When I received the assignment to write about the functions and systems of the Germanic gothic language, I was excited! But turns out, there is little information about the specific functions and systems of the gothic language. Here are some things that I did find out…
The gothic language, part of the Indo-European language family, has been extinct since the 8th or 9th century, though it was declining well into the mid-6th century. It survived as a domestic language in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal) until the 8th century. This decline in the gothic language can be attributed to a couple of things. One of the reasons is the military defeat of the gothic people by the Franks. Goths were also removed from Italy. In addition, gothic speakers were geographically isolated. In Spain, the gothic language lost its function as a church language when the Visigoths converted to Catholicism in the 4th century. The reasons for the decline of this language are not out of the ordinary when compared to various languages that have lost their prominence. For instance, refer to Alyssa’s post on the Roman Republic and its Latin language.
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| Codex Argenteus |
Lacking any modern descendants, the gothic language is one of the earliest to have written text available. Most of the language is known from the Codex Argenteus, a 6th century copy of a 4th century translation of the bible made by a Visigothic bishop (see picture).
Since many languages are influenced by those around them, it was no surprise to me when I read that the gothic language assists in understanding the transition from the various Indo-European Germanic languages and their structures.
My brother in law served a mission in Germany and is now studying German Literature here at BYU. I asked him to see if there were any similarities he could see by looking a a Gothic translation of the Book of Matthew.
This is what he said: "I included the German words I know with what I think they correspond to. It would be a lot easier to tell if I could hear the words, but from what I can tell I'd say the languages are definitely related, but they've drifted apart quite a bit. I think there's also some Italian or Latin influence in the Gothic which isn't in the German (words like minnistono)."
This is what he said: "I included the German words I know with what I think they correspond to. It would be a lot easier to tell if I could hear the words, but from what I can tell I'd say the languages are definitely related, but they've drifted apart quite a bit. I think there's also some Italian or Latin influence in the Gothic which isn't in the German (words like minnistono)."
15 ... ak ana lukarnastaþin· jah liu teiþ allaim þaim ïn þamma garda·
16 swa liuhtjai liuhaþ ïzwar ïn and wairþja manne/männer ei gasaihvaina/gesehen ïz wara goda waurstwa jah hauhjai na attan ïzwarana þana ïn himina/himmel:lg
17 Ni/nicht/nie hugjaiþ ei qemjau gatairan witoþ· aiþþau/abbau praufetuns-propheten·ni qam gatairan ak usfulljan/ausfüllen:ld
18 Amen auk/auch qiþa ïzwis· und þatei usleiþiþ himins/himmel jah airþa/erde· jota ains aiþþau/abbau ains striks ni uslei þiþ af witoda unte allata wairþiþ:le
19 Ïþ saei/sei nu gatairiþ aina anabusne þizo minnistono· jah laisjai swa mans minnista haitada in þiudangardjai himine/himmel ïþ saei/sei taujiþ jah laisjai swa· sah mikils haitada ïn þiudangardjai himine/himmel·
20 qiþa auk/auch ïzwis þatei nibai mana
One thing that I have noticed in studying nations is that only the strongest ones have their language and culture survive through the ages. King of like survival of the fittest in biology. This is kind off topic but I always think of the Jewish nation. They really are an anomaly in history. They have been conquered multiple times. Driven completely from their homeland, shunned and persecuted in every country and yet they have stilled maintained their culture, national identity, and language. They are the only ones I can think of that have done this.
ReplyDeleteThat's really neat how you're brother could look at the two different languages and compare them. Did he say it if they had any of the same grammar rules or anything like that?
ReplyDeleteSounds like this language became instinct similar to many meaning that cultures or groups of people combined and one was surpressed more than the other.
So, if we only really know about the language through the texts that are left by the people, I wonder how we know how things were pronounced. I mean, obviously we can compare the spelling of words to those in other languages, but considering how messed up some spelling systems are, I don't know how effective this would always be. I seem to remember hearing once that if we recover rhyming poetry in a language it tells us a lot about the pronunciation, since we can tell what words sounded the same as what other words.
ReplyDeleteIf you're brother's right about latin getting in there, that must mean the Romans got in there and mussed things up! whooohoo go my culture!! seriously though, what if the fact that the gothic language is one of the earliest to have texts might be why it died out earlier than the languages that outlived it? I guess that would mean that all languages have the same shelf life which wouldn't make any sense
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