Wikipedia

Lombardic language

For the group of modern-day Romance varieties of Switzerland and Italy, seeLombard language.

LombardicorLangobardic(German:Langobardisch) is an extinctWest Germanic languagethat was spoken by theLombards(Langobardi), theGermanic peoplewho settled in present-dayItalyin the sixth century and established theKingdom of the Lombards.It was already declining by the seventh century because the invaders quickly adopted theVulgar Latinspoken by the local population. Many toponyms inmodern LombardyandGreater Lombardy(Northern Italy) and items ofLombardand broaderGallo-Italicvocabulary derive from Lombardic.

Lombardic
Langobardic
RegionPannoniaandItaly
ExtinctLate 8th century[1]
Runic script,Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3lng
lng
GlottologNone
Italy at the time of the Lombards
This article containsIPAphonetic symbols.Without properrendering support,you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbolsinstead ofUnicodecharacters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA.

Lombardic is aTrümmersprache(literally, 'rubble-language'), that is, a language preserved only in fragmentary form: there are no texts in Lombardic, only individual words and personal names cited inLatinlaw codes,histories andcharters.As a result, there are many aspects of the language about which nothing is known.[2][3]

Some scholars have proposed that the modernCimbrianandMòchenolanguages are descended from Lombardic, but this is rejected by a majority of scholars.[4]

Classification

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Lombardic is classified as part of theUpper Germangroup ofWest Germaniclanguages, descended fromElbe Germanic,and most closely related to its geographical neighboursAlemannicandBavarian.This is consistent with the accounts of classical historians, and indeed with the archaeological evidence of Langobardic settlement along the riverElbe.[5]

In view of the lack of Lombardic texts and the narrow scope of the attested Lombardic vocabulary — almost entirely nouns in the nominative case and proper names — the classification rests entirely onphonology.Here the clear evidence of theSecond Sound Shiftshows that the language must beHigh German,rather thanNorth Sea GermanicorEast Germanic,as some earlier scholars proposed.[6]

The Lombardic Corpus

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The main evidence for Lombardic comes from contemporary documents written in Latin, where (a) individual Lombardic terms are cited and (b) people with Lombardic names are mentioned. There are also a small number of inscriptions, a handful of which use theRunic Alpha bet.Additional information about the vocabulary of Lombardic comes from later-attestedloan wordsintoItalianand its dialects, as well as a large number of Italianplace namesof Lombardic origin (seebelow).

The documentary sources fall into three categories:[7]

  1. Lombardic law codes
  2. Narrative histories
  3. Administrative documents of theLombard kingdomsuch ascharters.

Phonology

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Establishing sound values for Lombardic is problematic for two reasons. Where words are attested in contemporary Lombardic documents, scribes trained in Latin could not be expected to record accurately, or even consistently, the sounds of Lombardic. In the case of loanwords, these are often attested much later, by which time their form will have been affected not only by the adaptation to the phonology of the variousGallo-Italic languagesbut also by subsequent sound changes in the development ofItalian.[8][9]

Vowels

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The vowel system of Lombardic is very conservative and largely preserves theProto-Germanicsystem.[10]The three main vowel developments characteristic of other Upper German dialects are lacking in Lombardic.

  • There is no evidence of thePrimary Umlautof /a/, which is prevalent inOld High German(OHG), e.g. Lombardiccamphio= OHGchemphio( "champion" ).[11]
  • Thediphthongs/ai/ and /au/ are preserved, whereas in other Old High German dialects they become /ei/ and /ou/ or aremonophthongizedto /e:/ and /o:/ in certain phonetic contexts. Examples: Lgb.schuldhais= OHGscultheizo( "mayor" );[12]Lgb.rairaub= OHGrêroup( "body snatching" );[13]Lgb.launegild= OHGlôngelt( "payment" ).[14]
  • The mid long vowels /e:/ and /o:/, which are diphthongized in OHG to /ea~ia/ and /uo/ respectively, remain unchanged in Lombardic. Examples: Lgb.mêta= OHGmiata( "price" );[15]Lgb.plôvum= OHGphluog( "plough" ).[16]

