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The map of the pre-Roman Iron Age cultures, which are associated with the Germans, approx. 500 BC er - 50 BC. er The color of the distribution of the hauphorph culture is colored purple

Before the collapse of the Proto-Indo-European linguistic community, the ancestors of the Germans (along with the ancestors of the Slavs and the Balts ) were among the tribes attributed to the archaeological culture of battle axes . In the era of the Bronze Age, the beginning and completion of the process of isolating the Pro-Germanic language roughly corresponds to the existence in the territory of Southern Scandinavia and the Jutland Peninsula of the archaeological culture of the Nordic Bronze Age (IV — VI periods correspond to 1100—530 years BC .).

The ancestral home of the native speakers of the pragmanic language is considered to be the region, which includes southern Scandinavia , Denmark and northern Germany. Indo-Europeans settled this area supposedly around 1000 BC. Oe., assimilating the local population (P. Ramat dates this process 1200-900 years. BC. E.). By 500 BC. er The Prague people settled more widely, occupying territories from the North Sea to the Vistula in the east and the Rhine in the west ^{[1] [2]} .

In the north, the Prussian people bordered on the Finnish tribes, in the west on the Celts, in the east on the Balts and Slavs, in the southeast, probably on the Veneti and Illyrians ^[2] .

The natives of the late Prague-German language are usually associated with the cultures of the so-called pre - Roman Iron Age (according to the classification of O. Montelius), among which the leading place was occupied by the Yastorph culture .

Germanic languages ​​are traditionally divided into three groups: Eastern (Gothic, Vandal, Burgundian), Western (English, Frisian, Dutch, Afrikaans, Yiddish, German, Luxembourgish) and Northern (Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish). The collapse of the pro-Germanic language is associated with the departure of Goths, Vandals and Burgundians from the territory of the ancestral homeland to the south ^[3] .

After the separation of the eastern branch, the North and West German languages ​​experienced a number of general innovations. These include ^[4] :

• transition z > r : dr.-v.-it. mēro , dr-isl. meiri at goth. maiza "more";
• lowering articulation ē : dr.-eng. mæ̅ce , dr. mæ̅kir at goth. mēki

Phonetics and phonology

Consonants

For the Proto-Indo-European language the following system of stop consonants is traditionally reconstructed: ^{[5] [6]}

In the pro-Germanic language, this system has undergone a complete restructuring according to the law of Grimm ^[7] :

The next major restructuring is connected with the action of Werner's law , which is formulated as follows: the resulting hollow consonants h , þ , f resulting from the German movement of consonants , as well as the surviving Indo-European s, will ring back if the immediately preceding vowel did not have the Indo-European main emphasis on itself. No voicing occurred in the initial position and in the combinations xt ( ht ), xs ( hs ), ft , fs , sk , st , sp , ss ^{[8] [9] [10]} .

Indo-European syllabic sonoric in Prague-German language lost its synergy by splitting into combinations * un , * um , * ur , * ul ^[11] :

• great-ie * sṃH- > * sumaraz "summer";
• great-ie * dņǵʰwéh ₂ - > * tungōn- "language";
• great-ie * wḷókʷos > * wulfaz "wolf";
• post.- great-i.e. * wṛmis > * wurmiz "worm, snake".

Pragerman consonants (allophones of phonemes are taken in square brackets) ^{[12] [13]} :

The sound, traditionally recorded as * f , was probably bilabial ( ɸ ) and apparently, in some Germanic languages ​​(perhaps, with the exception of Gothic), was transferred to bilge-dental ^[14] .

Blast sounds b , d and g are allophones of the phonemes β , ð and ɣ, respectively. Explosives acted during gemination, in the position after the nasal consonant, d also after l and z ; b and d were also in anlaut ^{[13] [14]} .

The sound ŋ is an allophone n before the rear lingual consonants ^{[13] [14]} .

Simple vowels

• In Prague German, there were four short vowels (i, u, e, a) and four or five long vowels (ī, ū, ē, ō and, possibly,).
• Pro-Indo-European a and o coincided in Prague-German a , Pro-Indo-European ā and ō coincided in Pro-German ō .
• ǣ and ē are also recorded as ē¹ and ē² ; ē² may not have been a separate phoneme and is being reconstructed only for a small number of words.

Diphthongs

The result of coincidence a and o , ā and was the loss of the pro-Germanic language of diphthongs * oi, * ou, * āi and * āu, which coincided with * ai, * au, * ōi, * ōu, respectively. In addition, the monophthongized diphthong * ei, which gave * ī. Thus, in the pro-Germanic language in the late stages of its existence, there were only four diphthongs.

Emphasis

In Prague-German, the free Indo-European stress in a certain period was replaced by a fixed one on the first syllable. Nevertheless, certain information about the place of stress in the Prague words can be found thanks to Werner's law . This information corresponds to the Vedic and ancient Greek data ^{[15] [16]} .

Morphology

Noun

In the pro-Germanic language, nouns changed in two numbers (singular and plural) and six cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative and instrumental). As in Proto-Indo-European, there were three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. On the whole, the declination continued Indo-European , although a certain simplification was observed. Most ablaut interlaces have been eliminated. The declination was divided into types depending on the thematic vowel ^[17] .

Distribution of types of declination by gender ^[18] :

The declination of the masculine foundation on * -a- on the example of the word "wolf" ^{[19] [18]} :

D. Rindzh reconstructs for the plural also the instrumental case with the ending * -amiz, and for the singular the vocative case with the zero ending ^[18] .

The declination of the basics on * -i- using the example of the word "guest" ^{[20] [21]} :

D. Rindzh reconstructs for the plural also the instrumental case with the ending * -imiz, and for the singular the vocative case with the ending * -i ^[21] .

