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| Ancient Belgian | |
|---|---|
| Belgic | |
| (controversial) | |
| Native to | Low Countries |
| Region | Nordwestblock |
| Ethnicity | Belgae |
| Extinct | Antiquity |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
Ancient Belgian is a hypotheticalextinctIndo-European language, spoken inBelgica (northernGaul) in lateprehistory. It is often identified with the hypotheticalNordwestblock.[3] While it remains a matter of controversy, the linguistMaurits Gysseling, who attributed the term to SJ De Laet, hypothesised a Belgian that was distinct from the laterCeltic andGermanic languages.[4] According to the theory, which was further elaborated byHans Kuhn and others, traces of Belgian can be found in certaintoponyms such as South-East-FlemishBevere,Eine,Mater andMelden.
The borders of the BelgianSprachraum are made up by theCanche and theAuthie in the south-west, theWeser and theAller in the east, and theArdennes and the GermanMittelgebirge in the south-east. It has been hypothetically associated with theNordwestblock, more specifically with theHilversum culture.
The use of the nameBelgian for the language is to some extent supported byJulius Caesar'sDe Bello Gallico. He mentions that theBelgae and theGalli spoke different languages. It is furthermore supported by toponyms in present-dayBelgium, which, according to Kuhn, point at the existence of an Indo-European language, distinct from Celtic and Germanic languages.[4] Hans Kuhn also noted certain connections (suffixes,ethnonyms,toponyms,anthroponyms) between this language and theIndo-European languages ofsouthern Europe, in particular with theItalic languages. Before their migration to the south, theItalics must have resided incentral Europe, in the vicinity of theGermans and theSlavs, as shown by the large vocabulary common to these groups. Some of them may have migrated to the northwest, while the others headed for theItalian peninsula, hence the connection that has been made between theUmbrians and theAmbrones of the shores of the North Sea.[1][2]
Proponents of the Belgian language hypothesis also suggest that it was influenced by Germanic languages during a first, early Germanicisation in the 3rd century BC, as distinct from theFrankish colonization in the 5th to the 8th centuries AD. For example, theGermanic sound shifts (p → f, t → th, k → h, ŏ → ă) have affected toponyms that supposedly have a Belgian-language origin.
Characteristics of Belgian are said to include the retention ofp after the sound shifts, a trait that it shared with theLusitanian language. Names of bodies of water ending in -ara, as in the name for theDender; -ănā or -ŏnā, as inMatrŏnā (Marne River and also the currentMater) and settlement names ending in -iŏm are supposedly typically Belgian as well.
According to Gysseling, traces of Belgian are still visible. Thediminutivesuffix -ika, thefeminizing suffixes -agjōn and -astrjō and thecollective suffix -itja have been incorporated inDutch, sometimes very productively. In toponymy,apa,poel,broek,gaver,drecht,laar andham are retained as Belgianloanwords.