Consonants

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Lombardic participated in and indeed shows some of the earliest evidence for theHigh German consonant shift.TheHistoria LangobardorumofPaulus Diaconusmentions a dukeZabanof 574, showing/t/shifted to/ts/.The termstolesazo(ablative)[17](the second element is cognate with Englishseat) in theEdictum Rotharishows the same shift. Many names in the Lombard royal families show shifted consonants, particularly/b/>/p/in the following name components:

  • -bert>-pert:Aripert, Godepert
  • -berg>-perg:Gundperga (daughter ofKing Agilulf)
  • -brand>-prand:Ansprand, Liutprand

Thissound changeleft two different sets of nouns in theItalian language:palco(< Lombardicpalk,"beam" ) vs.balcone(< Lombardicbalk,"wood platform" );panca(< Lombardicpanka) vs.banca(Lombardicbanka,"bench" ).[18]

Decline

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It is not possible to say with certainty when the Lombardic language died out and there are divergent views on the issue.[19]It seems certain that it was in decline even before the end of the Lombardic kingdom in 774, though it may have survived longer in Northern areas, with their denser Lombardic settlement.[20][21]In any case, the Lombard host which had invaded Italy was not monolingual: in addition to a sizeable body ofSaxons,there were also "Gepids,Bulgars,Sarmatians,Pannonians,Suevi,Noricansand so on "(Historia Langobardorum,II, 26).[22]

In the areas of Italy settled by the Lombards, "there followed a rapid mi xing of Roman and barbarian, especially among the population settled on the land."[23]The Lombard conversion fromArianismtoRoman Catholicismin the 7th century would have removed a major barrier to the integration of the two populations.[24][25]By the 8th century speakers of Lombardic were bilingual, adopting the localGallo-Italiclanguage.[2]

Even as use of the language declined, Lombardic personal names remained popular, though they gradually lost their connection to the source language, adopting Latin endings. The 8th century also saw the development of hybrid names with both Lombardic and Latin elements (e.g.Alipertulus= LgbAlipert+ Lat.-ulus).[26]By this time occurrence of both Lombardic and Latin names within a single family "is so widespread that such cases make up the majority throughout Lombard Italy".[27]

Explicit evidence of the death of Lombardic comes in the late 10th century: theSalerno Chroniclementions the "German language which the Lombards previously spoke" (lingua todesca, quod olim Langobardi loquebantur,cap. 38). But some knowledge of Lombardic remained: the Salerno chronicler nonetheless knows that the Lombardic termstoleseyzincludes an element which means "sitting" (sedendo).[28]As late as 1003, a charter uses the Lombardic termscarnafol( "filthy fellow" ) as an insult.[29]

Influence on Italian and Lombard

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Loan words

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At least 280 Italian words have been identified as Lombardicloans,though there is wide local variation and some are found only in areas settled by the Lombards.[30]One problem in detecting Lombardic loans is that they are not always readily distinguishable fromGothic,the language of the previous Germanic rulers of Italy. In many cases, it is only evidence of the Second Sound Shift, which did not affect Gothic, that guarantees a Lombardic source for a loanword.[31]However, the Sound Shift is equally present in Alemannic and Bavarian, which are also potential sources of loans into Northern Italian varieties at this period.[32]

The main areas of the Lombardic vocabulary surviving in Italian are: warfare and weapons, the law, government and society, housebuilding and the household, objects and activities from daily life. Of these, however, Lombardic government and legal terms were to a great extent superseded by theGallo-Romanvocabulary of theFrankish conquest.[33][7]The predominance of loans relating to daily life "would appear to be a sign that the Longobards fitted in and integrated with the locals at a grass-roots level."[34]

Examples:[35]

  • anca,"hip" < lgb.hanka
  • balcone,"balcony", andpalco,"shelf" < lgb.balk
  • bussare,"knock" < lgbbauʒʒan
  • faida,"blood feud" <lgb.faihida
  • graffa,"brace" < lgb.krāpfo"hook"
  • guancia"cheek", < lgbwangja
  • gufo,"owl" < lgb.gôfjan"cry out"
  • lesto,"fast" < lgb.list"cleverness"
  • melma,"mud" < lgb.melm
  • nocca,"knuckle" < lgb.knohha
  • panca,"bench" < lgb.banka,panka
  • russare,"snore" < lgb.hrûʒʒan
  • scaglia,"scale, skin" < lgb.skalja
  • taccola,"jackdaw" < lgbtâhhala
  • zazzera,"mop of hair" < lgb.zazza.

