| Vandalic | |
| States: | Spain, North Africa |
| Extinct: | 6th century AD |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Germanic |
| Fam3: | East Germanic † |
| Iso3: | xvn |
| Linglist: | xvn |
| Glotto: | vand1245 |
| Glottorefname: | Vandal |
Vandalic was the Germanic language spoken by the Vandals during roughly the 3rd to 6th centuries. It was probably closely related to Gothic, and, as such, is traditionally classified as an East Germanic language.[1] Its attestation is very fragmentary, mainly due to the Vandals' constant migrations and late adoption of writing. All modern sources from the time when Vandalic was spoken are protohistoric.[2]
Vandalic is traditionally classified as an East Germanic language,[3] while the reasons for this classification are mostly historical and not linguistical. Due to the perception of Vandalic as an East Germanic language, its reconstruction from onomastics recorded by Greek and Roman sources relies on Gothic forms. Therefore, it is difficult to assess whether or not Vandalic is closely related to Gothic.
Theories range from Gothic and Vandalic, together with Burgundian, form a dialect continuum,[4] or that language of the Vandals was actually Gothic, to them being different languages separating early on, without having an intermediary East Germanic ancestor.[5]
According to their own mythology, the Goths originally came from Scandinavia. It is therefore debated, whether Gothic and by extension Vandalic, came from Scandinavia or not. Linguistic evidence shows no specific relation between North Germanic and either Gothic or Vandalic. Still, it is possible that both the Goths and the Vandals migrated from Scandinavia southwards, where their respective languages started to diverge from Proto-Germanic.
The linguistic urheimat of Vandalic probably lies south of the Baltic sea. They crossed the Rhine in the fifth century, establishing themselves together with the Hasdingi and the Silingi in Gallaecia (northern Portugal and Galicia) and in southern Spain, following other Germanic and non-Germanic peoples (Visigoths, Alans and Suebi) in c. 410 before they moved to North Africa in the 430s. Their kingdom flourished in the early 6th century, but after their defeat in 534 they were placed under Byzantine administration.[6] [7] The Vandalic language is presumed to still have been spoken at the time of the Byzantine conquest. It likely disappeared before the end of the century.[8]
Very little is known about the Vandalic language other than various phrases and a small number of personal names of Vandalic origin, mainly known from documents and coins. Most Vandalic names were recorded by native speakers of Latin or Greek, who might have misinterpreted phonemes or assimilated names to those common in their mother tongue.
The regional name Andalusia is traditionally believed to have derived from Vandalic, although this claim is contested. Following the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, from the 8th century to the end of the 15th the region was called .[9]
In one inscription from the Vandal Kingdom, the Christian incantation of is given in Vandalic as "italic=no|Froia arme" ("Lord, have mercy!").[10] [11] The same phrase appears in Latin: Collatio Beati Augustini cum Pascentio ariano 15 by Pseudo-Augustine: "italic=no|Froja armes".[12] It is possible that this sentence is, in fact, Gothic since the Vandals might have used Gothic as liturgical language.
The epigram Latin: [[De conviviis barbaris]] in the Latin Anthology, of North African origin and disputed date, contains a fragment in a Germanic language that some authors believe to be Vandalic,[13] although the fragment itself refers to the language as "Gothic". This may be because both languages were East Germanic and closely related; scholars have pointed out in this context that Procopius refers to the Goths, Vandals, Visigoths, and Gepids as "Gothic nations" and opines that they "are all of the Arian faith, and have one language called Gothic".[14] The fragment reads:Other surviving Vandalic words are Baudus, "master" [15] and Vandalirice, "King of the Vandals".[16]
The phonological features of Vandalic are similar to those of Gothic.
The following vowel inventory is based on Wrede:
| Front | Central | Back | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |||
| High | pronounced as /i/ | pronounced as /iː/ | pronounced as /u/ | pronounced as /uː/ | ||||
| Mid | pronounced as /eː/ | pronounced as /oː/ | ||||||
| Low | pronounced as /a/ | |||||||
The Proto-Germanic long vowel *pronounced as //e:// is often written in Vandalic names as (e) (Gunthimer, Geilimer), but it is also represented as (i) Geilamir, Vitarit.
The Proto-Germanic short vowel *pronounced as //e// is often written as (i) in Vandalic when it was not preceded by *pronounced as //r, h, w//. For example, Sigisteun contains -i because g precedes the vowel, but Beremut retains the *e since r precedes the vowel. It could either mean that *pronounced as //e// turned into pronounced as //i// in Vandalic[17] or that the Vandalic short pronounced as //e// was interpreted as pronounced as //i// by non-natives.
