> How right you are. Put that way, life is complicated, historical
> linguistics is extremely suspect and why bother with it at all?
Let's
> all meet again on a list on algebra. At least that way we can all
> dodge the question of the non-dispersal of the Germanic languages.
>
from:
Östen Dahl
The Origin of the Scandinavian languages
"
7. Conclusion: Why do Swedes speak Danish?
Here is in brief what I think is the most probable scenario for the
origin of the Scandinavian languages: Germanic-speaking groups
arrived to the very western-most corner of the Baltic (present-day
Germany and Denmark) somewhat before the beginning of our era. A
little later they expanded eastwards as far as Uppland on the north
side and the Vistula estuary on the south side of the Baltic. During
the ensuing half millenium, the languages of the different Germanic
groups became differentiated, exactly how much we do not know. At the
same time, such pre-Germanic groups as still remained would slowly be
Germanized, a process that we shall probably never find out the
details of. As Denmark emerged as the major political power in
Scandinavia, the language of its leading classes spread to critical
parts of the other Scandinavian countries, most probably in several
waves. The result was a relatively homogenous language situation at
the beginning of the historical period, which has been mistakenly
extrapolated backwards in the traditional account of the history of
the Scandinavian languages.
Thus, we upend the old claim that "the same language was spoken all
over Scandinavia up to the Viking Age and then gradually split up",
concluding that the previously heterogenous linguistic situation in
Scandinavia up to the Viking Age was replaced by a homogenous
language spoken at least in the central parts of each country. The
Baltic Sea plays a crucial role in this account, in particular the
rise of networks of urban settlements at its rim. There is of course
a continuation, in the ensuing development of the Hanseatic system,
which might be seen as setting the scene for the creation of the
modern standard Scandinavian languages, which are again much more
similar to each other than they ought to be if they had simply
developed on their own out of the mediaeval languages spoken in the
respective countries. But that is another story.
"
Torsten