Студопедия.Орг Главная | Случайная страница | Контакты | Мы поможем в написании вашей работы!  
 

Classification of the Germanic Languages



There are different classifications of the languages but as far as we deal with the history of the language we will consider genealogical classification. It is based on the conception that all the languages

can be classified according to their origin.

There are different points of view on the problem of language origin. Some scholars try to prove that there existed one universal language from which all the other languages stem.

The theory of William Allman (1990):

Proto-Germanic Language (one of the 12 groups of languages belonging to Indo-European family that stemmed from the common Indo-European Language)  
     
Indo-European Language 8 000 years ago Turkey
     
Nostratic Language 14 000 years ago The Near East
     
Proto-World Language 200 000 years ago Africa

Modern classification of the Germanic Languages:

North Germanic Languages West Germanic Languages East Germanic Languages
1. Swedish (spoken in Sweden and Finland by 9 mill. people) 1. English(spoken by 300 mill. people as a mother tongue + millions speak it as a second language 1. Gothic (dead)
2. Norwegian (spoken in Norway by 5 mill. people) 2. German(spoken by 100 mill. people in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Lichtenstein)  
3. Danish (spoken in Denmark by 5 mill. people) 3. Dutch/Netherlandish (spoken by 20 mill. people in the Netherlands and some parts of Belgium)  
4. Icelandic(spoken in Iceland by 250 thou. people) 4. Frisian(spoken by 400 thou. people in some parts of the Netherlands and Germany and some islands in the North Sea)  
5. Faroese(spoken in the Faroe Islands (north-east Atlantic) by 40 thou. people) 5. Luxemburgish(spoken by 350 thou. people in Luxemburg and some parts of Germany and France)  
  6. Yiddish(spoken by Jews in different countries in Europe and America, is actually a mixture of the Southern Germanic Dialects, Hebrew and Slavonic elements)  
  7. Afrikaans(spoken by 3 mill. people in the South African Republic, combines English, Dutch and African elements)  




Дата публикования: 2014-11-03; Прочитано: 2303 | Нарушение авторского права страницы | Мы поможем в написании вашей работы!



studopedia.org - Студопедия.Орг - 2014-2024 год. Студопедия не является автором материалов, которые размещены. Но предоставляет возможность бесплатного использования (0.006 с)...