TheLombard languageis a distinctRomance languagespoken in Northern Italy andSwitzerland.It, too, has loans from Lombardic. The following examples come fromBergamasque,anEastern Lombard dialect.[36][37]

  • blösen,"chopped hay" < lgb.blôsem( "flower" )
  • breda,"cultivated field" < lgb.braida( "open plain" )
  • garb,"sour, unripe" < lgb.harwi
  • margnöch,"stubborn" < lgb.mahr+knohha( "horse" + "bone/head" )
  • ròsta,"railing" < lgb.hrausta( "bundle of branches" )
  • scagna,it.scranno,"chair" < lgb.skranna( "bench" )
  • strobià:,"to clean the house" < lgb.straufinôn( "to rub away" ).

Place names

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When the Lombards settled in Italy they had no previous acquaintance with Latin, with the result that the earliest Lombard settlements received Lombardic names.[38]There are a number of distinct types of name.

EachLombard dukewas the lord of a group of military clans, who were settled in the area he ruled. The Lombardic term for such a clan wasfara,and it has given its name (or the variantfarra) to a number of Italian settlements, including:[38]

Many settlements took their names from Lombardic personal names. For example the Lombardic nameGairo( "spear" ) is the source of: Noci Garrioni (Cremona), Garin (Turin), Garini (CuneoandAlessandria), Carengo (Novara), Ghiringhello (Verona), Gairilo (Brescia), Ghirla, (Verona), Garlasco (Pavia), Garleri (Porto Maurizio), and Garlazzolo (Pavia).[39]Gamillscheg counts over 700 of these.[40]

In many cases a Lombard personal name was appended to the Latin word for a natural feature.[41]Thus Latincollis( "hill" ) appears coupled with, for example, lgb.Alibertin Colle-Alberti (Florence,Pisa), lgb.Gunzoin Collegonzi (Florence), andRaginwaldin Collerinaldo (Aquila).[42]

Finally, there are over 30 Lombardic common nouns which have formed the basis for Italian place names, including:[43]

  • Lgb.berga( "mountain" ) > Berghi (Trient), Berga (Vicenza), Valperga (Turin)
  • Lgb.skuldhaizo( "mayor" ) > Scaldasole (Pavia), Casale di Scodosia (Padua)
  • Lgb.stôdigard( "stud farm" ) > Stoerda (Novara) (cf.Stuttgart).

Personal names

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A number of Lombardic personal names survive in modern Italy (for example,Aldo), but where they have it is mostly in the form of a surname:Ansaldo,Grimaldi,Garibaldi,Landolfi,Pandolfi,Siccardiare all of Lombardic origin.[44]

Sources

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Latin

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There are a number of Latin texts that include Lombardic names, and Lombardic legal texts contain terms taken from the legal vocabulary of the vernacular, including:

In 2006, Emilia Denčeva argued that the inscription of thePernik swordmay be Lombardic.[45]

Runic

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There are two short inscriptions in theElder Futharkwhich are regarded as Lombardic.[46]

TheSchretzheimbronze capsule, from 540–590:[47][48][49]

  • On the lid:arogis d
  • On the bottom:alaguþleuba dedun
Translation: "Arogis and Alaguth (and) Leuba made (it)"[46]
The Futhark on the Breza half-column

The twofibulaefromBezenye,Hungary,from 510–590.[50][51][52]

  • Fibula A:godahid unj[a][50]
  • Fibula B:(k?)arsiboda segun[53]
Translation: "Godahi(l)d, (with) sympathy (I?) Arsiboda bless"[46]

There is debate as to whether the inscription on the fifth-centurySzabadbattyánbelt buckle[54]is Lombardic orGothic,and the reading is uncertain.[48][55][56]The futhark on the Breza half-column is regarded as either Lombardic orAlemannic.[57]

