"This book presents a new and innovative theory on the origin of the Germanic languages. This theory presents solutions to four pivotal problems in the history of Germanic with critical implications for cultural history: the origin of the Germanic writing system (the Runic alphabet), the genesis of the Germanic strong verbs, the development of the Germanic word order, and etymologies for key elements of the Germanic lexicon. The book proposes that all four problems can be solved if it is hypothesized that ca. 2,500 years ago the ancestor of all Germanic languages, Proto-Germanic, was in intensive contact with Punic, a Semitic language from the Mediterranean. This scenario is explored by focusing on linguistic data, supported by an interdisciplinary mosaic of evidence. This book is of interest to anyone working on the linguistic and cultural history of the Germanic languages"--.

• The Carthaginian North: Semitic influence on early Germanic
• Editorial page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Table of contents
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Chapter 1. Introduction
  • 1. Lexicon
  • 2. Morphology: The Germanic strong verbs
    • 2.1 Functionalization of ablaut
      • 2.1.1 Ablaut in Proto-Indo-European
      • 2.1.2 Functionalized ablaut in the Proto-Germanic strong verbs
    • 2.2 Systematized ablaut in the Proto-Germanic strong verb
    • 2.3 Uniformization of stem formation in the Germanic strong verbs
    • 2.4 Reduction of verb categories
  • 3. Syntax
    • 3.1 Proto-Indo-European word order
    • 3.2 Proto-Germanic word order
      • 3.2.1 Proto-Germanic word order: SOV or SVO?
      • 3.2.2 Proto-Germanic word order: V2
      • 3.2.3 Proto-Germanic V1
    • 3.3 Proto-Germanic split word order: V1/V2 vs. V-late
  • 4. Issues in the oldest Germanic writing system
  • 5. Summary of explananda in Proto-Germanic
• Chapter 2. Theoretical foundations
  • 1. How we look at contact-induced change
  • 2. Types of contact-induced change and common outcomes
    • 2.1 Common outcomes of RL agentivity
    • 2.2 Common outcomes of SL agentivity
    • 2.3 Neutralization of agentivity
  • 3. The reconstruction of contact-induced change
• Chapter 3. Context, location and initial contact setting
  • 1. Setting the stage
  • 2. The first phase: Slow language shift to Punic
  • 3. The second phase: Koinézation and re-Germanicization
  • 4. Summary: Towards a time line
• Chapter 4. Punic elements in the Proto-Germanic lexicon
  • 1. PGmc. +fulka- ‘division of an army’
  • 2. PGmc. +flukka- ‘flock, company, troop’
  • 3. West Gmc. +plōg- ‘plough’
  • 4. Gmc. +pleha-/+plega- ‘to cultivate’
  • 5. PGmc. +sibjō- ‘sib, extended family, clan, kinfolk’
  • 6. PGmc. +aþal-/+aþil-/+aþul- ‘nobility, noble’, +ōþil-/+ōþal- ‘inherited landed property’
  • 6. PGmc. +aþal-/+aþil-/+aþul- ‘nobility, noble’, +ōþil-/+ōþal- ‘inherited landed property’
  • 7. PGmc. +erþō ‘earth’
  • 8. PGmc. +skellingaz / +skillingaz ‘shilling’
  • 9. West Gmc. +paning, +panning, +panding ‘penny’
  • 10. PGmc. +smītan ‘to smite’, +smiþaz ‘smith’
  • 11. Phoenician loanwords “from everyday life”
    • 11.1 PGmc. +ebura- ‘male pig’
    • 11.2 PGmc. +krabba- m. ‘crab, shrimp’
  • 12. Possible covert Punic influences in Proto-Germanic
    • 12.1 Gender of PGmc. +sunnōn f. ‘sun’ and +mēnōn m. ‘moon’
    • 12.2 Gmc. norþ- adj., adv., noun ‘north, north wind’
• Chapter 5. Punic influence in the Germanic verb system: The strong verbs
  • 1. The contact situation
  • 2. Problematic Germanic features and Punic
    • 2.1 Ablaut marks grammatical categories in Punic
    • 2.2 Inflectional classes depend on phonological root structure in Punic
    • 2.3 Predictable present tense stem
    • 2.4 Temporal opposition in Punic
  • 3. The transfer
    • 3.1 Contact-induced change I: the innovations
      • 3.1.1 Contact-induced changes to the verb categories
      • 3.1.2 Loss of reduplication in the strong preterit
      • 3.1.3 Systematization and uniformization of ablaut
    • 3.2 Contact-induced change II: Spread and change
• Chapter 6. Explaining the Germanic split word order
• Chapter 7. The origin of the oldest Germanic writing system
  • 1. The eight questions and their answers
    • 1.1 Question 1
    • 1.2 Question 2
    • 1.3 Question 3
      • 1.3.1 Punic B /b/, late Punic B /ʋ/
      • 1.3.2 Punic G /g/, late Punic G /ɰ/
      • 1.3.3 Punic D /d/, late Punic D /ð/
      • 1.3.4 Punic he
      • 1.3.5 Summary of answer to Question 3
    • 1.4 Question 4
    • 1.5 Question 5
    • 1.6 Question 6
    • 1.7 Question 7
    • 1.8 Question 8
  • 2. The runes for the mediae, b g d
  • 3. The doubling theory: An additional argument
  • 4. The doubling theory: A further application
  • 5. More on the rune order in the rune rows
  • 6. The vowel runes
    • 6.1 The ï rune, ᛇ
    • 6.2 The i rune, ᛁ
    • 6.3 The e rune п, ᛖ
    • 6.4 The o rune, ᛟ
    • 6.5 Vowel letters in Greek and Germanic: A brief comparison
      • 6.5.1 Greek (Jensen 1969: 446–447)
      • 6.5.2 Germanic
  • 7. Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
• Chapter 8. Extralinguistic evidence
  • 1. Overview: Carthage and the world at 500 BCE
    • 1.1 Introduction
    • 1.2 Carthage and her empire at 500 BC
  • 2. Carthaginian trade and sea voyages
    • 2.1 Carthaginian sea trade with the north
    • 2.2 The voyage of Himilco
  • 3. Religion
    • 3.1 Balder
    • 3.2 The Vanir, one of two families of Germanic deities
    • 3.3 Phol and Balder
      • 3.3.1 Phol and Balder: The evidence
      • 3.1.2 Phol and Balder: Twelve observations
    • 3.4 Punic religion in Germania? Historical consequences
  • 4. Archaeological evidence for a Punic presence in the North and Baltic Seas
  • 4. Archaeological evidence for a Punic presence in the North and Baltic Seas
  • 5. Genetic evidence
• Chapter 9. Conclusion
  • 1. Unexplained linguistic features in proto-Germanic
  • 2. Why Punic?
  • 3. Where to from here?
• Index