The Anglo-Frisian languages are a proposed sub-branch of the

West Germanic languages The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic languages, Germanic family of languages (the others being the North Germanic languages, North Germanic and the extinct East Germanic languages, East Germ ...

encompassing the Anglic languages ( English, Scots, extinct

Fingallian Fingallian or the Fingal dialect is an extinct dialect of Middle English formerly spoken in Fingal, Ireland. It is thought to have been an offshoot of Middle English, which was brought to Ireland during the Norman invasion, Although little is ...

, and extinct Yola) as well as the Frisian languages ( North Frisian, East Frisian, and West Frisian). While this relationship had considerable support historically, many modern scholars have criticized it as a valid phylogenetic grouping. Instead, they believe that the

Ingvaeonic languages North Sea Germanic, also known as Ingvaeonic ( ), is a subgrouping of West Germanic languages that consists of Old Frisian, Old English, and Old Saxon, and their descendants. These languages share a number of commonalities, such as a single pl ...

comprised a

dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of Variety (linguistics), language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulat ...

which stretched along the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

, finally diverging into distinct languages –

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

, Pre–

Old Frisian Old Frisian was a West Germanic language spoken between the late 13th century and the end of 16th century. It is the common ancestor of all the modern Frisian languages except for the North Frisian language#Insular North Frisian, Insular North ...

, and

Old Saxon Old Saxon (), also known as Old Low German (), was a Germanic language and the earliest recorded form of Low German (spoken nowadays in Northern Germany, the northeastern Netherlands, southern Denmark, the Americas and parts of Eastern Eur ...

– during the

Migration Period The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...

in the 5th century. There are still proponents of an Anglo-Frisian node in the West Germanic tree, citing strong archeological and genetic evidence for the comingling of these groups. In the 1950s, Hans Kuhn argued that the two languages diverged at the Ingvaeonic level, but later "converged". He argued that this convergence explained the striking similarity of the two languages while also explaining the issues in chronology. This view has been dismissed as improbable given the geographic divide. The Anglo-Frisian languages have been distinguished from other West Germanic languages due to several

sound change In historical linguistics, a sound change is a change in the pronunciation of a language. A sound change can involve the replacement of one speech sound (or, more generally, one phonetic feature value) by a different one (called phonetic chan ...

s: besides the

Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law In historical linguistics, the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law (also called the Anglo-Frisian or North Sea Germanic nasal spirant law) is a description of a phonological development that occurred in the Ingvaeonic dialects of the West Germanic ...

, which is present in

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

as well, Anglo-Frisian brightening and palatalization of are for the most part unique to the modern Anglo-Frisian languages: * English ''cheese'', Scots ' and West Frisian ', but Dutch ', Low German ', and German ' * English ''church'', and West Frisian ', but Dutch ', Low German ', ', and German ', though Scots ' * English ''sheep'', Scots ' and West Frisian ', but Dutch (pl. ), Low German , German (pl. ) The grouping is usually implied as a separate branch in regards to the

tree model In historical linguistics, the tree model (also Stammbaum, genetic, or cladistic model) is a model of the evolution of languages analogous to the concept of a family tree, particularly a phylogenetic tree in the biological evolution of species. ...

. According to this reading, English and Frisian would have had a proximal ancestral form in common that no other attested group shares. The early Anglo-Frisian varieties, like

and

, and the third Ingvaeonic group at the time, the ancestor of Low German

, were spoken by intercommunicating populations. While this has been cited as a reason for a few traits exclusively shared by Old Saxon and either Old English or Old Frisian, a genetic unity of the Anglo-Frisian languages beyond that of an

Ingvaeonic North Sea Germanic, also known as Ingvaeonic ( ), is a subgrouping of West Germanic languages that consists of Old Frisian, Old English, and Old Saxon, and their descendants. These languages share a number of commonalities, such as a single pl ...

subfamily cannot be considered a majority opinion. In fact, the groupings of Ingvaeonic and West Germanic languages are highly debated, even though they rely on much more innovations and evidence. Some scholars consider a Proto-Anglo-Frisian language as disproven, as far as such postulates are falsifiable. Nevertheless, the close ties and strong similarities between the Anglic and the Frisian grouping are part of the

scientific consensus Scientific consensus is the generally held judgment, position, and opinion of the majority or the supermajority of scientists in a particular field of study at any particular time. Consensus is achieved through scholarly communication at confer ...

