The Neolithic Hypothesis

[Miguel Carrasquer Vidal]

"Eduard Selleslagh" <edsel at glo.be> wrote:

>Around here (Flanders) it is - more or less - generally believed that the
>Frisian people and the closely related West-Flemings (not just
>linguistically) are descendants of probably southern Danish or other more or
>less Scandinavian tribes that migrated south over the coastal sand
>bars/islands, the last remains of which are the Dutch and German
>'Waddeneilanden' and part of Sylt.

The Frisians and/or Ingvaeones were not Scandinavian (in the
sense of North Germanic speaking).  They merely inhabitated the
North Sea Coast area from the Roman limes up to the tip of
Jutland, the latter now linguisticaly Scandinavian territory.
After teh collapse of Roman power, they spread along the coast to
South Holland, Zeeland and Western Flanders, while presumably
exchanging Jutland and Angeln for England.  In any case these
areas became Danish-speaking, like Skaane and the Danish islands.

>I am not sure at all that you can say English wasn't influenced by Dutch/Low
>German, albeit in a somewhat convoluted way: Saxon itself is - or was - a
>(collection of) Dutch/Low German dialect(s), while Anglian may be considered
>to have been something in between Danish and Low German.
>[...]
>As to 'northwestern Germanic', I am very, very skeptical about that idea.

If you say Anglian was "in between Danish and Low German", I
don't see how you can be that skeptical.

>The least you can say, is that it is not a necessary hypothesis.
>Postulating mutual (or one-way west > east?) influence between east- and
>west Germanic seems sufficient to explain the observed phenomena.  There was
>ample opportunity for it to occur after the split of northeast into north
>and east Germanic

That's indeed all "North-West Germanic" means.  Mutual influence
between North and West Germanic, after the split between North
and East Germanic, and of course long after the split between
West and North-East Germanic.

=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv at wxs.nl
Amsterdam