Startseite Linguistik & Semiotik Chapter 2. Why Old Frisian is really Middle Frisian
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Chapter 2. Why Old Frisian is really Middle Frisian

  • Germen J. de Haan
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Studies in West Frisian Grammar
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Studies in West Frisian Grammar

Abstract

Traditionally the history of the development of the Frisian language is divided into he following periods: Pre-Old Frisian before ca 1275, Old Frisian ca 1275–1550, Middle Frisian ca 1550–1800, Modern Frisian ca 1800 – present. Several aspects of this periodization have been discussed in the literature, in particular the discongruity between the labels Old/Middle Frisian and the corresponding labels for related Germanic languages. We note that the bulk of the arguments for the traditional periodization of Frisian is based on non-linguistic evidence. This is true in particular for the Old Frisian period. This leads to the central question of this paper: is the traditional notion of Old Frisian linguistically spoken really ‘Old Germanic’, or may be rather ‘Middle Germanic’, or something in between? We approach this question by looking at linguistic criteria that have been used in the literature for distinguishing between ‘old’ and ‘middle’ stages of closely related Germanic languages. These criteria involve mainly changes in unstressed syllables and inflection. Applying these criteria to Frisian, we conclude there is ample evidence to replace the term ‘Old Frisian’ with ‘Middle Frisian’.

Abstract

Traditionally the history of the development of the Frisian language is divided into he following periods: Pre-Old Frisian before ca 1275, Old Frisian ca 1275–1550, Middle Frisian ca 1550–1800, Modern Frisian ca 1800 – present. Several aspects of this periodization have been discussed in the literature, in particular the discongruity between the labels Old/Middle Frisian and the corresponding labels for related Germanic languages. We note that the bulk of the arguments for the traditional periodization of Frisian is based on non-linguistic evidence. This is true in particular for the Old Frisian period. This leads to the central question of this paper: is the traditional notion of Old Frisian linguistically spoken really ‘Old Germanic’, or may be rather ‘Middle Germanic’, or something in between? We approach this question by looking at linguistic criteria that have been used in the literature for distinguishing between ‘old’ and ‘middle’ stages of closely related Germanic languages. These criteria involve mainly changes in unstressed syllables and inflection. Applying these criteria to Frisian, we conclude there is ample evidence to replace the term ‘Old Frisian’ with ‘Middle Frisian’.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Chapter 1. Recent trends in Frisian linguistics 11
  5. Chapter 2. Why Old Frisian is really Middle Frisian 25
  6. Chapter 3. Syntax of Old Frisian 47
  7. Chapter 4. Finiteness and verb fronting 63
  8. Chapter 5. More is going on upstairs than downstairs 99
  9. Chapter 6. The Imperativus-pro-Infinitivo 131
  10. Chapter 7. Two infinitives 153
  11. Chapter 8. The verbal complex 165
  12. Chapter 9. The third construction 199
  13. Chapter 10. Complementizer agreement 215
  14. Chapter 11. Grammatical borrowing and language change 233
  15. Chapter 12. Frisian language changes 251
  16. Chapter 13. Recent changes in the verbal complex of Frisian 265
  17. Chapter 14. Contact-induced changes in Modern West Frisian 275
  18. Chapter 15. On the (in-)stability of Frisian 301
  19. Chapter 16. Nasalization and lengthening 317
  20. Chapter 17. Monophthongs and syllable structure 331
  21. Chapter 18. A lexical theory of schwa-deletion 341
  22. References 357
  23. Acknowledgements 379
  24. Index 381
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.161.02why

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Chapter 1. Recent trends in Frisian linguistics 11
  5. Chapter 2. Why Old Frisian is really Middle Frisian 25
  6. Chapter 3. Syntax of Old Frisian 47
  7. Chapter 4. Finiteness and verb fronting 63
  8. Chapter 5. More is going on upstairs than downstairs 99
  9. Chapter 6. The Imperativus-pro-Infinitivo 131
  10. Chapter 7. Two infinitives 153
  11. Chapter 8. The verbal complex 165
  12. Chapter 9. The third construction 199
  13. Chapter 10. Complementizer agreement 215
  14. Chapter 11. Grammatical borrowing and language change 233
  15. Chapter 12. Frisian language changes 251
  16. Chapter 13. Recent changes in the verbal complex of Frisian 265
  17. Chapter 14. Contact-induced changes in Modern West Frisian 275
  18. Chapter 15. On the (in-)stability of Frisian 301
  19. Chapter 16. Nasalization and lengthening 317
  20. Chapter 17. Monophthongs and syllable structure 331
  21. Chapter 18. A lexical theory of schwa-deletion 341
  22. References 357
  23. Acknowledgements 379
  24. Index 381
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