Adjective

Adjectives were consistent with the nouns by gender, number and case. A characteristic German innovation is the contrast between "strong" and "weak" adjectives. Weak adjectives tended to have a type on * -n- and had a separative, excretory meaning ^[20] .

Numeral

The numerals 1–4 in the pro-Germanic inclined and changed by gender, mainly continuing the Proto-Indo-European state ^[22] :

• great-ie * h ₁ oɪ̯nos "one"> * ainaz ;
• great-ie * dwo- “two”> * twa ;
• great-ie * trejes "three"> * þrijiz > * þrīz ;
• great-ie * k ^w etwores "four"> fiðwor .

Numbers from 5 to 10 did not lean ^{[22] [23]} :

• * fimf "five";
• * sehs "six";
• * sebun "seven";
• * ahtōu "eight";
• * ne (w) un "nine";
• * tehun "ten."

The numerals 11 and 12 were formed with the help of the verb stem * lik _w - “to leave”, which is the Baltic-German isoglossa ^[22] :

• * ainlif "eleven";
• * twalif "twelve."

The numerals 13–19 were the additions of unit names with the word “ten” ^[22] .

Pronoun

Personal pronouns continue the Proto-Indo-European state relatively well, including retaining a dual number ^[24] .

Reconstruction of the declension of personal pronouns ^[25] :

Instead of forms of the genitive case, the forms of possessive pronouns * mīnaz “my”, * þīnaz “your”, * sīnaz “your”, * unkeraz “our” (dv. H), inkʷeraz “your” (dv h.), * Were used . unseraz “our” (plural), * izweraz “your” (plural) ^[26] .

Declination of the pronoun "this" in the masculine ^[27] :

Declination of the pronoun "this" in the feminine ^[27] :

The declination of the demonstrative pronoun "this" in the middle gender ^[27] :

Verb

Pragermanic verbs are divided into the following groups ^[28] :

• strong verbs;
• weak verbs;
• preteritno-nominal verbs;
• Irregular Verbs.

In Prague-German there were only two tenses (past and present) and three moods (indicative, imperative and subjunctive). In addition, the verb was infinitive.

Verb conjugation of beranan "carry":

Prepositions

The following prepositions are being reconstructed ^[29] :

• * frama "from"> Gothic. fram , dr.-sax. fram , dr.-v.-it. fram , dr.-eng. from ;
• * með (i) "with"> Gothic. miþ , dr. scand. með , dr.-eng. mid , dr.-v.-him. mit (i) ;
• * under ">" Gothic. undar , dr.-sax. undar , dr.-eng. under , dr.-frieze. under , dr.-v.-him. unter ;
• * to , * ta "to"> other-Sax. tō , dr.-eng. tō , dr.-frieze. tō , dr.-v.-it. zuo ;
• * ūt "from"> Gothic. ūt , dr. scand. ūt , dr.-eng. ūt , dr.-frieze. ūt , dr.-v.-him ūz .

Unions

The following alliances are being reconstructed ^[30] :

• * endi / * undi "and"> English and "and" him. und "and", niderl. en "and";
• * auk "also, and"> dates. og eke "also", him. auch "also", niderl. ook ;
• * þaux "but"> Eng. though “though,” it is. doch "however," dates. dog , swede. dock ;
• * iƀa / * uƀa "if"> isl. ef , eng. if if, niderl. of him ob "li".

Syntax

Compared to the Proto-Indo-European state, the pro-German syntax has changed little. Still, the basic word order was SOV , the adjective was placed before the noun, the Wackernagel law ^{[31] [32]} continued to operate.

Vocabulary

The vocabulary fund of the pro-Germanic language carries traces of contact between the pro-Germans and the neighboring nations: the Romans, the Celts, the Slavs.

Antoine Meye believed that the era of intensive Celtic-German contacts came in the 5th - 3rd centuries BC. er ^[33] At this time, the Germans borrowed words such as ^[34] : * ambaxtaz "servant" ^[35] , * īsarnan " iron " <Prakelt. * īsarno- ^{[36] [37]} , * lēkjaz " doctor " <Prakelt. * lēgi- ^[38] (according to alternative etymology, goes back to pragm . * lekan- “flow, flow” ^[39] ), * rīkz “ king ” <prakelt. * rēg- ^{[40] [41]} , * brunjōn “ breastplate ” ^{[42] [43]} , * gīslaz “pledge” ^[44] (according to alternative etymology, goes back to the pra-ee. * g ^h eid ^h tlos ^{[ 45]} ), * walxaz "stranger" (borrowed from the name of the tribe of wolves ) ^[46] , * Rīnaz " Rhine ".

A number of words were borrowed from Latin by the Germans, mainly they belong to the sphere of trade: * Rūmōnīz " Romans ", * pundan " pound ", * katilaz " boiler ", * kaup- "buy" ^[34] .

There is an assumption about the presence of Iranian borrowing in pragerman. These include the words * paθaz "path" and * wurstwan "work" ^[47] .

• Ramat P. The Germanic Languages // The Indo-European Languages. - London - New York: Routledge, 1998. - p. 380-414. - ISBN 0-415-06-449-X .
• Donald Ringe . From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic. - Oxford: OUP, 2006. - ISBN 0199552290 .
• Orel V. A Handbook of Germanic Etymology . Leiden - Boston: Brill, 2003.
• Kroonen G. Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic . Leiden - Boston: Brill, 2013.

• Kuzmenko Yu. K. Early Germans and their neighbors: Linguistics, archeology, genetics. SPb. : Nestor History, 2011.
• WP Lehmann & J. Slocum (eds.) A Grammar of Proto-Germanic (Online version)
• Proto-Germanic nominal and pronominal paradigms
• Fick A. Wortschatz der Germanischen Spracheinheit
• Charles Prescott. "Germanic and the Ruki Dialects"