The Classification of the Germanic Languages

The Germanic languages belong to a greater Indo-European group of languages. The common form that the languages of the Germanic branch had before they became differentiated is known as Germanic or Prot-Germanic. The languages descending from it fall into three groups: East Germanic, North Germanic and West Germanic.

I. The North Germanic branch is represented at the earlier stage by Old Norse or old Islandic. Modern North Germanic languages are the following:

1.Islandic – the official language in Island.

2.Faroese– is spoken in Faroe islands in the Atlantic ocean.

3.Scandinavian languages:

Norwegen – in Norway.

Swedish – in Sweden and Western Finland.

Danish – in Denmark and Greenland.

II. The East Germanic branch is represented by Gothic, Vandalic, Burgundian. All these languages are dead. The principle language of the East Germanic is Gothic. Our knowledge of Gothic is almost wholly due to a translation of the gospels and other parts of the New Testament made by Ulfilas. It is the earliest record of a Germanic language we possess. Gothic survived longest in the Crimea, where vestiges of it were noted in the 16-th century. To the East Germanic branch belonged also Burgundian and Vandalic; but our knowledge of these languages is confined to a small number of proper names.

III. The West Germanic branch is represented by the following old Germanic languages:

1.OHG – old high German, the oldest monuments go back to the 8-th

century.

2.OS – old Saxon, the earliest monuments go back to the 9-th century.

3.OE – the earliest monuments go back to the 7-th century.