Hypothesis of the Atlantean Semitid languages

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Atlantische or Atlantisch-Semitidische language is the name of a hypothetical language group that was prominently postulated by the German linguist Theo Vennemann . According to his hypothesis, the Germanic and Celtic languages ​​are influenced by Afro-Asian , especially Semitic, languages , so that a very early language contact through settlement or colonization of the European Atlantic coast by the Carthaginians in the middle of the first millennium BC. Until the Second Punic War . Vennemann assumes an influential language, which he describes as Semitid or Atlantean , and which should be reflected in the Germanic vocabulary as a superstrate influence .

So far, however, the presumed language contact and the related speculations about the early history of Europe have neither been historically nor archaeologically proven. The hypothesis is considered controversial in science and is rejected by the majority for lack of reliable evidence.

Vennemann's thesis can be classified as a reversal of the Germanic substrate hypothesis , which has not been widely recognized for a long time (it is now rather a superstrate hypothesis).

Vennemann's positions

In his work Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica , Vennemann, based on linguistic arguments, u. a. the opinion that between the Himilkon expedition and the end of the Second Punic War , Germania “stood under Carthaginian-Phoenician domination for a long time”. The Germanic languages were therefore shaped by a superstrate influence of the Phoenician language . Vennemann estimates the lexical influence of Phoenician on Germanic at that time to be over 50%. He also believes that the origin of the runes can be traced back to the influence of the Phoenician script and not to Latin or other alphabetic scripts that were in use in northern Italy at this time, such as the Etruscan script or that of the Rhaetians . Vennemann also points out possible parallels between Germanic and Semitic mythology.

From a linguistic point of view, Vennemann sees his idea supported by the work of John Morris Jones, Julius Pokorny and the more recent study by Orin David Gensler on the island's Celtic languages . They would suggest a prehistoric presence of a Semitid-speaking people in the British Isles.

In 2012, Germania Semitica, an anthology with Vennemann's essays on the subject, which had originally been published between 2000 and 2010, was increased by three previously unpublished articles.

criticism

In the anthology Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica? Edited by the German Jürgen Udolph . Critical contributions to the question of the Basque and Semitic substrate in Europe , Vennemann's theses are critically discussed by several linguists . Rainer Voigt, professor of Semitic and Arabic studies at the Free University of Berlin , and the linguist Hayim Y. Sheynin deal in particular with Vennemann's hypothesis of the “Atlantic languages” . According to Voigt, "Vennemann's approach [...] is on the whole wrong, but this could be a stimulus to deal again with the Semitic loanwords in Indo-European" (p. 332). Sheynin sharply criticizes Vennemann's insufficient knowledge of Semitism.

Dagmar Wodtko writes in her review of the anthology:

“As Vennemann himself emphasized, he is not an expert on the language families in question (cf. quotations in the volume discussed here, p. 154). It is precisely technical ignorance [meaning the Vennemanns] that leads all the specialists represented in this volume to a negative judgment of Vennemann's hypotheses; "

In his review, Stefan Georg comes to the following conclusion:

“Apart from the ease with which Vennemann's theses were and are obviously overturned, this volume is a model for dealing with“ paralinguistic ”approaches. Rez. Fully agrees with the editor that it was necessary, or, in other words, that silence is not the right way to deal with such (and similar) brute attempts to bring about “paradigm shifts”. All too quickly they get into the “science press” and gain an attention that does no small harm to the discipline as a whole. The fact that the scholars gathered here have agreed to oppose vasconism / Atlantism in European onomastics with their factual and well-founded view of things is very grateful. Any layperson interested in linguistics who wonders whether there may be "something to it" in these theses, but also, not least, to any local politician or local researcher who is tormented by the thought of whether Vs research should force a community's coat of arms to be changed ( No joke, see here UDOLPH, 212), you can now simply hand this book into your hand. "

Michael Meier-Brügger criticizes Vennemann several times in his Indo- European Linguistics , which has advanced to become the standard work of Indo- European Studies . According to Meier-Brügger, Vennemann's hypotheses are, among other things, “all rich in unprovable imagination” ().

