[gothic-l] Gothic Origin

[Bertil Häggman]

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The matter of Gothic Origin has been the subject
of a heated debate on this list. The Gautar of
South Scandinavia are the Goetar of Goetaland
(the southernmost region of Sweden). Most
researchers agree that the Geats of Beowulf were
Goetar.

Linguistically it would be impossible to say what
the charachteristics were when they were still
in Goetaland (say around 500 BC to the last century
BC, when they are supposed to have migrated
to the now Polish coast around Gdansk.

Gothic belongs to the East Germanic languages
and is thus different from the Scandinavian languages
(North Germanic). Obviously the transition to East Germanic
took place during the migration from northern Poland
via the Black Sea region to Italy and Spain.

Gothically

Bertil Haggman

> (2) If the Goths are the Scandinavian Gautar and Beowulf's Geats,
> which of the characteristic features in Gothic are likely to have
> been there when they still lived in Scandinavia? While the Goths were
> wandering across Europe, and likely in the process picking up
> assorted camp-followers and recruits with various mother-tongues and
> having dealings with various peoples, likely their language would
> tend
> to change: in that case from fairly close to Common Germanic to what
> Wulfila wrote in. This linguistic effect was known from Ancient Greek
> times onwards: e.g. some Athenian Greeks who had come home after long
> wanderings were described as "ouket' Attike:n hi:entas, ho:s an
> pollakhe:i plano:menous" = "no longer speaking Attic Greek, wandering
> in many roads".



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