North Germanic Languages a historic outline Lecture 5

North Germanic Languages (a historic outline) Lecture 5

The Germanic languages in Europe: North and West Germanic Languages Line dividing the North and West Germanic languages. East Scandinavian West Scandinvavian Dutch (West Germanic) High German (West. Germanic) Insular Anglo-Frisian (West Germanic) Continental Anglo-Frisian (West Germanic)

The North Germanic languages - one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the IE languages, along with the West and East Germanic languages Derived from Proto-Norse and ONorse, Spoken in Denmark. Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Iceland (to some extent) Greenland, as well as by a significant Swedish minority in Finland by immigrant groups mainly in North America and Australia. The language group is often called either Scandinavian or, in the English language, Nordic languages (the term is a direct translation from "nordiska språk“)

North Germanic Scandinavian Geographic distribution: Northern Europe Subdivisions: Icelandic Faroese Norn Norwegian Danish Swedish

Icelandic language is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese. Icelandic is an IE language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the IE languages prior to the colonisation of the Americas. Icelandic, Faroese, Norn as well as Norwegian formerly comprised West Nordic.

Icelandic language Spoken in Iceland, Denmark, Faroe Islands Native speakers 310, 000 (2011) Language family: IE > Germanic > North Germanic > West Scandinavian >Icelandic Writing system Latin (Icelandic variant) Official status Official language in Iceland Is considered more archaic than other living Germanic languages

History of Icelandic language began in the IXth century with the settlement of Iceland when settlers, who mostly came from Norway, brought a dialect of ONorse to the island. The oldest preserved texts in Icelandic were written c 1100. The majority of these texts are poems or laws, preserved orally for generations before being written down. The most famous texts: the Icelandic Sagas, the historical writings of Snorri Sturluson; and eddaic poems written in Iceland from the 12 th century onward.

Periods of development of Icelandic The Scandinavian period (550– 1050) Ancient Scandinavian or Norse (1050– 1350) Middle Icelandic (1350– 1550) Modern Icelandic

The Scandinavian period (550– 1050) = ‘Common Nordic’ period. a notably unified common language was spoken throughout Scandinavia. no written documents from this period. Ancient Scandinavian runes widely known but never used to write on papyrus being designed as a sacral alphabet adapted to being engraved into stone, metal or wood. few runic inscriptions have been found and nearly all are dated after 1200.

Ancient Scandinavian or Norse (1050 – 1350) "Old Scandinavian", "Old Nordic" or "Norse". numerous manuscripts and documents dating from this period which allow researchers to characterize Icelandic from this period accurately. All of the documents use the Latin alphabet, which was introduced to Iceland in the 12 th century. Laws transcribed onto papyrus for the first time from 1117 to 1118. C 1130– 1140, the First Grammatical Treatise ("Fyrsta Málfræðibók") composed, a highly original description of the language unique in Europe at the time. The treaty is concerned with the sounds of the language; it described the internal workings of the phonological system. Three other grammatical treaties were composed in the following decades.

Ancient Scandinavian or Norse (1050 – 1350) The oldest manuscripts (c 1150) show structures in use from around 900 (esp the ancient epic poetry whose metric structure and oral tradition conserved notably archaic forms). 1050 - 1350 independent development from other Scandinavian and Germanic languages; is particularly conservative in its inflectional morphology and notably homogeneous across the country. from the outset the language has maintained an extraordinary level of homogenity (n 0 dialects)

Middle Icelandic (1350– 1550) total loss of independence and Danish rule, the difference between Norwegian and Icelandic grew larger. Danish became the official language, with resulting a hybrid Dano-Norwegian language, the basis of the modern Bokmål. In western Norway were the dialects kept relatively pure and free from Danish influence ("landsmål" ‘national language’ and the second "nynorsk" or ‘neo-Norwegian’, which obtained immediate recognition as an official language). All the continental Scandinavian languages evolved in this period from more synthetic to more analytic languages

Modern Icelandic 1550, the Lutheran Reformation, the introduction of printing , the consequent translation of the Bible, were the factors which shaped modern Icelandic Remained at an earlier evolutionary stage in terms of its morphology the vast phonological developments of the language from the ancient to the modern language: the most consistent changes to the vowel system which followed the segmental phonological quantity and the consequent development of diphthongs. Changes n the consonant system: the desonorization of plosives, the rise of a correlative sonorant for nasals and liquids and preaspiration. A conservative writing system, rich inflectional morphology and a lexicon which is resistant to neologisms Icelandic people have no difficulty in reading works of Medieval literature.

