The Frankish Language
The Frankish language, also Old Frankish, was the language of the Franks. Classified as a West Germanic language, it was spoken in Merovingian times, preceding the 7th century. Austrasia formed the north-eastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of present-day western Germany, eastern and northern France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The Franks first established themselves in the Netherlands and Flanders before they started to fight their way down south and east. The language had a significant impact on Old French. It evolved into Old Low Franconian in the north and it was replaced step by step by Langue d'oïl in the south.
Old Frankish is not directly attested except in glosses and small phrases. It has been reconstructed from loanwords in Old French and from Old Dutch (see also Comparative method). One known phrase in Old Frankish is found in the Salic law of the early sixth century, and is used to free a serf:
- Maltho thi afrio lito.
- I say to you, I free you, half-free.
Old Low Franconian (also Old Low Frankish) was a group of dialects spoken in the Low countries. It was a daughter language of the Old Frankish language.
Read more about this topic: Low Franconian Languages
Famous quotes containing the word language:
“For all symbols are fluxional; all language is vehicular and transitive, and is good, as ferries and horses are, for conveyance, not as farms and houses are, for homestead.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)