| Weser–Rhine Germanic | |
|---|---|
| Rhine–Weser Germanic, Istvaeonic | |
| Geographic distribution | Around theWeser andRhine rivers |
| Linguistic classification | Indo-European
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
 | |
Weser–Rhine Germanic languages (orRhine–Weser Germanic,German:Rheinweser-germanisch), sometimes also referred to asIstvaeonic languages, are a proposedFrank-related subgroup of theWest Germanic languages which would in terms of modern languages unite bothWest CentralGerman dialects andLow Franconian dialects including standardDutch.
According to original versions of this proposal, introduced by the German linguistFriedrich Maurer (1898-1984), this subgroup descends from a distinctFrankish language, while the related ancestral languages of the so calledElbe Germanic dialects to the south, andNorth Sea Germanic languages to the north, only subsequently became smoothly connected within the same dialect continuum. Maurer's proposals were influenced not only by linguistic evidence, but also by the Germanic archaeological provinces defined by Raphael von Uslar in 1938, which include the so calledRhine-Weser Germanic peoples, and by early Roman era reports of theIstvaeones – a group ofGermanic peoples which lived near the RiverRhine, and understood themselve to share a distinct common ancestry, according to their descriptions byTacitus andPliny the Elder.[1][2]
There are no clear linguistic features that distinguish the Weser-Rhine Germanic languages from the Elbe Germanic languages, and Maurer's reliance on non-linguistic data has come into question. As a result, most scholars now doubt the existence of distinct Weser-Rhine Germanic languages.
The English term "Weser-Rhine" is used as an equivalent to the German termweser-rheingermanisch which was introduced into linguistics by Maurer, orrhein-wesergermanisch, which is influenced by the term now more commonly used by more German archaeologists. "Rhine-Weser" is also sometimes used in English.[3] Maurer's term was influenced by the archaeological findings of Raphael von Uslar in 1938, although in the field of archaeology itself Gerhard Mildenburger had already introduced the termrhein-wesergermanisch to refer to what Uslar himself had originally simply called the inland part of the "West Germanic area in the narrower sense".[4][5] This regionalisation is still commonly used in archaeology, where it is considered convenient, although the idea that it represents a clearly defined cultural area is no longer widely accepted.[6] The maps of Uslar visualized the area being roughly between theRhine andWeser rivers in what is now Western Germany, stretching north the upperEms and south to theMain.[7]
The term "Istvaeonic language" (GermanIstväonisch,Istvaeonisch orIstwäonisch) was part of a tripartite distinction given in Roman sources, which had already being used in linguistics before Maurer. The Istvaeones (or Istaevones) were a group of Germanic peoples mentioned by two Roman authors in the first century AD. Pliny the Elder (c. 23-79 AD) described them in hisNatural History as one of five major groupings of Germanic peoples, who lived near theRhine, and were distinct from theIngvaeones on theNorth Sea coast, and theHerminones who lived further inland from the Ingvaeones and Istvaeones. (The other two groups, theVandili andPeucini, lived east of theElbe river.)[2] Tacitus (c. 56-120 AD) in hisGermania added that these three western groups claimed, on the authority of ancient songs (carmina antiqua), to descend from three sons of a common ancestor namedMannus, who was in turn the son of a god.[1]
Maurer proposed Weser-Rhine Germanic as part of a three-way division of the languages traditionally recognized West Germanic. According to Maurer, West Germanic did not exist as a subgroup within the Germanic languages: rather West Germanic consists of three distinct dialect groups, with Weser-Rhine Germanic coexisting with North Sea Germanic and Elbe Germanic. According to Maurer, Weser-Rhine Germanic was ancestral to a proposed early Frankish language, and related dialects inHesse, thus giving rise to theFranconian dialects, including modernDutch, as well as theCentral German dialects.[8][9] He thus proposed that Central and theUpper German dialects only secondarily became united into a single High German language via theHigh German consonant shift.[10] This language family effectively joined into the greater West Germanic language continuum, from which the consonant shifts spread. It was proposed that this unification of the languages was encouraged by the political unification of these areas achieved by theMerovingian dynasty.[citation needed]
While some linguists discuss Weser-Rhine Germanic as a subgrouping within the West Germanic languages,[11][12] linguists do not generally support Maurer's theory. Current scholarship is less inclined to propose distinct proto-languages to explain the lack of unity in West Germanic, instead relying on the notion of adialect contimuum.[13] There is no linguistic evidence that separates supposed Weser-Rhine Germanic languages from supposed Elbe Germanic languages.[14][15] Furthermore, cultural and archaeological groupings do not necessarily correspond to linguistic divisions, and Maruer's theory requires common West Germanic linguistic innovations to be later developments that spread to all West Germanic languages.[16][17] Moreover, the large tribal divisions that Maurer assumes for his theory, such as the Franks, Alemanni, etc. do not seem to predate theMigration Period.[18]
Maurer asserted that thecladistictree model, ubiquitously used in 19th and early 20th century linguistics, was too inaccurate to describe the relation between the modernGermanic languages, especially those belonging to its Western branch. Rather than depictingOld English,Old Dutch,Old Saxon,Old Frisian andOld High German as having simply 'branched off' from a single common 'Proto-West Germanic', he proposed that there had been much more distance between the languages and the dialects of the Germanic regions.[19] Maurer's approach of drawing linguistic conclusions from non-linguistic evidence was influenced byGustav Kossinna. He proposed that the Germanic dialects which eventually entered the Rhine-Weser region became a distinct group of dialects spoken by theFranks andChatti around the northwestern banks of theRhine, who were presumed to be descendants of the earlier Istvaeones.[20]
Ancient sources: