The Germanic languages Alphabets, Vocabulary and semantics

Germanic alphabets

Types of alphabets
Non-phonologically based
Pictographic Egyptian, Messopotamian (3000 BC), Chinese (1500 BC)
Ideographic (c. 2500-100 BC): Near East (Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Hittite, Egyptian)
Logographic (China, Japan)
Phonologically based
Syllabarius Greece (1300 BC)
Latin or Roman: western Europe
Cyrillic alphabet eastern Europe
Devanagari (Indian Sanskrit)

Sumerian ideographic writing

Egyptian hieroglyphs

Germanic alphabets
Runic (Gothic ‘runa’, O. Icelandic ‘runar’, OE ‘run’ = secret, secret talk)
Gothic IV c
Latin

Runic alphabet
Futhark is a writing system of uncertain origin used by Germanic peoples of northern Europe, Britain, Scandinavia, and Iceland from about the 3rd century to the 16th or 17th century AD.

Runic alphabets
three main varieties:
Early, or Common, Germanic (Teutonic), used in northern Europe before about 800 AD;
Anglo-Saxon, or Anglian, used in Britain from the 5th or 6th century to about the 12th century ad;
Nordic, or Scandinavian, used from the 8th to about the 12th or 13th century ad in Scandinavia and Iceland.

Elder Futhark (150-800)

Facts about Futhark
Type : C&V, phonologically based
Origin : 1) the alphabet was probably created independently rather than evolving from another alphabet.
2) Runic writing was probably first used in southern Europe and was carried north by Germanic tribes.
3) the Runic alphabet is thought to have been modelled on the Latin and/or Etruscan alphabet.
Shape: angular
Territory : Europe
chronology: c. 200
direction: early Runic inscriptions is variable. Later settled down into a left to right pattern

Runic inscriptions
c. 160 AD Vimose гребінець знайдений у Vimose острів Funen, Данія
Harja = "army" or "warrior-troop”
ріг з Галегуса (c. 400 AD)
Tранслітерація:
ek hlewagastir holtijar horna tawido
Переклад
I, Hlewagastir Holtson, horn made

Anglo-Saxon Futhork

Long-Branch Runes

Marcommanic Runes

Dalecarliean Runes

Lord’s prayer in Gothic writing style

Vocabulary– all the words contained in a language
Germanic vocabulary
Words of IE origin
Common Germanic words
Words of unattested origin
Specific for a given language words
Borrowed words

Germanic words of IE origin
Family relations : Sanscr. mātar, Gr. mātēr, Lat. māter, укр. мати (матері), OE mōdor, Ger. Mutter
Names of animals, plants, artefacts: Lat. piscis, Rus. пескарь, Goth. fisks, E. fish, Germ. Fisch; Rus. зерно, Lat. granum, Goth. kaurn, E. corn, Germ. Korn; рус. дом, Sanscr. domah, Gr. dōma, Lat. domus, Goth. timrjan будувати, E. timber лісоматеріали, Germ. Zimmer кімната,
Parts of body: Sanscr. nāsā, Lat. nasus, укр. ніс, E. nose, Ger. Nase, Gr. kardíā, Lat. cor (cordis), укр. серце, Goth. hairto, E heart, Ger. Herz

Germanic words of IE origin
Natural phenomena: Ukr. вода, Sanscr. udan, Gr. hydōr, Lat. Unda хвиля, Goth. wato, E. water, Germ. Wasser; укр. ніч, Sanscr. nakti, Gr. nyx, Lat. nox, Goth. nahts, OE niht, Ger. Nacht.
Adjective ‘new’ укр. новий, скр. navas, греч. ne(w)os, лат. Novus
Numerals
Pronouns personal, demonstrative, interrogative, reflexive

Germanic words proper
(pre-Germanic substrat)
Names of parts of the body: Goth. handus, OE. hand рука, OE. bān кістка
Names of animals and plants: OE. fugol птах, OE. hors кінь, Goth. kalbō, OE cealf теля, Goth. laufs, OE. lēaf лист
Natural phenomena, geographic notions: Goth. rign, OE regn, OE storm, Goth. saiws, NE sea (cf. IE mare болото, ставок), land, strand, mew (*maiwa вид чайки), eider, auk, seal, sturgeon, herring.

