Маъсул муҳаррир: Филология фанлари доктори, профессор: Г. Х. Боқиева Тақризчилар

Discussion questions

1. What is a proto-language?

2. What is a reconstruction?
3. What was the Urheimat of Indo-European peoples?
4. What is the first Consonant-Shift?
5. What is the first Second-Shift?
6. What is Rhotacism?


Reference

1. 
   The Cambridge History of the English language. Vol. I. Cambridge University Press, 2005, 613 p.
   
2. 
   Don Ringe. From Proto –Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, Oxford University Press, 2006, 366 p.
   
3. 
   Hogg R. Introduction to Old English. Edinburgh University Press, 2002, 174 p.
   
4. 
   Kuldashev A.M. An Introduction to Germanic Philology. Tashkent, Шарқ Нашр Матбаа акционерлик жамияти. 2010, 154 p.
   
5. 
   Қўлдашев А.М., Хамзаев С.А. Инглиз тили тарихи. Т. Darssprint нашр, 2015. 192 бет.
   
6. 
   Kuldashev A.M. Formation and Development of the Global language. – Tashkent, Turon Iqbol, 2016. 118 p.
   

Chapter IV. GERMANIC LANGUAGES


Key questions
1. Name the groups of Modern Germanic languages.
2. What languages does the Northern Germanic Group include?
3. What languages does the Western Germanic Group include?
4. Who was bishop Ulfila?
5. Phonetic peculiarities of Germanic languages.
6. Features of Germanic accentuation.
7. Proto-Germanic consonant shift.
8. What is the essence of Ablaut or gradation?


Classification of Modern Germanic Languages and their Distribution
Classification of languages means their placement into families or phyla [‘failə] on the basis of lexical or typological similarity or shared ancestry. Languages may thus be classified either genetically or typologically. A genetic classification assumes that certain languages are related in that they have evolved from a common ancestral language. This form of classification employs ancient records as well as hypothetical reconstructions of the earlier forms of languages, called protolanguages. Typological classification is based on similarities in language structure.
As for the English language, genetically (historically) it belongs to the Germanic or Teutonic group of languages of the Indo-European linguistic family. Old Germanic languages comprised 3 groups: East Germanic, North Germanic and West Germanic. East Germanic languages no longer exist, as they are dead. Only one language belonging to this group is known, Gothic, as a written document came down to us in this language. It is a translation of the Bible made in the 4^th century A.D. by the Gothic Bishop Ulfilas from the Greek language.
Modern Germanic languages embrace 2 groups: North Germanic and West Germanic as they have survived until today. The table below illustrates their division and distribution. Researchers are not unanimous in their estimation of the number of Germanic languages and their distinction. Until recently Dutch and Flemish were named as separate languages, now there is a common term for them – the Netherlandic (Netherlandish) (Note 7) language as spoken in The Netherlands, together with the same language in northern Belgium, which is popularly called Flemish. In the European Middle Ages, the language was called Dietsc, or Duutsc, historically equivalent to German Deutsch and meaning simply “language of the people,” as contrasted with Latin, which was the language of religion and learning. The form Duutsc was borrowed into English and gives modern “Dutch.” The official name of the language is Nederlands, or Netherlandic. In the Netherlands it is also called Hollands (Hollandish), reflecting the fact that the standard language is based largely on the dialect of the old province of Holland (now North Holland and South Holland). Frisian and Faroese are regarded as dialects since they are spoken over small politically dependent areas (Note 8); British English and American English are sometimes thought to be 2 independent languages. By one estimate, the number of people speaking Germanic languages amounts to 440 million (T.A. Rastorguyeva) plus an indefinite number of bilingual nations with English spoken as one of the official languages.
Table 1