| Vandalic | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Spain,North Africa |
| Extinct | 6th century AD |
Indo-European
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xvn |
xvn | |
| Glottolog | vand1245 |
Vandalic was theGermanic language spoken by theVandals during roughly the 3rd to 6th centuries. It was probably closely related toGothic, and, as such, is traditionally classified as anEast Germanic language.[1]: 9 Its attestation is very fragmentary, mainly due to the Vandals' constant migrations and late adoption of writing. All modern sources from the time when Vandalic was spoken areprotohistoric.[2]: 43–44
Vandalic is traditionally classified as an East Germanic language,[3]: 4 [4] while the reasons for this classification are mostly historical and not linguistical.[1]: 7 Due to the perception of Vandalic as an East Germanic language, its reconstruction fromonomastics recorded by Greek and Roman sources relies on Gothic forms. Therefore, it is difficult to assess whether or not Vandalic is closely related to Gothic.[1]: 9
Theories include that Vandalic together with Gothic andBurgundian formed adialect continuum;[5] that the language of the Vandals was actually Gothic;[2]: 47 and that they were different languages that separated early on, without having an intermediary East Germanic ancestor.[6]
According to their own mythology, theGoths originally came fromScandinavia. It is debated whether Gothic, and by extension Vandalic, came from Scandinavia, as linguistic evidence shows no specific relation betweenNorth Germanic and either Gothic or Vandalic. Still, it is possible that both the Goths and the Vandals migrated from Scandinavia southwards, where their respective languages started to diverge fromProto-Germanic.[6]
The linguisticurheimat of Vandalic probably lies south of the Baltic sea. Theycrossed the Rhine in the fifth century,[6] establishing themselves together with theHasdingi and theSilingi inGallaecia (northernPortugal andGalicia) and insouthern Spain, following other Germanic and non-Germanic peoples (Visigoths,Alans andSuebi) in c. 410 before they movedto North Africa in the 430s. Their kingdom flourished in the early 6th century, but after theirdefeat in 534 they were placedunder Byzantine administration.[7][8]: 1 The Vandalic language is presumed to still have been spoken at the time of the Byzantine conquest.[8]: 95 It likely disappeared before the end of the century.[4]
Very little is known about the Vandalic language other than various phrases and a small number of personal names of Vandalic origin, mainly known from documents and coins.[1]: 7 [2]: 44 Most Vandalic names were recorded by native speakers of Latin or Greek, who might have misinterpreted phonemes or assimilated names to those common in their mother tongue.[2]
The regional nameAndalusia is traditionally believed to have derived from Vandalic, although thisclaim is contested. Following theUmayyad conquest of Hispania, from the 8th century to the end of the 15th the region was calledAl-Andalus.[9]
In one inscription from theVandal Kingdom, the Christian incantation ofKyrie eleison ("Lord, have mercy!") is given in Vandalic as "Froia arme".[10][11] The same phrase appears inCollatio Beati Augustini cum Pascentio ariano 15 byPseudo-Augustine: "Froja armes".[12] It is possible that this sentence is, in fact, Gothic since the Vandals might have used Gothic as liturgical language.[11]: 262
The epigramDe conviviis barbaris in theLatin Anthology, of North African origin and disputed date, contains a fragment in a Germanic language that some authors believe to be Vandalic,[13][2]: 49–50 although the fragment itself refers to the language as "Gothic". This may be because both languages were East Germanic and closely related; scholars have pointed out in this context[2]: 48 thatProcopius refers to theGoths, Vandals,Visigoths, andGepids as "Gothic nations" and opines that they "are all of theArian faith, and have one language called Gothic".[14] The fragment reads:
Inter "eils" Goticum "scapia matzia ia drincan!" |
Other surviving Vandalic words areBaudus, "master"[16] andVandalirice, "King of the Vandals".[17]
The phonological features of Vandalic are similar to those of Gothic.[3]: 7
The following vowel inventory is based on Wrede:[3]: 91–101
| Front | Central | Back | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | ||
