CASE STUDIES OF CULTURAL COMMUNICATION CONCEPTS EXPRESSED IN THE GERMANIC TERMS FOR ‘SPEECH’. THE HISTORICAL LINGUISTIC BACKGROUND OF A CONCEPT AS GROUND FOR STUDIES IN CONTRASTIVE RHETORIC

Abstract

This article refers to the studies of ‘contrastive rhetoric’ from a historical perspective examining ‘language contact’-situations of Germanic languages within the IndoEuropean group. With various examples we demonstrate that within this group of European languages specific forms of speech developed; their meanings are uniquely bound to this group of languages. In our analysis of the development of Indo-European roots we discuss those specific Germanic speech conceptions and trace their roots back to the Proto-Germanic roots. Also the semantic differences between Germanic and other Indo-European languages will be shown. This historical analysis of specific Germanic roots provides an access to the understanding of culturally contrastive conceptions of speech communication within this group of languages contrasting with those in other language families.

Keywords

• Germanic languages
• European languages. historical linguistics
• concepts
• speech
• Indo-European roots.