Out of the many local west germanic dialects the following six modern standard languages have arisen. Germanic languages and literatures um lsa germanic. For the most part dutch and frisian are very similar, while the other scandinavian languages are mutually intelligible with swedish. The germanic languages are a language family in the indoeuropean languages. The germanic languages other works in the series the romance languages the celtic languages the slavonic languages. But the germanic peoples, as the maps show, went many other places during the years 3001100. Join us in recognizing the achievements of our majors and minors in germanic languages and literatures 20192020. Welcome to the department of germanic languages and literatures at the university of pennsylvania. In teaching and research, we emphasize the embededdness of language, literature, and the arts in larger social, cultural, and political processes. Germanic languages simple english wikipedia, the free. A single germanic language, namely yiddish, has preserved or regained its type iii quality amidst other t3 slavic. English is a germanic language which simply means that it has historical connections to a group of languages which are found primarily in europe. The modern vocalism ois chiefly central and low german.
Protogermanic branched off from the indoeuropean family tree around 500 b. The germanic languages by ekkehard konig overdrive rakuten. The germanic languages are a branch of the indoeuropean language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in europe, north america, oceania and southern africa. The germanic languages is a comprehensive survey of germanic languages characterized by conciseness and lucidity. Several literary sources of antiquity describe the subdivision of the germanic tribes, but they do. They came from one language, proto germanic, and were originally spoken in northern, western and central europe. Robinson shows how the languages developed, how they shared common characteristics and developed new ones, and how they to some extent must have crossfertilized one another. The germanic languages by ekkehard konig goodreads. Germanic languages insofar as scholars, too, have confounded historical, archaeological. Existence of a west germanic protolanguage edit most scholars doubt that there was a protowestgermanic protolanguage common to the west germanic languages and no others, though a few maintain that. Plus, germanic languages have a lot of breathy consonants, as well as an unusual verbshift for the past tense in both cases unlike other indoeuropean languages but like semitic languages.
Romance languages are languages derived ultimately from latin. Dec 01, 2012 germanic languages are european languages which have developed from proto germanic, and ancient iron age language originally found only in northern europe, germany, eastern europe and england. Although for some language families there are written records of the parent language e. For the sake of simplicity, im only going to use examples from english, dutch, and swedish. Students work with faculty in germanic languages, jewish studies, history, and slavic studies to broaden their understanding of the literature, language, and culture of eastern european jewry. West germanic languages, group of germanic languages that developed in the region of the north sea, rhineweser, and elbe.
English is in the west germanic branch along with german, dutch, afrikaans, and a few others. English, with approximately 360400 million native speakers, and german, with. The way the languages are treated in this edition as well as its editorial organization make it a recommendable reference book for students of the germanic philology as well as a useful source of information for linguistics dealing either with comparative or historical. Proto germanic had no front rounded vowels, but all germanic languages except for gothic subsequently developed them through the process of iumlaut. The west germanic languages share many lexemes not existing in north germanic or east germanicarchaisms as well as common neologisms existence of a west germanic protolanguage. There are no publications with the provided filters.
This document pdf may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Examples include german, english, swedish and norwegian. Topics germanic, germanic philology, linguistics collection opensource. Devoting a chapter to each of the known early germanic languages e. Mar 28, 2020 from middle high german kunec, from old high german kuning rarer kunig, from protogermanic kuningaz. If you enjoy the tutorials, then please consider buying french, informal french, italian, spanish, german, swedish, or dutch language tutorials as a pdf ebook with free mp3s and free lifetime updates. The way the languages are treated in this edition as well as its editorial organization make it a recommendable reference book for students of the germanic philology as well as a useful source of information for linguistics dealing either with comparative or historical linguistics. The recognition that the germanic languages, and by extension, the languages of other northern barbarians celts, slavs, balts, etc. English, frisian, dutch netherlandicflemish, afrikaans, german, and. English is a germanic language as are german, dutch, flemish, afrikaans, swedish, norwegian, danish, faroese and icelandic.
