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Vandalic was the Germanic language spoken by the Vandals during roughly the 3rd to 6th centuries. It was probably closely related to Gothic language, and, as such, is traditionally classified as an East Germanic language.
Theories include that Vandalic together with Gothic and Burgundian formed a dialect continuum; that the language of the Vandals was actually Gothic; and that they were different languages that separated early on, without having an intermediary East Germanic ancestor.
The linguistic urheimat of Vandalic probably lies south of the Baltic sea. They crossed the Rhine in the fifth century, establishing themselves together with the Hasdingi and the Silingi in Gallaecia (northern Portugal and Galicia) and in Andalusia, following other Germanic and non-Germanic peoples (Visigoths, Alans and Suebi) in c. 410 before they moved Vandal Kingdom in the 430s. Their kingdom flourished in the early 6th century, but after their Vandalic War in 534 they were placed under Byzantine administration.
The regional name Andalusia is traditionally believed to have derived from Vandalic, although this claim is contested. Following the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, from the 8th century to the end of the 15th the region was called .
In one inscription from the Vandal Kingdom, the Christian incantation of ("Lord, have mercy!") is given in Vandalic as "Froia arme".
The same phrase appears in Collatio Beati Augustini cum Pascentio ariano 15 by Pseudo-Augustine: "Froja armes". It is possible that this sentence is, in fact, Gothic, since the Vandals might have used Gothic as liturgical language.The epigram De conviviis barbaris in the Latin Anthology, of North African origin and disputed date, contains a fragment in a Germanic language that some authors believe to be Vandalic, although the fragment itself refers to the language as "Gothic". This may be because both languages were East Germanic and closely related; scholars have pointed out in this context that Procopius refers to the Goths, Vandals, Visigoths, and Gepids as "Gothic nations" and opines that they "are all of the Arianism faith, and have one language called Gothic". Procopius of Caesarea, THE VANDALIC WAR I,2–8 The fragment reads:
Other surviving Vandalic words are Baudus, "master" Anthologia Latina No. 307, I. 5 and Vandalirice, "King of the Vandals".Anthologia Latina No. 215, 523–543
The Proto-Germanic long vowel * is often written in Vandalic names as (Gunthimer, Geilimer), but it is also represented as Geilamir, Vitarit.
The Proto-Germanic short vowel * is often written as in Vandalic when it was not preceded by *. For example, Sigisteus contains - i because g precedes the vowel, but Beremut retains the *e since r precedes the vowel. It could either mean that * turned into in Vandalic
or that the Vandalic short was interpreted as by non-natives.Similar to Gothic, Vandalic does not seem to have Germanic umlaut. One example of items that demonstrate the lack of umlaut are names that contain the form *ari (< Proto-Germanic *harjaz 'army'): Ariarith, Arifridos, Guntari, Raginari vs. Old English here, the latter of which does show umlaut with the Proto-Germanic * a having shifted to e.
Proto-Germanic * is written ; Blumarit (compare Proto-Germanic blōmô), Vilimut. This could either mean that * turned into in Vandalic or that it is a misinterpretation of the sound by Latin authors. In Gothic documents, * is mostly written , but sometimes also .
The Proto-Germanic diphthong *eu tends to come down to Vandalic as eu. Take for example the form teudo- ('people'), as opposed to the Gothic 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰 (þiuda), where it has changed to .
The Proto-Germanic diphthong *ai is preserved as , but tends to become later on. For example, the name Gaisericus changes to Geiseric in later documents.
The Proto-Germanic * is also preserved in the language as a sibilant (always found written or as part of ), as opposed to having undergone rhotacism as it has in North Germanic or West Germanic.
The word-initial inherited from Proto-Germanic does not consistently appear in Vandalic names recorded by Greek or Latin authors (e.g., the element ari in Arifridos and Guntari, from Proto-Germanic *harja- 'army'). Sometimes the same name appears with and without , depending on the author. However, royal names on Vandal coins use a conservative official spelling, with the always being written. This could point to either a loss of the sound represented by or errors introduced by authors unfamiliar with the sound.
The Proto-Germanic fricatives * and * often turned into or , but there are also some names in which they were retained or otherwise represented distinctly: Thrasamundus, Guntha.
Initial is sometimes written as . This could be an issue of Latin spelling or a point to the development of . Examples are Guiliaruna, < Proto-Germanic *wilja- and Guitifrida, < *wīti-.
The Proto-Germanic cluster * can be found strengthened to .
The Proto-Germanic cluster * can become , as in matzia from Proto-Germanic *matjaną.
