Group of West Germanic languages
The
Anglo-Frisian languages
are the Anglic (
English
,
Scots
,
Fingallian
†, and
Yola
†) and
Frisian
(
North Frisian
,
East Frisian
, and
West Frisian
) varieties of the
West Germanic languages
.
The Anglo-Frisian languages are distinct from other West Germanic languages due to several
sound changes
: besides the
Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law
, which is present in
Low German
as well,
Anglo-Frisian brightening
and
palatalization
of
/k/
are for the most part unique to the modern Anglo-Frisian languages:
- English
cheese
, Scots
cheese
and
West Frisian
tsiis
, but
Dutch
kaas
, Low German
Kees
, and
German
Kase
- English
church
, and West Frisian
tsjerke
, but Dutch
kerk
, Low German
Kerk
,
Kark
, and German
Kirche
, though Scots
kirk
- English
sheep
, Scots
sheep
and West Frisian
skiep
, but Dutch
schaap
(pl.
schapen
), Low German
Schaap
, German
Schaf
(pl.
Schafe
)
The grouping is usually implied as a separate branch in regards to the
tree model
. According to this reading, English and Frisian would have had a proximal ancestral form in common that no other attested group shares. The early Anglo-Frisian varieties, like
Old English
and Old Frisian, and the third Ingvaeonic group at the time, the ancestor of Low German
Old Saxon
, were spoken by intercommunicating populations. While this has been cited as a reason for a few traits exclusively shared by Old Saxon and either Old English or Old Frisian,
[1]
a genetic unity of the Anglo-Frisian languages beyond that of an
Ingvaeonic
subfamily cannot be considered a majority opinion. In fact, the groupings of Ingvaeonic and West Germanic languages are highly debated, even though they rely on much more innovations and evidence. Some scholars consider a Proto-Anglo-Frisian language as disproven, as far as such postulates are falsifiable.
[1]
Nevertheless, the close ties and strong similarities between the Anglic and the Frisian grouping are part of the
scientific consensus
. Therefore, the concept of Anglo-Frisian languages can be useful and is today employed without these implications.
[1]
[2]
Geography isolated the settlers of
Great Britain
from
Continental Europe
, except from contact with communities capable of open water navigation. This resulted in more
Old Norse
and
Norman language
influences during the development of
Modern English
, whereas the modern Frisian languages developed under contact with the southern Germanic populations, restricted to the continent.
Classification
[
edit
]
The proposed Anglo-Frisian family tree is:
- Anglo-Frisian
- Anglic
- South Anglic
[3]
- Central English
- West Central English
- East Central English
- Southern English
- North Anglic
[3]
- Scots
- Northern English (see the article about the
Humber-Lune Line
)
- Northumbrian English
- Lower Northern English
- Irish Anglo-Norman
[4]
[5]
[6]
- Frisian
Anglic languages
[
edit
]
Anglic
,
[7]
[8]
Insular Germanic
, or
English languages
[9]
[10]
encompass
Old English
and all the
linguistic varieties
descended from it. These include
Middle English
,
Early Modern English
, and
Modern English
;
Early Scots
,
Middle Scots
, and
Modern Scots
; and the extinct
Fingallian
and
Yola
languages in
Ireland
.
English-based creole languages
are not generally included, as mainly only their
lexicon
and not necessarily their grammar, phonology, etc. comes from
Modern
and
Early Modern English
.
Proto-English
|
Northumbrian Old English
|
Mercian Old English
|
Kentish Old English
|
West Saxon Old English
|
Northern Early Middle English
|
Midland Early Middle English
|
Southeastern Early Middle English
|
Southern Early Middle English
|
Southwestern Early Middle English
|
Early Scots
|
Northern Middle English
|
Midland Middle English
|
Southeastern Middle English
|
Southern Middle English
|
Southwestern Middle English
|
Middle Scots
|
Northern Early Modern English
|
Midland Early Modern English
|
Metropolitan Early Modern English
|
Southern Early Modern English
|
Southwestern Early Modern English
|
Fingallian
|
Yola
|
Modern Scots
|
Modern English
|
extinct
|
extinct
|
Frisian languages
[
edit
]
The Frisian languages are a group of languages spoken by about 500,000
Frisian people
on the southern fringes of the
North Sea
in the
Netherlands
and
Germany
.