Similar to Gothic, Vandalic does not seem to have i-umlaut. One example of items that demonstrate the lack of umlaut are names that contain the form *ari (< Proto-Germanic Germanic languages: *harjaz 'army'): Ariarith, Arifridos, Guntari, Raginari vs. Old English English, Old (ca.450-1100);: here, the latter of which does show umlaut with the Proto-Germanic *a having shifted to e.
Proto-Germanic *pronounced as //o:// is written (u); Blumarit (compare Proto-Germanic Germanic languages: blōmô), Vilimut. This could either mean that *pronounced as //o:// turned into pronounced as //u// in Vandalic or that it is a misinterpretation of the sound by Latin authors. In Gothic documents, *pronounced as //o:// is mostly written (o), but sometimes also (u).
The Proto-Germanic diphthong *eu tends to come down to Vandalic as eu. Take for example the form teudo- ('people'), as opposed to the Gothic Gothic: (Gothic: þiuda),[18] where it has changed to pronounced as //iu//.
The Proto-Germanic diphthong *ai is preserved as pronounced as //ai//, but tends to become pronounced as //ei// later on. For example, the name Gaisericus changes to Geiseric in later documents.
The Vandalic consonant inventory according to Wrede.
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | Glottal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | (m) | (n) | (ng) | |||||||||
| pronounced as /m/ | pronounced as /n/ | pronounced as /ŋ/ | ||||||||||
| Stop | (p) | (b) | (t) | (d) | (c) | (g) | (c) | (g) | ||||
| pronounced as /p/ | pronounced as /b/ | pronounced as /t/ | pronounced as /d/ | pronounced as /c/ | pronounced as /ɟ/ | pronounced as /k/ | pronounced as /ɡ/ | |||||
| Fricative | (f) | (b) | (th) | (d) | (s) | (s, z) | ? (h) | ? (g) | ? (h) | |||
| pronounced as /ɸ/ | pronounced as /β/ | pronounced as /θ/ | pronounced as /ð/ | pronounced as /s/ | pronounced as /z/ | pronounced as /x/ | pronounced as /ɣ/ | pronounced as /h/ | ||||
| Approximant | (l) | (i, j) | (w, v) | |||||||||
| pronounced as /l/ | pronounced as /j/ | pronounced as /w/ | ||||||||||
| Trill | (r) | |||||||||||
| pronounced as /r/ | ||||||||||||
The Proto-Germanic *pronounced as //z// is also preserved in the language as a sibilant (always found written (s) or as part of (x)), as opposed to having undergone rhotacism as it has in North or West Germanic.[19] For example, compare the Vandalic form geis (as in Geiseric) 'spear' to Old English English, Old (ca.450-1100);: gār.
The word-initial pronounced as //h// inherited from Proto-Germanic does not consistently appear in Vandalic names recorded by Greek or Latin authors (e.g., the element ari in Arifridos and Guntari, from Proto-Germanic Germanic languages: *harja- 'army'). Sometimes the same name appears with and without (h), depending on the author. However, royal names on Vandal coins use a conservative official spelling, with the (h) always being written. This could point to either a loss of the sound represented by (h) or errors introduced by authors unfamiliar with the sound.
The Proto-Germanic fricatives *pronounced as //þ// and *pronounced as //ð// often turned into pronounced as //t// or pronounced as //d//, but there are also some names in which they were retained or otherwise represented distinctly: Thrasamundus, Guntha.
Initial pronounced as //w// is sometimes written as (gu). This could be an issue of Latin spelling or a point to the development of pronounced as //gw//. Examples are Guiliaruna, < Proto-Germanic Germanic languages: *wilja- and Guitifrida, < Germanic languages: *wīti-.
The Proto-Germanic cluster *pronounced as //-ww-// can be found strengthened to pronounced as //-g-//.
The Proto-Germanic cluster *pronounced as //-tj-// can become pronounced as /[tsj]/, as in matzia from Proto-Germanic Germanic languages: *matjaną.
Very little is known about Vandalic grammar, but some things can be extracted from extant Vandalic material.
The original Proto-Germanic *-z used to mark the nominative masculine singular in nominals, which was lost in West Germanic early on, is attested within some preserved Vandalic forms as -s or as part of -x (occasionally found Romanized in some name attestations as -us). This marker is potentially to be deemed an archaic feature since it is lost in most words, with complete lost within Ostrogothic names from the 6th century onward.
The epithet Vandalirice 'king of the Vandals' gives possible attestation of a genitive plural ending -e (cf. Gothic -ē), albeit written as (i) within this form. Old Germanic languages outside of East Germanic have -a (as in Old English and Old Norse)[20] [21] or -o (as in Old Dutch or Old High German) as their equivalents of this ending instead;[22] [23] compare Old English English, Old (ca.450-1100);: Wendla against the potential Vandalic form *Vandali.