| High | i | iː | u | uː | |||
| Mid | eː | oː | |||||
| Low | a | ||||||
The Proto-Germanic long vowel */e:/ is often written in Vandalic names as⟨e⟩ (Gunthimer,Geilimer), but it is also represented as⟨i⟩Geilamir,Vitarit.[3]: 91
The Proto-Germanic short vowel */e/ is often written as⟨i⟩ in Vandalic[2]: 96 when it was not preceded by */r,h,w/. For example,Sigisteun contains -i becauseg precedes the vowel, butBeremut retains the *e sincer precedes the vowel.[citation needed] It could either mean that */e/ turned into/i/ in Vandalic[18] or that the Vandalic short/e/ was interpreted as/i/ by non-natives.[2]: 97
Similar to Gothic, Vandalic does not seem to havei-umlaut. One example of items that demonstrate the lack of umlaut are names that contain the form *ari (< Proto-Germanic*harjaz 'army'):Ariarith,Arifridos,Guntari,Raginari vs. Old Englishhere, the latter of which does show umlaut with the Proto-Germanic *a having shifted toe.[18]
Proto-Germanic */o:/ is written⟨u⟩;Blumarit (compare Proto-Germanic*blōmô),Vilimut.[18] This could either mean that */o:/ turned into/u/ in Vandalic[18] or that it is a misinterpretation of the sound by Latin authors.[2]: 98 In Gothic documents, */o:/ is mostly written⟨o⟩, but sometimes also⟨u⟩.[2]: 98
The Proto-Germanic diphthong *eu tends to come down to Vandalic aseu. Take for example the formteudo- ('people'),[18] as opposed to the Gothic𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰 (þiuda),[19] where it has changed to/iu/.[18]
The Proto-Germanic diphthong *ai is preserved as/ai/, but tends to become/ei/ later on. For example, the nameGaisericus changes toGeiseric in later documents.[18]
The Vandalic consonant inventory according to Wrede.[3]: 101–109
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | Glottal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | ⟨m⟩ | ⟨n⟩ | ⟨ng⟩ | |||||||||
| m | n | ŋ | ||||||||||
| Stop | ⟨p⟩ | ⟨b⟩ | ⟨t⟩ | ⟨d⟩ | ⟨c⟩ | ⟨g⟩ | ⟨c⟩ | ⟨g⟩ | ||||
| p | b | t | d | c | ɟ | k | ɡ | |||||
| Fricative | ⟨f⟩ | ⟨b⟩ | ⟨th⟩ | ⟨d⟩ | ⟨s⟩ | ⟨s, z⟩ | ?⟨h⟩ | ?⟨g⟩ | ?⟨h⟩ | |||
| ɸ | β | θ | ð | s | z | x | ɣ | h | ||||
| Approximant | ⟨l⟩ | ⟨i, j⟩ | ⟨w, v⟩ | |||||||||
| l | j | w | ||||||||||
| Trill | ⟨r⟩ | |||||||||||
| r | ||||||||||||
The Proto-Germanic */z/ is also preserved in the language as asibilant (always found written⟨s⟩ or as part of⟨x⟩), as opposed to having undergonerhotacism as it has inNorth orWest Germanic.[20] For example, compare the Vandalic formgeis (as inGeiseric) 'spear' to Old Englishgār.[citation needed]
The word-initial/h/ inherited from Proto-Germanic does not consistently appear in Vandalic names recorded by Greek or Latin authors (e.g., the elementari inArifridos andGuntari, from Proto-Germanic*harja- 'army'). Sometimes the same name appears with and without⟨h⟩, depending on the author. However, royal names on Vandal coins use a conservative official spelling, with the⟨h⟩ always being written.[18] This could point to either a loss of the sound represented by⟨h⟩[18] or errors introduced by authors unfamiliar with the sound.[3]: 107 [2]: 100
The Proto-Germanic fricatives */þ/ and */ð/ often turned into/t/ or/d/, but there are also some names in which they were retained or otherwise represented distinctly:Thrasamundus,Guntha.[18]
Initial/w/ is sometimes written as⟨gu⟩.[2]: 104 [18] This could be an issue of Latin spelling[2]: 104 or a point to the development of/gw/. Examples areGuiliaruna, < Proto-Germanic*wilja- andGuitifrida, <*wīti-.[18]
The Proto-Germanic cluster */-ww-/ can be found strengthened to/-g-/.[18]
The Proto-Germanic cluster */-tj-/ can become[tsj], as inmatzia from Proto-Germanic*matjaną.[18]
Very little is known about Vandalic grammar, but some things can be extracted from extant Vandalic material.[2]: 105
The original Proto-Germanic*-z used to mark the nominative masculine singular innominals, which was lost inWest Germanic early on, is attested within some preserved Vandalic forms as -s or as part of -x (occasionally foundRomanized in some name attestations as-us). This marker is potentially to be deemed an archaic feature since it is lost in most words, with complete lost withinOstrogothic names from the 6th century onward.[18][2]: 106