The epithet Vandalirice 'king of the Vandals' gives possible attestation of a genitive plural ending -e (cf. Gothic -ē), albeit written as within this form. Old Germanic languages outside of East Germanic have - a (as in Old English and Old Norse)
| + Vandalic words attested outside of names
! Attested Vandalic form ! Gothic cognate ! Gloss of Vandalic form | ||
| arme | 𐌰𐍂𐌼𐌰𐌹 (armai) (2.sg.ipv. form of 𐌰𐍂𐌼𐌰𐌽 (arman)) | 'have mercy!' |
| baudus (cf. - baudes) | — | 'ruler, master' |
| drincan | 𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌺𐌰𐌽 (drigkan) | 'drink (infinitive)' |
| eils | 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃 (hails) | 'hail!' (greeting) |
| ia | 𐌾𐌰𐌷 (jah) | 'and' |
| froia | 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰 (frauja) | 'lord, (the) Lord' |
| matzia | 𐌼𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (matjan) | 'eat (infinitive), have one's meal (infinitive)' |
| scapia | *𐍃𐌺𐌰𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 (*skapjan), cf. 𐌲𐌰𐍃𐌺𐌰𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gaskapjan) | 'make, create' |
| vandalirice | — (-𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐌴 (reikē)) | 'king of the Vandals' |
| + Vandalic words and forms attested in or as personal names
! Attested Vandalic form(s) ! Gothic language cognate ! Proto-Germanic etymon ! Old English cognate ! Gloss of Vandalic form | ||||
| ari | 𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌹𐍃 (harjis) | *harjaz | here | 'army' |
| baudes (cf. baudus) | — | *baudiz | — | 'master, ruler' |
| bere | 𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌰- (baira-) | *bera- | bera- | 'bear, carry' |
| bluma | 𐌱𐌻𐍉𐌼𐌰 (blōma) | *blōmô | *blōma | 'bloom, flower' |
| dagila | *𐌳𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌻𐌰 (*dagila) cf. 𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍃 (dags) | *dag- | (dæġ) | 'day (diminutive)' |
| frida frede feua | *𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌸𐌿𐍃 (*friþus) | *friþu- | friþ(u) (cf. †frith) | 'peace' |
| geis | *𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍃 (*gais) cf. 𐌿𐍃 𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (us gaisjan) ('frighten, scare') | *gaiza- | gār (cf. garlic) | 'spear' |
| gunda guntha | — | *gunþjo | gūþ | 'battle' |
| hildi-, -ild | 𐌷𐌹𐌻𐌳𐌹- (hildi-) | *hildjō | hild | 'battle' |
| mir mer | *𐌼𐌴𐍂𐍃 (*mērs) | *mēraz, *mērijaz | mǣre (cf. ‡mere) | 'famous' |
| munds | — | *mundō | mund (cf. ‡mound) | 'defender' |
| mut | 𐌼𐍉𐌸𐍃 (mōþs) ('mood, anger') | *moda- | mōd (cf. mood) | 'courage' |
| oa | 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌷𐍃 (hauhs) | *hauha- | hēah | 'high' |
| osta hostra | *𐌰𐌿𐍃𐍄𐍂𐌰- (*austra-) | *austra- | ēast | 'east' |
| rit rith | -𐍂𐌴𐌳𐌰𐌽 (-rēdan) ('to advise') | *rēdaz | rǣd, rēd (cf. †rede) | 'advice, counsel' |
| rix ricus | 𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (reiks) | *rīk- | rice ('dominion') | 'king' |
| runa | 𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌰 (rūna) | *rūnō | rūn (cf. †roun, rune) | 'secret' |
| scarila | — | *skarō | scearu (cf. share) | 'band ()' |
| sifila | 𐍃𐌹𐌱𐌾𐌰 (sibja) | *sibjō | sibb (cf. sibling) | 'kindred ()' |
| sindi- | 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌸𐍃 (sinþs) ('time, occurrence') | *sinþa- | sīþ (cf. send) | 'travel, path' |
| trioua | 𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍅𐌰 (triggwa) | *triwwa | trīewu | 'loyal, true ()' |
| teus | 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐍃 (þius) | *þewaz | þēow (cf. †thew) | 'slave, servant' |
| theudo | 𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰 (þiuda) | *þeudō | þēod (cf. †thede) | 'folk' |
| vili, guilia | 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰 (wilja) | *wiljô | willa | 'will (noun)' |
| uit- guit- | *𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌹- (*weiti-) | *wīti- | — | 'struggle, combat' |
| vult | 𐍅𐌿𐌻𐌸𐌿𐍃 (wulþus) | *wulþu- | wuldor | 'glory' |
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