. Therefore, the concept of Anglo-Frisian languages can be useful and is today employed without these implications. Geography isolated the settlers of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

from

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

, except from contact with communities capable of open water navigation. This resulted in more

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

and

Norman language Norman or Norman French (, , Guernésiais: , Jèrriais: ) is a ''Langues d'oïl, langue d'oïl'' spoken in the historical region, historical and Cultural area, cultural region of Normandy. The name "Norman French" is sometimes also used to des ...

influences during the development of

Late Modern English Modern English, sometimes called New English (NE) or present-day English (PDE) as opposed to Middle and Old English, is the form of the English language that has been spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England, which began in the late 14th ...

, whereas the modern Frisian languages developed under contact with the southern Germanic populations, restricted to the continent.

Classification

The proposed Anglo-Frisian family tree is: *Anglo-Frisian **Anglic *** South Anglic **** Central English ***** West Central English ***** East Central English **** Southern English *** North Anglic **** Scots ***** Insular Scots *****

Northern Scots Northern Scots refers to the dialects of Modern Scots traditionally spoken in eastern parts of the north of Scotland. The dialect is generally divided into:{{cite web , url=http://www.dsl.ac.uk/INTRO/intro2.php?num=15 , title=SND Introduction - ...

***** Central Scots ***** Southern Scots ***** Doric Scots *****

Ulster Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to: * Ulster Scots people * Ulster Scots dialect Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (), also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect (whose proponents assert is a dialect of Scots language, Scots) spoken in parts ...

**** Northern English ***** Northumbrian English ***** Lower Northern English ***Irish Anglo-Norman **** Fingalian (extinct) **** Yola (extinct) ** Frisian *** West Frisian **** Hindeloopen Frisian **** Schiermonnikoog Frisian ****Westlauwers–Terschellings ***** Terschelling Frisian ***** West Lauwers Frisian ******Wood Frisian ******* Westereendersk ******Clay Frisian ******South Frisian **** Westereendersk *** East Frisian ****Ems Frisian ***** Saterland Frisian ****Weser Frisian *****

Wangerooge Frisian Wangerooge Frisian, also known as Wangeroogic or Wangeroogish, is an extinct variety of the East Frisian language, formerly spoken on the East Frisian Island of Wangerooge. Descended from the Weser subdialect of Old Frisian, it flourished on the ...

***** Wursten Frisian *** North Frisian ****Mainland North Frisian ***** Bökingharde Frisian ******West Mooring ******East Mooring ***** Goesharde Frisian ***** Karrharde Frisian ***** Strand Frisian ****** Halligen Frisian ***** Wiedingharde Frisian ****Insular North Frisian ***** Eiderstedt Frisian *****

Sylt North Frisian Sylt Frisian, or ''Söl'ring'', is the dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the island of Sylt in the German region of North Frisia. ''Söl'ring'' refers to the ''Söl'ring'' Frisian word for Sylt, ''Söl''. Together with the Fering ...

*****Föhr–Amrum ****** Amrum North Frisian ****** Föhr North Frisian ***** Heligoland Frisian

Anglic languages

Anglic, Insular Germanic, or English languages and dialects encompass

and all the linguistic varieties descended from it. These include

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

Early Modern English Early Modern English (sometimes abbreviated EModEFor example, or EMnE) or Early New English (ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transit ...

, and

; Early Scots,

Middle Scots Middle Scots was the Anglic language of Lowland Scotland in the period from 1450 to 1700. By the end of the 15th century, its phonology, orthography, accidence, syntax and vocabulary had diverged markedly from Early Scots, which was virtual ...

