3. Write down in 7 sentences who Franz Bopp is.

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4. Give the subject and purpose of comparative linguistic.

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5. Investigate the map below and list the countries where the following Indo-European languages were spoken:

1. Celtic: _________________________________________________

2. Germanic:_______________________________________________

3. Romance:_______________________________________________

4. Slavic:___________________________________________________

5. Baltic:__________________________________________________

6. Albanian:________________________________________________

7. Greek:__________________________________________________

8. Armenian:_______________________________________________

Proto-germanic language

10000BC

Iron Age

3000 -250BC

ACTIVATING THE STUDENTS’ BACKGROUND

1. Do you know …

2. D o you know who is in the picture?

3. Where was the Roman Empire located in?

4. Who are the so-called barbarians?

5. Who are the Teutons?

6. What Proto-Germanic languages do you know?

7. What Germanic languages do you know?

DATA BASE - PROTO-GERMANIC LANGUAGE

Historically, all the Germanic languages originated from one ancestor language. It is called Proto-Germanic. It developed from P-I-E spoken in pre-historic times. It is believed that this group began as a common language in the Elbe river region about 3,000 years ago.

It was only a spoken language. P-G was most probably spoken just before the beginning of the Christian era. The forms of P-G can only be reconstructed. This was done in the 19th century by methods of comparative linguistics.

I t’s believed that at the earliest stages of history PG was fundamentally one language, though dialectally colored. Dialectal and geographical expansion of the Teutons caused by overpopulation, poor agricultural technique in the areas of their original settlement. Towards the beginning of our era the common period of Germanic history came to an end. The Teutons had extended over a larger territory and the PG languages broke into parts. According to the division PG split into three branches: East Germanic, North Germanic and West Germanic. In due course these braches split into separate Germanic languages.

2. The earliest descriptions of the Germans/ Teutons, the ancient tribes that spoke Germanic languages, were known from the writings of Greek and Roman authors. Read the passage below and write out the characteristic features of the Germans.

Pytheas _________________________________________________________

Strabo _______________________________________________________

Plutarch ______________________________________________________

Julius Caesar ____________________________________________________

Pliny _________________________________________________________

Tacitus________________________________________________________

The earliest paper is written by Pytheas who sailed much. It was mentioned that Old Germanic tribes raided the Hellenic countries of south-eastern Europe, Italy and Gall. In the beginning of our era the Greek historian Strabo wrote about Germans nomads. They moved from forest to forest, built houses, and were engaged in cattle bringing.

T he great writer Plutarch described Germans as wild nomadic tribes who had constantly been in war. They were not interested in agriculture or in cattle bringing, but only in war.

The Roman general Julius Caesar fought with them on the Rhine. He took two expeditions against the Germanic tribes who wanted to get hauled on some territories. The Romans defeated the Germans in both expeditions. Caesar wrote that Germans lived in tribal unions. He also gave a detailed description of the structure of their society and peculiarities of their life.

The next great historian Pliny spent many years in the Roman provinces of Low and High Germany. He wrote a book called “Natural History”. He was the first who enumerated and classified the military tribes. It was proved by many scientists.

The Roman historian Tacitus made a detailed description of the life and customs of ancient Germans. Tacitus was a prominent Roman historian. He himself had never been to Germany. Being a Roman senator he got information from military travelers, actions, etc. he also used papers written about the Germans before him. In the time of Tacitus there were constant arm conflicts between the Germans and Romans. Numerous attempts of the Roman generals to conquer the Germanic tribes failed. In the second half of the second century after a short period without wars they began their attacks again. The ancient Germans had a tribal society. In the head of each tribe there was a chief who was called ‘kuning’. Some modern place-names testify to this social structure of the Germans. The whole tribe had the name of the Chief.

According to Pliny there were several Germanic tribes:

• The Vindili

• The Ingvaenoes

• The Istaevones

• The Herminones

• The Hilleviones

3. Read the passage below, make a scheme, write down all the necessary details to describe the Germans.

According to Pliny there were several Germanic tribes:

The Vindili. They lived in the eastern part of the territory inhabited by the Germanic tribes. They consisted of the Goths,  the Burgundians and the Vandals.

The Goths first inhabited the lower coast of the river Vistula. Later they moved to the south and formed powerful tribal unions of Ostrogoths and Visigoths.

The Burgundians came to the continent from the island of Bornholm. It was in the Baltic Sea. Later they moved to the west and settled in south-eastern part of France in the area called Burgundia.

The Vandals first inhabited the territory between the Oder and the Vistula. Later they moved to Northern Africa through Spain. The word vandalism originated from Vandal (means Barbary).

T he Ingvaenoes. They lived in the north-western part of the Germanic territory. They inhabited the Jutland peninsula and the coast of the North Sea. The tribes of Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians were formed later of this group.

The Istaevones. They lived on the Rhine. Later they formed a very powerful tribal union of Franconians. In the early Middle Ages they were powerful group of West Germans.

The Herminones lived in the centre of Germany and later the German nation was formed of these tribes.

The Hilleviones were isolated from other Germanic tribes. They inhabited Scandinavia. Modern Scandinavian nations are the descendants of these tribes.

• The Vindili spoke Eastern Germanic;

• the Hilleviones spoke Northern Germanic,

• the Ingvaones, Istaevones and Herminones – West Germanic.