Proto Germanic / Germanic Languages Similarities

!   Sunday, February 20, 2005, 21:18 GMT
You get the picture ...
-----------------
Enjoy !
Fredrik from Norway   Sunday, February 20, 2005, 21:44 GMT
Butter in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish: smør / smör
German: Schmiere
English: smear
..   Monday, February 21, 2005, 06:18 GMT
is: English
is: Dutch
is: Scots
ist: German
..   Monday, February 21, 2005, 06:20 GMT
and: English
an: Scots
..   Monday, February 21, 2005, 06:22 GMT
and: English
an: Scots
en: Dutch
und: German
..   Monday, February 21, 2005, 06:26 GMT
hånd: Norwegian
hand: Swedish
hand: English
hand: German
hand: Dutch
Blue   Monday, February 21, 2005, 06:47 GMT
Old English - se mann
English - the man
Frisian - de man
Dutch - de man
German - der mann
Norwegian - mannen
Swedish - mannen
Danish - manden
Brennus   Monday, February 21, 2005, 08:03 GMT
Proto-Germanic was the hypothetical ancestor of all of the modern Germanic (or Teutonic ) languages. It was spoken sometime between 1200 and 600 B.C. probably in what is now Poland. The Slavs were still living a little further east in White Russia at that time. About 300 B.C The Germanic peoples began moving out of Poland into present day Germany, Bohemia and Scandinavia which had been occupied previously by Celtic and Finnish speaking peoples. They were probably forced out of Poland by the Slavs who were a more fierce and warlike people at that time than their modern day descendents in Russia and Eastern Europe. During the course of these migrations, Proto-Germanic began splitting up into separate West-, East- and North- Germanic groups.

Since there is no written record of Proto-Germanic, linguists have tried to reconstruct it based on roots shared in common by all of the more modern Germanic languages. It's no surprise that Gothic and Icelandic come the closest to the reconstructed Proto-Germanic language while English and Yiddish have diverged the most.

Frederick Bodmer and Lancelot Hogben cite one of the oldest Germanic inscriptions found in their book "The Loom of Language": ek hlewagastir holtingar horna tawiðo which means "I Luigast the holting made this horn". It was found in Schlesweig - Holstein.
!   Monday, February 21, 2005, 15:22 GMT
Just read Beowulf and noticed that Old English and Dutch look very much alike !
!   Monday, February 21, 2005, 16:14 GMT
The similarities are amazing !
....
Old English > Dutch
----------------------
forlætan; ofgiefan > verlaten , afgeven
nægan > nagaan
begietan > begieten
ræd > raad
læran > leren
gedrefan > gedreven
leof > lof
motan > moeten
ælmihtig > almachtig
eac > ook
engel > engel
deor > dier
ænig > enig
befeolan > bevelen
sceotan > schieten
gelendan > gelanden ( used in Belgian Dutch )
astigan > afstijgen
onslepan > inslapen
hærfæst > herfst
freolic > vrolijk

( This is just a really small fraction of all similarities )
Fredrik from Norway   Monday, February 21, 2005, 16:27 GMT
There is evidence to suggest that Southern Scandinavia has always (for several thousand years) been occupied by Germanic people.
Brennus   Tuesday, February 22, 2005, 07:43 GMT
Denmark was the home of the Celtic Cimbri, a branch of the Belgic Gauls, until about the 1st Century B.C. The Finns seem to have been in Sweden rather early - 5000 B.C. - which was well before Indo-European broke up into separate Celtic, Germanic and Balto-Slavic groups. The Finns were probably the ones who drew the prehistoric rock art pictures found in both Sweden and Karelia. The Vikinglike boats in some of these pictures suggest that the Germanic invaders may have acquired much of their boat-building knowledge from the Finns.
Sander   Wednesday, February 23, 2005, 17:00 GMT
Fredrik from norway,

=>There is evidence to suggest that Southern Scandinavia has always (for several thousand years) been occupied by Germanic people.<=\

Isn't this logical since "scandinavian" is/are germanic languages?
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To "!",

When I read Beowulf for the first time I also was stunned by the similarities!You can really see that Old English and Dutch have a common ancestor.Its a real difference with modern english It looked to me as if the romantic influensces 10-faulted!
!   Wednesday, February 23, 2005, 19:58 GMT
If English wasn't influenced by romance and nordic languages , Dutch and English would have remained very close , at least that's what I think ...
Sander   Wednesday, February 23, 2005, 20:57 GMT
Im almost sure of that.