, and Modern Scots; and the extinct

and Yola languages in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

English-based creole languages An English-based creole language (often shortened to English creole) is a creole language for which English was the '' lexifier'', meaning that at the time of its formation the vocabulary of English served as the basis for the majority of the cr ...

are not generally included, as mainly only their

lexicon A lexicon (plural: lexicons, rarely lexica) is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word () ...

and not necessarily their grammar, phonology, etc. comes from

and

Frisian languages

The Frisian languages are a group of languages spoken by about 500,000 Frisian people on the southern fringes of the

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. West Frisian, by far the most spoken of the three main branches with 875,840 total speakers, constitutes an official language in the Dutch

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

. North Frisian is spoken on some North Frisian Islands and parts of mainland

North Frisia North Frisia (; ; ; ; ) is the northernmost portion of Frisia, located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, between the rivers Eider River, Eider and Vidå, Wiedau. It also includes the North Frisian Islands and Heligoland. The region is traditionally ...

in the northernmost German

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of Nordfriesland, and also in

Heligoland Heligoland (; , ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , ) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, the ...

in the German Bight, both part of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

state (Heligoland is part of its mainland district of Pinneberg). North Frisian has approximately 8,000 speakers. The

East Frisian language East Frisian is one of the Frisian languages. Its last surviving dialect is Saterland Frisian spoken in Saterland in Germany. There once were two main dialects, ' and ''Weser''. Weser, including the Wursten, Harlingerland and Wangerooge d ...

is spoken by only about 2,000 people; speakers are located in

Saterland Saterland (; Saterland Frisian: , ) is a municipality in the district of Cloppenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated between the cities of Leer, Cloppenburg, and Oldenburg. It is home to Saterland Frisians, who speak Frisian in addi ...

in Germany.
There were multiple dialects of East Frisian spoken up until the 20th century, but today only the Saterland Frisian variety of the Ems dialect remains. There are three dialects of West Frisian and ten of North Frisian. * West Frisian dialects: ** Clay Frisian (Klaaifrysk) ** South or Southwest Frisian (Súdhoeksk) ** Wood Frisian (Wâldfrysk) * North Frisian dialects: **Insular dialects *** Sylt Frisian (Söl'ring) *** Föhr-Amrum Frisian (Fering, Öömrang) *** Heligolandic Frisian (Halunder) **Mainland dialects *** Wiedingharde Frisian (Wiringhiirder) *** Bökingharde Frisian (Mooringer) *** Karrharde Frisian (Karrharder) *** Goesharde Frisian (Gooshiirder) **** Northern Goesharde Frisian (incl. Hooringer Fräisch & Hoolmer Freesch) **** Central Goesharde Frisian **** Southern Goesharde Frisian (extinct since early 1980s) *** Halligen Frisian (Halifreesk)

Anglo-Frisian developments

The following is a summary of the major sound changes affecting vowels in chronological order. For additional detail, see

Phonological history of Old English The phonological system of the Old English language underwent many changes during the period of its existence. These included a number of vowel shifts, and the palatalisation of velar consonants in many positions. For historical developmen ...

. That these were simultaneous and in that order for all Anglo-Frisian languages is considered disproved by some scholars. # Backing and nasalization of West Germanic ''a'' and ''ā'' before a nasal consonant # Loss of ''n'' before a spirant, resulting in lengthening and

nasalization In phonetics, nasalization (or nasalisation in British English) is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered, so that some air escapes through the nose during the production of the sound by the mouth. An archetypal nasal sound is . ...

of preceding vowel # Single form for present and preterite plurals # ''A-fronting'': West Germanic ''a'', ''ā'' > ''æ'', ''ǣ'', even in the diphthongs ''ai'' and ''au'' (see Anglo-Frisian brightening) # palatalization of

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...

