 | This articleis missing information about Frankish phonology. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(February 2018) |
| Frankish | |
|---|---|
| Old Franconian, Old Frankish | |
| *Frankisk | |
| Native to | Francia |
| Region | Western Europe |
| Ethnicity | Franks |
| Era | Fully diverged into Old Low Franconian (Old Dutch) and the Old High Franconian dialects (Central Franconian,East Franconian andRhine Franconian) by the 10th century,[1][2][3][4] which dissolved with otherWest Germanic varieties intoOld High German, and influencedOld French as asuperstrate. |
| Elder Futhark (not widely used) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | frk |
frk | |
| Glottolog | fran1264oldd1237 |
Frankish (reconstructed endonym: *Frankisk),[8][9] also known asOld Franconian orOld Frankish, was theWest Germanic language spoken by theFranks from the 5th to 10th centuries.
Franks under king Chlodio would settle inRoman Gaul in the5th century. One of his successors, namedClovis I, would take over theRoman province ofGallia Lugdunensis (in modern day France). Outnumbered by the local populace, the ruling Franks there would adapt to its language which was aProto-Romance dialect. However, many modernFrench words and place names are still of Frankish origin.
Between the 5th and 9th centuries, Frankish spoken in Northeastern France, present-day Belgium, and the Netherlands is subsequently referred to asOld Dutch, whereas the Frankish varieties spoken in theRhineland were heavily influenced byElbe Germanic dialects and theSecond Germanic consonant shift and would form part of the modernCentral Franconian andRhine Franconian dialects ofGerman andLuxembourgish.[10]
The Old Frankish language is poorly attested and mostly reconstructed from Frankish loanwords inOld French, and inherited words in Old Dutch, as recorded between the 6th to 12th centuries. A notable exception is theBergakker inscription, which may represent a primary record of 5th-century Frankish, though it is debated whether the inscription is written in Frankish, or Old Dutch.[11]
Germanic philology andGerman studies have their origins in the first half of the 19th century whenRomanticism and Romantic thought heavily influenced the lexicon of thelinguists andphilologists of the time, including pivotal figures such as theBrothers Grimm. As a result, many contemporary linguists tried to incorporate their findings in an already existing historical framework of "stem duchies" andAltstämme (lit. "old tribes", i.e. the six Germanic tribes then thought to have formed the "German nation" in the traditional German nationalism of the elites) resulting in ataxonomy which spoke of "Bavarian", "Saxon", "Frisian", "Thuringian", "Swabian" and "Frankish" dialects. While this nomenclature became generally accepted in traditional Germanic philology, it has also been described as "inherently inaccurate" as these ancient ethnic boundaries (as understood in the 19th century) bore little or limited resemblance to the actual or historical linguistic situation of the Germanic languages. Among other problems, this traditional classification of the continentalWest Germanic dialects can suggest stronger ties between dialects than is linguistically warranted. The Franconian group is a well known example of this, withEast Franconian being much more closely related toBavarian dialects than it is toDutch, which is traditionally placed in theLow Franconian sub-grouping and with which it was thought to have had a common, tribal origin.[12]
In a modernlinguistic context, the language of the early Franks is variously called "Old Frankish" or "Old Franconian" and refers to the language of the Franks prior to the advent of theHigh German consonant shift, which took place between 600 and 700 AD. After this consonant shift the Frankish dialect diverges, with the dialects which would become modernLow Franconian not undergoing the consonantal shift, while all others did soto varying degrees.[13] As a result, the distinction betweenOld Dutch and Old Frankish is largely negligible, with Old Dutch (also calledOld Low Franconian) being the term used to differentiate between the affected and non-affected variants following the aforementioned Second Germanic consonant shift.[14]
The Germanic languages are traditionally divided into three groups:West,East andNorth Germanic.[15] Their exact relation is difficult to determine, and they remained mutually intelligible throughout theMigration Period, rendering some individual varieties difficult to classify.
The language spoken by the Franks was part of the West Germanic language group, which had features fromProto-Germanic in the lateJastorf culture (c. 1st century BC). The West Germanic group is characterized by a number ofphonological andmorphological innovations not found in North and East Germanic.[16] The West Germanic varieties of the time are generally split into three dialect groups:Ingvaeonic (North Sea Germanic),Istvaeonic (Weser–Rhine Germanic) andIrminonic (Elbe Germanic). While each had its own distinct characteristics, there certainly must have still been a high degree of mutual intelligibility between these dialects. In fact, it is unclear whether the West Germanic continuum of this time period, or indeed Franconian itself, should still be considered a single language or if it should be considered a collection of similar dialects.[17]
In any case, it appears that the Frankish tribes, or the later Franks, fit primarily into the Istvaeonic dialect group, with certain Ingvaeonic influences towards the northwest (still seen in modern Dutch), and more Irminonic (High German) influences towards the southeast.
The scholarly consensus concerning theMigration Period is that the Frankish identity emerged during the first half of the 3rd century out of various earlier, smallerGermanic groups, including theSalii,Sicambri,Chamavi,Bructeri,Chatti,Chattuarii,Ampsivarii,Tencteri,Ubii,Batavi, andTungri. It is speculated that these tribes originally spoke a range of related Istvaeonic dialects in the West Germanic branch of Proto-Germanic. Sometime in the 4th or 5th centuries, it becomes appropriate to speak of Old Franconian rather than an Istvaeonic dialect of Proto-Germanic.[18]
Very little is known about what the language was like during this period. One older runic sentence (dating from around 425–450 AD) is on thesword scabbard of Bergakker which is either a direct attestation of the Old Franconian language or the earliest attestation of Old Low Franconian (Old Dutch) language. Another early sentence from the early 6th century AD (that is also described as the earliest sentence inOld Dutch as well) is found in theLex Salica. This phrase was used to free aserf:
These are the earliest sentences yet found of Old Franconian.
During this early period, the Franks were divided politically and geographically into two groups: theSalian Franks and theRipuarian Franks. The language (or set of dialects) spoken by the Salian Franks during this period is sometimes referred to as early "Old Low Franconian", and consisted of two groups: "Old West Low Franconian" and "Old East Low Franconian". The language (or set of dialects) spoken by theRipuarian Franks are referred to just as Old Franconian dialects (or, by some, as Old Frankish dialects).
However, as already stated above, it may be more accurate to think of these dialects not as early Old Franconian but as Istvaeonic dialects in the West Germanic branch of Proto-Germanic.
At around the 5th century, the Franks probably spoke a range of related dialects and languages rather than a single uniform dialect or language.[19] The language of both government and the Church was Latin.[20]
During the expansion into France and Germany, many Frankish people remained in the original core Frankish territories in the north (i.e. southern Netherlands, Flanders, a small part of northern France, and the adjoining area in Germany centered on Cologne). The Franks united as a single group under Salian Frank leadership around 500 AD. Politically, the Ripuarian Franks existed as a separate group only until about 500 AD, after which they were subsumed into the Salian Franks. The Franks were united, but the various Frankish groups must have continued to live in the same areas that they had lived in before unification, and to speak the same dialects as before.
There must have been a close relationship between the various Franconian dialects. There was also a close relationship between Old Low Franconian (i.e. Old Dutch) and its neighboringOld Saxon andOld Frisian languages and dialects to the north and northeast, as well as the relatedOld English (Anglo-Saxon) dialects spoken in southern and eastern Britain.
A widening cultural divide grew between the Franks remaining in the north and the rulers far to the south.[21] Franks continued to reside in their original territories and to speak their original dialects and languages. It is not known what they called their language, but it is possible that they always called it "Diets" (i.e. "the people's language") or something similar. The word Diets is cognate with the Old English word þēodisc which, likewise, meant both nation and speech.
