Proto-Germanic

E16289

Proto-Germanic is the reconstructed common ancestor of all Germanic languages, including English, German, and the Norse languages.


Statements (55)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Indo-European language
proto-language
reconstructed language
alsoKnownAs Common Germanic
ancestorOf Afrikaans
Dutch
East Germanic languages
English
Frisian languages
German
Gothic
North Germanic languages
Old English
Old Frisian
Old High German
Old Norse
Old Norse languages
Old Saxon
West Germanic languages
Yiddish
childOf Proto-Indo-European
hasFeature Grimm's law
Verner's law
ablaut
accusative case
case system
dative case
dual number (partially preserved)
feminine gender
genitive case
masculine gender
neuter gender
nominative case
rich consonant system
stress on root syllable
strong verbs
three grammatical genders
weak verbs
ISOStatus no ISO 639 code (reconstructed language)
languageFamily Indo-European
reconstructedFrom Germanic languages
Gothic texts
Old English texts
Old Norse texts
comparative method
region Northern Europe
northern Germany
southern Scandinavia
studiedIn Germanic philology
historical linguistics
subfamilyOf Indo-European languages
timePeriod developed into distinct Germanic languages by the first centuries CE
spoken in the first millennium BCE
writingSystem no direct attestation
reconstructed phonological system


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