Jump to content

Ancient Belgian language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Brikane (talk | contribs) at 23:15, 21 April 2011. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Belgian is a hypothetical extinct Indo-European language. It was described by the Ghentian linguist Maurits Gysseling - who himself attributed the term to Prof. Dr. S.J. De Laet - as an Indo-European language that was spoken distinct from Celtic in late prehistory, in certain parts of what has become known as Gaul. According to this theory, which was further elaborated by Hans Kuhn and others, traces of it can be found in certain toponyms such as South-East-Flemish Bevere, Eine, Mater and Melden.

The borders of the Belgian Sprachraum are made up by the Canche and the Authie in the south-west, the Weser and the Aller in the east, and the Ardennes and the German Mittelgebirge in the south-east. It has been hypothetically associated with the Nordwestblock, more specifically with the Hilversum culture.

The use of the name Belgian for the language is to some extent supported by Caesar's De Bello Gallico which mentions that the Belgae and the Galli spoke different languages. It is furthermore supported by toponyms in present-day Belgium which point at the existence of an Indo-European language that clearly distinguished itself from Celtic and Germanic.[citation needed] However, most sources consider the Belgae to have been Celtic-speaking.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

During germanicization, Germanic did influence Belgian. For example, the Germanic sound shifts (p → f, t → th, k → h, ǒ → ă) have affected toponyms which supposedly have a Belgian-language origin. This supposedly took place during a first, early germanicization in the third century B.C., not in the Frankish colonization from the fifth to the eighth century.

Characteristic of Belgian are the retainment of the p after the sound shifts. Names of bodies of water ending in -ara (as in the name for the Dender), -ănā or -ǒnā as in Matrǒnā (nowadays Mater) and settlement names ending in -iǒm are supposedly typically Belgian as well.

According to Gysseling, traces of Belgian are still visible. The diminutive suffix -ika, the feminizing suffixes -agjōn and -astrjō and the collective suffix -itja- have been incorporated in Dutch, sometimes very productively. In toponymy, apa, poel, broek, gaver, drecht, laar and ham are retained as Belgian loanwords.

See also

References

  1. ^ Belgae. MSN Encarta. Retrieved 16.02.2011
  2. ^ Dáithí Ó hÓgáin. 2003. The Celts: a history. P.10
  3. ^ Carl Waldman, Catherine Mason. 2006. Encyclopedia of European peoples. vol.1. P.65
  4. ^ Koch, John T. 2006. Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia. P.196
  5. ^ Bell, Andrew Villen. 2000. The role of migration in the history of the Eurasian steppe. P.112
  6. ^ Swan, Toril, Endre Mørck, Olaf Jansen Westvik. 1994. Language change and language structure: older Germanic languages in a Comparative Perspective. P.294
  7. ^ Aldhouse-Green, Miranda Jane. 1995. The Celtic world. P.607.
  8. ^ MacKillop, James. 2004. A dictionary of Celtic mythology

Bibliography

  • M. Gysseling, Enkele Belgische leenwoorden in de toponymie, in Naamkunde 7 (1975), pp. 1-6.
  • J. Molemans, Profiel van de Kempische toponymie, in Naamkunde 9 (1977), pp. 1-50.