Germanic words proper
Specific lexics (isolated words) occurring only in separate Germanic languages.
Goth. rohns двір, iumjō натовп,
OE aglæca чудовисько, wlonc гордий, wlencan владарювати, NE girl, bad, Ger. krieg війна.
A great deal of old Germanic words disappeared

The OE vocabulary
The OE vocabulary was almost purely Germanic, except for a small number of borrowings.
Native OE words are subdivided into etymological layers coming from different historical periods.
The three main layers in the native OE words are: Common IE words, Common Gmc words and Specifically OE words.
Words belonging to the Common IE layer constitute the oldest part of the OE vocabulary.

Sources of OE borrowings
Celtic and Latin.
Very few Celtic loan-words in OE vocabulary: place-names (element «llan» ie «church»: Llandaff, Llandovery, Llanduduo).

Latin borrowings in English
Entered the English language at different stages of OE history.
The first layer. Early OE borrowings from Latin indicate the new things and concepts learnt from the Romans: war, trade, agriculture, building and home life.
The second layer of Latin borrowings refer to religion.
Latin borrowings fall into two main groups:
1) pertaining to religion
2) connected with learning.

Scandinavian borrowings
Dialectally restricted; increased the range of language variation;
The number of Scandinavian loan-words in the Northern dialects has always been higher than in the Midlands and in the South.
Total number of Scandinavian borrowings in English is about 900; about 700 of them belong to Standard English.

Middle English borrowings
In ME > 500 words borrowed from Scandinavian and > 3500 words borrowed from French.
French words: everyday life of the Norman ruling class, government, court, legal procedure, army, military life, religious, church items, names of town occupations and terms of art.

Earth apples
late 14c., from O.Fr. cocombre ,
from L. cucumerem (nom. cucumis),
perhaps from a pre-Italic Mediterranean
language. The Latin word also is the
source of It. cocomero, Sp. cohombro, Port. Cogombro.
Replaced O.E. eorþæppla (pl.), lit. "earth-apples.“
Phrase cool as a cucumber (c.1732) embodies ancient folk knowledge confirmed by science in 1970: inside of a field cucumber on a warm day is 20 degrees cooler than the air temperature.

Ea replaced by river
c.1300, from O.Fr. riviere, from V.L. *riparia "riverbank, seashore, river" (cf. Sp. ribera, It. riviera), noun use of fem. of L. riparius "of a riverbank". The OE word was ea "river," cognate with Goth. ahwa, L. aqua.

Semantic change
is the evolution of word usage - usually to the point that the modern meaning is radically different from the original usage.
In diachronic (or historical) linguistics, semantic change is a change in one of the meanings of a word.

The unpredictability of semantic change
"[I]n the majority of cases semantic change is as fuzzy, self-contradictory, and difficult to predict as lexical semantics itself. This is the reason that after initial claims that they will at long last successfully deal with semantics, just about all linguistic theories quickly return to business as usual and concentrate on the structural aspects of language, which are more systematic and therefore easier to deal with."
(Hans Henrich Hock and Brian D. Joseph, Language History, Language Change, and Language Relationship. Walter de Gruyter, 1996)

Semantic change
(semantic shift, semantic progression or semantic drift)
is the evolution of word usage — usually to the point that the modern meaning is radically different from the original usage.
In diachronic linguistics, semantic change is a change in one of the meanings of a word

Semantic change
A variety of senses and connotations of a word can be
+ added,
- removed,
altered over time, often to the extent that cognates across space and time have very different meanings.
The study of semantic change can be seen as part of etymology, onomasiology, semasiology, and semantics.

Typology of semantic change

Typology by Paul (1880)
Specialization: enlargement of single senses of a word's meaning
Specialization on a specific part of
the contents: reduction of single
senses of a word's meaning
Transfer on a notion linked to the based notion in a spatial, temporal, or causal way

Typology by A. Darmesteter (1887)
Metaphor
Metonymy
Narrowing of meaning
Widening of meaning
The last two are defined as change between whole and part, which would today be rendered as synecdoche.

