Germanic language
Germanic languages are a branch of Indo-European languages, originally spoken in northern, western and central Europe and now in other parts of the world settled by Europeans. The Germanic language branch divides into the two extant branches North and West Germanic and an extinct third branch, East Germanic. All Germanic languages derive from the Proto-Germanic language which was spoken from c. 500 BC in Iron Age Scandinavia, north Germany and along the North Sea and Baltic coasts.
The Germanic languages are among the most widely spoken worldwide, with over 2 million native speakers. The most widely spoken are the Western Germanic languages English, with 400 million native speakers, German, with 100 million, and Dutch, with 24 million.
Branches
East Germanic
The East Germanic languages are no longer spoken. Gothic, which was in use until around the 10th century, is by far the most robustly-attested East Germanic language. Crimean Gothic, whose relationship with Gothic proper is debated, may have remained in use until the 18th century in Crimea. Vandalic was spoken by the Vandals, who originally inhabited Poland and later formed the ruling elite in the Vandal kingdoms of present-day Spain and North Africa. Burgundian was also likely an East Germanic language. Both Vandalic and Burgundian fell out of use in the 6th century and are scantily, if at all, recorded.
North Germanic
The North Germanic languages (occasionally the Nordic languages) are native to northern Europe. They are all descendants of the Proto-Norse language, attested from around the 2nd century from inscriptions in Scandinavia. Contemporary spoken North Germanic languages are Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic, Faroese and Gutnish. Norn fell out of use in the 19th century, though it did influence the Scots dialects of Orkney and Shetland where it was historically spoken.
West Germanic
The West Germanic languages have over 2 billion native speakers worldwide. In the early centuries AD, the West Germanic languages were spoken in an area roughly corresponding to present day Germany, the Netherlands, northern Belgium and the Czech Republic. Settlement in the British Isles from the 5th century AD gave rise to the English language, the most widely spoken Germanic language with 400 million native speakers, and the closely related Scots. The second most widely-spoken Germanic languages are the West Germanic languages German and Dutch. Other West Germanic languages include Afrikaans, the Frisian languages, Yiddish, Low Saxon, Luxembourgish Swiss-German and Hunsrik. Extinct examples include Lombardic, spoken in Pannonia and Italy, and Yola, spoken in Ireland.
