07-28-2005, 01:18 AM
Quote:Then there's our resident Nordic expert, Tim O'Neill / Thiudareiks, he's probably the one most qualified on this Board concerning ancient Germanic languages.
I've neglected this board a bit lately, so I've only just stumbled across this discussion. Firstly, I'd seriously question any assessment that Gothic was 50/50 Germanic/Baltic. There are, of course, some clear parallels, since both are continguous Indo-European language families.
There is also some definite borrowing, though it is most likely to be (later) Germanic influence on the Baltic languages rather than the artefact of any early intermingling of Baltic peoples and proto-Gothic/Germanic speaking settlers. While the 'origins' of the Goths is still a vexed question, there is something of a consensus that an aristocratic elite established itself on the lower Vistula from Scandinavia, forming a cultic and/or tribal core which attracted or annexed local peoples. These locals may have included some proto-Baltic groups, but more likely consisted of Germanic speakers and some Celtic speakers.
The linguistic fact remains that Gothic is a substantially and recognisably Germanic in every way. The main non-Germanic elements in recorded Gothic are Greek and Latin - a result of Wulfilas having to use Greek and Latin words when there were simply no Gothic equivalents. Any Baltic substratum is faint at best and uncertain at worst. To say that Gothic was 50% Baltic is bizarrely incorrect. It's Germanic to its bootstraps.
