Proto-West Germanic
E23970
Proto-West Germanic is the reconstructed common ancestor of the West Germanic languages, including early forms of English, Frisian, Dutch, and German.
Aliases (2)
Statements (45)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
West Germanic language
→
proto-language → reconstructed language → |
| ancestorOf |
Afrikaans
→
Dutch → English → Frisian (partially) →
surface form: "Frisian languages"
German → Low German → Old Dutch → Old English → Old Frisian → Old High German → Old Saxon → Scots → Yiddish → |
| attestedIn | reconstructed form only → |
| developedFeature |
West Germanic consonant gemination
→
distinctive strong and weak verb classes → four or more noun cases → i-mutation → three grammatical genders in some descendants → two grammatical genders in some descendants → |
| developedFrom | Proto-Germanic → |
| hasAlternativeName |
Proto-West Germanic
→
surface form: "Common West Germanic"
Pre-Old English–Old Saxon–Old High German stage → |
| hasDescendantBranch |
Anglo-Frisian dialects
→
surface form: "Anglo-Frisian languages"
High German languages → Low Franconian languages → Low German →
surface form: "Low German languages"
|
| hasReconstructionStatus | not directly attested → |
| lexicalAncestorOf |
basic English vocabulary such as "father"
→
basic English vocabulary such as "house" → basic English vocabulary such as "stone" → basic English vocabulary such as "water" → |
| partOf |
Germanic languages
→
Indo-European language family →
surface form: "Indo-European languages"
|
| phonologicalAncestorOf | /f/ ~ /v/ alternations in English and German → |
| reconstructedBy | comparative method → |
| region | northwestern Europe → |
| studiedIn |
Germanic philology
→
historical linguistics → |
| subdivisionOf | Proto-Germanic → |
| timeDepth | early 1st millennium CE → |
| writingSystem | none → |
Referenced by (4)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form: "Common West Germanic"
this entity surface form: "Proto-West-Germanic"