Gothic compared to other Germanic languages

[faltin2001]

--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, mike r <raging_viking at y...> wrote:
>
> Greetings!
> 
>  Someone told me that Gothic is the hardest Germanic
> language to learn and that after I learn this one
> everything will be "downhill" should I choose to learn
> more germanic languages. Is this true?
> 
> Salutations!
> Mike



Hi Mike,

I doubt that this is true. For one thing, Gothic constitutes the 
extinct East Germanic language group, while all modern Germanic 
languages are either North Germanic or West Germanic. As you may 
know, East Germanic/Gothic was the first language to separate from 
common Germanic, whereas West Germanic and North Germanic remained in 
close contact for several more centuries, even maintaining a language 
continuum until about the 5th century. Hence, Gothic did not 
participate in some of the innovations that are common to North and 
West Germanic and vice versa. (See J. Tischler, 'Ostgermanisch' in 
RGA). 

What you probably have in mind is the fact that Gothic is the 
earliest attested Germanic language. It is closer to the common 
Germanic roots and provides insights into the development of all 
Germanic languages.  But again, I find it highly implausible that 
Gothic should be seen as a vehicle for the learning of modern 
Germanic languages. What is more, I think Gothic is relatively easy 
to learn, simply because of the limited and fragmentary vocabulary 
available. Thus, modern German grammar is quite similar to Gothic, 
but you would need to learn an incomparably larger vocabulary. 

Cheers
Dirk









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