Anglo-Frisian languages.html |
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| Anglo-Frisian
Insular Germanic
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| Geographic distribution: |
Originally, the British Isles and the North Sea coast from Friesland to Jutland; today worldwide |
| Genetic classification: |
Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Anglo-Frisian |
| Subdivisions: | |
The Anglo-Frisian languages (sometimes Insular Germanic) are a group of Ingvaeonic West Germanic languages consisting of Old English, Old Frisian, and their descendants. The Anglo-Frisian family tree is:
- Anglo-Frisian
The Anglo-Frisian languages are distinguished from other West Germanic languages partially by the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law, Anglo-Frisian brightening and by the palatalization of Proto-Germanic *k to a coronal affricate before front vowels: cf. English cheese and West Frisian tsiis to Dutch kaas and German Käse, or English church and West Frisian tsjerke to Dutch kerk and German Kirche. Early Anglo-Frisian formed a Sprachbund with Old Saxon, which is counted among the Low Saxon-Low Franconian languages.
The German linguist Friedrich Maurer rejected Anglo-Frisian as a historical subdivision of the Germanic languages. Instead, he proposed North Sea Germanic or Ingvaeonic, a common ancestor of Old Frisian, Old English and Old Saxon.
Examples
Compare the words for the numbers one to ten in the Anglo-Frisian languages.
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