Old Low Franconian

Old Low Franconian is West Germanic language that was used by the Franks inhabiting the region around the lowest part of the Rhine and that survives into modern times as one of the principal linguistic strains from which Dutch has evolved. Spoken from the 6th century to the 11th, the language seems to have been divided into two distinct dialects: Western Old Low Franconian and Eastern Old Low Franconian. These divisions have continued into modern Dutch. The language is also referred to as Old Dutch.

The earliest fragments of the language are preserved in the Lex Salica (507 - 511), interspersed in the Latin text. Another small bit appears in the Wachtendonck Codex, Leiden Willeram, and in two surviving sentences referred to as the Probatio pennae and Munsterbilzen eulogy.

Probatio pennae:

hebban olla vogala nestas hagunnan

hinase hi(c) (e)nda thu

uu(at) unbida(n) (uu)e nu

"All the birds have started their nests except me and you. What are we waiting for now?"

"hebben alle vogels nesten begonnen behalve ik en u wat beginnen we nu?"

Munsterbilzen eulogy:

tesi samanunga vvas edele unde scona

& omnium virtutem pleniter plena

"What a noble and beautiful collection - and moreover so virtuous"

"Wat een edele en schone verzameling - en zo deugdzaam bovendien"

Affinity

Old Low Franconian was a West-Germanic language most closely related to Old Saxon and Old High German (Western Middle German to be precise). It differed from the former mainly in having: diphthongation of long ē and ō into ei and uo (ex. heilig "holy", ruoc "smoke"); a plural ending -a for masculine nouns (ex. OLFr daga "days" vs. OS dagōs); and the retention of a present indicative with three distinct forms in the plural (ex. werthun, werthit, werthunt "we, you, they become"). Its primary distinction from Old High German, just like all other Germanic languages, was its complete lack of sound shift, hence: OLFr ruopen "to call, cry out", betera "better", tunga "tongue", mikil "great" vs. OHG ruofen, bezzira, zunga, mihhil. It also retained he as the masculine 3rd person pronoun (akin to Dutch hij and Ripuarian Frankish hä, he vs. OHG er).

Features

Phonology

The graphemes used for Old Low Franconian are

a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, th, u, v, w.

Old Low Franconian contains the regular vowels, a, e, i, o, u, both in a short and long (denoted by a bar) series. There are also several diphthongs: ei, ou, ie, uo, io/ia. The first two maintained two separate sounds, but the last four seem to, at least by the end of the period, have weakened to an i or u + schwa, thus: ei, ou, iə, uə.

It also shows rare a-mutation, but i-mutation of short a is apparent: craft "power", crefti (genitive singular). There was also mutation of short u and long ā: ēhtidon vs. āhtidon "they pursued" and gwēde "clothing" vs. OHG giwati.

Germanic ai changes both to ē before r, w, h, or in final position and ei in all other positions in east Old Low Franconian:

OLFr sēo "sea", mērra "more" vs. Goth saiws, maiza
OLFr stein (Limburg sjtein) vs. Goth stains, Du steen

Germanic au changes to ō before h, r, dental consonants, or in final position; it changes to ou in all other positions in east Old Low Franconian:

OLFr gehōran "to hear" vs. Goth hausjan
OLFr ouga "eye" (Limburg oug) vs. Goth augo, Du oog

Older ē (ê₂) and ō (ô) diphthongize to ie and uo:

OLFr hiera "here" vs. Goth hēr
OLFr fuot "foot" vs. Goth fōtus

Like Old High German, Old Low Franconian is not effected by the North Sea Germanic nasal spirant law. In other words, it does not in general lose nasals before original fricatives f, s, þ:

OLFr uns "us", cundo "known", munt "mouth" vs. OE ūs, cūð, mūð

though there are some exceptions:

OLFr sūthon "from the south" (Du zuiden), like OE sūðan vs. OHG sundan

The sounds ft, fl, f show signs of flux to ^*, at least in the latest texts:

OLFr eft "again" alongside echt ^*
consider: Dutch lucht "air", kracht "power", schacht "shaft", stichten "to cause, establish", zacht "soft", MDu helcht "handle", dial. (Flemish, Zeeland) vichtig "fifty" vs. German Luft, Kraft, Schaft, stiften, sanft, Hälfte, fünfzig
but unshifted: Du schiften "to sift", heft "handle", MDu halfter "halter", MDu luft, loft "left", vijftig "fifty"

Morphology

No distinction is made between the accusative and the dative in the 1st and 2nd personal singular personal pronouns

OLFr acc/dat. mi vs. Goth acc. mik, dat. mis, OS acc. mīk, dat. mī, Swiss German acc. mich, dat. mir
OLFr acc/dat. thi vs. Goth acc. þuk, dat. þus, OS acc. thīk, dat. thī, Swiss German acc. dich, dat. dir

Old Low Franconian masculine a-stem nouns would decline dag (sg.), daga (pl.) whereas Gothic and Old Saxon would have dags (sg.), dagōs (pl.). It is interesting to note that neither forms are discernable in modern Dutch or Low German:

OLFr dag/daga > Middle Dutch dag/dage; but Dutch dag/dagen
Old Saxon dags/dagōs > Middle Low German dach/dache; but Low German Dag (sg.) and Daag (pl.)

