Nordic languages
Nordic languages
Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish
Western languages
English, German, Afrikaans, Frisian, Dutch, Yiddish
Eastern languages
Gothic, Vandalic and Burgundian
Two types of classification
Genetic and Typological
what is ablaut
A systematic phonetic change that occurs within the root or stem of a word to mark variations in grammatical function or to convey different meanings.
Territory of Settlement of the North Germanic Tribes
Territory of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and parts of Finland.
Ancestors of modern West Germanic languages
Old English, Old Frisian, Old Saxon, and Old High German
What is Codex Argenteus?
6th-century manuscript containing a translation of portions of the Bible.
Typological classification divided into three
Morphological
Syntactic
Phonological
What is Diphthongs?
A vowel that contains two different vowel sounds in one syllable.
What are the ancestors of Nordic languages?
Old Norse, Old Swedish, Old Danish, and Old Gutnish
in what language “Beowulf” was written
Old English
Where Vandals established their kingdom?
In North Africa in the 5th century AD
Three most influential scientists
Frederick Schlegel (1772-1829)
August Schlegel ( 1767-1845)
Wilhelm Humboldt (1767-1835)
What is Conjunction?
A part of speech that connects words, phrases, clauses, or sentences (e.g., and, but, or) to express relationships between them.
What features all the Nordic languages have in common?
rich system of inflectional endings for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives, as well as a complex verb conjugation system with strong and weak verbs.
Which language Old High German was influenced by?
Romance languages, particularly Latin
How many letters in Gothic alphabet
27 letters
What is Agglutinating Languages
Each morpheme expresses only one meaning element.
The breaks between morphemes (e.g. between root and affix) are usually easy to identify.
What is Lenition?
A phonological process in which a consonant sound becomes weakened or softened, typically resulting in a reduction of its articulatory force, duration, or sonority.
Reason for the influence of Danish on other Nordic languages
One key factor is the historical dominance of Denmark over much of the region, particularly during the Kalmar Union (14th to 16th centuries), when Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were united under Danish rule.
What Old English and Old Frisian are known for?
their use of alliterative verse, a poetic form characterized by the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
What phonological features the Eastern languages have
the retention of the Proto-Germanic þ and w sounds, which evolved into the dental fricatives θ and w in other Germanic languages.
What is Polysynthetic language
These languages typically combine many morphemes to form very long words.
What is Rhoticity?
The pronunciation feature of a dialect or language where the sound represented by the letter "r" is pronounced, especially when it comes before a vowel or in the syllable coda.