The tables below show various Vandalic words, phrases and forms that survive in (or as) names and various Latin texts. The majority of these were taken from .
| italic=no|ari | Gothic: italic=no| (Gothic: italic=no|harjis) | Germanic languages: *harjaz | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|here | 'army' | |
| italic=no|baudes (cf. italic=no|baudus) | — | Germanic languages: *baudiz | — | 'master, ruler' | |
| italic=no|bere | Gothic: italic=no|- (Gothic: italic=no|baira-) | Germanic languages: *bera- | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|bera- | 'bear, carry' | |
| italic=no|bluma | Gothic: italic=no| (Gothic: italic=no|blōma) | Germanic languages: *blōmô |
| 'bloom, flower' | |
| italic=no|dagila |
| Germanic languages: *dag- | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|(dæġ) | 'day ()' | |
| italic=no|frida italic=no|frede italic=no|feua |
| Germanic languages: *friþu- | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|friþ(u) (cf. †frith) | 'peace' | |
| italic=no|geis |
| Germanic languages: *gaiza- | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|gār (cf. garlic) | 'spear' | |
| italic=no|gunda italic=no|guntha | — | Germanic languages: *gunþjo | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|gūþ | 'battle' | |
| italic=no|hildi-, italic=no|-ild | Gothic: italic=no|- (Gothic: italic=no|hildi-) | Germanic languages: *hildjō | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|hild | 'battle' | |
| italic=no|mir italic=no|mer |
| Germanic languages: *mēraz, Germanic languages: *mērijaz | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|mǣre (cf. ‡mere) | 'famous' | |
| italic=no|munds | — | Germanic languages: *mundō | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|mund (cf. ‡mound) | 'defender' | |
| italic=no|mut | Gothic: italic=no| (Gothic: italic=no|mōþs) ('mood, anger') | Germanic languages: *moda- | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|mōd (cf. mood) | 'courage' | |
| italic=no|oa | Gothic: italic=no| (Gothic: italic=no|hauhs) | Germanic languages: *hauha- | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|hēah | 'high' | |
| italic=no|osta italic=no|hostra |
| Germanic languages: *austra- | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|ēast | 'east' | |
| italic=no|rit italic=no|rith | Gothic: italic=no|- (Gothic: italic=no|-rēdan) ('to advise') | Germanic languages: *rēdaz | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|rǣd, English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|rēd (cf. †rede) | 'advice, counsel' | |
| italic=no|rix italic=no|ricus | Gothic: italic=no| (Gothic: italic=no|reiks) | Germanic languages: *rīk- | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|rice ('dominion') | 'king' | |
| italic=no|runa | Gothic: italic=no| (Gothic: italic=no|rūna) | Germanic languages: *rūnō | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|rūn (cf. †roun, rune) | 'secret' | |
| italic=no|scarila | — | Germanic languages: *skarō | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|scearu (cf. share) | 'band ' | |
| italic=no|sifila | Gothic: italic=no| (Gothic: italic=no|sibja) | Germanic languages: *sibjō | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|sibb (cf. sibling) | 'kindred ' | |
| italic=no|sindi- | Gothic: (Gothic: italic=no|sinþs) ('time, occurrence') | Germanic languages: *sinþa- | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|sīþ (cf. send) | 'travel, path' | |
| italic=no|trioua | Gothic: italic=no| (Gothic: italic=no|triggwa) | Germanic languages: *triwwa | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|trīewu | 'loyal, true ' | |
| italic=no|teus | Gothic: italic=no| (Gothic: italic=no|þius) | Germanic languages: *þewaz | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|þēow (cf. †thew) | 'slave, servant' | |
| italic=no|theudo | Gothic: italic=no| (Gothic: italic=no|þiuda) | Germanic languages: *þeudō | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|þēod (cf. †thede) | 'folk' | |
| italic=no|vili, italic=no|guilia | Gothic: italic=no| (Gothic: italic=no|wilja) | Germanic languages: *wiljô | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|willa | 'will (noun)' | |
| italic=no|uit- italic=no|guit- | Gothic: *- (Gothic: italic=no|*weiti-) | Germanic languages: *wīti- | — | 'struggle, combat' | |
| italic=no|vult | Gothic: italic=no| (Gothic: italic=no|wulþus) | Germanic languages: *wulþu- | English, Old (ca.450-1100);: italic=no|wuldor | 'glory' |
The few names on coins issued by the Vandalic kingdom were written in Latin script.[24]