This article is missing information about Frankish phonology.(February 2018) |
Frankish | |
---|---|
Old Franconian, Old Frankish | |
*Frenkisk | |
Native to | Francia |
Region | Western Europe |
Ethnicity | Franks |
Era | Gradually evolved into Old Low Franconian (Old Dutch) and the Old High Franconian dialects (Rhine Franconian, East Franconian and Central Franconian) by the 9th century,[1][2] which dissolved with other West Germanic varieties into Old High German, and influenced Old French as a superstrate. |
Elder Futhark (not widely used) | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | frk |
frk | |
Glottolog | fran1264 oldd1237 |
Frankish (reconstructed endonym: *Frankisk),[6][7] also known as Old Franconian or Old Frankish, was the West Germanic language spoken by the Franks from the 5th to 9th century.
After the Salian Franks settled in Roman Gaul (roughly, present-day France), its speakers in Picardy and Île-de-France were outnumbered by the local populace who spoke Proto-Romance dialects. However, many modern French words and place names, including the eventual country's name of "France", have a Frankish (i.e. Germanic) origin. France itself is still known in some languages by terms literally meaning the "Frankish Realm".
Between the 5th and 9th centuries, Frankish spoken in Northeastern France, present-day Belgium, and the Netherlands is subsequently referred to as Old Dutch, whereas the Frankish varieties spoken in the Rhineland were heavily influenced by Elbe Germanic dialects and the Second Germanic consonant shift and would form part of the modern Central Franconian and Rhine Franconian dialects of German and Luxembourgish.[8]
The Old Frankish language is poorly attested and mostly reconstructed from Frankish loanwords in Old French, and inherited words in Old Dutch, as recorded in the 9th to 12th centuries. A notable exception is the Bergakker inscription, which may represent a primary record of 5th-century Frankish, though it is debated whether the inscription is written in Frankish, or Old Dutch.[9]
All experts agree on the meaning of the second word: "I (he) grant(s)", and many consider the first word to be the name of the owner of the sword that the scabbard belonged to. Opinions vary on how this name should be read, just as the latter two words have been interpreted very differently. Keeping in mind the function of the piece, some academics read the last word as "sword(s)".
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