These include german and dutch on the continent, and the scandinavian languages in the northern regions. Home department of germanic languages and literatures. The germanic languages are a branch of the indoeuropean language family spoken natively by a population of approximately 500 million people mainly in north america, oceania, central europe, western and northern europe the west germanic branch includes the two most widely spoken germanic languages. Germanic languages are englishs distant cousins, so to speak. The west germanic languages share many lexemes not existing in north germanic or east germanicarchaisms as well as common neologisms. This means that it belongs to an early grouping of indoeuropean which distinguishes itself from other languages of this family by having undergone a series of changes to consonants in initial position. The graduate program offers master of arts and phd degrees. Germanic languages are european languages which have developed from protogermanic, and ancient iron age language originally found only in northern europe, germany, eastern europe and england. Initiated in 1825 and officially established in 1897, the department of germanic languages and literatures at harvard continues to enjoy a prestigious and highly regarded reputation, offering undergraduate concentrations, secondary fields, and doctoral training in a broad variety of texts, media, and other cultural productions. The germanic languages by wayne harbert cambridge core. The germanic languages 1st edition ekkehard konig johan.
The germanic languages by ekkehard konig overdrive. What common features do dutch, english and frisian share. Germanic languages article about germanic languages by the. Download the germanic languages routledge language family. Germanic languages continued to be spoken in the germanic home lands of scandinavia and central germany, and are of course till spoken there today. The germanic languages routledge language family series epdf. The germanic languages represent a branch of the indoeuropean language family that is. The germanic languages routledge language family series. Proto germanic developed a strong stress accent on the first syllable of the root, but remnants of the original free pie accent are visible due to verners law, which was sensitive to this accent.
Reviews the germanic languages is a comprehensive survey of germanic languages characterized by conciseness and lucidity. Read the germanic languages by ekkehard konig available from rakuten kobo. It belongs to the indoeuropean family of languages and is a west germanic language. The germanic language family is a part of a larger. The oldest academic program in german studies in north america, we are committed to our strong tradition in literary studies, while our distinguished faculty also represent a range of innovative and interdisciplinary approaches in the field. The department of germanic languages offers an array of courses in languages, literatures, and cultures. Aspiration and laryngeal representation in germanic. The development old high german ning later nig is regular see pfennig. What common features do dutch, english and frisian share that. The germanic languages are a subgroup of the indoeuropean languages, which include latin, greek, and most of the other languages of europe, as well as russian, farsi iranian, hindi, bengali, and other north indian languages. Jan 09, 2015 plus, germanic languages have a lot of breathy consonants, as well as an unusual verbshift for the past tense in both cases unlike other indoeuropean languages but like semitic languages.
With an overdrive account, you can save your favorite libraries for ataglance information about availability. What makes english like the other languages in its subfamily. All germanic languages are thought to be descended from a hypothetical proto germanic, united by subjection to the sound shifts of grimms law and verners law. The most widely spoken germanic language, english, is the worlds most widely spoken language with an estimated 2 billion speakers. Provides a unique, uptodate survey of twelve germanic languages from english and german to faroese and yiddish. The germanic languages are related in the sense that they can be shown to be different historical developments of a single earlier parent language. Provides a unique, uptodate survey of twelve germanic languages. The worlds major languages germanic languages routledge. Comprehensive and yet accessible, the germanic languages is a highly readable account of the historical, phonological and morphosyntactical structures of the extant germanic languages by a cast of some of the most eminent scholars of germanic philology today. This book presents a comparative linguistic survey of the full range of germanic languages, both ancient and modern, including major world languages such as english and german west germanic, the scandinavian north germanic languages, and the extinct east germanic languages. They came from one language, protogermanic, and were originally spoken in northern, western and central europe the germanic languages are separated into the east germanic languages all extinct, the north germanic languages and the west germanic languages.
Jan 16, 2016 germanic languages are englishs distant cousins, so to speak. West germanic languages all trace back to one parent language. The germanic languages are separated into the east germanic languages all extinct, the north germanic languages and the west germanic languages. Among the modern germanic languages, english, german, dutch, flemish, frisian, and yiddish the modern jewish language, which originated during the tenth to 12th centuries based on middle high german dialects belong to the western group, and swedish, danish. We will begin by highlighting the winners of our departmental awards. The broad range of studies offers training in specialized fields such as film, linguistics, and critical theory. Gothic and the reconstruction of protogermanic, in e. Department of germanic languages 414 hamilton hall new york, ny. Buy french tutorial buy informal french both french ebooks buy italian tutorial buy spanish tutorial buy german tutorial buy swedish tutorial. Provides a unique, uptodate survey of twelve germanic languages from english and. What ancient semites could have lived in northern europe that far back. Structurally, the germanic languages are characterized by a pervasive loss of protoindo. These probably took place during the preroman iron age of northern europe from c.