West Frisian
, by far the most spoken of the three main branches with 875,840 total speakers,
[11]
constitutes an official language in the
Dutch
province
of
Friesland
.
North Frisian
is spoken on some
North Frisian Islands
and parts of mainland
North Frisia
in the northernmost
German
district
of
Nordfriesland
, and also in
Heligoland
in the
German Bight
, both part of
Schleswig-Holstein
state (Heligoland is part of its mainland
district of Pinneberg
). North Frisian has approximately 8,000 speakers.
[12]
The
East Frisian language
is spoken by only about 2,000 people;
[13]
speakers are located in
Saterland
in Germany.
There are no known East Frisian dialects, but there are three dialects of West Frisian and ten of North Frisian.
- West Frisian dialects:
[11]
- Clay Frisian (Klaaifrysk)
- South or Southwest Frisian (Sudhoeksk)
- Wood Frisian (Waldfrysk)
- North Frisian dialects:
[12]
- Insular dialects
- Mainland dialects
Anglo-Frisian developments
[
edit
]
The following is a summary of the major sound changes affecting vowels in chronological order.
[14]
For additional detail, see
Phonological history of Old English
. That these were simultaneous and in that order for all Anglo-Frisian languages is considered disproved by some scholars.
[1]
- Backing and nasalization of West Germanic
a
and
?
before a nasal consonant
- Loss of
n
before a spirant, resulting in
lengthening
and
nasalization
of preceding vowel
- Single form for present and preterite plurals
- A-fronting
: West Germanic
a
,
?
>
æ
,
?
, even in the diphthongs
ai
and
au
(see
Anglo-Frisian brightening
)
- palatalization
of
Proto-Germanic
*k
and
*g
before front vowels (but not phonemicization of palatals)
- A-restoration
:
æ
,
?
>
a
,
?
under the influence of neighboring consonants
- Second fronting
: OE dialects (except
West Saxon
) and Frisian
?
>
?
- A-restoration
:
a
restored before a back vowel in the following syllable (later in the
Southumbrian
dialects); Frisian
æu
>
au
> Old Frisian
?
/
a
- OE breaking; in West Saxon palatal diphthongization follows
- i
-mutation followed by
syncope
; Old Frisian breaking follows
- Phonemicization of palatals and assibilation, followed by second fronting in parts of West Mercia
- Smoothing and back mutation
Comparisons
[
edit
]
Numbers in Anglo-Frisian languages
[
edit
]
These are the words for the numbers one to 12 in the Anglo-Frisian languages, with Dutch, West-Flemish and German included for comparison:
Language
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
English
|
one
|
two
|
three
|
four
|
five
|
six
|
seven
|
eight
|
nine
|
ten
|
eleven
|
twelve
|
West Riding Yorkshire
|
one
|
two
|
three
|
fower
|
five
|
six
|
seven
|
eight
|
nine
|
ten
|
(e)leven
|
twelve
|
Scots
[note 1]
|
ane
ae*
een
|
twa
|
trey
three
|
fower
|
five
|
seks
sax
|
seiven
|
aicht
|
nine
|
ten
|
eleiven
|
twaal
|
Yola
|
oan
|
twye
|
dhree
|
vour
|
veeve
|
zeese
|
zeven
|
ayght
|
neen
|
dhen
|
ellven
|
twalve
|
West Frisian
|
ien
|
twa
|
trije
|
fjouwer
|
fiif
|
seis
|
san
|
acht
|
njoggen
|
tsien
|
alve
|
tolve
|
West-Flemish
|
jin
|
twi
|
drieje
|
viere
|
vuvve
|
zesse
|
zeevne
|
achte
|
neegn
|
tiene
|
elve
|
twolve
|
Saterland Frisian
|
aan (m.)
een (f., n.)
|
twain (m.)
two (f., n.)
|
trai (m.)
trjo (f., n.)
|
fjauer
|
fieuw
|
saks
|
sogen
|
oachte
|
njugen
|
tjoon
|
alven
|
twelig
|
North Frisian (Mooring dialect)
|
iinj
an
|
tou
tuu
|
trii
tra
|
fjouer
|
fiiw
|
seeks
|
soowen
|
oocht
|
nuugen
|
tiin
|
alwen
|
tweelwen
|
Dutch
|
een
|
twee
|
drie
|
vier
|
vijf
|
zes
|
zeven
|
acht
|
negen
|
tien
|
elf
|
twaalf
|
High German
|
eins
|
zwei
|
drei
|
vier
|
funf
|
sechs
|
sieben
|
acht
|
neun
|
zehn
|
elf
|
zwolf
|
*
Ae
[eː]
,
[jeː]
is an adjectival form used before nouns.