The epithetVandalirice 'king of the Vandals' gives possible attestation of a genitive plural ending-e (cf. Gothic -ē), albeit written as⟨i⟩ within this form.[18][11] Old Germanic languages outside of East Germanic have -a (as inOld English andOld Norse)[21][22] or -o (as inOld Dutch orOld High German) as their equivalents of this ending instead;[23][24] compare Old EnglishWendla against the potential Vandalic form *Vandali.[citation needed]
The tables below show various Vandalic words, phrases and forms that survive in (or as) names and various Latin texts. The majority of these were taken fromNicoletta Francovich Onesti [fr].[18][clarification needed]
| Attested Vandalic form | Gothic cognate | Gloss of Vandalic form |
|---|---|---|
| arme | 𐌰𐍂𐌼𐌰𐌹 (armai) (2.sg.ipv. form of𐌰𐍂𐌼𐌰𐌽 (arman)) | 'have mercy!' |
| baudus (cf. -baudes) | — | 'ruler, master' |
| drincan | 𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌺𐌰𐌽 (drigkan) | 'drink (inf.)' |
| eils | 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃 (hails) | 'hail!' (greeting) |
| ia | 𐌾𐌰𐌷 (jah) | 'and' |
| froia | 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰 (frauja) | 'lord, (the) Lord' |
| matzia | 𐌼𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (matjan) | 'eat (inf.), have one's meal (inf.)' |
| scapia | *𐍃𐌺𐌰𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 (*skapjan), cf.𐌲𐌰𐍃𐌺𐌰𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gaskapjan) | 'make, create' |
| vandalirice | — (-𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐌴 (reikē)) | 'king of the Vandals' |
| Attested Vandalic form(s) | Gothic cognate | Proto-Germanic etymon | Old English cognate | Gloss of Vandalic form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ari | 𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌹𐍃 (harjis) | *harjaz | here | 'army' |
| baudes (cf.baudus) | — | *baudiz | — | 'master, ruler' |
| bere | 𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌰- (baira-) | *bera- | bera- | 'bear, carry' |
| bluma | 𐌱𐌻𐍉𐌼𐌰 (blōma) | *blōmô | *blōma | 'bloom, flower' |
| dagila | *𐌳𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌰 (*dagila) cf.𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍃 (dags) | *dag- | (dæġ) | 'day (dim.)' |
| frida frede feua | *𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌸𐌿𐍃 (*friþus) | *friþu- | friþ(u) (cf.MnE †frith) | 'peace' |
| geis | *𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍃 (*gais) cf.𐌿𐍃𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (usgaisjan) ('frighten, scare') | *gaiza- | gār (cf.MnEgarlic) | 'spear' |
| gunda guntha | — | *gunþjo | gūþ | 'battle' |
| hildi-,-ild | 𐌷𐌹𐌻𐌳𐌹- (hildi-) | *hildjō | hild | 'battle' |
| mir mer | *𐌼𐌴𐍂𐍃 (*mērs) | *mēraz,*mērijaz | mǣre (cf.MnE ‡mere) | 'famous' |
| munds | — | *mundō | mund (cf.MnE ‡mound) | 'defender' |
| mut | 𐌼𐍉𐌸𐍃 (mōþs) ('mood, anger') | *moda- | mōd (cf.MnE mood) | 'courage' |
| oa | 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌷𐍃 (hauhs) | *hauha- | hēah | 'high' |
| osta hostra | *𐌰𐌿𐍃𐍄𐍂𐌰- (*austra-) | *austra- | ēast | 'east' |
| rit rith | -𐍂𐌴𐌳𐌰𐌽 (-rēdan) ('to advise') | *rēdaz | rǣd,rēd (cf.MnE †rede) | 'advice, counsel' |
| rix ricus | 𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (reiks) | *rīk- | rice ('dominion') | 'king' |
| runa | 𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌰 (rūna) | *rūnō | rūn (cf.MnE †roun, rune) | 'secret' |
| scarila | — | *skarō | scearu (cf.MnE share) | 'band (dim.)' |
| sifila | 𐍃𐌹𐌱𐌾𐌰 (sibja) | *sibjō | sibb (cf.MnEsibling) | 'kindred (dim.)' |
| sindi- | 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌸𐍃 (sinþs) ('time, occurrence') | *sinþa- | sīþ (cf.MnEsend) | 'travel, path' |
| trioua | 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐌰 (triggwa) | *triwwa | trīewu | 'loyal, true (f.)' |
| teus | 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐍃 (þius) | *þewaz | þēow (cf.MnE †thew) | 'slave, servant' |
| theudo | 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰 (þiuda) | *þeudō | þēod (cf.MnE †thede) | 'folk' |
| vili,guilia | 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰 (wilja) | *wiljô | willa | 'will (noun)' |
| uit- guit- | *𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌹- (*weiti-) | *wīti- | — | 'struggle, combat' |
| vult | 𐍅𐌿𐌻𐌸𐌿𐍃 (wulþus) | *wulþu- | wuldor | 'glory' |
The few names on coins issued by the Vandalic kingdom were written in Latin script.[25]
