Ancient Belgian is a hypothetical extinct

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, ...

language, spoken in

Belgica Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and Germany. In 50 BC, af ...

(northern

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only durin ...

) in late

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

. It is often identified with the hypothetical Nordwestblock. While it remains a matter of controversy, the linguist Maurits Gysseling, who attributed the term to SJ De Laet, hypothesised a Belgian that was distinct from the later Celtic and

Germanic languages The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, ...

. According to the theory, which was further elaborated by Hans Kuhn and others, traces of Belgian can be found in certain

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name o ...

s such as South-East-Flemish Bevere, Eine,

Mater Mater is a formal Latin term for mother and may refer to: Places *Mater, Belgium, a village near Oudenaarde Health care Australia *Mater Health Services, Brisbane, Australia * Mater Health Services North Queensland, which incorporates: ** Mate ...

and Melden.

Overview

The borders of the Belgian Sprachraum are made up by the Canche and the Authie in the south-west, the

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

and the Aller in the east, and the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

and the German Mittelgebirge in the south-east. It has been hypothetically associated with the Nordwestblock, more specifically with the Hilversum culture. The use of the name ''Belgian'' for the language is to some extent supported by Julius Caesar's '' De Bello Gallico''. He mentions that the

Belgae The Belgae () were a large confederation of tribes living in northern Gaul, between the English Channel, the west bank of the Rhine, and the northern bank of the river Seine, from at least the third century BC. They were discussed in depth by J ...

and the

Galli A ''gallus'' (pl. ''galli'') was a eunuch priest of the Phrygian goddess Cybele (Magna Mater in Rome) and her consort Attis, whose worship was incorporated into the state religious practices of ancient Rome. Origins Cybele's cult may have or ...

spoke different languages. It is furthermore supported by toponyms in present-day

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, which, according to Kuhn, point at the existence of an Indo-European language, distinct from Celtic and Germanic languages. Hans Kuhn also noted certain connections ( suffixes,

ethnonyms An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and ...

, toponyms, anthroponyms) between this language and the

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, ...

southern Europe Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Alba ...

, in particular with the Italic languages. Before their migration to the south, the Italics must have resided in

central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the ...

, in the vicinity of the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

and the Slavs, as shown by the large vocabulary common to these groups. Some of them may have migrated to the northwest, while the others headed for the Italian peninsula, hence the connection that has been made between the

Umbrians The Umbri were an Italic people of ancient Italy. A region called Umbria still exists and is now occupied by Italian speakers. It is somewhat smaller than the ancient Umbria. Most ancient Umbrian cities were settled in the 9th-4th centuries BC ...

and the Ambrones of the shores of the North Sea.F. Ribezzo, ''Revue Internationale d'Onomastique'', II, 1948 sq. et III 1949, sq., M.Almagro dans ''RSLig'', XVI, 1950, sq, P.Laviosa Zambotti, l.c. Proponents of the Belgian language hypothesis also suggest that it was influenced by Germanic languages during a first, early Germanicisation in the 3rd century BC, as distinct from the Frankish colonization in the 5th to the 8th centuries AD. For example, the Germanic sound shifts (p → f, t → th, k → h, ŏ → ă) have affected toponyms that supposedly have a Belgian-language origin. Characteristics of Belgian are said to include the retention of ''p'' after the sound shifts, a trait that it shared with the Lusitanian language. Names of bodies of water ending in -''ara'', as in the name for the Dender; -''ănā'' or -''ŏnā'', as in ''Matrŏnā'' ( Marne River and also the current

) and settlement names ending in -''iŏm'' are supposedly typically Belgian as well. According to Gysseling, traces of Belgian are still visible. The

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A ( abbreviated ) is a word-form ...

suffix -''ika'', the feminizing suffixes -''agjōn'' and -''astrjō'' and the collective suffix -''itja'' have been incorporated in Dutch, sometimes very productively. In toponymy, ''apa'', ''poel'', ''broek'', ''gaver'', ''drecht'', ''laar'' and ''ham'' are retained as Belgian

loanwords A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because the ...

References

Sources

* M. Gysseling, "Enkele Belgische leenwoorden in de toponymie", in ''Naamkunde'' 7 (1975), pp. 1–6. *

J. Molemans ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

, "Profiel van de Kempische toponymie", in ''Naamkunde'' 9 (1977), pp
1–50
{{Germanic languages Unclassified Indo-European languages Extinct languages of Europe Linguistic strata

Overview

See also

References

Sources