Everything about Lombardic Language totally explained
Lombardic or
Langobardic is the extinct language of the
Lombards (
Langobardi), the
Germanic speaking settlers in
Italy in the
6th century. The language declined from the 7th century, but may have been in scattered use until as late as ca. AD
1000. The language is only preserved fragmentarily, the main evidence being individual words quoted in
Latin texts.
In the absence of Lombardic texts, it isn't possible to draw any conclusions about the language's morphology and syntax. The genetic classification the language is necessarily based entirely on phonology. Since there's evidence that Lombardic participated in, and indeed shows some of the earliest evidence for, the
High German consonant shift, it's classified as an
Elbe Germanic or
Upper German dialect. The
Historia Langobardorum of
Paulus Diaconus mentions a duke
Zaban of 574, showing /t/ shifted to /ts/. The term
stolesazo (the second element is cognate with English
seat) in the
Edictum Rothari shows the same shift. Many names in the Lombard royal families show shifted consonants, particularly /p/ < /b/ in the following name components:
- pert < bert: Aripert, Godepert
- perg < berg: Perctarit, Gundperga (daughter of King Agilulf)
- prand < brand: Ansprand, Liutprand
It has been suggested that the consonant shift may even have originated in Lombardic.
Formerly, Lombardic was classified as
Ingaevonian (North Sea Germanic), but this classification is considered obsolete. The classification of Lombardic within the Germanic languages may be complicated by issues of orthography. According to Hutterer (1999) it's close to
Old Saxon.
Tacitus counts them among the
Suebi.
Paulus Diaconus (8th century) and the
Codex Gothanus (9th century) wrote that the Lombards were ultimately of Scandinavian origin, having settled at the
Elbe before entering Italy.
Longbardic fragments are preserved in
runic inscriptions, in latinized forms, and in transcriptions influenced by
Old High German orthography. This
Lombardic alphabet, as commonly transcribed, consists of the following graphemes:
» a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q(u), r, s, ʒ, t, þ, u, w, z
The
qu represents a [kw] sound. The
ʒ is [s], for example
skauʒ [skaus] "womb".
The
z is [ts].
h is [h] word-initially, and [x] elsewhere.
Among the primary source texts are short inscriptions in the
Elder Futhark, among them the "bronze capsule of
Schretzheim" (ca. 600):
» On the lid:
arogisd
On the bottom:
alaguþleuba : dedun » ("Arogisl/-gast. Alaguth (and) Leuba made (it)", less likely "Arogis and Alaguth made love")
And also the two fibulae of
Pallersdorf,
Hungary (mid 6th century):
» Fibula A:
godahid unj[a]
Fibula B:
(k?)arsiboda segun » ("To Godahi(l)d, (with) sympathy (?), Arsiboda's bless")
There are a number of Latin texts which include Lombardic names, and Lombardic legal texts contain terms taken from the legal vocabulary of the vernacular, including:
Origo gentis Langobardorum
Paulus Diaconus, Historia Langobardorum
Historia Langobardorum codicis Gothani
Edictum Rothari
In 2005, there were claims that the inscription of the Pernik sword may be Lombardic.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Lombardic Language'.
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