Celtic influence on Icelandic Celtic influence: preaspiration and the desonorization of liquids and nasals; reduced to a few toponyms ("Dímon", "Kalmans-vík", "Kolku-ós", "Patreks-fjörður") and some family names such as "Kvaran", "Kiljan", and "Kamban"; and given names such as "Kjartan" and "Melkorka”

Danish influence on Icelandic Danish terms in official documents but with little lasting success. Danish borrowings used only by a restricted class of ageing educated people who were heavily influenced by Danish culture and lived only in Reykjavík. The purification campaign almost completely eliminated Danish borrowings a few terms in the spoken and administrative language survive, eg "ske" “happen”, "fordæma" “pass sentence”, the adverbs "kannske" (or "kannski") and "máske" “perhaps, maybe” and some nouns like "blýantur" “pencil, crayon”, "fangelsi" “prison” and "frímerki" “postage stamp”

Influences from other languages are insignificant: terms of Latin origin dating back to the Cmn Gmnc present in all the other Germanic languages: "kaupa" “to buy” (Danish "købe", German "kaufen", Gothic "kaupjan" < Latin "cauponari"), "pappír" “paper” (German "Papier", English "paper" < Latin "papyrus") and "keisari" “emperor” (German "Kaiser", Swedish "kejsare" < Latin "Cæsar"). Latin borrowings dating back to the introduction of Christianity: "kredda" “creed, dogma” (< Latin "credo") and "predika" “prophesy, preach” (< Latin "prædicare"; cfr. German "predigen"); more recently the very common "náttúra" “nature”, "persóna" “person” and "partur" “part”

Norwegian

Norwegian is a North Germanic language with around 5 million speakers in mainly in Norway with some speakers in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the UK, Spain, Canada and the USA. Early Norwegian literature: mainly poetry and historical prose (written in West Norse and flourished in 9 th- 14 th c). After that Norway came under Swedish and then Danish rule. Norwegian continued to be spoken but Danish was used for officials purposes, as a literary language and in higher education.

Norwegian Norwegian (norsk) Spoken in: Norway Ranking: Not in top 100 Genetic classification: Indo-European Germanic North Germanic (from ONorse) East (Continental) Nordic Bokmål and Riksmål West (Insular) Nordic Nynorsk Official status Official language of: Norway (Bokmål and Nynorsk)

Norwegian together with Icelandic and Faroese, forms the West Norse division of the Scandinavian group. Norwegian is more homogeneous than either Danish or Swedish. As a result of phonetic changes its inflections are less original than those of Icelandic, although it retains the three genders. Common Scandinavian characteristics: 1) suffixed definite article, 2) medio-passive, and 3) neuter-ending -t.

The number of grammatical genders in Norwegian is somewhat disputed, but the official view is that Norwegian nouns fall into three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. The inflection of the nouns depends on the gender.

Norwegian The early period of the language is similar to Icelandic 1350 -1530 Norwegian was strongly influenced first by the Swedish and later by the Danish. The modern standard language shows many divergencies both in forms, in vocabulary, and in syntax from the Danish of Denmark, and is generally distinguished from it as Dano. Norwegian.

Norwegian was divided at an early period into two main dialect-groups, the Eastern, including the Gudbrandsdal and the Drontheim, which resembles the Swedish, and the Western, represented by Hardanger, Voss, Sogn, and Sætersdal, which approaches the Icelandic. A subdivision of the West Norwegian, spoken along the coast, resembles the Danish.

Danish Dansk, the official language of Denmark, spoken there by more than five million people. It is also spoken in a few communities south of the German border; it is taught in the schools of the Faroe Islands, of Iceland, and of Greenland. Danish belongs to the East Scandinavian branch of North Germanic languages.

Danish Began to separate from the other Scandinavian languages, to which it is closely related, about ad 1000. The oldest Danish records are runic inscriptions (c. ad 250– 800) found from Jutland to southern Sweden; the earliest manuscripts in Danish date from the 13 th century.

Danish has undergone the greatest amount of change away from Old Scandinavian. Middle Ages: it lost the old case system, merged the masculine and feminine genders into one common gender, and acquired many Low German words, prefixes, and suffixes from contact with the traders of the Hanseatic League. 18 th c. a mildly puristic reform led to the replacement of many French loans by their native equivalents 18 th-19 th c. Danish became the vehicle of a classical literature.

Danish Modern Danish has only two cases (nominative and genitive) and two genders (common and neuter). The most outstanding feature of its sound system is the glottal stop (stød), derived from what was originally a tonal accent. A spelling reform in 1948 eliminated the capitalization of nouns and introduced the letter å for aa, thereby making the spelling more similar to that of Norwegian and Swedish.

