The Germanic languages are a group of related languages constituting a branch of the Indo-European (IE) language family. List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The East Germanic languages are a group of extinct Indo-European languages in the Germanic family. The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic family of Languages and include languages such as English ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages Albanian (sq ''Gjuha shqipe'' ˈɟuha ˈʃcipɛ is an Indo-European language spoken by nearly 6 million peoplewhile others claim that it derives from Daco - The Armenian language (hy հայերեն լեզու hajɛɹɛn lɛzu —, conventional short form) is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages The Indo-Aryan languages (within the context of Indo-European studies also Indic) are a branch of the Indo-European language family The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family and its subfamily Indo-Iranian. The Italic subfamily is a member of the Indo-European language family's Centum branch The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages) a group of closely related Languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages The Anatolian languages are a group of extinct Indo-European languages which were spoken in Asia Minor, the best attested of them being the Hittite language The Paleo-Balkan languages were the Indo-European languages that were spoken in the Balkans in Ancient times. The Dacian language was spoken by the ancient inhabitants of Dacia. The Phrygian language was the Indo-European language of the Phrygians a people from Thrace who later migrated to Asia Minor. The Thracian language was the Indo-European language spoken in ancient times by the Thracians in South-Eastern Europe Tocharian or Tokharian is one of the branches of the Indo-European language family. } Albanians (Shqiptarët are an Ethnic group and a Nation, in the sense of sharing a common Albanian culture speaking the Albanian language The Armenians (Հայեր Hayer) are a Nation and Ethnic group originating in the Caucasus and in the Armenian Highlands A large The Balts or Baltic peoples (People who live by the Baltic Sea) defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European Modern Celts are those peoples who are speakers of Celtic languages, or who consider themselves or have been considered by others to participate in a Celtic culture This is a list of Germanic peoples. Classical philosophy The Greeks assigned names to populations they considered distinct based on the city-state ( The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions The Iranian people are a collection of Ethnic groups defined along linguistic lines as speaking Iranian languages. Latin European peoples are those who speak Romance languages, descended from Vulgar Latin, spread during the time of the Roman Empire. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established Luwian (sometimes spelled Luvian) is an extinct language of the Anatolian branch of the Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia in modern Turkey. Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European -speaking peoples originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic Illyrians has come to refer to a broad ill-defined " Indo-European " group of peoples who inhabited the western Balkans ( Illyria, roughly Ancient peoples of Italy are all those peoples that lived in Italy (including the islands of Sicily and Sardinia) before the Roman domination The Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae ( Old Iranian Sarumatah 'archer' Σαρμάτες The Scythians or Scyths (Σκύθες Σκύθοι were an Iranian speaking people of horse-riding Nomadic pastoralists who dominated the Pontic "Thracians" also refers to modern inhabitants of Thrace, regardless of ethnicity The Tocharians were the Tocharian -speaking inhabitants of the Tarim basin, making them the easternmost speakers of an Indo-European language in antiquity Indo-Iranian peoples consist of the Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Dardic and Nuristani peoples that is speakers of Indo-Iranian languages The Indo-Aryan tribes mentioned in the Rigveda are described as semi- Nomadic pastoralists subdivided into temporary settlements ( vish, viś and headed Ancient Iranian peoples who settled Greater Iran in the 2nd millennium BC first appear in Assyrian records in the 9th century BC. The Proto-Indo-Europeans (PIE were the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language, who likely lived around 4000 BC, during the Copper Age and the The society of the Proto-Indo-Europeans (PIE existed during the Bronze Age (roughly fifth to fourth millennium BC and has been reconstructed The existence of similarities among the deities and religious practices of the Indo-European (IE peoples allows glimpses of a common Proto-Indo-European The question of the homeland ( Urheimat) of the Proto-Indo-European peoples and their Proto-Indo-European language has been a recurring topic in Indo-European The Kurgan hypothesis (also theory or model) is a model of early Indo-European origins, which postulates that the Kurgan culture of the Pontic steppe The Anatolian hypothesis is also called Renfrew's NDT; it proposes that the dispersal ( Discontinuity) of Proto-Indo-Europeans originated in Neolithic The Armenian hypothesis of the Proto-Indo-European Urheimat, based on the Glottalic theory suggests that the Proto-Indo-European language The Out of India theory ( OIT, also called the Indian Urheimat Theory) is the proposition that the Indo-European language family originated in The Paleolithic Continuity Theory (or PCT,Italian La teoria della continuità) is a Hypothesis suggesting that the hypothetical Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies is a field of Linguistics dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct The common ancestor of all languages comprising this branch is Proto-Germanic, spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe. Proto-Germanic, or Common Germanic, is the hypothetical common ancestor ( Proto-language) of all the Germanic languages such as modern English The 1st millennium BC encompasses the Iron Age and sees the rise of successive empires The Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe ( 5th / 4th century BC - 1st century BC) designates the earliest part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia Proto-Germanic, along with all of its descendants, is characterized by a number of unique linguistic features, most famously the consonant change known as Grimm's law. In Articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a Speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper Vocal tract, the upper vocal Grimm's law (also known as the First Germanic Sound Shift or the Rask's-Grimm's rule) named for Jacob Grimm, is a set of statements describing Early Germanic varieties enter history with the Germanic peoples who settled in northern Europe along the borders of the Roman Empire from the second century. The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European -speaking peoples originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial

The most-spoken Germanic languages are English and German, with approximately 400 and 100 million native speakers respectively. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. The group includes other major languages, such as Dutch with 23 million and Afrikaans with over 16 million speakers; and the North Germanic languages including Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Faroese with a combined total of about 20 million speakers. Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages Norwegian ( norsk) is a North Germanic Language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the Icelandic ( is a North Germanic language, the language of Iceland. Faroese ( føroyskt ˈføːɹɪst or) often also spelled Faeroese (cf The SIL Ethnologue lists 53 different Germanic languages. SIL International (the official name of what was originally the Summer Institute of Linguistics) is a worldwide U