and before front vowels (but not phonemicization of palatals) # ''A-restoration'': ''æ'', ''ǣ'' > ''a'', ''ā'' under the influence of neighboring consonants # ''Second fronting'': OE dialects (except West Saxon) and Frisian ''ǣ'' > ''ē'' # ''A-restoration'': ''a'' restored before a back vowel in the following syllable (later in the Southumbrian dialects); Frisian ''æu'' > ''au'' > Old Frisian ''ā''/''a'' # OE breaking; in West Saxon palatal diphthongization follows # ''i''-mutation followed by syncope; Old Frisian breaking follows # Phonemicization of palatals and

assibilation In linguistics, assibilation is a sound change resulting in a sibilant consonant. It is a form of spirantization and is commonly the final phase of palatalization. Arabic A characteristic of Mashreqi varieties of Arabic (particularly Levanti ...

, followed by second fronting in parts of West Mercia # Smoothing and back mutation

Comparisons

Numbers in Anglo-Frisian languages

These are the words for the numbers one to 12 in the Anglo-Frisian languages, with Dutch, West-Flemish and German included for comparison: * ''Ae'' , is an adjectival form used before nouns.

Words in English, West Riding Yorkshire, Scots, Yola, West Frisian, Afrikaans, Dutch, German and West-Flemish

Alternative grouping

North Sea Germanic North Sea Germanic, also known as Ingvaeonic ( ), is a subgrouping of West Germanic languages that consists of Old Frisian, Old English language, Old English, and Old Saxon, and their descendants. These languages share a number of commonalitie ...

, also known as Ingvaeonic, is a proposed grouping of the

that encompasses

, and

. The North Sea Germanic grouping may be regarded as an alternative to Anglo-Frisian, or as ancestral to it. Since Anglo-Frisian features occur in Low Germanespecially in its older stages such as Old Saxonsome scholars regard the North Sea Germanic classification as more meaningful than a sharp division into Anglo-Frisian and Low German. In other words, because Old Saxon came under strong Old High German and Old Low Franconian influence at an early stage, it lost some North Sea Germanic features, that it had previously shared with Old English and Old Frisian. North Sea Germanic is not thought of as a monolithic

proto-language In the tree model of historical linguistics, a proto-language is a postulated ancestral language from which a number of attested languages are believed to have descended by evolution, forming a language family. Proto-languages are usually unatte ...

, but rather as a group of closely related dialects that underwent several areal changes in relative unison. The extinction of two little-attested and presumably North Sea Germanic languages, Old Old Anglian and Old Jutish, in their homelands (modern

southern Schleswig Southern Schleswig ( or ', ; ) is the southern half of the former Duchy of Schleswig in Germany on the Jutland Peninsula. The geographical area today covers the large area between the Eider river in the south and the Flensburg Fjord in the no ...

and

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

respectively), may have led to a form of "

survivorship bias Survivorship bias or survival bias is the logical error of concentrating on entities that passed a selection process while overlooking those that did not. This can lead to incorrect conclusions because of incomplete data. Survivorship bias is ...

" in classification. Since Old Anglian and Jutish were, like Old Saxon, direct ancestors of Old English, it might follow that Old Saxon, Old Anglian and/or Jutish were more closely related to English than any of them was to Frisian (or vice versa). North Sea Germanic, as a hypothetical grouping, was first proposed in ''Nordgermanen und Alemannen'' (1942) by the German linguist and philologist Friedrich Maurer (1898–1984), as an alternative to the strict tree diagrams that had become popular following the work of the 19th-century linguist

August Schleicher August Schleicher (; 19 February 1821 – 6 December 1868) was a German linguist. Schleicher studied the Proto-Indo-European language and devised theories concerning historical linguistics. His great work was ''A Compendium of the Comparative Gr ...

Classification

Anglic languages

Frisian languages

Anglo-Frisian developments

Comparisons

Numbers in Anglo-Frisian languages

Words in English, West Riding Yorkshire, Scots, Yola, West Frisian, Afrikaans, Dutch, German and West-Flemish

Alternative grouping

See also

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading