Re: [tied] Re: Peschel

--- tgpedersen <tgpedersen@...> wrote:

> I have a basic question here. I can see that
> archaeologists have no
> trouble assuming that a particular culture was
> mixed, made up of
> distinct components known from other cultures. On
> the other hand, in
> linguistics, as opposed to common use, languages are
> never mixed,
> they are grafted, so to say, that is, an existing
> language is
> modified and a large part of the vocabulary is
> replaced by that of
> another language. In other words, how should one
> translate an
> archaelogical statement of the presence of a mixed
> culture into a
> linguistic statemenet about an overlaid language
> (the most famous
> example is of course the English language, except
> its genesis in
> historical times).

******GK: Each "archaeological" situation should be
carefully studied on its own, since there are many
possible patterns of linguistic interaction within a
"mixed" culture. Naturally, the availability of
historical records is a big help, though even that
probably won't deal with all aspects of this. In the
matter of the Przeworsk culture, the identifiable
"pre" stages would give us an idea of where e.g. Celts
and Germanics settled among the locals. The emergence
of a unified "mixed" culture would not necessarily
imply an immediate linguistic fusion. Thus Prz. area A
might remain preponderantly Celtic-speaking, while
Prz. are B would be Germanic-speaking, and Prz. area
C, "local"-speaking. As time went by Germanic dialects
became more and more dominant everywhere. When I get
the expected materials, I'll probably have more to say
on this.******

>
> Obviously the authorities in Olbia had no trouble
> telling the
> components apart. All those Pontic inscriptions are
> in Greek, I
> assume?

*****GK: Yes they are******

>
> The northern limit of Celtic settlements did not
> move in the time
> Peschel covers (later than the decree), but an
> impoverished branch of
> Jastorf grew towards and met that area from
> Thuringia. Basically that
> Celtic limit seems to correspond to the present
> cultural border that
> the Germans refer to as "der Weisswurst-�quator".
>
> Torsten
>
>
>

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