Philologists think ofOld Dutch andOld West Low Franconian as being the same language. However, sometimes reference is made to a transition from the language spoken by the Salian Franks toOld Dutch. The language spoken by the Salian Franks must have developed significantly during the seven centuries from 200 to 900 AD. At some point, the language spoken by the Franks must have become identifiably Dutch. Because Franconian texts are almost non-existent andOld Dutch texts scarce and fragmentary, it is difficult to determine when such a transition occurred, but it is thought to have happened by the end of the 9th century and perhaps earlier. By 900 AD the language spoken was recognizably an early form of Dutch, but that might also have been the case earlier.[22]Old Dutch made the transition toMiddle Dutch around 1150. A Dutch-French language boundary came into existence (but this was originally south of where it is today).[21][22]
The Franks expanded south intoGaul as the Western Roman Empire collapsed in the fifth century. Although the Franks would eventually conquer almost all of Gaul, speakers of Old Franconian expanded only into northern Gaul in numbers sufficient to have a linguistic effect. For several centuries, northern Gaul was a bilingual territory (Latin and Franconian). The language used in writing, in government and by the Church was Latin. Eventually, the Franks who had settled more to the south of this area in northern Gaul started adopting the common Latin of the local population. ThisColloquial Latin language acquired the name of the people who came to speak it (Frankish orFrançais); north of the French-Dutch language boundary, the language was no longer referred to as "Frankish" (if it ever was referred to as such) but rather came to be referred to as "Diets", i.e. the "people's language".[22]Urban T. Holmes has proposed that a Germanic language continued to be spoken as a second tongue by public officials in westernAustrasia andNeustria as late as the 850s, and that it completely disappeared as a spoken language from these regions only during the 10th century.[23]
The Franks also expanded their rule southeast into parts of Germany. Their language had some influence on local dialects, especially for terms relating to warfare. However, since the language of both the administration and the Church was Latin, this unification did not lead to the development of a supra-regional variety of Franconian nor a standardized German language. At the same time that the Franks were expanding southeast into what is now southern Germany, there were linguistic changes taking place in the region. TheHigh German consonant shift (orsecond Germanic consonant shift) was a phonological development (sound change) that took place in the southern parts of the West Germanic dialect continuum in several phases, probably beginning between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD, and was almost complete before the earliest written records in the High German language were made in the 9th century. The resulting language,Old High German, can be neatly contrasted withLow Franconian, which for the most part did not experience the shift.
The termFrankish orFranconian (Standard High German:Fränkisch, Dutch:Frankisch) is a modern linguistic category first introduced by the German linguistWilhelm Braune (1850–1926) to designate historical West Germanic texts which he could not readily classify as belonging to eitherLow Saxon,Alemannic orBavarian.[24] In contemporary linguistic terminology the term Franconian it used to describe a residual, non-homogeneous category of related dialects within the larger (historical) West Germanicdialect continuum. The various dialects conventionally grouped as Franconian have no commontypological features which apply to all the various dialects included within the group.
Although the practice of alluding to tribal names from theMigration Period when naming dialect groups during the early stages ofGermanic Philology was common as the linguistic borders of historical ancestor dialects were, at the time, thought to closely mirror the supposedtribal duchies of theFrankish Empire at the start of theEarly Middle Ages, for many of the varieties grouped underFranconian, thediachronical connection to the actual Frankish language remains unclear.[25]
TheSecond Germanic consonant shift, withLow Franconian (includingDutch andAfrikaans) not participating whereas theCentral Franconian (which includesLuxembourgish) did, to varying degrees, is typically the main isoglos used to divide the varieties having received the epithetFranconian.[26]
MostFrench words of Germanic origin came from Frankish, often replacing theLatin word which would have been used. It is estimated that modern French took approximately 1000 stem words from Old Franconian.[27] Many of these words were concerned with agriculture (e.g.French:jardin 'garden'), war (e.g.French:guerre 'war') or social organization (e.g.French:baron 'baron'). Old Franconian has introduced the modern French word for the nation,France (Francia), meaning 'land of the Franks'. According to one hypothesis, the name for the Paris region,Île-de-France, was also given by the Franks.[28]
The influence of Franconian on French is decisive for the birth of the earlylangues d'oïl compared to the otherRomance languages, that appeared later such asOccitan,Romanian,Portuguese,Spanish,Italian, etc., because its influence was greater than the respective influence ofVisigothic andLombardic (bothGermanic languages) on both Occitan and the Ibero-Romance languages, andItalian. Not all of these loanwords have been retained in modern French. French has also passed on words of Franconian origin to other Romance languages, and to English.
Old Franconian has also left manyetyma in the different northernlangues d'oïl such asBurgundian,Champenois,Lorrain, NorthernNorman,Picard andWalloon, more than in Standard French, and not always the same ones.[29]
Below is a non-exhaustive list of French words of Frankish origin. An asterisk prefixing a term indicates areconstructed form of the Frankish word. Most Franconian words with the phonemew changed it togu when entering Old French and otherRomance languages; however, the northernlangues d'oil such as Picard, Northern Norman, Walloon, Burgundian, Champenois an Lorrain retained the /w/ or turned it into /v/. Perhaps the best known example is the Franconian *werra ('war' < Old Northern Frenchwerre, compare Old High Germanwerre 'quarrel'), which entered modern French asguerre andguerra inItalian,Occitan,Catalan,Spanish andPortuguese. Other examples includegant ('gauntlet', from *want) andgarder ('to guard', from *wardōn). Franconian words starting withs before another consonant developed it intoes- (e.g. Franconianskirm and Old Frenchescremie > Old Italianscrimia > Modern Frenchescrime).[30]
| Current French word | Old Franconian | Dutch or other Germanic cognates | Latin/Romance |
|---|---|---|---|
| affranchir "to free" | *frank "freeborn; unsubjugated, answering to no one", nasalized variant of *frāki "rash, untamed, impudent" | Dufrank "unforced, sincere, frank",vrank "carefree, brazen", Dufrank en vrij (idiom) "free as air"[31] DuFrankrijk "France", Duvrek "miser", OHGfranko "free man"Norwegian:frekk "rude" | Llīberāre |
| alêne "awl" (Spalesna,Itlesina) | *alisna | MDuelsene, else,Duels | Lsūbula |
| alise "whitebeam berry" (OFralis, alie "whitebeam") | *alísō "alder"[32] | MDuelze, Duels "alder" (vs.GErle "alder"); Duelsbes "whitebeam", GElse "id." | non-native to the Mediterranean |
| baron | *baro "freeman", "bare of duties"[citation needed] | MDubaren "to give birth", Dubar "gravely", "bare", OHGbaro "freeman", OEbeorn "noble" | Germanic cultural import Late, Vulgar, and Medieval Latin*baro |
| bâtard "bastard" (FrProvbâsco) | *bāst "marriage"[33] | MDubast "lust, heat,reproductive season",WFrisboaste, boask "marriage" | Lnothus |
| bâtir "to build" (OFrbastir "to baste, tie together") bâtiment "building" bastille "fortress" bastion "fortress" | *bastian "to bind with bast string" | MDubesten "to sew up, to connect", OHGbestan "to mend, patch", Gbasteln "to tinker"; MDubest "liaison" (Du gemenebest "commonwealth") | Lconstruere (Itcostruire) |
| bêche "spade" | *becca/bicca "pickaxe/spade" | Lbecca | |
| bière "beer" | *bera | Dubier | Lcervisia (Celtic) |
| blanc, blanche "white" | *blank | Dublinken "to shine",blank "white, shining" | Lalbus |
| bleu "blue" (OFrblou, bleve) | *blao | MDublā, blau, blaeuw, Dublauw | Lcaeruleus "light blue",lividus "dark blue" |
| bois "wood, forest" | *busk "bush, underbrush" | MDubosch, busch, Dubos "forest", "bush" | Lsilva "forest" (OFrselve), Llignum "wood" (OFrlein)[34] |
| bourg "town/city" | *burg or *burc "fortified settlement" | ODuburg, MDuburchtGot.baurg OHGburg OEburh,OLGburg,ONborg | Lurbs "fortified city" |
| broder "to embroider" (OFrbrosder, broisder) | *brosdōn, blend of *borst "bristle" and *brordōn "to embroider" | GBorste "boar bristle", Duborstel "bristle"; OSbrordōn "to embroider, decorate",brord "needle" | Lpingere "to paint; embroider" (Frpeindre "to paint") |
| broyer "to grind, crush" (OFrbrier) | *brekan "to break" | Dubreken "to break", | LLtritāre (Occtrissar "to grind", but Frtrier "to sort"), LLpistāre (Itpestare "to pound, crush", OFrpester), Lmachīnare (Dalmmaknur "to grind",Rommăşina, Itmaşinare) |
| brun "brown" | *brūn | MDubrun and Dubruin "brown"[35] | Lfuscus. This Latin adjective means “dark”, “dusky”, or “brown”.[36] |
| choquer "to shock" | *skukjan | Duschokken "to shock, to shake" | |
| choisir "to choose" | *kiosan | MDukiesen, Dukiezen,keuze | Lēligere (Frélire "to elect"),VLexēligere (cf. Itscegliere),excolligere (Catescollir, Spescoger,Pgescolher) |
| chouette "barn owl" (OFrçuete, dim. ofchoë, choue "jackdaw") | *kōwa, kāwa "chough, jackdaw" | MDucouwe "rook", Dukauw, kaauw "chough" | not distinguished in Latin: Lbūbō "owl",ōtus "eared owl",ulula "screech owl",ulucus likewise "screech owl" (cf. Sploco "crazy"),noctua "night owl" |
| crampe "cramp" | *krampa | MDucrampe, GKrampf,ModSccramp, MEcramp | MF crampe,Spcalambre,NFcrampe |
| cresson "watercress" | *kresso | MDukersse, korsse, Dukers, dial.kors | Lnasturtium, LLberula (but Frberle "water parsnip") |
| danser "to dance" (OFrdancier) | *dansōn[37] | OHGdansōn "to drag along, trail"; further to MDudensen, deinsen "to shrink back", Dudeinzen "to stir; move away, back up", OHGdinsan "to pull, stretch" | LLballare (OFrballer, Itballare, Pgbailar) |
| début "begin" | *but "stump, log" | ONbútr "log, stump, butt",OEbutt "tree stump" | MFdesbuter "move, begin", OFbut "aim, goal, target" orbutte "mound, knoll, target" |
| déchirer "to rip, tear" (OFrescirer) | *skerian "to cut, shear" | MDuscēren, Duscheren "to shave, shear",scheuren "to tear" | VLextractiāre (Provestraçar, Itstracciare), VLexquartiare "to rip into fours" (Itsquarciare, but Frécarter "to move apart, distance"),exquintiare "to rip into five" (Cat/Occesquinçar) |
| dérober "to steal, reave" (OFrrober, Sprobar) | *rōbon "to steal" | MDurōven, Duroven "to rob" | VLfuricare "to steal" (Itfrugare) |
| écang "swingle-dag, tool for beating fibrous stems" | *swank "bat, rod" | MDuswanc "wand, rod", Du (dial. Holland)zwang "rod" | Lpistillum (Fr dial.pesselle "swingle-dag") |
| écran "screen" (OFrescran) | *skrank[38] | MDuschrank "chassis"; GSchrank "cupboard",Schranke "fence" | Lobex |
| écrevisse "crayfish" (OFrcrevice) | *krebit | Dukreeft "crayfish, lobster" | Lcammārus "crayfish" (cf. Occchambre, Itgambero, Pgcamarão) |
| éperon "spur" (OFresporon) | *sporo | MDuspōre, Duspoor | Lcalcar |
| épier "to watch" Old Frenchespie "male spy" , Modern Frenchespion is from Italian | *spehōn "to spy" | Duspieden,bespieden "to spy", HGspähen "to peer, to peek, to scout", | |
| escrime "fencing" < Old Italianscrimia < OFrescremie fromescremir "fight" | *skirm "to protect" | Duschermen "to fence",scherm "(protective) screen",bescherming "protection",afscherming "shielding" | |
