The Indo-European Family.
Grimm’s Law.
The specifically Germanic features of the sound system may be best of all illustrated by the so called the First Consonant Shift (or the Germanic Consonant Shift).
This phenomenon was first observed by the Danish scholar Rasmus Rusk, and later on it was described by the German linguist Jacob Grimm (hence one more name of this phenomenon, «The Grimm’s Law»).
Grimm’s Law states the correspondences between the consonants of the Germanic languages on the one hand and all the other Indo-European languages on the other hand.
According to this law certain Indo-European consonants underwent changes in the Germanic languages and appeared in them as quite different sounds.
J. Grimm singled out three stages in the development of these consonants.
The Romans in Britain. Romanization of the Island.
The very existence is a source of contention among modern archaeologists.[5] One of the first approaches, which can be regarded as the "traditional" approach today, was taken byFrancis Haverfield.[6] He saw this process beginning in primarily post-conquest societies (e.g. Britain and Gaul) where direct Roman policy from the top promoted an increase in the 'Roman' population of the province through the establishment of veteran colonies. These coloniae would have spoken Latin and have been citizens of Rome following their army tenure (See Roman citizenship) – Haverfield thus assumes this would have a 'Romanising' effect upon the native communities.
This thought process, fueled though it was by early 20th century standards of Imperialism and cultural change, forms the basis for the modern understanding of Romanization. However, recent scholarship has devoted itself to providing alternate models of how native populations adopted Roman culture, while questioning the extent to which it was accepted or resisted.
Non-Interventionist Model[7] – Native elites were encouraged to increase social standing through association with the powerful conqueror be it in dress, language, housing and food consumption. This provides them with associated power. The establishment of a civil administration system is quickly imposed to solidify the permanence of Roman rule.
Discrepant Identity[8] – No uniformity of identity which we can accurately describe as traditional 'Romanization'. Fundamental differences within a province are visible through economics, religion and identity. Not all provincials were pro-Rome, nor did all elites seek to be like the Roman upper classes.
Acculturation[9] – Aspects of both Native and Roman cultures are joined together. This can be seen in the Roman acceptance, and adoption of, non-Classical religious practices. The inclusion of Isis, Epona, Britannia and Dolychenus into the pantheon are evidence of this.
Creolization[10] – Romanization occurs as a result of negotiation between different elements of non-egalitarian societies. Material culture is therefore ambiguous.
Romanization is not a clear-cut process of cultural adoption. The paradigm is over-used and confused;[citation needed] different definitions prevent any useful application of the concept. The major criticism of this idea is that it is reliant upon the arbitrary allocation of labels such as Roman and Native to various cultural and material elements with little or no firm reasoning to do so. As it cannot be used to explain, Romanization should only be used as a theoretical tool with which to approach the Roman Provinces and not as an archaeologically verifiable process.
Romanization of the Island
It was inevitable that the military conquest of Britain should have been followed by the Romanization of the province. Where the Romans lived and ruled, there Roman ways were found. Four great highways soon spread fanlike from London to the north, the northwest, the west, and the southwest, while a fifth cut across the island from Lincoln to the Severn. Numerous lesser roads connected important military or civil centers or branched off as spurs from the main highways. A score of small cities and more than a hundred towns, with their Roman houses and baths, temples, and occasional theaters, testify to the introduction of Roman habits of life. The houses were equipped with heating apparatus and water supply, their floors were paved in mosaic, and their walls were of painted stucco—all as in their Italian counterparts. Roman dress, Roman ornaments and utensils, and Roman pottery and glassware seem to have been in general use. By the third century Christianity had made some progress in the island, and in A.D. 314, bishops from London and York attended a church council in Gaul. Under the relatively peaceful conditions that existed everywhere except along the frontiers, where the hostile penetration of the unconquered population was always to be feared, there is every reason to think that Romanization had proceeded very much as it had in the other provinces of the empire. The difference is that in Britain the process was cut short in the fifth century.