Characteristics

Germanic languages possess several unique features, such as the following:

1. The leveling of the Indo-European (IE) tense and aspect system into the present tense and past tense (also called preterite)
2. A large class of verbs that use a dental suffix (/d/ or /t/) instead of vowel alternation (Indo-European ablaut) to indicate past tense; these are called the Germanic weak verbs; the remaining verbs with vowel ablaut are the Germanic strong verbs
3. The use of so-called strong and weak adjectives: different sets of inflectional endings for adjectives depending on the definiteness of the noun phrase; (modern English adjectives do not inflect at all, except for the comparative and superlative; this was not the case in Old English, where adjectives were inflected differently depending on whether they were preceded by an article or demonstrative)
4. The consonant shift known as Grimm's Law; (the consonants in High German have shifted farther yet by the High German consonant shift)
5. A number of words with etymologies that are difficult to link to other Indo-European families, but variants of which appear in almost all Germanic languages, See Germanic substrate hypothesis
6. The shifting of stress accent onto the root of the stem and later to the first syllable of the word, (though English has an irregular stress, native words always have a fixed stress regardless of what is added to them)

Germanic languages differ from each other to a greater degree than do some other language families such as the Romance or Slavic languages. Grammatical tense is a temporal linguistic quality expressing the time at during or over which a state or action denoted by a verb occurs In Linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a Verb defines the temporal flow (or lack thereof in the described event or state Present Tense is the first Sagittarius album released in 1968 by Columbia Records. The past tense is a Verb tense expressing action activity state or being in the past of the current moment (in an Absolute tense system or prior This article is about the grammatical term To see the article relating to Eschatology and the Book of Revelation, see Preterism. In Grammar, a suffix (also postfix, ending) is an Affix which is placed at the end of a word In Linguistics, the term ablaut designates a system of Vowel gradation (i In Germanic languages, including English, weak verbs are by far the largest group of verbs which are therefore often regarded as the norm though historically they In the Germanic languages strong verbs are those which mark their past tenses by means of ablaut. In Grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a Noun or Pronoun, giving more information about the In grammatical theory, definiteness is a feature of Noun phrases distinguishing between entities which are specific and identifiable in a given context (definite noun Grimm's law (also known as the First Germanic Sound Shift or the Rask's-Grimm's rule) named for Jacob Grimm, is a set of statements describing In Historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift was a phonological development ( Sound change) which took place The Germanic substrate hypothesis is an attempt to explain the distinctive nature of the Germanic languages within the context of the Indo-European language family List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages) a group of closely related Languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages Roughly speaking, Germanic languages differ in how conservative or how progressive each language is with respect to an overall trend toward analyticity. In morphological typology (in linguistics an isolating language (also analytic language) is any Language in which words are composed of Some, such as German, Dutch, and Icelandic have preserved much of the complex inflectional morphology inherited from the Proto-Indo-European language. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Icelandic ( is a North Germanic language, the language of Iceland. Inflectional morphology is a part of the study of Linguistics. Others, such as English, Swedish, and Afrikaans have moved toward a largely analytic type. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in

Another characteristic of Germanic languages is the verb second or V2 word order, which is quite uncommon cross-linguistically. Verb-second (V2 word order, in Syntax, is the rule in some languages that the second constituent of declarative main clauses is always a verb while this is not necessarily This feature is shared by all modern Germanic languages except modern English (which nevertheless appears to have had V2 earlier in its history), but has largely replaced the structure with an overall Subject Verb Object syntax. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States In Linguistic typology, subject-verb-object ( SVO) is a sentence structure where the subject comes first the Verb second and the object

Writing

The earliest evidence of Germanic languages comes from names recorded in the first century by Tacitus (especially from his work Germania), but the earliest Germanic writing occurs in a single instance in the second century BC on the Negau helmet^[1]. Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (ca 56 &ndash ca 117 was a senator and a Historian of the Roman Empire. The Germania ( Latin title De Origine et situ Germanorum, English for the Origin and Situation of the Germans) written by Gaius Negau helmet refers to one of 28 bronze Helmets (23 of which are preserved dating to ca From roughly the second century AD, certain speakers of early Germanic varieties developed the Elder Futhark, an early form of the Runic alphabet. The Elder Futhark (or Elder Fuþark, Older Futhark, Old Futhark) is the oldest form of the Runic alphabet, used by Germanic tribes Early runic inscriptions also are largely limited to personal names, and difficult to interpret. The Gothic language was written in the Gothic alphabet developed by Bishop Ulfilas for his translation of the Bible in the fourth century. Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. This article is about the 4th century alphabet of the Gothic bible Wulfila is also a spider genus ( Anyphaenidae) Wulfila (meaning "little wolf" (ca Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Later, Christian priests and monks who spoke and read Latin in addition to their native Germanic varieties began writing the Germanic languages with slightly modified Latin letters. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. However, throughout the Viking Age, Runic alphabets remained in common use in Scandinavia. Viking Age is the term denoting the years from about 700 to 1066 in European history.

In addition to the standard Latin alphabet, many Germanic languages use a variety of accent marks and extra letters, including umlauts, the ß (Eszett), IJ, Ø, Æ, Å, Ä, Ö, Ð, Ȝ, and the runes Þ and Ƿ. A diacritic ( also called a diacritic or diacritical mark, point, or sign, is a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation Diaeresis or trema See also Diaeresis History Historically the diaeresis mark or trema is far older than the umlaut mark The letter ß ( Unicode U+00DF is a letter in the German alphabet. The " Ø " ( minuscule: " ø " is a Vowel and a letter used in the Danish, Faroese and Norwegian Æ ( minuscule: æ) is a Grapheme formed from the letters A and E. The letter Å represents various sounds in the Swedish, Finnish (although no native Finnish words contain the letter å Danish, Norwegian " Ä " or " ä " is a character which represents either a letter from several extended Latin alphabets or the letter A with O-Umlaut The glyph O with Umlaut appears in the German alphabet. Eth ( Ð, ð; also spelled edh or eð) is a letter used in Old English, Icelandic, Faroese (in Not to be confused with the unrelated ʒ. For the rune transcribed as ȝ, see Gyfu. Î, î ( I - Circumflex) is a letter of Kurdish and Romanian language. Wynn ( (also spelled wen, ƿynn, or ƿen) was a letter of the Old English alphabet. Historical printed German is frequently set in blackletter typefaces (e. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Blackletter, also known as Gothic script or Gothic minuscule, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 In Typography, a typeface is a set of one or more Fonts designed with stylistic unity each comprising a coordinated set of Glyphs A typeface usually comprises g. fraktur or schwabacher). The German word Fraktur () refers to a specific sub-group of Blackletter Typefaces The word derives from the past participle fractus (“broken” The German word Schwabacher (ˈʃvaːˌbaxər refers to a specific Blackletter Typeface.

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

All Germanic languages are thought to be descended from a hypothetical Proto-Germanic, united by their having been subjected to the sound shifts of Grimm's law and Verner's law. Proto-Germanic, or Common Germanic, is the hypothetical common ancestor ( Proto-language) of all the Germanic languages such as modern English Grimm's law (also known as the First Germanic Sound Shift or the Rask's-Grimm's rule) named for Jacob Grimm, is a set of statements describing Verner's law, stated by Karl Verner in 1875 describes a historical Sound change in the Proto-Germanic language whereby voiceless fricatives * These probably took place during the Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe from ca. The Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe ( 5th / 4th century BC - 1st century BC) designates the earliest part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia 500 BC, but other common innovations separating Germanic from Proto-Indo European suggest a common history of pre-Proto-Germanic speakers throughout the Nordic Bronze Age. The Nordic Bronze Age (also Northern Bronze Age) is the name given by Oscar Montelius to a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian

From the time of their earliest attestation, the Germanic varieties are divided into three groups, West, East, and North Germanic. The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic family of Languages and include languages such as English The East Germanic languages are a group of extinct Indo-European languages in the Germanic family. The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages 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 Migration Period, also called Barbarian Invasions, or sometimes Völkerwanderung ( German for "wandering of peoples" is the English name

The sixth century Lombardic language, for instance, may constitute an originally, either North or East, Germanic variety that became assimilated to West Germanic as the Lombards settled at the Elbe. Lombardic or Langobardic is the extinct language of the Lombards ( Langobardi) the Germanic speaking settlers in Italy in the The Lombards ( Latin Langobardi, whence the alternative names Langobards and Longobards) were a Germanic people originally from The Elbe ( die Elbe Low German: de Ilv) is one of the major Rivers of Central Europe. The Western group would have formed in the late Jastorf culture, the Eastern group may be derived from the first century variety of Gotland (see Old Gutnish), leaving southern Sweden as the original location of the Northern group. The Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe ( 5th / 4th century BC - 1st century BC) designates the earliest part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia is a county, province and municipality of Sweden and the largest Island in the Baltic Sea. Old Gutnish was the dialect of Old Norse that was spoken on the island of Gotland. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. The earliest coherent Germanic text preserved is the fourth century Gothic translation of the New Testament by Ulfilas. Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. Wulfila is also a spider genus ( Anyphaenidae) Wulfila (meaning "little wolf" (ca Early testimonies of West Germanic are in Old High German (scattered words and sentences sixth century, coherent texts ninth century), Old English (coherent texts tenth century). North Germanic is only attested in scattered runic inscriptions, as Proto-Norse, until it evolves into Old Norse by about 800. Proto-Norse (also Proto-Scandinavian, Primitive Norse, Proto-Nordic, Ancient Nordic, Old Scandinavian and Proto-North Germanic Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age

Longer runic inscriptions survive from the eighth and ninth centuries (Eggjum stone, Rök stone), longer texts in the Latin alphabet survive from the twelfth century (Íslendingabók), and some skaldic poetry held to date back to as early as the ninth century. The Eggja stone (also known as the Eggum or Eggjum stone) is a grave stone that was ploughed up in 1917 on the farm Eggja in Sogn og Fjordane in Norway The Rök Runestone ( Swedish: Rökstenen; Ög 136) is one of the most famous Runestones featuring the longest known runic inscription Íslendingabók, Libellus Islandorum or The Book of Icelanders is an historical work dealing with early Icelandic history. The skald was a member of a group of Poets whose courtly poetry (Icelandic dróttkvæði) is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic

The Germanic languages in Europe      Dutch (Low Franconian, West Germanic)      Low German (West Germanic)      Central German (High German, West Germanic)      Upper German (High German, West Germanic)      Anglic (Anglo-Frisian, West Germanic)      Frisian (Anglo-Frisian, West Germanic)      East Scandinavian      West Scandinavian      Line dividing the North and West Germanic languages

By about the tenth century, the varieties had diverged enough to make inter-comprehensibility difficult. In Linguistics, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between Languages in which speakers of different but related languages can readily understand 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 Old English grammar that resulted in Middle English from the twelfth century. A Viking is one of the Norse ( Scandinavian Explorers Warriors Merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (also known as the Danelagh; Old English: Dena lagu; Danish: For their language see Anglo-Saxon language. Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the invading Tribes in the south Middle English is the name given by Historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of

The East Germanic languages were marginalized from the end of the Migration period. The Burgundians, Goths, and Vandals became linguistically assimilated to their respective neighbors by about the seventh century, with only Crimean Gothic lingering on until the eighteenth century. The Burgundians or Burgundes were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose The Goths ( Gothic: Gothic usvg|14px|u]]Gothic asvg|14px|a]]Gothic s Crimean Gothic was a Germanic dialect spoken by the Crimean Goths in some isolated locations in Crimea (now in Ukraine) until the late 18th

During the early Middle Ages, the West Germanic languages were separated by the insular development of Middle English on one hand and, by the High German consonant shift on the continent on the other, resulting in Upper German and Low Saxon, with graded intermediate Central German varieties. In Historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift was a phonological development ( Sound change) which took place Upper German Oberdeutsch is a family of High German Dialects spoken primarily in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Northern Central German (in German: Mitteldeutsch, or rarely Zentraldeutsch) is a group of High German dialects spread from the Rhineland to By Early modern times, the span had extended into considerable differences, ranging from Highest Alemannic in the South to Northern Low Saxon in the North and, although both extremes are considered German, they are hardly mutually intelligible. Highest Alemannic is a branch of Alemannic dialects and belongs to the German language, even though Mutual intelligibility with Standard German Northern Low Saxon (in Low German Noordneddersassisch) is a West Low German dialect The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. The southernmost varieties have completed the second sound shift, while the northern varieties remained unaffected by the consonant shift.

The North Germanic languages, on the other hand, remained more unified, with the peninsular languages largely retaining mutual intelligibility into modern times.

Classification

Note that divisions between and among subfamilies of Germanic rarely are precisely defined; most form continuous clines, with adjacent varieties being mutually intelligible and more separated ones not.

Diachronic

General Note: The table shows the succession of the significant historical stages of each language (vertically), and their approximate groupings in subfamilies (horizontally). Horizontal sequence within each group does not imply a measure of greater or lesser similarity.

Note 1: There are conflicting opinions on the classification of Lombardic. The Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe ( 5th / 4th century BC - 1st century BC) designates the earliest part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia Proto-Germanic, or Common Germanic, is the hypothetical common ancestor ( Proto-language) of all the Germanic languages such as modern English The East Germanic languages are a group of extinct Indo-European languages in the Germanic family. The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic family of Languages and include languages such as English The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages South Germanic is a term used for a number of proposed groupings of the Germanic tribes or dialects. The Anglo-Frisian languages (sometimes Insular Germanic) are a group of Ingvaeonic West Germanic languages consisting of Old English The Migration Period, also called Barbarian Invasions, or sometimes Völkerwanderung ( German for "wandering of peoples" is the English name Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. Lombardic or Langobardic is the extinct language of the Lombards ( Langobardi) the Germanic speaking settlers in Italy in the Old Frankish was the language of the Franks and it is classified as a West Germanic language. Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German ( ISO 639 -3 code osx) is the earliest recorded form of Low German, documented from the 9th century Old Frisian was the West Germanic language spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries by the people who had settled in the area between the Rhine Proto-Norse (also Proto-Scandinavian, Primitive Norse, Proto-Nordic, Ancient Nordic, Old Scandinavian and Proto-North Germanic Vandalic was a Germanic language probably closely related to the Gothic language. The Burgundian language is an extinct East Germanic language, spoken by the Burgundians in southeastern Gaul as late as the 5th century AD The Early Middle Ages is a period in the History of Europe following the fall of the Western Roman Empire spanning roughly five centuries from AD 500 Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age Middle High German (MHG German Mittelhochdeutsch) is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350 Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects (whose ancestor was Old Dutch) which were spoken and written between 1150 Middle Low German ( ISO 639 -3 code gml) is a Language that is the descendant of Old Saxon and is the ancestor of modern Low German. Middle English is the name given by Historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age Old Norwegian is a term used for the Old Norse language as spoken and written in Norway in the Middle Ages. Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the Old Gutnish was the dialect of Old Norse that was spoken on the island of Gotland. The Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe European history in the period of the 14th and 15th centuries (AD 1300–1499 Early New High German (ENHG is a term for the period in the history of the German language, generally defined following Wilhelm Scherer, as the period 1350 Middle English is the name given by Historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of Early Scots describes the emerging literary language of the Northern Middle English speaking parts of Scotland in the period before 1450 Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age Faroese ( føroyskt ˈføːɹɪst or) often also spelled Faeroese (cf Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken on Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland, and in Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the Old Gutnish was the dialect of Old Norse that was spoken on the island of Gotland. The early modern period is a term used by historians to refer to the period in Western '''Europe''' and its first colonies which spans the three centuries between Crimean Gothic was a Germanic dialect spoken by the Crimean Goths in some isolated locations in Crimea (now in Ukraine) until the late 18th Low Franconian, or Low Frankish, is a group of several West Germanic Languages spoken in the Netherlands, northern Belgium ( Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Middle Frisian evolved from Old Frisian from the 16th century and was spoken until ca Early Modern English is the stage of the English language used from about the end of the Middle English period (the latter half of the 15th century to 1650 Middle Scots describes the language of Anglic Lowland Scotland in the period 1450 to 1700 Icelandic ( is a North Germanic language, the language of Iceland. Faroese ( føroyskt ˈføːɹɪst or) often also spelled Faeroese (cf Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken on Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland, and in Norwegian ( norsk) is a North Germanic Language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the Modern Gutnish is the old language of the island of Gotland (in present day Sweden) The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also modern times) is the period of history that followed the Middle Ages between c The High German languages (in German, Hochdeutsch) are any of the varieties of standard German, Luxembourgish and The Frisian languages are a closely related group of Germanic languages, spoken by about 500000 members of Frisian Ethnic groups who live on the southern This is a list of varieties of the English language. Dialects are linguistic varieties which differ in Pronunciation, Vocabulary and Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern Lombardic or Langobardic is the extinct language of the Lombards ( Langobardi) the Germanic speaking settlers in Italy in the Contrary to its isolated position in the table above, it also has been classified as close to either Upper German or Old Saxon. Upper German Oberdeutsch is a family of High German Dialects spoken primarily in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Northern Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German ( ISO 639 -3 code osx) is the earliest recorded form of Low German, documented from the 9th century See the article on the Lombardic language for more information. Lombardic or Langobardic is the extinct language of the Lombards ( Langobardi) the Germanic speaking settlers in Italy in the

Note 2: Late Middle Ages refers to the post-Black Death period. The Black Death, or the Black Plague, was one of the deadliest Pandemics in human history widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia Especially for the language situation in Norway this event was important. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional

Note 3: The speakers of Norn were assimilated to speak the Modern Scots varieties, and the Gutnish language today is practically a dialect of Swedish. Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken on Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland, and in Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern Modern Gutnish is the old language of the island of Gotland (in present day Sweden)

Contemporary

See also: List of Germanic languages

Mentioned here are all the principal and some secondary contemporary varieties; individual articles linked to below, may contain larger family trees. The Germanic languages include some 58 ( SIL estimate languages and dialects that originated in Europe; this language family is a part of the Indo-European For example, many Low Saxon varieties are discussed on Low Saxon besides just Northern Low Saxon and Plautdietsch.

• Proto-Germanic
  • West Germanic languages
    • High German languages
      • standard German
      • Central German
        • East Central German
        • West Central German
          • Luxembourgish
          • Pennsylvania German (spoken by the Amish and other groups in southeastern Pennsylvania)
      • Upper German
        • Alemannic German
          • Swabian German, including Stuttgart
          • Low Alemannic German, including the area of Lake Constance and Basel German
            • Alsatian
          • High Alemannic German, including Zürich German and Bernese German
          • Highest Alemannic German, including the Bernese Oberland dialects and Walliser German
        • Austro-Bavarian German
          • North Bavarian (including Nuremberg)
          • Middle Bavarian (including Munich and Vienna)
          • South Bavarian (including Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, and Bolzano, Italy)
          • Hutterite German (aka "Tirolean")
        • Yiddish (with a significant influx of vocabulary from Hebrew and other languages, and traditionally written in the Hebrew alphabet)
      • Wymysorys (with a significant influence from Low Saxon, Dutch, Polish, and Scots)
    • Low Franconian
      • Standard Dutch
        • Old Dutch
          • Middle Dutch
            • Modern Dutch
              • Brabantic
              • Zealandic
              • West Flemish
              • East Flemish
              • Hollandic
              • Limburgish
              • Zuid-Gelders
      • Afrikaans (with a significant influx of vocabulary from other languages)
    • Low German
      • West Low German
        • Northern Low Saxon
          • East Frisian Low Saxon
        • Westphalian language
        • Eastphalian language
      • East Low German
        • Plautdietsch (Mennonite Low Saxon)
    • Anglo-Frisian
      • Old Frisian
        • Frisian
          • Stadsfries language
          • West Frisian language (spoken in the Netherlands)
            • Clay Frisian (Klaaifrysk)
            • Wood Frisian (Wâldfrysk)
              • Noardhoeks
            • South Frisian (Súdhoeks)
            • Southwest Frisian (Súdwesthoeksk)
            • Schiermonnikoogs
            • Hindeloopers
            • Aasters
            • Westers
          • East Frisian language (spoken in Germany)
            • Saterland Frisian language
            • Several extinct Frisian variants
          • North Frisian language (spoken in Germany)
            • Mainland Frisian
              • Mooring
              • Goesharde Frisian
              • Wiedingharde Frisian
              • Halligen Frisian
              • Karrharde Frisian
            • Island Frisian
              • Söl'ring
              • Fering
              • Öömrang
              • Heligolandic
      • Anglic
        • Old English
          • Middle English (significant influx of words from Old French)
            • Early Modern English
              • Modern English
                • British English (English English, including Northern English, Midlands English, Southern English, Welsh English, Scottish English, and others) and Irish English
                • North American English (American English and Canadian English)
                • Australian English and New Zealand English
                • South African English
                • South Asian English (Indian English)
                • South East Asian English (Philippine English, Singapore English, and Malaysian English)
                • West Indian English (Caribbean English)
            • Early Scots^[2] (from early Northern Middle English. Proto-Germanic, or Common Germanic, is the hypothetical common ancestor ( Proto-language) of all the Germanic languages such as modern English The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic family of Languages and include languages such as English The High German languages (in German, Hochdeutsch) are any of the varieties of standard German, Luxembourgish and The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Central German (in German: Mitteldeutsch, or rarely Zentraldeutsch) is a group of High German dialects spread from the Rhineland to East Central German is the non- Franconian sub-group of Central German dialects themselves part of High German: Thuringian West Central German ( Westmitteldeutsch) belongs to the Central, High German dialect family in the German language. Luxembourgish (lb Lëtzebuergesch Luxembourgeois Luxemburgisch Luxemburgs Lussimbordjwès also called Luxembourgian, also spelled Luxemburgish, is one of Pennsylvania German (also Pennsylvania Dutch, Deitsch, Pennsylvania Deutsch, Pennsilfaanisch-Deitsch, Pennsilfaani-Deitsch, Pennsilveni-Deitsch The Amish (ˈɑːmɪʃ are members of an Anabaptist Christian denomination best known for Simple living, Plain dress and resisting modern conveniences The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern Upper German Oberdeutsch is a family of High German Dialects spoken primarily in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Northern Alemannic German ( Alemannisch) is a group of Dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language family. Swabian ( Schwäbisch) is one of the Alemannic dialects of High German, spoken in the region of Swabia. Stuttgart (ˈʃtʊtgaɐ̯t is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Low Alemannic is a branch of Alemannic dialects and belongs to the German language, even though they are only partly intelligible to German speakers Under the designation Lake Constance or Lake of Constance ( German Bodensee) one summarizes the three independent bodies of water Obersee Basel German or Baseldytsch (also Baseldütsch, Baslerdüütsch, Baseldeutsch) is the Dialect of the city of Basel Switzerland Alsatian ( Elsässerditsch; Alsacien Elsässisch or Elsässerdeutsch) is a Low Alemannic German dialect spoken in most of Alsace, a region High Alemannic is a branch of Alemannic dialects and is considered a German dialect, even though they are only partly intelligible to non-Alemannic German speakers Zürich German, or Züritüütsch is the Dialect of High Alemannic German spoken in the Canton of Zürich, Switzerland. Bernese German is the Dialect of High Alemannic German spoken in the Swiss plateau (Mittelland part of the Canton of Bern and in some neighbouring Highest Alemannic is a branch of Alemannic dialects and belongs to the German language, even though Mutual intelligibility with Standard German The Bernese Oberland (Bernese highlands is the higher part of the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, in the south of the canton The area around Lake Thun and The Walliser German ( Walliserdeutsch in German) is a group of Highest Alemannic Dialects spoken in Switzerland, specifically in the Austro-Bavarian or Bavarian is a major group of Upper German varieties. Munich (München; Minga is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. Viennese German is the city dialect spoken in Vienna, the capital of Austria and is counted among the Austro-Bavarian dialects Innsbruck is the capital city of the federal state of Tyrol in western Austria. Klagenfurt guildhall 19072006 01jpg|thumb|220px|City hall in Klagenfurt´s center Neuer Platz]] Klagenfurt am Wörthersee ( Slovene: Celovec) is the Capital For the mathematician see Bernard Bolzano; for other uses see Bolzano (disambiguation. Hutterite German ( Hutterisch) is an Upper German dialect of the Austro-Bavarian variety of the German language, which is spoken by Yiddish (yi [[wiktייִדיש ייִדיש]] yidish or yi [[wiktאידיש אידיש]] idish, literally "Jewish" is a nonterritorial High The Hebrew alphabet (אָלֶף-בֵּית עִבְרִי alephbet ’ivri) consists of 22 letters used for writing the Hebrew language. Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Polish ( język polski, polszczyzna) is the Official language of Poland. Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern Low Franconian, or Low Frankish, is a group of several West Germanic Languages spoken in the Netherlands, northern Belgium ( Old Dutch (aka Old West Low Franconian) is a branch of Old Low Franconian spoken and written during the early Middle Ages (c Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects (whose ancestor was Old Dutch) which were spoken and written between 1150 Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Standardization The first attempts on standardizing the Dutch language in the 1540s were based on the Brabantian dialect specifically that of Antwerp and its surroundings Zeelandic ( Zeêuws in Zeelandic Zeeuws in Dutch is a Regional language spoken in the Dutch province of Zeeland and on the West Flemish (West Flemish Vlaemsch/Vlaams, Dutch: West-Vlaams, French: Flamand occidental) is a group of Dutch dialects spoken in Brabantic Expansion The French, Austrians and Spaniards have had influence on the vocabulary of East Flemish Hollandic or Hollandish (Hollands is together with Brabantian, the most frequently used dialect of the Dutch language. Limburgish, or Limburgian or Limburgic ( Dutch: Limburgs, German: Limburgisch, French: Limbourgeois South Guelderish (D Zuid-Gelders) or (G Kleverländisch (E Kleverlandish, from Land of Cleves) is a dialect of the Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in Low German or Low Saxon (in Germany: Plattdüütsch or Nedderdüütsch; in Netherlands: Nedersaksisch or Nederduuts West Low German (also known as Low Saxon) is a group of Low German dialects spoken in western portions of the German state of Lower Saxony Northern Low Saxon (in Low German Noordneddersassisch) is a West Low German dialect East Frisian Low Saxon is a West Low German Dialect spoken in the East Frisian peninsula of northwestern Lower Saxony. Westphalian is one of the major dialect groups of West Low German. Eastphalian, or Eastfalian (in German, Ostfälisch) is a West Low German dialect spoken in southern parts of Lower Saxony and western East Low German is a group of Low German dialects spoken in Northeast Germany as well as by minorities in northern Poland. Plautdietsch, or Mennonite Low German, was originally a Low Prussian variety of East Low German, with Dutch influence that developed in The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons (1496&ndash1561 though his teachings were a relatively The Anglo-Frisian languages (sometimes Insular Germanic) are a group of Ingvaeonic West Germanic languages consisting of Old English Old Frisian was the West Germanic language spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries by the people who had settled in the area between the Rhine The Frisian languages are a closely related group of Germanic languages, spoken by about 500000 members of Frisian Ethnic groups who live on the southern Stadsfries or Stadfries is a set of dialects spoken in certain cities in the province of Friesland in northern Netherlands, namely Leeuwarden West Frisian ( Frysk) is a Language spoken mostly in the province of Friesland ( Fryslân) in the north of the Netherlands. Clay Frisian ( West Frisian: Klaaifrysk) is a Dialect of the West Frisian language spoken in the northwestern part of the Dutch province Wood Frisian ( West Frisian: Wâldfrysk) is a Dialect of the West Frisian language spoken in the eastern part of the Dutch province Saterland Frisian, also known as Sater Frisian or Saterlandic ( Seeltersk) is the last living dialect of the East Frisian language Mooring or Bökingharde Frisian ( Böökinghiirder frasch) is a Dialect of the North Frisian language spoken in Niebüll Wiedingharde Frisian ( Wiringhiirder freesk) is a Dialect of the North Frisian language spoken in the German ''amt'' of Wiedingharde Halligen Frisian ( Freesk) is the Dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the Halligen islands primarily Langeneß and Söl'ring is the Dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the island of Sylt in the German region of North Frisia Fering is the Dialect of North Frisian spoken on the island of Föhr in the German region of North Frisia. Öömrang is the Dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the island of Amrum in the German region of North Frisia Heligolandic ( Halunder) is the Dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the North Sea island of Heligoland. Anglic (from Latin Anglicus meaning English, cf Germanic) is a term for what are also known as Englishes, in for example World Middle English is the name given by Historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of Old French was the Romance Dialect continuum spoken in territories which span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium Early Modern English is the stage of the English language used from about the end of the Middle English period (the latter half of the 15th century to 1650 Modern English is the form of the English language spoken since the Great Vowel Shift, completed in roughly 1550 British English or UK English ( BrE, BE, en-GB) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the English language in England refers to the English language as spoken in England, part of the United Kingdom. Northern English is a group of dialects of the English language. Southern English English is a phrase given to describe the different dialects and accents of English English spoken in southern England. Welsh English, Anglo-Welsh, or Wenglish (see below refers to the Dialects of English spoken in Wales by Welsh people. Scottish English is the variety of English spoken in Scotland, also called Scottish Standard English. Hiberno-English also known as Anglo-Irish and Irish English is English as spoken in Ireland, partly the result of the interaction of the English North American English is a collective term used for the varieties of the English language that are spoken in North America, namely in the United States Phonology North American English regional phonology In many ways compared to English English, North American English is conservative in its Phonology. Canadian English ( CanE, en-CA) is the variety of English used in Canada. Australian English ( AuE, AusE, en-AU) is the form of the English language used in Australia. New Zealand English ( NZE, en-NZ) is the form of the English language used in New Zealand. South African English ( SAE, en-ZA) is a Dialect of English spoken in South Africa and in neighbouring countries with a large number Indian English comprises several Dialects or varieties of English spoken primarily in India, and by first-generation members of the Indian diaspora Indian English comprises several Dialects or varieties of English spoken primarily in India, and by first-generation members of the Indian diaspora Philippine English is the variety of English used in the Philippines by the media and the vast majority of educated Filipinos. Malaysian English ( MyE) formally known as Malaysian Standard English (MySE is a form of English used and spoken in Malaysia as a second language Caribbean English is a broad term for the dialects of the English language spoken in the Caribbean, most countries on the Caribbean coast of Central America Early Scots describes the emerging literary language of the Northern Middle English speaking parts of Scotland in the period before 1450 )
              • Middle Scots
                • Modern Scots
                  • Northern Scots
                    • North Northern (Scandinavian influence via Norn)
                    • Mid Northern (North East Scots or Doric)
                    • South Northern
                  • Central Scots
                    • North East Central
                    • South East Central
                    • West Central
                    • South West Central Scots
                  • Ulster Scots
                  • Southern Scots
                  • Insular Scots (Scandinavian influence via Norn)
          • Yola
  • North Germanic
    • Proto-Norse
      • Old Norse
        • West Scandinavian
          • Norwegian (genealogically Western branch, but heavy influence from Eastern branch)
            • Bokmål (official written standard)
            • Høgnorsk (unofficial written standard)
            • Landsmål (unofficial written standard)
            • Nynorsk (official written standard)
            • Riksmål (unofficial written standard)
            • Vestlandsk
              • Sørlandsk
              • South-West Norwegian
              • Bergen Norwegian/Bergensk
              • North-West Norwegian
            • Nord-Norsk
              • Helgeland Norwegian
              • Nordland Norwegian
              • Troms Norwegian
              • Finnmark Norwegian
            • East Norwegian
              • Vikvær Norwegian
              • Middle East Norwegian
              • Oppland Norwegian
              • Østerdal Norwegian
            • Midland Norwegian
              • Gudbrandsdal Norwegian
              • Valdres and Hallingdal
              • Western Telemark Norwegian
              • Eastern Telemark Norwegian
            • Trøndelag Norwegian
              • Outer Trøndelag Norwegian
              • Inner Trøndelag Norwegian
              • Namdal Norwegian
              • South-eastern Trøndersk
              • Jamtlandic (also considered Norrlandic)
              • Härdalic (also considered Norrlandic)
          • Icelandic
            • Old Icelandic
              • Modern Icelandic
          • Gøtudanskt(Faroese Street Danish)
          • Faroese
          • Norn (extinct)
            • Shetland Norn (extinct)
            • Orkney Norn (extinct)
        • East Scandinavian
          • Danish
            • Rigsdansk/Rigsmål
              • Eastern Danish (Amager, Bornholm, Skåne, Halland, Blekinge)
                • Bornholmsk
                • Scanian
              • Island Danish
              • Jutlandic/Jutish
                • North Jutlandic
                • East Jutlandic
                • West Jutlandic
                • Sønderjysk (Danish Slesvig, German Schleswig)
          • Swedish
            • Dalecarlian
              • Elfdalian (considered a Swedish Sveamål dialect, but has official orthography and is, because of a lower degree of mutual intelligibility with Swedish, considered a separate language by many linguists, see p. Middle Scots describes the language of Anglic Lowland Scotland in the period 1450 to 1700 Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern Doric was formerly used to refer to all dialects of Lowland Scots but is now usually used as a name for the dialect spoken in the north-east of Scotland Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken on Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland, and in Doric was formerly used to refer to all dialects of Lowland Scots but is now usually used as a name for the dialect spoken in the north-east of Scotland Central Scots is a group of Dialects of Scots language. It was spoken by Robert Burns. South Scots is one of the names given to the dialect (or group of dialects of Scots spoken in most of the Scottish Borders region with the notable exception of Berwickshire Insular Scots comprises varieties of Lowland Scots generally subdivided into Shetlandic Orcadian It should Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken on Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland, and in Yola is an extinct West Germanic language formerly spoken in Ireland. The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages Proto-Norse (also Proto-Scandinavian, Primitive Norse, Proto-Nordic, Ancient Nordic, Old Scandinavian and Proto-North Germanic Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age Norwegian ( norsk) is a North Germanic Language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language Bokmål (lit "book language" or Dano-Norwegian is the most commonly used of the two official Norwegian written Standard languages the other Høgnorsk, meaning "High Norwegian" is a term for conservative varieties of the Norwegian language form Nynorsk. Landsmål, meaning "national language" was the name Ivar Aasen gave the Norwegian Orthography he created in the 19th century Nynorsk (literally "New Norwegian" is one of the two official Norwegian Standard languages the other being Bokmål. Bokmål (lit "book language" or Dano-Norwegian is the most commonly used of the two official Norwegian written Standard languages the other Bergensk, or the Bergen dialect, is a dialect of Norwegian used in Bergen Norway. This article is about the landscape in Norway For the article about the island Helgoland in Germany see Helgoland. Viken (the bay or the wick) is a historical district surrounding the Oslofjord in southeastern Norway. Østerdalen or Østerdal is a valley and traditional district in the eastern part of Norway, consisting of the municipalities Rendalen, Gudbrandsdalen is a Valley and traditional district in the Norwegian Fylke (county of Oppland. Valdres is a traditional district in central southern Norway, situated between Gudbrandsdal and Hallingdal. Hallingdal is a Valley and traditional district in Buskerud county in Norway. Trøndersk or Trøndsk is the Norwegian dialect spoken in the region Trøndelag in Norway and in Frostviken in northern Jämtland Jamtlandic or Jamtish ( jamska, formally a definite form, in Jamtlandic is a well-defined group of Dialects of Scandinavian Icelandic ( is a North Germanic language, the language of Iceland. Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age Icelandic ( is a North Germanic language, the language of Iceland. Gøtudanskt/Dano-Faroese (Faroese for " Gøta Danish" or alternatively "street Danish" is a name for the Danish language as spoken in the Faroese ( føroyskt ˈføːɹɪst or) often also spelled Faeroese (cf Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken on Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland, and in Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Bornholmsk a dialect of Danish, is spoken on the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm. Jutlandic or Jutish (Danish jysk or in old spelling jydsk) is a term for the western Dialects of Danish, spoken on the South Jutlandic or South Jutish (South Jutish Synnejysk; Sønderjysk Südjütisch or Plattdänisch is a dialect of the Danish language. Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the Elfdalian ( Övdalsk or Övdalską in Elfdalian Älvdalska or Älvdalsmål in Swedish) is a linguistic variety of the Elfdalian ( Övdalsk or Övdalską in Elfdalian Älvdalska or Älvdalsmål in Swedish) is a linguistic variety of the 6 in this reference)
            • Old Swedish
              • Modern Swedish
                • Svealand Swedish
                • Norrlandic
                • Götish
                • East Swedish/Finland Swedish
                • South Swedish
                • Götalandic
        • Old Gutnish
          • Modern Gutnish

Alternate classification of contemporary North Germanic languages

• Insular Scandinavian
  • Icelandic
  • Faroese
• Continental Scandinavian
  • Danish
  • Norwegian
  • Swedish

Vocabulary comparison

Several of the terms in the table below have had semantic drift. Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the Modern Swedish (nysvenska is the linguistic term used for the Swedish language from the Bible translation of 1526 to the development of a common national language Svealand Swedish (in Swedish: Sveamål is one of the major grouping of Swedish dialects clearly distinguished from Finland-Swedish and the Swedish spoken Finland Swedish is a general term for the closely related cluster of Dialects of Swedish spoken in Finland by Swedish-speaking Finns as their The Phonology of Swedish is notable for having a large Vowel inventory with 9 vowels that are distinguished in quality and to some degree quantity making Old Gutnish was the dialect of Old Norse that was spoken on the island of Gotland. Modern Gutnish is the old language of the island of Gotland (in present day Sweden) Icelandic ( is a North Germanic language, the language of Iceland. Faroese ( føroyskt ˈføːɹɪst or) often also spelled Faeroese (cf Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Norwegian ( norsk) is a North Germanic Language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the In diachronic (or historical linguistics, semantic change is a change in one of the meanings of a word. For example, the form Sterben and other terms for die are cognates with the English word starve. Cognates in Linguistics are words that have a common origin They may occur within a language such as shirt and skirt as two English words descended from There is also at least one example of a common borrowing from a non-Germanic source (ounce and its cognates from Latin). Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome.

See also

• Germanic verb and its various subordinated articles
• Language families and languages
• Non-Indo-European roots of Germanic languages
• List of Germanic and Latinate equivalents
• Germanization and Anglicization
• Germanic name
• Germanic placenames
• German name
• German placename etymology

Notes

External links

• Germanic Lexicon Project
• Bibliographie der Schreibsprachen: Bibliography of medieval written forms of High and Low German and Dutch
• Ethnologue Report for Germanic