[15]
Words in English, West Riding Yorkshire, Scots, Yola, West Frisian, Dutch, German and West-Flemish
[
edit
]
English
|
West Riding Yorkshire
|
Scots
|
Yola
|
West Frisian
|
Dutch
|
German
|
West-Flemish
|
day
|
day
|
day
|
dei
|
dei
|
dag
|
Tag
|
dah
|
world
|
warld
|
warld
|
eord
|
wrald
|
wereld
|
Welt
|
wereld
|
rain
|
rain
|
rain
|
rhyne
|
rein
|
regen
|
Regen
|
rinne
|
blood
|
blooid
|
bluid
|
blooed
|
bloed
|
bloed
|
Blut
|
bloed
|
alone
|
aloan
|
alane
|
alane
|
allinne
|
alleen
|
allein
|
oaljinne
|
stone
|
stoan
|
stane
|
sthoan
|
stien
|
steen
|
Stein
|
stjin
|
snow
|
snaw
|
snaw
|
sneow
|
snie
|
sneeuw
|
Schnee
|
snji(w)
|
summer
|
summer
|
simmer
|
zimmer
|
simmer
|
zomer
|
Sommer
|
zomer
|
way
|
way
|
wey
|
wye
|
wei
|
weg
|
Weg
|
weh
|
almighty
|
almeety
|
awmichtie
|
aulmichty
|
almachtich
|
almachtig
|
allmachtig
|
oalmahtih
|
ship
|
ship
|
ship
|
zhip
|
skip
|
schip
|
Schiff
|
skip/sjgip
|
nail
|
nail
|
nail
|
niel
|
neil
|
nagel
|
Nagel
|
noagle
|
old
|
owd
|
auld
|
yola
|
ald
|
oud
|
alt
|
oed
|
butter
|
butter
|
butter
|
buther
|
buter
|
boter
|
Butter
|
beuter
|
cheese
|
cheese
|
cheese
|
cheese
|
tsiis
|
kaas
|
Kase
|
koas
|
apple
|
apple
|
aiple
|
appel
|
apel
|
appel
|
Apfel
|
apple
|
church
|
church (older kurk)
|
kirk
|
chourche
|
tsjerke
|
kerk
|
Kirche
|
kerke
|
son
|
son
|
son
|
zon
|
soan
|
zoon
|
Sohn
|
zeune
|
door
|
door
|
door
|
dher
|
doar
|
deur
|
Tur
|
deure
|
good
|
gooid
|
guid
|
gooude
|
goed
|
goed
|
gut
|
hoed
|
fork
|
fork
|
fork
|
vork
|
foarke
|
vork
|
Gabel
Forke (dated)
|
vork
|
sib
|
sib (obsolete)
|
sib
|
meany / sibbe (dated)
|
sibbe
|
sibbe (dated)
|
Sippe
|
|
together
|
together
|
taegither
|
agyther
|
tegearre
|
samen
tegader
|
zusammen
|
tegoare
|
morn(ing)
|
morn(in)
|
morn(in)
|
arich
|
moarn
|
morgen
|
Morgen
|
morhn
|
until, till
|
whol
|
until, till
|
del
|
oant
|
tot
|
bis
|
tot
|
where
|
wheer
|
whaur
or whare
|
fidie
|
wer
|
waar
|
wo
|
woa(r)(e)
|
key
|
key
|
key
[note 2]
|
kei / kie
|
kaai
|
sleutel
|
Schlussel
|
sleutle
|
have been (was)
|
wor
|
wis
|
was
|
ha west
|
ben geweest
|
bin gewesen
|
zy(n)/e gewist
|
two sheep
|
two sheep
|
twa sheep
|
twye zheep
|
twa skiep
|
twee schapen
|
zwei Schafe
|
twi skoapn
|
have
|
have/heve/ha
|
hae
|
ha
|
hawwe
|
hebben
|
haben
|
en
|
us
|
uz
|
us
|
ouse
|
us
|
ons
|
uns
|
oes
|
horse
|
hoss
|
horse
|
caule
|
hynder
hoars (rare)
|
paard
ros (dated)
|
Pferd
Ross (dated)
|
perd
|
bread
|
breead
|
breid
|
breed
|
brea
|
brood
|
Brot
|
brwot
|
hair
|
hair
|
hair
|
haar
|
hier
|
haar
|
Haar
|
oar
|
heart
|
heart
