The German heritage in Balkan languages
The German heritage in Balkan languages
Author(s): Helmut Wilhelm SchallerSubject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Comparative Linguistics
Published by: Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: German languages; Balkan languages; “Balkan German”
Summary/Abstract: All Balkan languages show some German elements in their vocabulary, beginning with Old Bulgarian Bible texts up to modern Balkan languages, including Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian, Albanian, Romanian and Modern Greek. Etymologies of Balkan words and German words must be distinguished. Loanwords in Balkan languages are confined to words which are traceable back to Germanic languages, e. g. Gothic, Old and Middle High German and contemporary German. Not only the word store but also onomastics were occasionally influenced by German languages, but it is not possible to speak of a German substrat or adstrat in the way we can speak of a Thracian or Illyrian substrat, or Greek or Romance adstrat.
Journal: Slavia Meridionalis
- Issue Year: 2015
- Issue No: 15
- Page Range: 2-13
- Page Count: 12
- Language: English