In a lengthy review, Phillip Baldi and B. Richard Page take a critical look at Vennemann's monograph Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica . They also discuss the history of research and refer to the preliminary work by Pokorny or Morris Jones, to which Vennemann also refers. With regard to the methodology used by Vennemann, they conclude that it lacks verifiability and that it is based on structural similarities that can be the result of typological factors or of coincidence or pseudo-similarities that only make sense within the framework of Vennemann's overall hypotheses:

“In summary, then, we would say that V's methodology lacks verifiability in that it exploits similarities of structure and meaning which may be the result of typological factors or chance, or may be simply mirages which are only conceivable under the theory which V has formulated . Some, even many of V's etymologies may be right, and it must be conceded that V argues his case in a persuasive and seductive manner. But it is difficult to escape the possibility of false equations, a constant hazard in long range etymological research. "

Critical, but comparatively benevolent, they come to the conclusion that, although they partially reject Vennemann's theses, they nevertheless appreciate his efforts to investigate the role and extent of language contacts in the development of Indo-European languages ​​in Europe:

“We hope in this review to have made it clear that, while we disagree with part of what V has proposed, we also applaud his efforts to reassess the role and extent of language contact in the development of Indo-European languages ​​in Europe. We remain eager to learn more about this fascinating approach to the prehistory of European language and culture. "

literature

  • Robert Mailhammer, Theo Vennemann: The Carthaginian North: Semitic influence on early Germanic: A linguistic and cultural study. John Benjamin, Amsterdam 2019. (= NOWELE Supplement Series; 32)
  • Theo Vennemann: Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica. Edited by Patrizia Noel Aziz Hanna. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin 2003. (= Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs [TiLSM]; 138).
  • Theo Vennemann: Germania Semitica . Edited by Patrizia Noel Aziz Hanna. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin 2012. (= Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs [TiLSM]; 259)
  • Jürgen Udolph (Ed.), Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica? Critical contributions to the question of the Basque and Semitic substratum in Europe (contributions to lexicography and name research 6), Hamburg: Baar 20.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Theo Vennemann: see essays by Vennemann for the linguistic derivation (summarized in the anthology "Germania Semitica") .
  2. ↑ Marcus Simon: How the Teutons learned to write. (PDF) p. 3 , accessed on May 1, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Marcus Simon: How the Teutons learned to write. (PDF) p. 4 , accessed on May 1, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Marcus Simon: How the Teutons learned to write. (PDF) pp. 1–4 , accessed on May 1, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Marcus Simon: How the Teutons learned to write. (PDF) pp. 4–5 , accessed on May 1, 2018 .
  6. ^ John Morris Jones: Pre-Aryan syntax in Insular Celtic . In: J. Rhys, D. Brynmor-Jones (Eds.): The Welsh people . T. Fisher Unwin, London 1900, p. 617-641 .
  7. ↑ Julius Pokorny: The non-Indo-European substrate in Irish . In: Journal of Celtic Philology . tape 16 (1927) , no. 95-144 , 1927.
  8. ^ Orin David Gensler: A Typological Evaluation of Celtic / Hamito-Semitic Syntactic Parallels. Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley . 1993 ( online [PDF]).
  9. ^ Theo Vennemann: English as a "Celtic" language: Atlantic influences from above and from below . In: Patrizia Noel Aziz Hanna (Ed.): Germania Semitica . Studies and Monographs 259. De Gruyter Mouton, Berlin 2012, p. 33-42 .
  10. ↑ Dagmar Wodtko: Rev .: Europe Vasconica - Europe Semitica? Retrieved May 1, 2018 .
  11. ^ Stefan Georg: Review: Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica? (2). Retrieved May 1, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Michael Meier-Brügger: Indo-European Linguistics . 9th edition. De Gruyter, Berlin 2010, p. 166 .
  13. ^ Baldi & Page: Review. (PDF) In: Lingua 116. pp. 2190–2191 , accessed on May 1, 2018 .
  14. ^ Baldi & Page: Review. (PDF) In: Lingua 116, p. 2216 , accessed on January 5, 2018 .