| étrier "stirrup" (OFrestrieu, estrief) | *stīgarēp, fromstīgan "to go up, to mount" andrēp "band" | MDusteegereep, Dustijgreep,stijgen "to rise",steigeren | LLstapia (later MLstapēs), MLsaltatorium (cf. MFrsaultoir) |
| flèche "arrow" | *fliukka | Duvliek "arrow feather", MDuvliecke, OSfliuca (MLGfliecke "long arrow") | Lsagitta (OFrsaete, Itsaetta, Pgseta) |
| frais "fresh" (OFrfreis,fresche) | *friska "fresh" | Duvers "fresh",fris "cold", Germanfrisch | |
| franc "free, exempt; straightforward, without hassle" (LLfrancus "freeborn, freedman") France "France" (OFrFrancia) franchement "frankly" | *frank "freeborn; unsubjugated, answering to no one", nasalized variant of *frāki "rash, untamed, impudent" | MDuvrec "insolent", Dufrank "unforced, sincere, frank",vrank "carefree, brazen",[39] DuFrankrijk "France", Duvrek "miser", OHGfranko "free man" | Lingenuus "freeborn" LGallia[40] |
| frapper "to hit, strike" (OFrfraper) | *hrapan "to jerk, snatch"[41] | Durapen "gather up, collect", Graffen "to grab" | Lferire (OFrferir) |
| frelon "hornet" (OFrfurlone, MLfursleone) | *hurslo | MDuhorsel, Duhorzel | Lcrābrō (cf. Itcalabrone) |
| freux "rook" (OFrfrox, fru) | *hrōk | MDuroec, Duroek | not distinguished in Latin |
| galoper "to gallop" | *wala hlaupan "to run well" | Duwel "good, well" +lopen "to run" | |
| garder "to guard" | *wardōn | MDuwaerden "to defend", OSwardōn | Lcavere,servare |
| gant "gauntlet" | *want | Duwant "glove" | |
| givre "frost (substance)" | *gibara "drool, slobber" | EFrisgever, LGGeiber, GGeifer "drool, slobber" | Lgelū (cf. Frgel "frost (event); freezing") |
| glisser "to slip" (OFrglier) | *glīdan "to glide" | MDuglīden, Duglijden "to glide"; Duglis "skid"; Ggleiten,Gleis "track" | MLplanare |
| grappe "bunch (of grapes)" (OFrcrape, grape "hook, grape stalk") | *krāppa "hook" | MDucrappe "hook", Du (dial. Holland)krap "krank", GKrapfe "hook", (dial.Franconian)Krape "torture clamp, vice" | Lracemus (Provrasim "bunch", Catraïm, Spracimo, but Frraisin "grape") |
| gris "grey" | *grîs "grey" | Dugrijs "grey" | Lcinereus "ash-coloured, grey" |
| guenchir "to turn aside, avoid" | *wenkjan | Duwenken "to beckon", OSwenkian "to defect, become unfaithful", OHGwenchen "to bend, buckle, warp" | |
| guérir "to heal, cure" (OFrgarir "to defend") guérison "healing" (OFrgarrison "healing") | *warjan "to protect, defend" | MDuweeren, Duweren "to protect, defend", Du bewaren "to keep, preserve" | Lsānāre (Sardsanare, Sp/Pgsanar, OFrsaner),medicāre (Dalmmedcuar "to heal") |
| guerre "war" | *werra "war" | Duwar[42] orwirwar "tangle",[43]verwarren "to confuse" | Lbellum |
| guider "to guide"; guide "guide" | *wītan | Duweten "to know" | Ldērigere |
| guigne "heart cherry" (OFrguisne) | *wīksina[44] | GWeichsel "sour cherry", (dial.Rhine Franconian)Waingsl, (dial.East Franconian)Wassen, Wachsen | non-native to the Mediterranean |
| haïr "to hate" (OFrhadir "to hate") haine "hatred" (OFrhaïne "hatred") | *hatjan | Duhaten "to hate",haat "hatred" | Lōdī "to hate",odium "hatred" |
| hanneton "cockchafer" | *hāno "rooster" +-eto (diminutive suffix) with sense of "beetle, weevil" | Duhaan "rooster", leliehaantje "lily beetle", bladhaantje "leaf beetle", GHahn "rooster", (dial. Rhine Franconian)Hahn "sloe bug, shield bug", Lilienhähnchen "lily beetle" | LLbruchus "chafer" (cf. Fr dial.brgue, beùrgne, brégue),cossus (cf.SwRomcoss, OFrcosson "weevil") |
| haubert "hauberk" | *halsberg "neck-cover"[45] | Duhals "neck" +berg "cover" (cf Duherberg "hostel") | Llorica |
| héron "heron" | *heigero, variant of *hraigro | MDuheiger "heron", Dureiger "heron" | Lardea |
| houx "holly" | *hulis | MDuhuls, Duhulst | Laquifolium (Spacebo), later VLacrifolium (Occgrefuèlh, agreu, Catgrèvol, Itagrifoglio) |
| jardin "garden" (VLhortus gardinus "enclosed garden", Ofrjardin,jart)[46][47] | *gardo "garden" | Dugaard "garden",boomgaard "orchard"; OSgardo "garden" | Lhortus |
| lécher "to lick" (OFrlechier "to live in debauchery") | *leccōn "to lick" | MDulecken, Dulikken "to lick" | Llingere (Sardlínghere),lambere (Splamer, Pglamber) |
| maçon "bricklayer" (OFrmasson, machun) | *mattio "mason"[48] | Dumetsen "to mason",metselaar "masoner"; OHGmezzo "stonemason",meizan "to beat, cut", GMetz, Steinmetz "mason" | VLmurator (Occmurador, Sardmuradore, Itmuratóre) |
| maint "many" (OFrmaint,meint "many") | *menigþa "many" | Dumenig "many",menigte "group of people" | |
| marais "marsh, swamp" | *marisk "marsh" | MDumarasch, meresch, maersc, Dumeers "wet grassland", (dial. Holland)mars | Lpaludem (Occpalun, Itpalude) |
| maréchal "marshal" maréchaussée "military police" | *marh-skalk "horse-servant" | ODumarscalk "horse-servant" (marchi "mare" +skalk "servant"); MDumarscalc "horse-servant, royal servant" (mare "mare" +skalk "serf"); Dumaarschalk "marshal" (merrie "mare" +schalk "comic",schalks "teasingly") | |
| nord "north" | *Nortgouue (790–793 A.D.) "north" + "frankish district" (Dugouw, DeuGau, Fri/LSaxGo) | Dunoord ornoorden "north",[49] DuHenegouwen (province ofHainaut)[50] | Lseptemtrio(nes) / septentrio(nes) "north, north wind, northern regions, (pl.) seven stars near the north pole",boreas "north wind, north",aquilo "stormy wind, north wind, north",aquilonium "northerly regions, north" |
| osier "osier (basket willow);withy" (OFrosière, MLauseria) | *halster[51] | MDuhalster, LG dial.Halster, Hilster "bay willow" | Lvīmen "withy" (Itvimine "withy", Spmimbre, vimbre "osier", Pgvimeiro, Catvímet "withy"),vinculum (Itvinco "osier", dial.vinchio, Friulvenc) |
| patte "paw" | *pata "foot sole" | Dupoot "paw",[52] Dupets "strike"; LGPad "sole of the foot";[53] further to GPatsche "instrument for striking the hand",Patschfuss "web foot",patschen "to dabble", (dial.Bavarian)patzen "to blot, pat, stain"[54] | LLbranca "paw" (Sardbrànca, Itbrince, Rombrîncă, Provbranca,Romanshfranka, but Frbranche "treelimb"), see also DeuPranke |
| poche "pocket" | *poka "pouch" | MDupoke, G dial.Pfoch "pouch, change purse" | Lbulga "leather bag" (Frbouge "bulge"), LLbursa "coin purse" (Frbourse "money pouch, purse", Itbórsa, Sp/Pgbolsa) |
| riche "rich" | *rīkī "rich" | MDurike, Durijk "kingdom", "rich" | Ldives |
| sale "dirty" | *salo "pale, sallow" | MDusalu, saluwe "discolored, dirty", Du (old)zaluw "tawny" | Lsuccidus (cf. Itsudicio, Spsucio, Pgsujo,Ladinscich,Friulsoç) |
| salle "room" | *sala "hall, room" | ODuzele "house made with sawn beams", Many place names: "Melsele", "Broeksele" (Brussels) etc. | |
| saule "willow" | *salha "sallow,pussy willow" | OHGsalaha, GSalweide "pussy willow", OEsealh | Lsalix "willow" (OFrsauz, sausse) |
| saisir "toseize,snatch; bring suit, vest a court" (MLsacīre "to lay claim to, appropriate") | *sakan "to take legal action"[55] | Duzeiken "to nag, to quarrel",zaak "court case", OSsakan "to accuse", OHGsahhan "to strive,quarrel, rebuke",OEsacan "to quarrel, claim by law, accuse"; | VLaderigere (OFraerdre "to seize") |
| standard "standard" (OFrestandart "standard") | *standhard "stand hard, stand firm" | Dustaan (to stand) +hard "hard" | |
| tamis "sieve" (Ittamigio) | *tamisa | MDutemse, teemse, obs. Duteems "sifter" | Lcrībrum (Frcrible "riddle, sift") |
| tomber "to fall" (OFrtumer "tosomersault") | *tūmōn "totumble" | Dutuimelen "to tumble", OS/OHGtūmōn "to tumble", | Lcadere (archaic Frchoir, Frchute (a fall) ) |
| trêve "truce" | *treuwa "loyalty, agreement" | Dutrouw "faithfulness, loyalty" | Lpausa (Frpause) |
| troène "privet" (dialectaltruèle,MLtrūlla) | *trugil "hard wood; smalltrough" | OHGtrugilboum, harttrugil "dogwood; privet", GHartriegel "dogwood", dialectally "privet", (dial. Eastern)Trögel, archaic (dial. Swabian)Trügel "small trough,trunk,basin" | Lligustrum |
| tuyau "pipe,hose" (OFrtuiel, tuel) | *þūta | MDutūte "nipple; pipe", Dutuit "spout,nozzle", OEþēote "channel;canal" | Lcanna "reed; pipe" (It/SwRom/FrProvcana "pipe") |
Franconian speech habits are also responsible[citation needed] for the replacement of Latincum ("with") withod ←apud "at", then withavuec ←apud hoc "at it" ≠ Italian, Spanishcon) in Old French (Modern Frenchavec), and for the preservation of Latin nominativehomo "man" as an impersonal pronoun: cf.homme ←hominem "man (accusative)" and Old Frenchhum, hom, om → modernon, "one" (compare Dutchman "man" andmen, "one").
Middle English also adopted many words with Franconian roots from Old French; e.g.random (via Old Frenchrandon, Old French verbrandir, from*rant "a running"),standard (via Old Frenchestandart, from*standhard "stand firm"),scabbard (via Anglo-French *escauberc, from *skar-berg),grape,stale,march (via Old Frenchmarche, from *marka) among others.
All experts agree on the meaning of the second word: "I (he) grant(s)", and many consider the first word to be the name of the owner of the sword that the scabbard belonged to. Opinions vary on how this name should be read, just as the latter two words have been interpreted very differently. Keeping in mind the function of the piece, some academics read the last word as "sword(s)".
There has never been such a thing as one Frankish language. The Franks spoke different languages.
The linguists distinguish Old Low Franconian from the other Franconian dialects, e. g., Rhenish Franconian.
