6. Theories of the Germanic languages origin.

Theories of the Germanic languages origin developed in different directions depending on the time of their appearance. Some theories were well-established, the others were weak. Among the strongest was the theory of August Schleicher called «a tree diagram» of the family tree.

According to this theory the proto-germanic languages as a trunk gave birth to 3 main branches.

Proto-Germanic

1)Low German 2)Gothic 3)Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Faroese, Icelandic

-German Frisian

-Yiddish Dutch

-English Africans

The linguists who offered a tree diagram were the representatives of the main idea of which was the view on the language as living organism which has a date of birth, the period of childhood and middle-ages and the time of death.

7. Sources of our knowledge of early germanic society

Our knowledge of the ancient Germans is based on the testimonies (утверждение) by Greek and Roman writers, who were interested in them. The earliest of them was the Greek traveler and astronomer Pytheas from Massilia who lived in the 4th century B.C. He sailed from his native town through the Gibraltar along the west coast of France to the Baltic. His book has not come down to us, only some pieces of it were preserved by the Greek geographer Strabo (63 B.C. – 20 A.D.). Pytheas was the first who mentioned the Teutons. The Teutons, who were allied (в союзе) with the Cimbri in 103 B.C., were crushed by Marius.

Julius Caesar was a Roman general, statement and writer. In his “Commentaries on the War in Gaul” Caesar gave several chapters to the Germans, whom he combated (боролся) and dealt with on the Rhine.

Pliny the Elder was Roman writer and administrator. Pliny gave a classification of Germanic tribes basically accepted by modern historians.

Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman historian. In his short work “Germania” he characterized the social structure of the old Germanic tribes around 100 A.D.

8. Pliny’s classification of germanic tribes

This classification was composed by Pliny the elder.

1) The Vindili, (including the Goths and the Burgundians) were the tribes who lived in the eastern part.

2) The Ingaevones ( or the Saxons) were in the north-western part.

3) The Iscaevones ( or the Franks) were in the western part on the Rhine.

4) The Hermiones lived in the southern part.

5) The Peucini and Bastarnae lived near Rumania.

6) The Hilleviones in Scandinavia were in the northern part of the territory.

This classification still coincides with the modern point of view on the classification of ancient Germanic languages and is correlated with modern Germanic languages.

9. Early germanic society

Germanic tribes are great ethnic complex of ancient Europe, a basic stock in the composition of the modern people of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Northern Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Northern and Central France, Lowland Scotland and England. It is considered that they lived in the territory between the rivers Elbe and Odra, on the peninsula Jutland and the Southern Sweden. From archaeology it is clear that the Germans had little ethnic solidarity (единство). Their rise to significance (4th B.C.) in the history of Europe began roughly with the general break-up of Celtic culture in central Europe.

Geography made the territory of the Germanic tribes attractive to the Romans as a potential province to add to the already powerful strategic value made the Romans eager to gain acquisition (приобретение) of this territory. The main resources that Germany had to offer came in the form of metals, more specifically, iron. Their iron was of such quality and was acquired in such abundance that it was exported to Rome for use in most everything that was created from iron.

The Germanic agricultural system was vital to the economy in Germany. Most of Germans were farmers but a large potion of the population was herders. The Germans were agriculturists from the beginning of their existence. The main crops that they raised were cereal grains such as wheat, barley, oats and rye. Around the North sea area there was an emphasis on cattle raising.

The tribes that eventually settled in the Germanic area were tribes that had for the most part been migrating throughout Europe for many years.