Typology by Bréal (1899)
Restriction of sense: change from a general to a special meaning
Enlargement of sense: change from a special to a general meaning
Metaphor
"Thickening" of sense: change from an abstract to a concrete meaning

Typology by Ullmann
Ullmann distinguishes between nature and consequences of semantic change:
Nature of semantic change
Metaphor: change based on a similarity of senses
Metonymy: change based on a contiguity of senses
Folk-etymology: change based on a similarity of names
Ellipsis: change based on a contiguity of names
Consequences of semantic change
Widening of meaning: raise of quantity
Narrowing of meaning: loss of quantity
Amelioration of meaning: raise of quality
Pejoration of meaning: loss of quality

Types of semantic change
Narrowing
Widening
Metaphor
Metonymy
Synecdoche
Hyperbole
Meiosis
Degeneration
Elevation
Leonard Bloomfield

Narrowing
Change from superordinate level to subordinate level.
skyline formerly referred to any horizon, but now in the USA it has narrowed to a horizon decorated by skyscrapers

- Are all birds fowls? - They seemed to be.
Fowl O.E. fugel "bird," representing the general Germanic word for them, from P.Gmc. *foglaz (cf. O.Fris. fugel, O.N. fugl, M.Du. voghel, Du. vogel, Ger. vogel, Goth. fugls), probably by dissimilation from *flug-la-, lit. "flyer," from the same root as O.E. fleogan, modern fly. Originally "bird;" narrower sense of "domestic hen or rooster" is first recorded 1570s. Narrowing

Where do you exactly go when you go to sea? Hmm…
E. sæ "sheet of water, sea, lake," from P.Gmc. *saiwaz (cf. O.S. seo, O.Fris. se, Du. see), of unknown origin, outside connections "wholly doubtful“. Germanic languages use the general IE word (in English mere), but have no firm distinction between "sea" and "lake," either by size or by salt vs. fresh.
The two words are used more or less interchangeably, and exist in opposite senses (e.g. Goth. saiws "lake," marei "sea;" but Du. zee "sea," meer "lake"). Cf. O.N. sær "sea,“ Dan. sø, usually "lake" but "sea" in phrases. Ger. See is "sea" (fem.) or "lake" (masc.).

Maid: HE or SHE?
Maid late 12c., "a virgin, a young unmarried woman," shortening of maiden (n.). In ME used of unmarried men as well as women (c.1200, used of both sexes, reflecting also the generic use of man).

Mouse
O.E. mus "small rodent," also "muscle of the arm," from P.Gmc. *mus (cf. O.N., O.Fris., M.Du., Dan., Swed. mus, Du. muis, Ger. Maus "mouse"), from PIE *mus- (cf. Skt. mus "mouse, rat). Narrowing
Metaphor Computer sense is from 1965, though applied
to other things resembling a mouse in
shape since 1750, mainly nautical.

Narrowing of meaning
O.E. hund "dog," from P.Gmc. *hundas (cf. O.S., O.Fris. hund, O.H.G. hunt, Ger. Hund, O.N. hundr, Goth. hunds), from PIE *kuntos,
dental enlargement
of root *kwon- "dog".
Meaning narrowed 12c.
to "dog used for hunting."

Food
Meat
O.E. foda "food, nourishment; fuel," also figurative, from P.Gmc. *fodon (cf. Goth. fodeins), from Germanic root *fod-, equivalent of PIE *pa- "to tend, keep, pasture, to protect, to guard, to feed" (cf. Gk. pateisthai "to feed;" L. pabulum "food, fodder," panis "bread," pasci "to feed," pascare "to graze, pasture, feed," pastor "shepherd," lit. "feeder;" Avestan pitu- "food;" O.C.S. pasti "feed cattle, pasture;" Rus. pishcha "food").
O.E. mete "food, item of food" (paired with drink), from P.Gmc. *mati (cf. O.Fris. mete, O.S. meti, O.N. matr, O.H.G. maz, Goth. mats "food," M.Du., Du. metworst, Ger. Mettwurst "type of sausage"), from PIE *mad-i-, from root *mad- "moist, wet," also with reference to food qualities, (cf. Skt. medas- "fat" (n.), O.Ir. mat "pig"
Narrower sense of "flesh used as food" is first attested c.1300.

Meat = food? Narrowing

Fruit or vegetable? Narrowing
Fruit late 12c., from O.Fr. fruit "fruit, fruit eaten as dessert; harvest; virtuous action" (12c.), from L. fructus "an enjoyment, delight, satisfaction; proceeds, produce, fruit, crops," from frug-, stem of frui "to use,
enjoy," from PIE *bhrug-
"agricultural produce,“ also
"to enjoy“. Originally
in English meaning vegetables
as well.

Lake: what the hell is it?
"body of water," early 12c., from O.Fr. lack and directly from L. lacus "pond, lake," also "basin, tank," related to lacuna "hole, pit," from PIE *laku- (cf. Gk. lakkos "pit, tank, pond,“ O.Ir. loch "lake, pond"). The common notion is "basin." There was a Germanic form of the word, which yielded cognate O.N. lögr "sea flood, water," O.E. lacu "stream," lagu "sea flood, water," leccan "to moisten“ . In ME, lake, as a descendant of the OE word, also could mean "stream; river gully; ditch; marsh; grave; pit of hell," and this might have influenced the form of the borrowed word. narrowing

Country: shift and narrowing
mid-13c., "district, native land," from O.Fr. contree, from V.L. *(terra) contrata "(land) lying opposite," or "(land) spread before one," from L. contra "opposite, against".
Sense narrowed 1520s to rural areas, as opposed to cities. Replaced O.E. land.

What was spinster busy with?
mid-14c., "female spinner of thread," from M.E. spinnen + -stere, feminine suffix.
Spinning commonly done by unmarried women > word came to denote "an unmarried woman“ (1600s -1900s), by 1719 was being used generically for "woman still unmarried and beyond the usual age for it”.

Soil: folk etymology, narrowing
"the earth or ground," c.1300,
from Anglo-Fr. soil "piece of ground, place" (13c.), from L. solium "seat," meaning confused with that of L. solum "soil, ground." Meaning "mould, earth, dirt" (especially that which plants grow in) is attested from mid-15c.

Widening
There are many examples of specific brand names being used for the general product, such as with Kleenex. Such uses are known as generonyms

Widening of meaning
O.E. macian "to make, form, construct, do; prepare, arrange, cause; behave, fare, transform," from W.Gmc. *makon "to fashion, fit" (cf. O.S. makon, O.Fris. makia "to build, make," M.Du., Du. maken, O.H.G. mahhon "to construct, make," Ger. machen "to make"), from PIE *mag- "to knead, mix; to fashion, fit". If so, sense evolution perhaps is via prehistoric houses built of mud. Gradually replaced the main OE word, gewyrcan.

Goat: He or She? (widening)
O.E. gat "she-goat," from P.Gmc. *gaitaz (cf. O.S. get, O.N. geit, Dan. gjed, M.Du. gheet, Du. geit, O.H.G.
geiz, Ger. Geiß, Goth. gaits "goat"),
from PIE *ghaidos "young goat,"
also "play" (cf. L. hædus "kid"). The
word for "male goat" in OE was
bucca until late 1300s shift to he-
goat, she-goat (Nanny goat is 18c.,
billy goat 19c.).

Widening: Tree
O.E. treo, treow "tree" (also "wood"), from P.Gmc. *trewan (cf. O.Fris. tre, O.S. trio, O.N. tre, Goth. triu), from PIE *deru- "oak" (cf. Skt. dru "tree, wood," daru "wood, log;" Gk. drys "oak," doru "spear;" O.C.S. drievo "tree, wood;" Serb. drvo "tree," drva "wood;" Rus. drevo "tree, wood;" Czech drva; Pol. drwa "wood;" Lith. derva "pine wood;" O.Ir. daur, Welsh derwen "oak," Albanian drusk "oak").
Importance of the oak in mythology is reflected in the recurring use of words for "oak" to mean "tree." In OE and ME, also "thing made of wood," especially the cross of the Crucifixion and a gallows

- Are all birds fowls? - They seemed to be.
O.E. bird, rare collateral form of bridd, originally "young bird, nestling" (the usual O.E. for "bird" being fugol), of uncertain origin with no cognates in any other Germanic language. Widening

Metaphor
Change based on similarity of thing.