Notes

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  1. ^"The New Cambridge Medieval History: c. 500-c. 700" by Paul Fouracre andRosamond McKitterick(page 8)
  2. ^abTischler 1989,p. 195.
  3. ^Francovich Onesti 2014,p. 1.
  4. ^Services, Diplomatic Language (2019-05-02)."The Cimbrian Language".Diplomatic Language Services.Retrieved2024-08-11.
  5. ^Christie 1995,p. 5.
  6. ^Maurer 1952,pp. 51–52.
  7. ^abFrancovich Onesti 2014,p. 3.
  8. ^Bruckner 1895,p. 37.
  9. ^Falloumini 2015,p. 111.
  10. ^Mitzka 1951,p. 4.
  11. ^Bruckner 1895,p. 57.
  12. ^Bruckner 1895,p. 100.
  13. ^Bruckner 1895,p. 103.
  14. ^Bruckner 1895,p. 105.
  15. ^Bruckner 1895,p. 90.
  16. ^Bruckner 1895,p. 93.
  17. ^Edictus rothari,cap. 150: "[...] districtus ab stolesazo."
  18. ^Giacomo Devoto:Dizionario etimologico.
  19. ^Francovich Onesti 2014,p. 9.
  20. ^Meyer 1877,p. 5.
  21. ^Gamillscheg 2017,p. 200.
  22. ^Christie 1995,p. 64.
  23. ^Todd 2004,p. 246.
  24. ^Hutterer 1999,pp. 337–338.
  25. ^Francovich Onesti 2002,p. 11.
  26. ^Francovich Onesti 2002,p. 2.
  27. ^Francovich Onesti 2002,p. 17.
  28. ^Bruckner 1895,p. 14.
  29. ^Naumann & Betz 1962,p. 22.
  30. ^Gamillscheg 2017,pp. 174–5.
  31. ^Rohlfs 1947,p. 9.
  32. ^Gamillscheg 2017,p. 128.
  33. ^Vennemann 2003,pp. 13–14.
  34. ^Christie 1995,p. 167.
  35. ^Gamillscheg 2017,pp. 129–174, with many other examples.
  36. ^Sizzi 2014.
  37. ^Gamillscheg 2017,pp. 134–157.
  38. ^abGamillscheg 2017,p. 62.
  39. ^Gamillscheg 2017,p. 92.
  40. ^Gamillscheg 2017,p. 119.
  41. ^Gamillscheg 2017,p. 108-119, with a count of 400..
  42. ^Gamillscheg 2017,p. 112.
  43. ^Gamillscheg 2017,p. 63-69.
  44. ^Francovich Onesti 2014,p. 2.
  45. ^Dentschewa 2006.
  46. ^abcHutterer 1999,p. 341.
  47. ^Siegmüller 2008a.
  48. ^abNaumann & Betz 1962,p. 85.
  49. ^Looijenga 2003,p. 255.
  50. ^abSiegmüller 2008b.
  51. ^Naumann & Betz 1962,p. 86.
  52. ^Looijenga 2003,p. 230.
  53. ^Siegmüller 2008c.
  54. ^Siegmüller 2008d.
  55. ^Looijenga 2003,p. 148.
  56. ^Krause 2014,p. 120.
  57. ^Krause 2014,p. 285.

References

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Further reading

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  • Francovich Onesti, Nicoletta (2000).Vestigia longobarde in Italia (468-774). Lessico e antroponimia[Lombard vestiges in Italy (468-774). Lexicon and anthroponymy] (in Italian) (2 ed.). Rome: Artemide.ISBN9788886291347.
  • Gamillscheg, Ernst (1939)."Zur Geschichte der germanischen Lehnwörter des Italienischen"[On the history of the Germanic loanwords of Italian].Zeitschrift für Volkskunde[Folklore Journal] (in German). 10 (Neue Folge): 89–120.Retrieved30 August2020.
  • Ronchee, Adalbert (2015)."El lessegh lombard".Lombardia Granda(in Lombard).Retrieved20 September2020.
  • van der Rhee, F (1970).Die germanischen Wörter in den langobardischen Gesetzen[The Germanic words in the Lombard laws] (PhD) (in German). Rotterdam: University of Utrecht.
  • Wallace-Hadrill, J. M.(1996). "Italy and the Lombards".The Barbarian West 400-1100(3rd revised ed.). London: Hutchinson. pp. 43–63.ISBN0631202927.
  • Zaccaria, Enrico (1901).L'elemento germanico nella lingua italiana[The Germanic element in the Italian language] (in Italian). Bologna: Libreria Editrice Treves.
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Wiktionaryhas a category onItalian terms derived from Lombardic.
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