|
hert
|
hearth
|
hert
|
hart
|
Herz
|
erte
|
beard
|
beard
|
beard
|
bearde
|
burd
|
baard
|
Bart
|
board
|
moon
|
mooin
|
muin
|
mond
|
moanne
|
maan
|
Mond
|
moane
|
mouth
|
maath, gob
|
mooth
|
meouth
|
mun
|
mond
|
Mund
|
moend
|
ear
|
ear, lug
|
ear, lug (colloquial)
|
lug
|
ear
|
oor
|
Ohr
|
wore/ore
|
green
|
green
|
green
|
green
|
grien
|
groen
|
grun
|
groene
|
red
|
red
|
reid
|
reed
|
read
|
rood
|
rot
|
rwod/rod
|
sweet
|
sweet
|
sweet
|
sweet
|
swiet
|
zoet
|
suß
|
zoet
|
through
|
through/thrugh
|
throu
[note 3]
|
draugh
|
troch
|
door
|
durch
|
deur
|
wet
|
weet
|
weet
|
weate
|
wiet
|
nat
|
nass
|
nat
|
eye
|
ee
|
ee
|
ei / iee
|
each
|
oog
|
Auge
|
wooge/ooge
|
dream
|
dreeam
|
dream
|
dreem
|
dream
|
droom
|
Traum
|
droom
|
mouse
|
maase
|
moose
|
meouse
|
mus
|
muis
|
Maus
|
muzze
|
house
|
haase
|
hoose
|
heouse
|
hus
|
huis
|
Haus
|
hus
|
it goes on
|
it goes/goas on
|
it gaes/gangs on
|
it goath an
|
it giet oan
|
het gaat door
|
es geht weiter/los
|
tgoa deure
|
good day
|
gooid day
|
guid day
|
gooude dei
|
goeie (dei)
|
goedendag
|
guten Tag
|
goein dah
|
Alternative grouping
[
edit
]
Ingvaeonic
, also known as North Sea Germanic, is a postulated grouping of the
West Germanic languages
that encompasses
Old Frisian
,
Old English
,
[note 4]
and
Old Saxon
.
[16]
However, since Anglo-Frisian features occur in Low German and especially in its older language stages, there is a tendency to prefere the Ingvaeonic classification instead of the Anglo-Frisian one, which also takes Low German into account. Because Old Saxon came under strong Old High German and Old Low Franconian influence early on and therefore lost many Ingveonic features that were to be found much more extensively in earlier language states.
[17]
It is not thought of as a monolithic
proto-language
, but rather as a group of closely related dialects that underwent several areal changes in relative unison.
[18]
The grouping was first proposed in
Nordgermanen und Alemannen
(1942) by the German linguist and philologist
Friedrich Maurer
(1898?1984), as an alternative to the strict
tree diagrams
that had become popular following the work of the 19th-century linguist
August Schleicher
and which assumed the existence of an Anglo-Frisian group.
[19]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Depending on dialect 1.
[en]
,
[j?n]
,
[in]
,
[wan]
,
[*eː]
,
[jeː]
2.
[tw?ː]
,
[tw?ː]
,
[tweː]
,
[twaː]
3.
[θr?i]
,
[θriː]
,
[triː]
4.
[?f?u(?)r]
,
[fuwr]
5.
[faiːv]
,
[f?v]
6.
[saks]
7.
[?siːv?n]
,
[?seːv?n]
,
[?s?iv?n]
8.
[ext]
,
[?ct]
9.
