West Germanic language
| Westgẽmanix | |
|---|---|
| Pronounced: | /west.geə.'mɑ:n.iʃ/ |
| Timeline and Universe: | Present, Earth |
| Species: | Human |
| Spoken: | Europe |
| Total speakers: | Unknown |
| Writing system: | Latin alphabet (West Germanic variant) |
| Genealogy: | Indo-European Germanic |
| Typology | |
| Morphological type: | Inflecting |
| Morphosyntactic alignment: | Nominative-accusative |
| Basic word order: | V2 |
| Credits | |
| Creator: | S.C. Anderson |
| Created: | July 2008 |
(New) West Germanic (Westgẽmanix) is a recent West Germanic language, which is closely related to others such as Dutch, English, Frisian and German as well as sharing some traits with North Germanic languages. West Germanic is a descendant of Old English, with an amount of vocabulary derived from Modern Dutch.
West Germanic grammar is similar to that of Dutch and German, particularly its syntax, but has undergone a degree of deflexion, much more so than Dutch but mostly not to the extent of English. West Germanic has retained the usage of three genders, yet these have become simplified because they now relate purely to biological gender.
As Dutch and English, the consonant system of West Germanic did not undergo the High German consonant shift. Complex consonant clusters are, typically of Germanic languages, allowed by the syllable structure.
West Germanic vocabulary could be said to be more Germanic in origin than its predecessors due to drawing neologisms from compounds of old words whereas others have shunned native words in favour of Latin or Greek equivalents; German followed a similar process, which has however been taken a step further in West Germanic.
History
West Germanic is artificially descended from the language - now known as Anglo-Saxon - of England's Germanic invaders, which displaced the indigenous Brythonic languages. As a result of this, New West Germanic maintains a link with the North Germanic family due to Old Norse's influence on English. Old English was deemed an appropriate root because, under the rule of Anglo-Saxon kings, it thrived, thought to have coined new words from native roots rather than borrow foreign words. This is a trend that continues in the West Germanic language. The Norman Conquest occurred in 1066, marking the beginning of the Middle English era; thereafter, there is no influence on West Germanic. New words added to the lexicon come from modern Dutch, a widely-spoken, present-day relative of Old English, which has linguistically evolved little since the late 16th century.
Here is a sample prose text, the beginning of The Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan:
Ōhthere sǣde his hlāforde, Ælfrēde cyninge, ðæt hē ealra Norðmonna norþmest būde. Hē cwæð þæt hē būde on þǣm lande norþweardum wiþ þā Westsǣ. Hē sǣde þēah þæt þæt land sīe swīþe lang norþ þonan; ac hit is eal wēste, būton on fēawum stōwum styccemǣlum wīciað Finnas, on huntoðe on wintra, ond on sumera on fiscaþe be þǣre sǣ. Hē sǣde þæt hē æt sumum cirre wolde fandian hū longe þæt land noþryhte lǣge, oþþe hwæðer ǣnig mon be norðan þǣm wēstenne būde. Þā fōr hē norþryhte be þǣm lande: lēt him ealne weg þæt wēste land on ðæt stēorbord, ond þā wīdsǣ on ðæt bæcbord þrīe dagas. Þā wæs hē swā feor norþ swā þā hwælhuntan firrest faraþ. Þā fōr hē þā giet norþryhte swā feor swā hē meahte on þǣm ōþrum þrīm dagum gesiglau. Þā bēag þæt land, þǣr ēastryhte, oþþe sēo sǣ in on ðæt lond, hē nysse hwæðer, būton hē wisse ðæt hē ðǣr bād westanwindes ond hwōn norþan, ond siglde ðā ēast be lande swā swā hē meahte on fēower dagum gesiglan. Þā sceolde hē ðǣr bīdan ryhtnorþanwindes, for ðǣm þæt land bēag þǣr sūþryhte, oþþe sēo sǣ in on ðæt land, hē nysse hwæþer. Þā siglde hē þonan sūðryhte be lande swā swā hē meahte on fīf dagum gesiglan. Ðā læg þǣr ān micel ēa ūp on þæt land. Ðā cirdon hīe ūp in on ðā ēa for þǣm hīe ne dorston forþ bī þǣre ēa siglan for unfriþe; for þǣm ðæt land wæs eall gebūn on ōþre healfe þǣre ēas. Ne mētte hē ǣr nān gebūn land, siþþan hē from his āgnum hām fōr; ac him wæs ealne weg wēste land on þæt stēorbord, būtan fiscerum ond fugelerum ond huntum, ond þæt wǣron eall Finnas; ond him wæs āwīdsǣ on þæt bæcbord. Þā Boermas heafdon sīþe wel gebūd hiraland: ac hīe ne dorston þǣr on cuman. Ac þāra Terfinna land wæs eal wēste, būton ðǣr huntan gewīcodon, oþþe fisceras, oþþe fugeleras.
Oqthẽrê kwât his lafõdûm, Kun Âlfredê, tât he êl Nõtmênê nõtmest wuni. He kwât tât he wuni in tâm lõnd nõtwẽd be tâm Nõtsæ. He kwât tẽq tât tât lônd si swidê lôn tæêfrôm, ak hit is êl westêlônd, butôn in fẽ stedês stûtxêmâl witxê Fînz, hunti ât wintûm ônd ât sumûm fixi be tâm sæ. He kwât tât he ât sum tidûm wôldê hu lôn tât lônd nõtwẽd licê findôn, ôdê wâdê ânæ mân nõt westêlôndênê wuni. Ta fõ he nõt be tâm lôndûm.
