Linguistic interferences: a diachronic analysis of Latin influence on Old High German vocabulary and syntax

Abstract

Languages are constantly changing as a result of the contacts with other languages and the relative and resulting influence they undergo. Therefore, no language can be defined as completely free from borrowings from foreign languages, neither the German language. This dissertation aims at analyzing the linguistic relationships between the Romans and the Germanic peoples, examining the lexical and syntactical influence of Latin on Old High German. In order to provide a diachronic analysis of such linguistic interferences, the first chapter explores the origins of the history of the German language and its development. With the purpose of understanding the cause of such contacts, the second chapter focuses on the linguistic contacts between the Germanic peoples and the Romans und the consequent periodization of Latin influence, which reflects itself within Old High German vocabulary and syntax, object of analysis in the third chapter of this dissertation. In conclusion, the fourth chapter concerns the language teaching part of this master’s thesis, as it introduces linguistic reflections regarding interference phenomena within a language and didactic tools to investigate and study these phenomena. Moreover, with the purpose of raising students’ awareness on the fact that a language is not pure, but always influenced by other languages as a result of language contact, a brief lesson was proposed and delivered to secondary school children, considering the influence of Latin and other Indo-European languages on Italian vocabulary.