The West Germanic languages constitute the largest branch of the Germanic family of languages and include languages such as German, English and Frisian, as well as Dutch and Afrikaans. The other branches of the Germanic languages are the North and East Germanic languages. A language family is a group of languages related by descent from a common proto-language. ... The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred related languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many spoken in the Indian subcontinent (South Asia), the Iranian plateau (Southwest Asia), and Central Asia. ... The Anglo-Frisian languages (also known as Ingvaeonic languages or North Sea Germanic languages) are a group of West Germanic languages consisting of Old English, Old Frisian, and their descendants. ... Low Franconian is any of several West Germanic languages spoken in the Netherlands, northern Belgium, and South Africa. ... Low German (also called Niederdeutsch, Plattdeutsch or Plattdüütsch) is a name for the regional language varieties of the West Germanic languages spoken mainly in Northern Germany where it is officially called Niederdeutsch (Low German), and in Eastern Netherlands where it is officially called Nedersaksisch (Low Saxon). Low refers to... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This article is about the Frisian languages, as spoken in the north of the Netherlands and Germany. ... Look up Wiktionary:Swadesh lists for Afrikaans and Dutch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages, along with the West Germanic languages and the East Germanic languages. ... The East Germanic languages are a group of extinct Indo-European languages in the Germanic family. ...

History

The expansion of the Germanic tribes 750 BC – AD 1 (after the Penguin Atlas of World History 1988):       Settlements before 750BC       New settlements until 500BC       New settlements until 250BC       New settlements until AD 1

Image File history File links Germanic_tribes_(750BC-1AD). ... Image File history File links Germanic_tribes_(750BC-1AD). ...

Origins and characteristics

The Germanic languages are traditionally divided into three groups, West, East and North Germanic.^[1] Their exact relation is difficult to determine from the sparse evidence of runic inscriptions, and they remained mutually intelligible throughout the Migration Period, so that some individual varieties are difficult to classify. The Western group presumably formed as a variety of Proto-Germanic in the late Jastorf culture (ca. 1st century BC). The West Germanic group is characterized by a number of phonological and morphological innovations not found in North and East Germanic, such as:^[2] The East Germanic languages are a group of extinct Indo-European languages in the Germanic family. ... The North Germanic languages (also Scandinavian languages or Nordic languages) is a branch of the Germanic languages spoken in Scandinavia, parts of Finland and on the Faroe Islands and Iceland. ... Human migration denotes any movement of groups of people from one locality to another, rather than of individual wanderers. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Jastorf culture is an Iron Age material culture in northern Europe, dated from about 600 BC to 1. ... (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 1st century BC started on January 1, 100 BC and ended on December 31, 1 BC. An alternative name for this century is the last century BC. The AD/BC notation does not use a year zero. ... Phonology (Greek phonē = voice/sound and logos = word/speech), is a subfield of linguistics which studies the sound system of a specific language (or languages). ... For other uses, see Morphology. ...

• The loss of w after ng
• Gemination of consonants (except r) before j
• Replacement of the 2nd person singular preterite ending -t with -i
• Short forms of the verbs for "stand" and "go"
• The development of a gerund

Nevertheless, many scholars doubt whether the West Germanic languages descend from a common ancestor later than Proto-Germanic, that is, they doubt whether a "Proto-West Germanic" ever existed.^[2] Rather, some have argued that after East Germanic broke off from the group, the remaining Germanic languages, the Northwest Germanic languages, divided into four main dialects:^[3] North Germanic, and the three groups conventionally called "West Germanic", namely Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-07-20, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... In linguistics, a gerund is a non-finite verb form that exists in many languages. ... Northwest Germanic is a proposed grouping of the Germanic dialects. ...

1. North Sea Germanic (Ingvaeonic, ancestral to Anglo-Frisian and Low Saxon)
2. Elbe Germanic (Irminonic, ancestral to High German)
3. Weser-Rhine Germanic (Istvaeonic, ancestral to Old Frankish)

Evidence for this view comes from a number of linguistic innovations found in both North Germanic and West Germanic,^[2] including: Also referred to as Ingaevones, North Sea Germans (Ingwäonen, Nordsee-Germanen in German). ... The Anglo-Frisian languages (also known as Ingvaeonic languages or North Sea Germanic languages) are a group of West Germanic languages consisting of Old English, Old Frisian, and their descendants. ... Low Saxon (in Low Saxon, Nedersaksisch, Neddersassisch, Plattdüütsch or Nedderdüütsch) is any of a variety of Low German dialects spoken in northern Germany and the Netherlands. ... Also referred to as Herminones, Hermiones, Elbe Germans (Irminonen, sometimes called Elb-Germanen in German), a Germanic proto-tribe or cultural group. ... Subdivisions Central German Upper German High German (in German, Hochdeutsch) is any of several German dialects spoken in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Luxembourg (as well as in neighbouring portions of Belgium, France (Alsace), Italy, Poland, and Romania (Transylvania) and in some areas of former colonial settlement, for example in... The Istvaeones (also called Istaevones, Istriaones, Istriones, Sthraones, Thracones, Rhine Germans or Weser-Rhine Germans (Istwäonen, Weser-Rhein-Germanen in German)) were a West Germanic cultural group or proto-tribe. ... Old Frankish was the language of the Franks. ...

• The retraction of Proto-Germanic ǣ to ā
• The development of umlaut
• The rhotacism of z to r
• The development of the demonstrative pronoun ancestral to English this

Under this view, the properties that the West Germanic languages have in common separate from the North Germanic languages are not inherited from a "Proto-West-Germanic" language, but rather spread by language contact among the Germanic languages spoken in central Europe, not reaching those spoken in Scandinavia. In linguistics, umlaut (from German um- around/the other way + Laut sound) is a process whereby a vowel is pronounced more like a vowel or semivowel in a following syllable. ... Rhotacism may refer to several phenomena related to the usage of the consonant r (whether as an alveolar tap, alveolar trill, or the rarer uvular trill). ... // Demonstratives are deictic words (they depend on an external frame of reference) that indicate which entities a speaker refers to, and distinguishes those entities from others. ... Language contact occurs when speakers of distinct speech varieties interact. ...

Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, the West Germanic languages were separated by the insular development of Middle English on one hand, and by the second Germanic sound shift on the continent on the other. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the... The second Germanic sound shift (zweite germanische Lautverschiebung in German), which took place during the 7th and 8th centuries, separated High German from Low German. ...

The linguistic contact of the Viking settlers of the Danelaw with the Anglo-Saxons left traces in the English language, and is suspected to have facilitated the collapse of the Old English inflexional system that marked the onset of the Middle English period 12th century.^{[citation needed]} For other uses, see Viking (disambiguation). ... Green: Danelaw The Danelaw (from the Old English Dena lagu, Danish: Danelagen ) is an 11th century name for an area of northern and eastern England under the administrative control of the Vikings (or Danes, or Norsemen) from the late 9th century. ... For other uses, see Anglo-Saxon. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ...

The High German consonant shift distinguished the High German languages from the other West Germanic languages. By early modern times, the span had extended into considerable differences, ranging from Highest Alemannic in the South (the Walliser dialect being the southernmost surviving German dialect) to Northern Low Saxon in the North. Although both extremes are considered German, they are not mutually intelligible. The southernmost varieties have completed the second sound shift, while the northern dialects remained unaffected by the consonant shift. High German subdivides into Upper German (green) and Central German (blue), and is distinguished from Low German (yellow). ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Highest Alemannic is a branch of Alemannic dialects and belongs to the German language, even though mutual intellegibility with Standard German and other non-Alemannic German dialects is very limited. ... Distribution of Highest Alemannic dialects The Walliser German (Walliserdeutsch in German) is a group of Highest Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland, specifically in the German-speaking part of the Canton of Wallis (in French: Valais), in the uppermost Rhône valley. ... Northern Low Saxon (in Low Saxon, Nordneddersassisch or Platt) is a Low Saxon dialect. ...

Modern variants

Of modern German varieties the north German Low Saxon is the one that most resembles modern English. The district of 'Angeln' (or Anglia), from which the name "English" derives, is in the extreme north of Germany between the Danish border and the Baltic coast. Saxony lies further to the south. The Anglo-Saxons, two Germanic tribes, were a combination of a number of peoples from northern Germany and the Jutland Peninsula. Low Saxon (in Low Saxon, Nedersaksisch, Neddersassisch, Plattdüütsch or Nedderdüütsch) is any of a variety of Low German dialects spoken in northern Germany and the Netherlands. ... Map of Schleswig-Holstein Modern Angeln, also known as Anglia (German: Angeln, Danish: Angel, Latin: Anglia, English: may follow German or Latin), is a peninsula in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, protruding into the Bay of Kiel. ... Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DED Capital Dresden Minister-President Georg Milbradt (CDU) Governing parties CDU / SPD Votes in Bundesrat 4 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  18,416 km² (7,110 sq mi) Population 4,252,000 (11/2006)[1]  - Density 231 /km... For other uses, see Anglo-Saxon. ... The term Germanic tribes (or Teutonic tribes) applies to the ancient Germanic peoples of Europe. ... Jutland Peninsula Jutland (Danish: Jylland; German: Jütland; Frisian Jutlân; Low German Jötlann) is the western, continental part of Denmark as well as one of the three historical Lands of Denmark, dividing the North Sea from the Kattegat and the Baltic Sea. ...

The Germanic languages in Europe are divided into North (blue) and West Germanic (green and orange) Languages      Low Franconian and Low German      High German      Insular Anglo-Frisian (English, Scots)      Continental Anglo-Frisian      East North Germanic      West North Germanic      Line dividing the North and West Germanic languages.

Image File history File links Europe_germanic_languages. ... Image File history File links Europe_germanic_languages. ...

Family tree

Main article: List of West Germanic languages

Note that divisions between subfamilies of Germanic are rarely precisely defined; most form dialect continua, with adjacent dialects being mutually intelligible and more separated ones not. The West Germanic languages include some 43 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken by about many people in Europe, western Asia, and the United States; this language family is a part of the Germanic language family. ... A dialect continuum is a range of dialects spoken across a large geographical area, differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close, and gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as the distances become greater. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language characteristic of a particular group of the languages speakers. ...

• Anglo-Frisian
  • English
  • Scots
  • Frisian
• Low Franconian
  • Dutch
  • Limburgish (in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium)
  • Afrikaans (in South Africa and Namibia)
• Low German (sometimes called Low Saxon)
• High German
  • German
  • Luxembourgish
  • Alemannic German
  • Yiddish

The Anglo-Frisian languages (also known as Ingvaeonic languages or North Sea Germanic languages) are a group of West Germanic languages consisting of Old English, Old Frisian, and their descendants. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Scots refers to the Anglic varieties spoken in parts of Scotland. ... This article is about the Frisian languages, as spoken in the north of the Netherlands and Germany. ... Low Franconian is any of several West Germanic languages spoken in The Netherlands, northern Belgium, and South Africa. ... Limburgish, or Limburgian or Limburgic (Dutch: Limburgs, German: Limburgisch, French: Limbourgeois) is a group of Franconian varieties, spoken in the Limburg and Rhineland regions, near the common Dutch / Belgian / German border. ... Look up Wiktionary:Swadesh lists for Afrikaans and Dutch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Low German (also called Niederdeutsch, Plattdeutsch or Plattdüütsch) is a name for the regional language varieties of the West Germanic languages spoken mainly in Northern Germany where it is officially called Niederdeutsch (Low German), and in Eastern Netherlands where it is officially called Nedersaksisch (Low Saxon). Low refers to... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Luxembourgish (Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuergesch, French: , German: , Walloon: ), also spelled Luxemburgish, is a West Germanic language spoken in Luxembourg. ... Alemannic German (Alemannisch) is a group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language family. ... Yiddish (Yid. ...

References