Like all other West Germanic languages, Old Low Franconian had no verb root reduplification; instead it made use of vowel alternation:

OLFr slāpan 'to sleep' - slîp "I slept" vs. Goth slēpan - saislēp
OLFr farlātan "to leave" - farliet "he left" vs. Goth lētan - lailōt

The Old Low Franconian 2nd person singular preterit base vowel follows the plural, not the singular:

OLFr gāui "thou gavst", gaf "he gave", gāuon "they gave"

This continues into Middle Dutch but extends to both the singular and plural:

ic nam "I took", du naems, hi nam, wi namen, ghi naemt, si namen

Lexicon

Old Low Franconian Lexicon

Pronouns

ic/ik "I" (mi, acc. sg./dat. sg.)
thū "thou" (thi "thee") (cf. MDu du, di)
he, hie "he" (imo, dat.sg.) (cf. Du hij, hem)
wi/win "we" (nom.pl.)(uns, unsig acc.pl.) (cf. Du wij, ons)
sig "reflexive pron" (cf. Du zich)

mīn ‘mine’
thīn,-a ‘thine’
sīn ‘his’
sīna ‘hers’

Function Words

also "just as" (cf. Du alzoo; G also)
an "on, in, to, into, for" (cf. Du aan; G an, E on, Goth ana)
bethiu "thus, for that reason"
fan "from" (cf. Du van; G von)
huo "how" (cf. MDu hu, Du hoe; OS hwo, G wie, Goth hvaiwa)
in/inde "and" (cf. MDu ende, Du en)
mit "with, by"
ne "not"
of "if" (cf. Du of; G ob, OHG ibu, ON ef, E if, OFris gef)
ouir "over, above, upon" (cf. Du over; OS obar, G über, E/OFris over, Goth ufar, ON yfir)
so/sō ‘so, thus, such, so much’ (cf. MDu so, Du zo; OS/G so)
te ‘to, about’
thie ‘that one, who, which’ (cf. Du de "the")
thuro ‘through’ (cf. MDu dore, Du door; OS thuru, G durch, E through)
undir ‘under’ (cf. Du onder; G unter, E/OFris under, Goth undar, ON undir)
untes ‘until, up to’
warda ‘for, because’
we "who" (cf. Du wie; OS hwe, G wer, E who)

