Longobard theory of the Cimbrian

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The Longobard theory of Cimbrian traces the origin of the Cimbrian language and population back to Longobard origins. The controversial theory is only represented by a minority of Zimbern researchers and local researchers; academic dialectology recognizes Cimbrian as the southern Bavarian dialect.

Developing the theory

The Langobard theory of the Cimbrian was founded by the linguist Bruno Schweizer , who has worked at the Research Association of German Ahnenerbe since 1937 , and published in 1948. In 1974, the Italian Germanist Alfonso Bellotto came to the same point of view independently of Schweizer and justified this in a publication.

In 2004 the Cimbrian linguist Ermenegildo Bidese took up the arguments of Schweizer and Bellotto again and put them up for discussion at a linguistic conference. Several other linguists have also joined this theory over time.

The vast majority of specialist scientists reject the Longobard theory more or less strictly in favor of the "Bavarian theory". According to this, the Cimbri and their language go back to a South Bavarian colonization activity between 1000 and 1200.

argumentation

Linguistic evidence

  • One of the main characteristics of Langobard is the alleged lack of Old High German diphthongization . In the most conservative part of Cimbrian, namely in the western part of the Seven Churches , this was not carried out except in the absolute wording. Examples are liibar pruudar instead of lìabar prùadar "dear brother".
  • The Lombards are considered to be the initiators of the High German sound shift . In no variant of German is this carried out as consistently as in Cimbrian. Examples are faifan instead of “whistle”; faff instead of "Pfaffe"; hòff instead of "head".
  • In Cimbrian there are so-called Longobard passwords, which are not used or at least not so consistently used in the northern Italian dialects. Examples are bölbo's "ghost" <Longobard walupaus " masking "; barba "uncle" <Longobard barba "uncle".
  • On the other hand, the Cimbrian lacks the typical names for all alpine animals , so that an origin of South Bavarian migrants from the Alpine region is unlikely. Examples are billa gòaz "wild goats, chamois "; billar òkso "wild ox, red deer "; billar hano "wild rooster, wood grouse ".
  • Cimbrian lacks any geographic names for places or rivers from the southern Bavarian area. In contrast, it knows Northern Italian place names in a late Latin or early Old High German sound from before the year 1000. Examples: Bèarn “ Verona ” (cf. Dietrich von Bern from the Germanic heroic saga); Slait " Schio " (Latin scledum ).
  • In Cimbrian there are only those so-called Bavarian passwords which are supposed to come from the church terminology of the Arian Germanic tribes and which, apart from the Goths and Bavarians, were probably also known to the Arian Lombards. Examples: èrtakh “Tuesday”, fiistakh “Thursday”, fòat “shirt”.
  • The Inner Bavarian or South Bavarian language features of Cimbrian ( New High German diphthongization , long / ai /> / ɔa /, long / oː /> / ɔa /, long / eː /> / ɛa /) all emerged after 1200 and therefore cannot be derived from South Bavarian Settlers were brought before 1200.

These supposedly Longobard language features are opposed to a much larger number of features that can only be traced back to Bavarian . Furthermore, those in favor of Langobard also apply to a large extent to the most Alemannic Walsermund species spoken in north-west Italy , where linguistics ascribe them to the influence of the neighboring Italian dialects. This is especially true for the monophthongization from Old High German / ia /, / uo / to / i / and / u / (also Issimedeutsch it means liiber bruuder "dear brother"), the apparent extreme shift from Old High German / pf /, / x /> / f /, / h / (also, for example, Rimella German means faffo “Pfaffe” and henn “child”), the adoption of Lombard-derived words (the Walsers also say barba “uncle”) and the very idiosyncratic development of vocabulary as a result of centuries of isolation. The lack of South Bavarian place names among the Zimbri corresponds to the lack of Alemannic place names among the Walsers and is also seen there in connection with the isolation. Incidentally, sound developments can arise polygenetically, so do not necessarily have to have been brought from the original home ( liiber bruuder corresponds to standard German "dear brother", but was created independently of this).