Swedish

Swedish Native to Sweden, Finland Native speakers 8. 7 million Language family Indo-European Germanic North Germanic ▪ East Scandinavian ▪ Swedish Early forms: Old Swedish Modern Swedish Writing system Latin (Swedish alphabet) Swedish Braille Official status Official language in Sweden Finland

Swedish began as a dialect of ONorse, which was a language that everyone in Scandinavia understood during the Viking Age. C 12 th Swedish began to slowly become different from the other dialects which later became what we today call Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese and Danish. Swedish is a Germanic language and some similarities to English because of the Vikings that invaded England in the 10 th Century. It is even more similar to German and Dutch, partly because of the Hanseatic League of the Middle Ages, when Sweden traded very openly with Germany.

Swedish Definite articles are suffixed onto the end of their nouns, so ett hus (a house) becomes huset (the house). Also unlike English, Swedish uses two grammatical genders called Common and Neuter. Nouns of the Common gender are sometimes called "en words", and many words for living (or once-living) things are "en words". Nouns of the Neuter gender are sometimes called "ett words".

Swedish : : English Swedish English Swedish English Ett One Två Two Tre Three Fyra Four Fem Five Sex Six Sju Seven Åtta Eight Nio Nine Tio Ten Ja Yes Nej No Du You Mig Me Han He Hon She Vi We De/dem They Jag är I am Hus House

Faroese language Spoken in: Faroe Islands, Denmark Total speakers: 60, 000 - 80, 000 Language family: IE > Germanic > North Germanic > West Scandinavian Official status Official language of: Faroe Islands Descended from the Old Norse language spoken in Scandinavia in the Viking Age.

Faroe islands

Faroese AD 900 the language spoken in the Faroes was Old Norse, which Norwegian settlers had brought with them in AD 825. Many of the settlers were not from present-day Norway but descendants of Norwegian settlers in the Irish Sea. Native Norwegian settlers often married women from Norse Ireland, Orkney, or Shetland before settling in the Faroe Islands and Iceland. > Celtic languages influenced both Faroese and Icelandic (egplace names in the Faroes: Mykines and Stóra & Lítla Dímun have been hypothesized to contain Celtic roots).

Faroese 9 th -15 th c a distinct Faroese language evolved, but was still mutually intelligible with the Old West Norse language and closely related to the Norn language of Orkney and Shetland. Orthography: until the 15 th century similar to Icelandic and Norwegian after the Reformation (1536) the ruling Danes outlawed its use in schools, churches and official documents. Faroese was use in ballads, folktales and everyday life. Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb and the Icelandic grammarian and politician, Jón Sigurðsson, published a written standard for Modern Faroese in 1854 which is still in existence.

Faroese is notable for its many diphthongs, which developed from older, simple vowels. By 1912 Faroese was authorized for use in some schools and churches, and the establishment of home rule in 1948 led to the introduction of Faroese as the primary language taught in the schools.

Old Frisian > Frisian a West Germanic language spoken between the 8 th and 16 th centuries in the area between the Rhine and Elbe on the European North Sea coast. The Old Frisian language is known since the 9 th century. In the early mediaeval times, a lot of documents, epic and historical, were written in it. From the 16 th century, when Frisia loses its independence, the language existed only in colloquial forms. Today it is officially uised in Friesland is gradually revived. 41

Frisian Language Written records: OFrisian – end of the 13 th century – documents, epic and historical 16 th c. Frisia loses its independence, the language existed only in colloquial forms. Today it is officially used in Friesland is gradually revived. Old Frisian shows all the features that distinguish English and Frisian from the other Germanic languages.

Frisian language was little used as a written language for about 300 years after the end of the Old Frisian period, there has been a revival in modern times in the West Frisian area. The language is now used in the schools and courts in the province of Friesland. There is also a Frisian Academy. East and North Frisian are being gradually supplanted by German.

Frisian phonetics rich in vowels and diphthongs: about 25 diphthongs and 6 triphthongs in the language. Diphthongs, as well as single vowels, vary in the root ablaut mutation (doar [do: ar] 'door' - doarren [dwaren] 'doors'). Together with Afrikaans Frisian is unique among Germanic languages for its nasal vowels. The sound [r] looks more like English, unlike Dutch and German - it is alveolar, not uvular. Unvoiced p, t, k are aspirated before a stressed vowel.

Frisian morphology Frisian is considerably richer than that of its closest relative English. The noun has two genders, two numbers and two cases. OFrisian had the feminine gender, but later it coincided with masculine. The plural is formed by -s and -en endings (heit 'father' - heiten). OFrisian kept the remains of four cases, while today's language preserved only genitive. There are definite (de, it) and indefinite (in) articles.

Frisian morphology Formerly conjugated, the Frisian verb now has personal changes in the singular only. The tenses are common with similar Germanic languages, including English. All other verbal categories are also formed in an analytical way.

Frisian language The Dutch language is much more suitable for expressing complex social and cultural terms, and this is why there are plenty of Dutch words in Frisian. The whole population of Friesland can speak both languages.

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