Clouds in the sky
O.E. clud "mass of rock," related to clod.
O.E. word for "cloud" was weolcan.
In ME, skie also originally meant "cloud.“

Clever
late 16c., "handy, dexterous," from E.Anglian dialectal cliver "expert at seizing," perhaps from E.Fris. klufer or Norwegian dialectic klover "ready, skillful," and perhaps influenced by O.E. clifer "claw, hand" (early usages seem to refer to dexterity); extension to intellect is first recorded 1704.
This is a low word, scarcely ever used but in burlesque or conversation; and applied to any thing a man likes, without a settled meaning. [Johnson, 1755]

Metonymy
Change based on nearness in space or time, e.g., jaw "cheek" → "mandible".

Ground was deep under the sea
O.E. grund "bottom, foundation, ground, surface of the earth," especially "bottom of the sea" (a sense preserved in run aground), from P.G. *grundus, which seems to have meant "deep place" (cf. O.Fris., O.S., Dan., Swed. grund, Du. grond, O.H.G. grunt, Ger. Grund "ground, soil, bottom;" O.N. grunn "a shallow place," grund "field, plain," grunnr "bottom").
No known cognates outside Germanic.

Synecdoche
Change based on whole-part relation. The convention of using capital cities to represent countries or their governments is an example of this

Would airplanes have feathers?
O.E. feðer "feather," in plural, "wings," from P.Gmc. *fethro (cf. O.S. fethara, O.N. fioþr, Swed. fjäder, M.Du.
vedere, Du. veder,
O.H.G. fedara, Ger. Feder),
from PIE *pet-ra-, from
root *pet-"to rush, to fly”

A loaf of bread
late 13c., from O.E. hlaf "portion of bread baked in a mass of definite form," from PG *khlaibuz (cf. O.N. hleifr, Swed. lev, O.Fris. hlef, O.H.G. hleib, Ger. Laib, Goth. hlaifs "bread, loaf"), of uncertain origin, perhaps connected to O.E. hlifian "to raise higher, tower," on the notion of the bread rising as it bakes.
O.E. bread "bit, crumb, morsel; bread," cognate with O.N. brauð, Dan. brød, O.Fris. brad, M.Du. brot, Du. brood, Ger. Brot).The basic sense being not "cooked food" but "piece of food," and the O E word deriving from a P.Gmc. *braudsmon- "fragments, bits“ OE breotan "to break in pieces") and being related to the root of break. By c.1200 it had replaced the usual OE hlaf .

Hyperbole
Change from weaker to stronger meaning
e.g.
kill "torment" → "slaughter"

Assassin - drug addict?
1530s (in Anglo-Latin from mid-13c.), via French and Italian, from Arabic hashishiyyin "hashish-users," plural of hashishiyy, from hashish. A fanatical Ismaili Muslim sect of the time of the Crusades, under leadership of the "Old Man of the Mountains“, with a reputation for murdering opposing leaders after intoxicating themselves by eating hashish. The pl. suffix -in was mistaken in Europe for part of the word.

Meiosis
change from stronger to weaker meaning
e.g., astound "strike with thunder" → "surprise strongly"

Smart
late O.E. smeart "sharp, severe, stinging," related to smeortan.
"quick, active, clever" is attested from c.1300, probably from the notion of "cutting" wit, words, etc.;
meaning "trim in attire" first attested 1718
In ref. to devices, "behaving as though guided by intelligence" (e.g. smart bomb) first attested 1972. Smarts "good sense, intelligence,“ 1968.

Degeneration:
e.g., knave "boy" → "servant" → "deceitful or despicable man".

Examples of semantic change
Awful originally "inspiring
wonder (or fear)".
Originally
a shortening for
"full of awe"
contemporary usage
is of negative meaning.