Sources of settlement history

There is only one mediaeval source that reports on the relocation of a few dozen farmers from the Benediktbeuern area to Verona as a result of a famine . This contrasts with a disproportionately larger number of historical documents, which testify to the general and massive settlement of Lombard fortified farmers (" Arimans ") on the northern borders of the Lombard Empire.

According to various written sources, due to the extreme accumulation of Longobard names and loanwords in the Italian regional dialect, because of the accumulated number of Lombard church patrons and the massive occurrence of Lombard burial grounds, it must be assumed that, especially around the city of Vicenza, the Lombards did not only appear as the highest ruling class, as elsewhere in Italy but the normal population formed. Vicenza was therefore also called Cymbria in the Middle Ages . Conversely, the Cimbrian language in Inland German Wisentain was called "Vicentine".

The Cimbrian settlement of the plateau of the seven parishes can therefore be easily explained from the predominantly Lombard area of ​​Vicenza, where the mother parishes of the seven parishes are also demonstrably located. Similar conditions could also be demonstrated for the Cimbrian settlement of the thirteen parishes from the Verona area.

Political autonomy

The almost complete political sovereignty of the Cimbrian Republic of the Seven Municipalities from around 1200 to 1800 (and to a much lesser extent that of the Thirteen Municipalities) is much easier to explain with self-confident and freedom-loving fortified farmers from the Lombard upper class than with former residents of Bavarian monasteries. However, other groups of settlers in the Alps, such as the Walser , also have a corresponding autonomy , and in this case the granting of autonomy can be proven to go back to the local landlords, who called the settlers into their areas.

literature

  • Alfonso Bellotto: Il cimbro e la tradizione longobarda nel vicentino I. In: Vita di Giazza e di Roana 17-18 (1974), pp. 7-19 (Italian).
  • Alfonso Bellotto: Il cimbro e la tradizione longobarda nel vicentino II. In: Vita di Giazza e di Roana 19-20 (1974), pp. 49-59 (Italian).
  • Ermenegildo Bidese: The Cimbri and their language: Geographical, historical and linguistically relevant aspects . In: Thomas Stolz (Ed.): Colloquium on Ancient Languages ​​and Language Levels. Contributions to the Bremen Colloquium on "Ancient Languages ​​and Language Levels" (= Diversitas Linguarum. Vol. 8). Brockmeyer Verlag, Bochum 2004, ISBN 3-8196-0664-5 , pp. 3-42.
  • James R. Dow: Bruno Schweizer's commitment to the Langobardian thesis . In: Thomas Stolz (Ed.): Colloquium on Ancient Languages ​​and Language Levels. Contributions to the Bremen Colloquium on "Ancient Languages ​​and Language Levels". (= Diversitas Linguarum, Volume 8) . Brockmeyer Verlag, Bochum 2004, ISBN 3-8196-0664-5 , pp. 43-54 (English).
  • Bruno Schweizer: The origin of the Cimbri . In: The neighbors. Yearbook for Comparative Folklore 1, 1948, ISSN  0547-096X , pp. 111–129.
  • Bruno Schweizer: Cimbrian overall grammar. Comparative presentation of the Cimbrian dialects (= Journal for Dialectology and Linguistics. Supplement 132). Edited by James R. Dow, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-515-09053-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bruno Schweizer: The origin of the Zimbern. In: The neighbors. 1 (1948), pp. 111-129.
  2. ↑ Website of the University of Trento ( Memento of the original from June 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Italian) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / portale.unitn.it
  3. ^ Instead of many for example Eberhard Kranzmayer : Historical sound geography of the whole Bavarian dialect area. Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna and Böhlaus Nachf., Graz / Cologne 1956, p. 5; Peter Wiesinger : The Central and Southern Bavarian Dialects in Bavaria and Austria. In: Charles VJ Russ : The Dialects of Modern German. A Linguistic Survwey. Routledge, London 1990, pp. 441 f.