Nouns and Verbs

al "all"
antscēine "face" (cf. Du aanzien 'regard, watching'; Goth ana-siuns "visible", OE. an-sīen "face")
aruit "tribulation" (cf. MDu arbed, Du arbeid)
beda "prayer"/bedan "to worship, pray" (cf. Du bede)
becoron "to prove, test"
bescirman "to protect" (cf. Du beschermen)
blīthan "to rejoice"
bock "goat" (buckin, dat.pl.) (cf. Du bok)
brengan ‘to bring’/brāhtos (2sg pret ind) (cf. Du brengen)
brunni ‘incense’
craft ‘power’ (crefti gen. sg., crefte dat. sg.)
cuman ‘to come’ (cf. Du komen)
cuning ‘king’ (cf. Du koning)
cunni ‘generation’ (cf. Du kunne "sex, gender")
cuolitha ‘coolness’
dag ‘day’ (cf. Du dag)
duon ‘to do, make’ (dust p. pl. pres. imp, deda sg. pret. ind.), gedān part. (cf. Du doen)
egislik ‘terrible one’/eiselik ‘terrible’
einde ‘end’ (cf. Du einde)
ertha ‘earth’ (cf. MDu eerde, Du aarde)
erui ‘inheritance’ (cf. Du erf)
ēwa ‘eternity’ (cf. Du eeuw "age, century")
farwerpen ‘to turn away, spurn’ (cf. Du verwerpen "to reject, turn down")
fether ‘feather’/fetheraco ‘of wings’ (cf. Du veder)
fiunt "fiend"/fieundis gen.sg./fiunda nom.pl. (cf. Du vijand)
fluot "flood" (fluode dat.sg.) (cf. Du vloed)
foluwonon ‘to abide’
forhtan ‘to fear’ (forhtit 2nd pl pret ind, forhtindon pres pret/masc dat pl)
fūir ‘fire’ (fūire, dat. sg.) (cf. Du vuur)
fuot ‘foot’ (fuoti, dat. sg./acc. pl.) (cf. Du voet)
gān ‘to go’ (cf. Du gaan)
gebet ‘prayer’ (gebede, dat.sg.) (cf. Du gebed)
gefuogan ‘to add’ (cf. Du toevoegen)
geginwirdi ‘presence, datsg
gehēita ‘vow, acc sg’ (cf. Du eed)
gehōran ‘to hear’ (gehōri 2nd sg pres imp, gehōrit 2nd pl pres imp, gehōrdos 2nd sg pret ind, gehōrda 3rd sg pret ind) (cf. Du horen)
gesettan ‘impose, set’ (cf. Du zetten)
gesian ‘to see’ (gesiet ‘2nd pl pres imp’, gesag ‘3rd sg pret ind’) (cf. Du zien)
getheke ‘covering’ (cf. Du dek "covering; deck")
geuan ‘to give’ (gāvi ‘2nd pret sg’, gaf ‘3rd pret sg’, geve ‘1st sg pres subj’) (cf. Du geven)
gewīgen ‘to bless’
ginātha ‘mercy, grace’ (cf. Du genade)
got/gode ‘god’ (cf. Du god; G Gott, Goth guþ, ON guð)
guolikhēide ‘glory’
giruornussi ‘movement’
hērro ‘lord’
herte ‘heart’ (cf. Du hart)
hōuit ‘head’ (cf. Du hoofd)
hūs ‘house’ (cf. Du huis)
irheuon ‘exalt’
irhōian ‘to raise, exalt’
irsuokan ‘test’
jār ‘year’ (cf. Du jaar)
lēidon "to lead" (cf. Du leiden; OE læ-dan, OHG leiten, ON leitha)
liegon "to lie, dissemble" (cf. OE leogan, OFris liaga, G lügen, Goth liugan, ON ljuga)
līf "life" (liue, dat.sg.)
līthan ‘to go’ (cf. OE līthan, OHG līdan, ON líða, Goth ga-leithan)
lōf ‘praise, acc sg’ (louis, gen.sg., loui, dat.sg.)
luon, luogin 'to low, moo' (cf. Du loeien)
luttir ‘proper’
man ‘man’ (manno ‘genpl’)
menden ‘to praise’
menigi ‘multitude, fullness’ (cf. Du menig)
munt ‘mouth’ (mundi ‘datsg’) (cf. Du mond)
namo ‘name’ (cf. Du naam)
offran ‘to offer’
offringa ‘burnt offering’
ohsso ‘ox’ (cf. Du os)
ōuga ‘eye’ (cf. Du oog)
ouirlîthon ‘to cross over’
quethan ‘to speak’
rāt ‘design, plan’
ruggi ‘back’ (cf. Du rug)
ruopen ‘call out’ (cf. Du roepen)
sēla ‘soul’ (cf. Du ziel)
selitha ‘house’
selua ‘self’ (cf. Du zelf)
sēo ‘sea’ (cf. Du zee)
settan ‘to set, place’ (cf. Du zetten)
siluer ‘silver’
singen ‘to sing’ (cf. Du zingen)
scawon ‘to look upon, gaze’
sorgon ‘to worry, be disturbed’
sprecan ‘to speak’
stein ‘stone’
stemma ‘voice’
sterke ‘strength’
strik ‘net’
sulun ‘shall’
suocan ‘to seek, question’
tellon ‘to tell, relate’
thā ‘then’
that ‘so that, that’
thencon ‘to pay attention’ (thāhta ‘3rd sg, pres.’)
thiat ‘people’ (thiadi ‘nom/acc pl’) (cf. MDu diot)
thing "thing" (cf. Du ding)
thurritha ‘dry land’
tohopa ‘refuge, hope’
tunga ‘tongue’
turn ‘tower’
undirscêithan ‘to utter’
unreht "injustice’
waldon ‘to rule’
wārhēide ‘truth’ (cf. Du waarheid)
watir ‘water’ (cf. Du water)
werk ‘work’ (cf. MDu warc, Du werk)
werolt ‘eternity, forever’ (cf. Du wereld)
werthan ‘to become’
wesan ‘to be’ (bist, ist, sint)
wither "ram" (cf. OS wethar, withar, G Widder, E wether, Goth withrus)
witherstrīdan "to rebel"
wonan "to live, dwell" (cf. Du wonen)

Origin

The Wachtendonck Codex, a psalm book, provides a number of clues to its origin. It is believed to have been written around Liège (Limb Luuk), Maastricht (Limb Mestreech), or Aachen (Limb Aoke, RipFrk Öche) largely because it is marked by several distinct features characteristic of East Low Franconian, the modern Limburg dialect. The mutation of long vowels and diphthongs; the ending -on in the 1st person singular; the reflexive pronoun sig; and finally the personal pronoun wir all point to an eastern origin. Compare:

Dutch schrijven vs. Limburgish sjrieve > [iə
Dutch ik zing "I sing" vs. Ripuarian Frankish ich singen "I sing"
Dutch and Limburg reflexive zich, from Middle Dutch eastern dialects sich, sick, German sich vs. Dutch Westvlaams, Brabants, etc. hem, MDu hem, haam (masculine) and haer, haar (feminine)
Dutch wij (we) "we" vs. Limburgish veer, German wir

References

Robinson, Orrin W. Old English and its Closest Relatives: a Survey of the Earliest Germanic Languages. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1992.
"Limburgs", Streektaal.net: Taal in Nederland ^*

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