Iermansc 2.0

The key design goal of Iermansc 2.0 is to simulate the effects of language contact between a ruling Romance-speaking class and a subject Germanic-speaking class in the area roughly corresponding to OTL Bavaria and Austria. The chronology assumes the conquest of southern Germania was accomplished at least tentatively in the first century AD, with a period of several centuries of romanization.

This work is continued in Iermansc 2.2

Northern Romance
The Roman settlers of Germania came mostly from northern Italy, Norica and Rhaetia. Iermansc has the closest family resemblance to OTL Romansh, Ladin, Venetian and Fruilian (In the Iermansc timeline Switzerland is a Romanized kingdom called Recia, with a national language similar to Romansh, while the Venitian Republic is a major power in the Mediterranean). However, due to its location on the periphery of the Empire, it shares some features with Iberian Romance and Romanian.

Primal Phonemes in Romance
Consonants /p b t d k g kw gw f s h m n l r j w/

Vowels /i ɪ e ɛ a o ɔ u ʊ/

Diphthongs /ai au oi/

Developments
Several developments were under way during the inital contact phase. First of all, palatalization was occurring:

/tj/ > /tʲ/ /dj/ > /dʲ/ /ke ki kj/ > /kʲe kʲi kʲ/ /ge gi gj/ > /gʲe gʲi gʲ/

As well as lenition of consonants between vowels:

/p/ > /v/ /f/ > /v/ /t/ > /ð/ /d/ > /ð/ /k/ > /ɣ/ /g/ > /ɣ/

Final consonants other than /r l n/ were frequently dropped.

Pre-Old High German
The state of the language of the conquered Bavarians can best be characterized as somewhere between proto-Germanic and Old High German, namely Pre-OHG. The consonant and vowel shifts which distinguish between proto-Germanic and OHG were not yet under way during the invasion. OTL the high German shift began 400 AD at the earliest, and is not attested until at least the 600s AD. However, the oldest and most widespread shift (described below) is occuring.

Phonemes in Germanic
Consonants /p b t d k g f þ s[z] χ[h] m n w r l j/ Vowels /i ī u ū e ē a ō/

and Diphthongs /ei ai eu au/

Developments
Some developments were underway in the consonant system:

/p/ > /pf f/ /t/ > /ts s/ /k/ > /x/

Old Iermansc
By the time the Roman vernacular had replaced Germanic more or less completely in the area, Roman power was on the wane and invasions were forcing the Empire to break up into smaller states. It is characterized by phonetic evolution from the Romance, with admixture of phonology from the Germanic. In addition, it is lexically diverse, with many terms having to do with cities, the state, mountains, the upper class and commerce coming from the Romance while many words involving the countryside, farming, the woods, and the lower class coming from the Germanic.

Old Iermansc Phonemes
Consonants /p b t d k g f v s[z] ð[θ] x ɣ ʃ tʃ m n l r j w/

Vowels /i e ɛ a ɔ o ø u y/

Diphthongs //

Development
Palatalization: /kʲ/ > /tsj/ > /tʃ/ /gʲ/ > /j/ /tʲ/ > /tsj/ > /tʃ/ /dʲ/ > /j/