West Germanic languages

The West Germanic languages ​​are a subgroup of the Germanic languages ​​, which includes, among other things, English, High German, Dutch, Yiddish, Low German, Jenischhaus, Afrikaans and Frisian. A detailed list of individual languages ​​can be found at the end of this article.

Early written records

The fragmentary written evidence West Germanic languages ​​employ from the 6th century. From this period such as the Salic Law, a arisen in the western part of the Frankish Empire Latin text, the individual words Germanic origin containing that originate from the later extinct old-fashioned language. Since the 8th century Old English texts are first occupied, however, has survived only in a manuscript dating from around 1000, the best-known source of Old English, the epic poem Beowulf. Occupied from the 8th century are also texts in Altbairisch, Altalemannisch and Altoberfränkisch, those West Germanic variants, which are also summarized under the term Old High German. From the 9th century texts are preserved in Old Saxon, the previous language of Low German, especially the Genesis and the Heliand. Old Frisian is evidenced by written sources only since the 13th century.

The question of the existence of a proto West Germanic language

Subdivision

Traditional classification

The previously common structure of the West Germanic languages ​​shared this in an Anglo - Frisian and a continental Germanic branch. The Anglo- Frisian languages ​​were further divided into anglische languages ​​( with English as the main representative) and Frisian languages. This contrasted with the continental West Germanic languages ​​with the High German ( with the Upper and Central German dialects and Yiddish ) and Low German languages ​​( inter alia Low Saxon and Dutch).

Coverage of the Anglo - Frisian was made due to some special sound developments such as the development of the consonants k before palatal vowels to a fricative (examples: German cheese, Dutch kaas - English cheese, Frisian tsiis; German Church, Dutch kerk - English church, Frisian tsjerke ) and by the loss of nasals before fricatives under compensatory lengthening (examples: German five - five English, German mouth - English mouth ). Many of these features can be found, however, particularly in the early stages of language, in other West Germanic varieties, so this traditional division has been used for decades rejected by the majority of linguists.

The West Germanic in the context of recent classification

In the second half of the 20th century a division has entered into five subgroups besides the traditional classification of all Germanic languages ​​in three ( Western, Eastern and North Germanic ). This classification was proposed in 1943 by Friedrich Maurer and has since found much approval. Maurer takes for the turning point in five languages ​​and cultural groups:

• North Germans in Scandinavia
• North Sea Germanic tribes ( Frisians, Angles, Saxons )
• Weser -Rhine Germans ( some of them later went on to the Saxons, from the Weser -Rhine Germans was the main part of the Franks)
• Elbgermanen ( among others: the later the Lombards, Bavarians and Alemanni )
• Oder- Vistula - Germanic (formerly known as East Germans, Goths and other peoples )

The role of the West Germanic in this classification is assessed by the linguists in different ways: some are the languages ​​of North Sea Germanic, Weser -Rhine Germans and Elbgermanen the replacement of the West Germanic, so that the five - division is only a refinement of the traditional tripartite division; mostly West Germanic language will be rejected as a unit, because the languages ​​of these three groups are mixed.

Maurer also rejects the terms ( Ur) from German and Anglo - Frisian, as long as it is thereby act to old unit languages. The German is in its initial state, not an old model, but the end of a language development; the German is thus a fusion product of various " West Germanic " sources. This also applies to the terms Upper German and Low German.

The family tree model, which is the traditional classification based on he and others reject because it can not represent accurately enough in their view, the links between the Germanic languages ​​.

List of West Germanic languages

• Line between North and West Germanic
• North Germanic Languages
• Faroese
• Norwegian nynorsk
• Norwegian bokmål
• Swedish
• West Germanic languages
• Scots
• English
• Friesian
• Dutch
• Low German
• Central German
• Upper German

The following living and extinct languages ​​( † ) from the family of Germanic languages ​​belong to the West Germanic languages:

• North Sea Germanic Languages Anglo-Saxon (Old English) † Middle English † Modern English
• Scots
• Yola †

• West Frisian
• Sater (synchronous regarded as a last variety of the East Frisian its own language )
• North Frisian ( divided into very different dialects and has no uniform written language developed)

• Middle Low German † Low German / Low German

• Jamaican Patois
• Pitcairn English
• Hawaii Kreolenglisch
• Krio
• Ngatikesisch
• Torres - Kreol
• Afro - Creole Seminolisches
• Kamtok
• Tok Pisin
• Bislama
• Pijin

• Continental West Germanic languages living large expansion languages ​​(main official language in at least one country) German (High German )
• Dutch

• Afrikaans (one of the official languages ​​in South Africa, official minority language in Namibia)
• Luxembourgish ( official language of Luxembourg, alongside French and German )
• Yiddish ( official minority language in Sweden, Moldova, Russia / Jewish Autonomous Oblast and Israel)

• Old High German † Altoberfränkisch †
• Altmittelfränkisch †
• Altsüdrheinfränkisch †
• Altbairisch †
• Altalemannisch †

• Middle Dutch †
• Middle High German † Upper German Middle High German † bairisches Middle High German †
• Alemannic Middle High German †
• Ostfränkisches Middle High German †
• Südrheinfränkisches Middle High German †

• West Central German German, Middle High (Central Franconian, Rhine Franconian ) †
• Ostmitteldeutsches Middle High German ( Thuringian, Upper Saxon *, Silesian *, Hochpreussisch * ) †

• Frühneuhochdeutsch †
• Upper German writing language †

• Alemannisch Swiss German
• Alemán Coloniero