[n?in]
,
[nin]
10.
[t?n]
.
- ^
Depending on dialect
[kiː]
or
[k?i]
.
- ^
Depending on dialect
[θruː]
or
[θr?u]
.
- ^
Also known as
Anglo-Saxon
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Stiles, Patrick (2018-08-01).
Friesische Studien II: Beitrage des Fohrer Symposiums zur Friesischen Philologie vom 7.?8. April 1994
(PDF)
. NOWELE Supplement Series. Vol. 12.
doi
:
10.1075/nss.12
.
ISBN
978-87-7838-059-3
. Retrieved
2020-10-23
– via www.academia.edu.
[
dead link
]
- ^
Hines, John (2017).
Frisians and their North Sea Neighbours
. Boydell & Brewer.
ISBN
978-1-78744-063-0
.
OCLC
1013723499
.
- ^
a
b
{cite book |last1=Trudgill |first1=Peter |title=The dialects of England |date=1990 |publisher=B. Blackwell |location=Cambridge, Mass., USA |isbn=0631139176}}
- ^
Hickey, Raymond (2005).
Dublin English: Evolution and Change
. John Benjamins Publishing. pp. 196?198.
ISBN
90-272-4895-8
.
- ^
Hickey, Raymond (2002).
A Source Book for Irish English
. John Benjamins Publishing. pp. 28?29.
ISBN
9027237530
.
- ^
Hammarstrom, Harald
; Forkel, Robert;
Haspelmath, Martin
; Bank, Sebastian (2023-07-10).
"Glottolog 4.8 - Irish Anglo-Norman"
.
Glottolog
. Leipzig, Germany:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
.
doi
:
10.5281/zenodo.8131084
.
Archived
from the original on 2023-07-17
. Retrieved
2023-07-16
.
- ^
Hammarstrom, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Anglic". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- ^
Woolf, Alex
(2007).
From Pictland to Alba, 789?1070
. The New Edinburgh History of Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
ISBN
978-0-7486-1234-5
.
, p. 336
- ^
J. Derrick McClure
Scots its range of Uses
in A. J. Aitken, Tom McArthur, Languages of Scotland, W. and R. Chambers, 1979. p.27
- ^
Thomas Burns McArthur, The English Languages, Cambridge University Press, 1998. p.203
- ^
a
b
"Frisian | Ethnologue Free"
.
- ^
a
b
"Frisian, Northern | Ethnologue Free"
.
- ^
"Saterfriesisch | Ethnologue Free"
.
- ^
Fulk, Robert D. (1998). "The Chronology of Anglo-Frisian Sound Changes". In Bremmer Jr., Rolf H.; Johnston, Thomas S.B.; Vries, Oebele (eds.).
Approaches to Old Frisian Philology
. Amsterdam: Rodopoi. p. 185.
- ^
Grant, William; Dixon, James Main (1921).
Manual of Modern Scots
. Cambridge: University Press. p. 105.
- ^
Some include
West Flemish
. Cf. Bremmer (2009:22).
- ^
Munske, Horst Haider; Arhammar, Nils, eds. (2001).
Handbuch des Friesischen: = Handbook of Frisian studies
. Tubingen: Niemeyer.
ISBN
978-3-484-73048-9
.
- ^
For a full discussion of the areal changes involved and their relative chronologies, see Voyles (1992).
- ^
"Friedrich Maurer (Lehrstuhl fur Germanische Philologie ? Linguistik)"
. Germanistik.uni-freiburg.de
. Retrieved
2013-06-24
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Maurer, Friedrich (1942).
Nordgermanen und Alemannen: Studien zur Sprachgeschichte, Stammes- und Volkskunde
(in German). Strasbourg: Hunenburg.
- Euler, Wolfram
(2013).
Das Westgermanische
[
West Germanic: from its Emergence in the 3rd up until its Dissolution in the 7th Century CE: Analyses and Reconstruction
] (in German). London/Berlin: Verlag Inspiration Un Ltd. p. 244.
ISBN
978-3-9812110-7-8
.
- Ringe, Don
; Taylor, Ann (2014).
The Development of Old English - A Linguistic History of English
. Vol. 2. Oxford: University Press.
ISBN
978-0199207848
.