Pejoration of meaning
Silly O.E. gesælig "happy" (related to sæl "happiness"), from W.Gmc. *sæligas (cf. O.N. sæll "happy," Goth. sels "good, kindhearted," O.S. salig, M.Du. salich, O.H.G. salig, Ger. selig "blessed, happy, blissful"), from PIE root *sel- "happy".
The word's considerable sense development moved from "blessed" > "pious," > "innocent" (c.1200), > "harmless," > "pitiable" (late 13c.), > "weak" (c.1300), >"feeble in mind, lacking in reason, foolish" (1570s). Further tendency toward "stunned, dazed as by a blow" (1886) in knocked silly, etc.

Elevation
e.g., knight "boy" → "nobleman".

Amelioration of meaning
Nice late 13c., "foolish, stupid, senseless," from O.Fr. nice (12c.) "careless, clumsy; weak; poor, needy; simple, stupid, silly, foolish," from L. nescius "ignorant, unaware," lit. "not-knowing," from ne- "not" + stem of scire "to know". Developed from "timid" (pre-1300) >"fussy, fastidious" (late 14c.); > “delicate" (c.1400) > "precise, careful" (15c); > "agreeable, delightful" (1769); > "kind, thoughtful" (1830). "In many examples from the 16th and 17th centuries it is difficult to say in what particular sense the writer intended it to be taken." [OED]

c.1200, lafdi, lavede, from O.E. hlæfdige "mistress of a household, wife of a lord," lit. "one who kneads bread," from hlaf "bread“ + -dige "maid," related to dæge "maker of dough".
Sense of "woman of superior position
in society" is c.1200; "woman whose
manners and sensibilities befit her for
high rank in society" is from 1861
What did lady actually do in the past?

What did Lord guard in the past?
mid-13c., laverd, loverd, from O.E. hlaford "master of a household, ruler, superior," also "God“, earlier hlafweard, lit. "one who guards the loaves," from hlaf "bread, loaf" + weard "keeper, guardian".

Amelioration: Rude
late 13c., "coarse, rough" (of surfaces), from L. rudis "rough, crude, unlearned,“ perhaps related to rudus "rubble."
Sense of "ill-mannered" is from late 14c.
Rude boy (also rudie, for short) in
Jamaican slang is attested from 1967.
Now is increasingly common to
characterize someone positively,
ie “Great”

Cool
O.E. col, from P.Gmc. *koluz (cf. M.Du. coel, Du. koel, O.H.G. kuoli, Ger. kühl "cool," O.N. kala "be cold"), from PIE root *gel- "cold, to freeze". Applied since 1728 to large sums of money to give emphasis to amount.
Slang use for "fashionable" is 1933, originally Black English, said to have been popularized in jazz circles by tenor saxophonist Lester Young.

Anglo-Saxon
French
Cow, calf, pig, ewe, goat
Beef, veal, pork, mutton

Forces triggering semantic change
Linguistic forces
Psychological forces
Sociocultural forces

Shift in denotation
Handsome c.1400, handsom "easy to handle, ready at hand," from hand (n.) + -some. Sense extended to "fair size, considerable" (1570s), then "having fine form, good-looking" (1580s). Meaning "generous“ 1680s. [Americans] use the word "handsome" much more extensively than in Britain:
Webster made a handsome speech in the Senate:
a lady talks handsomely, (eloquently:)
a book sells handsomely [Harriet Martineau, "Society in America," 1837]

What is hen then - a cock or a hen?
O.E. henn, < W.Gmc. *khannjo (cf. O.Fris. henn, M.Du. henne, O.H.G. henna), fem. of *han(e)ni "male fowl, cock" (cf. O.E. hana "cock"), lit. "bird who sings (for sunrise)," from PIE root *kan- "to sing"
Original masculine word survives in German (Hahn "cock"), Swedish, Danish, etc.;
E "female of any bird species" is early 14c.

Further reading
С. Улльман СЕМАНТИЧЕСКИЕ УНИВЕРСАЛИИ
(Новое в лингвистике. - Вып. 5. - М., 1970. - С. 250-299) http://www.philology.ru/linguistics1/ullman-70.htm