Germania Semitica

ISBN-13: 9783110300949 / Angielski / Twarda / 2012 / 763 str.

Theo Vennemann gen. Nierfeld

Opis

Germania Semitica explores prehistoric language contact in general, and attempts to identify the languages involved in shaping Germanic in particular. The book deals with a topic outside the scope of other disciplines concerned with prehistory, such as archaeology and genetics, drawing its conclusions from the linguistic evidence alone, relying on language typology and areal probability. The data for reconstruction comes from Germanic syntax, phonology, etymology, religious loan names, and the writing system, more precisely from word order, syntactic constructions, word formation, irregularities in phonological form, lexical peculiarities, and the structure and rules of the Germanic runic alphabet. It is demonstrated that common descent is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for reconstruction. Instead, lexical and structural parallels between Germanic and Semitic languages are explored and interpreted in the framework of modern language contact theory.

Germania Semitica describes linguistic and cultural Semitic influences on Early Germanic at two points in space and time: (1) Fifth to third century Proto-Germanic when a Phoenician, namely Carthaginian, superstrate influenced the lexicon, grammar, writing system, and religion in the Germanic homeland, (2) the pre-Christian British Isles, when Semitic substrates shaped the structure of the Celtic languages as well as, indirectly, English. This book is a must for anyone interested in the origin of Germanic language and culture.

O autorze

Theo Vennemann and Patrizia Noel, University of München, Germany.