CHAPTER IV. AFFINITIES OF THE ENGLISH WITH THE LANGUAGES OF GERMANY AND SCANDINAVIA. § 30. OVER and above those languages of Germany and Holland which were akin to the dialects of the Anglo-Saxons, cognate languages were spoken in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and the Feroe isles, i.e., in Scandinavia. § 31. The general collective designation for the Germanic tongues of Germany and Holland, and for the Scandinavian languages of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and the Feroe Isles, is taken from the name of those German tribes who, during the decline of the Roman Empire, were best known to the Romans as the Goths; the term Gothic for the Scandinavian and Germanic languages, collectively, being both current and convenient. § 32. Of this great stock of languages the Scandinavian is one branch; the Germanic, called also Teutonic, another. § 33. The Scandinavian branch of the Gothic stock comprehends, 1. The dialects of Scandinavia Proper, i.e., of Norway and Sweden; 2. of the Danish isles and Jutland; 3. of Iceland; 4. of the Feroe Isles. § 34. The Teutonic branch falls into three divisions:1. The Moso-Gothic. 2. The High Germanic. 3. The Low Germanic. § 35. It is in the Maso-Gothie that the most ancient specimen of any Gothic tongue has been preserved. It is also the Maso-Gothic that was spoken by the ecoquerors of ancient Rome; by the subjects of Hermasric, Alaric, Theodoric, Euric, Athanaric, and Tola. In the reign of Valens, when pressed by intestine ware, and by the movements of the Huns, the Goths were assisted by that emperor, and settled in the Roman province of Mœsia. Furthermore, they were converted to Christianity; and the Bible was translated into their language by their Bishop Ulphilas. Fragments of this translation, chiefly from the Gospels, have come down to the present time; and the Bible translation of the Arian Bishop Ulphilas, in the language of the Goths of Masia, during the reign of Valens. exhibits the earliest sample of any Gothie tongue. 25 § 36. The Old High German, called also Francie " and Alemannic, was spoken in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, in Suabia, Bavaria, and Franconia. The Middle High German ranges from the thirteenth century to the Reformation. § 37. The Low Germanic division, to which the Anglo-Saxon belongs, is currently said to comprise six languages, or rather four languages in different stages. I. II.—The Anglo-Saxon and Modern English. IV. V.—The Old Frisian and Modern Dutch. § 38. The Frisian and Dutch.—It is a current statement that the Old Frisian bears the same relation to the Modern Dutch of Holland that the Anglo-Saxon does to CHAPTER IV. AFFINITIES OF THE ENGLISH WITH THE LANGUAGES OF GERMANY AND SCANDINAVIA. § 30. OVER and above those languages of Germany and Holland which were akin to the dialects of the Anglo-Saxons, cognate languages were spoken in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and the Feroe isles, i.e., in Scandinavia. § 31. The general collective designation for the Germanic tongues of Germany and Holland, and for the Scandinavian languages of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and the Feroe Isles, is taken from the name of those German tribes who, during the decline of the Roman Empire, were best known to the Romans as the Goths; the term Gothic for the Scandinavian and Germanic languages, collectively, being both current and convenient. § 32. Of this great stock of languages the Scandinavian is one branch; the Germanic, called also Teutonic, another. § 33. The Scandinavian branch of the Gothic stock comprehends, 1. The dialects of Scandinavia Proper, i.e., of Norway and Sweden; 2. of the Danish isles and Jutland; 3. of Iceland; 4. of the Feroe Isles. § 34. The Teutonic branch falls into three divisions:1. The Moso-Gothic. 2. The High Germanic. 3. The Low Germanic. § 35. It is in the Moso-Gothic that the most ancient specimen of any Gothic tongue has been preserved. It is also the Mœso-Gothic that was spoken by the conquerors of ancient Rome; by the subjects of Hermanric, Alaric, Theodoric, Euric, Athanaric, and Totila. In the reign of Valens, when pressed by intestine wars, and by the movements of the Huns, the Goths were assisted by that emperor, and settled in the Roman province of Mœsia. Furthermore, they were converted to Christianity; and the Bible was translated into their language by their Bishop Ulphilas. Fragments of this translation, chiefly from the Gospels, have come down to the present time; and the Bible translation of the Arian Bishop Ulphilas, in the language of the Goths of Mosia, during the reign of Valens, exhibits the earliest sample of any Gothic tongue. § 36. The Old High German, called also Francic 24 and Alemannic,25 was spoken in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, in Suabia, Bavaria, and Franconia. The Middle High German ranges from the thirteenth century to the Reformation. § 37. The Low Germanic division, to which the Anglo-Saxon belongs, is currently said to comprise six languages, or rather four languages in different stages. I. II.—The Anglo-Saxon and Modern English. IV. V. The Old Frisian and Modern Dutch. § 38. The Frisian and Dutch.—It is a current statement that the Old Frisian bears the same relation to the Modern Dutch of Holland that the Anglo-Saxon does to The truer view of the question is as follows: 1. That a single language, spoken in two dialects, was originally common to both Holland and Friesland. 2. That from the northern of these dialects we have the Modern Frisian of Friesland. 3. From the southern, the modern Dutch of Holland. The reason of this refinement is as follows: The modern Dutch has certain grammatical forms older than those of the old Frisian; e.g., the Dutch infinitives and the Dutch weak substantives, in their oblique cases, end in -en; those of the Old Frisian in -a: the form in -en being the older. The true Frisian is spoken in few and isolated localities. There is 1. The Frisian of the Dutch state called Friesland. 2. The Frisian of the parish of Saterland, in Westphalia. 3. The Frisian of Heligoland. 4. The North Frisian, spoken in a few villages of Sleswick. One of the characters of the North Frisian is the possession of a dual number. In respect to its stages, we have the Old Frisian of the Asega-bog, the Middle Frisian of Gysbert Japicx,* and the Modern Frisian of the present Frieslanders, Westphalians, and Heligolanders. $39. The Low German and Platt-Deutsch.-The words Low-German are not only lax in their application, but they are equivocal; since the term has two meanings, a general meaning when it signifies a division of the Germanic languages, comprising English, Dutch, AngloSaxon, Old Saxon, and Frisian, and a limited one when it means the particular dialects of the Ems, the Weser, and the Elbe. To avoid this the dialects in question * See notes 17 and 18. |