ''ár''-rune of the classic Younger Futhark (note however, that the earliest YF inscriptions, such as the
Ribe skull fragment The Ribe skull fragment (DR EM85;151B in Rundata, also known as DK SJy39) is a section of human skull bone inscribed with runes and unearthed in 1973 in an archaeological excavation at Ribe, Denmark. It dates to circa 725 CE. Description The skul ...
, still retain the earlier X-shape). Since a simpler form of the rune was taken by the /a/ phoneme, the older cross form of the rune now came to be used for the /h/ phoneme.Enoksen 1998:52 The development of the Jēran rune from the earliest open form was not known before the discovery of the Kylver Stone in 1903, which has an entire
elder futhark The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark, ), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Per ...
inscription on it. Therefore, the interpretation of the golden horns of Gallehus was slightly wrong before 1903, as it was believed this rune form could be an early form of the
Ingwaz rune Old Norse Yngvi , Old High German Ing/Ingwi and Old English Ing are names that relate to a theonym which appears to have been the older name for the god Freyr. Proto-Germanic Ingwaz was the legendary ancestor of the Ingaevones, or more accurate ...
. The second word on the horns was thus interpreted as ''holtingaz'' rather than ''holtijaz''.Enoksen 1998:56


See also

*
Elder Futhark The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark, ), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Per ...
*
Rune poem Rune poems are poems that list the letters of runic alphabets while providing an explanatory poetic stanza for each letter. Four different poems from before the mid-20th century have been preserved: the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem, the Norwegian Rune ...


Notes


References

* Enoksen, Lars Magnar (1998). ''Runor: Historia, Tydning, Tolkning''. Historiska Media, Falun. * Looijenga, J. H. (1997).
Runes around the North Sea and on the Continent AD 150-700
', page 76. Dissertation, Groningen University * Page, Raymond I. (2005). ''Runes''. The British Museum Press {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeran Runes Etymologies