East Germanic languages

Short description: Group of extinct Indo-European languages in the Germanic family

East Germanic

Oder-Vistula Germanic, Illevionic (uncommon)
Geographic
distribution| Varying depending on time (4th–18th centuries), currently all languages are extinct
Until late 4th century:
Central and Eastern Europe (as far as Crimea)
late 4th–early 10th centuries:
Much of southern, western, southeastern, and eastern Europe (as far as Crimea) and North Africa
early 10th–late 18th centuries — disputed (cp. Crimean Gothic):
Isolated areas in Eastern Europe (as far as Crimea)
Linguistic classification| Indo-European

* Germanic
* East Germanic

Subdivisions|

* Gothic †
* Vandalic †
* ? Burgundian †
* ? Herulian †
* ? Skirian †

ISO 639-5| gme
Glottolog| east2805[1]

The distribution of the primary Germanic languages in Europe c. AD 1:

North Germanic

North Sea Germanic, or Ingvaeonic

Weser–Rhine Germanic, or Istvaeonic

Elbe Germanic, or Irminonic

East Germanic †

The East Germanic languages, also called the Oder-Vistula Germanic languages, are a group of extinct Germanic languages that were spoken by East Germanic peoples. East Germanic is one of the primary branches of Germanic languages, along with North Germanic and West Germanic.

The only East Germanic language of which texts are known is Gothic, although a word list and some short sentences survive from the debatably-related Crimean Gothic. Other East Germanic languages include Vandalic and Burgundian, though the only remnants of these languages are in the form of isolated words and short phrases. Furthermore, the inclusion of Burgundian has been called into doubt.[2] Crimean Gothic is believed to have survived until the 18th century in isolated areas of Crimea.[3]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Classification
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 Sources

## History

Template:Germanic tribes (750BC-1AD) East Germanic was presumably native to the north of Central Europe, especially modern Poland, and likely even the first branch to split off from Proto-Germanic in the first millennium BC.

For many years, the least controversial theory of the origin of the Germanic (and East Germanic) languages was the so-called Gotho-Nordic hypothesis: that they originated in the Nordic Bronze Age of Southern Scandinavia and along the coast of the northernmost parts of Germany.[4]

By the 1st century AD, the writings of Pomponius Mela, Pliny the Elder, and Tacitus indicate a division of Germanic-speaking peoples into large groupings with shared ancestry and culture. (This division has been taken over in modern terminology about the divisions of Germanic languages.)

Based on accounts by Jordanes, Procopius, Paul the Deacon and others, as well as linguistic, toponymic, and archaeological evidence, the East Germanic tribes, the speakers of the East Germanic languages related to the North Germanic tribes, had migrated from Scandinavia into the area lying east of the Elbe.[5] In fact, the Scandinavian influence on Pomerania and today's northern Poland from c. 1300–1100 BC (Nordic Bronze Age sub-period III) onwards was so considerable that this region is sometimes included in the Nordic Bronze Age culture.[6]

There is also archaeological and toponymic evidence which has been taken as suggesting that Burgundians lived on the Danish island of Bornholm (Old Norse: Burgundaholmr), and that Rugians lived on the Norwegian coast of Rogaland (Old Norse: Rygjafylki).

## Classification

* East Germanic †[7][8][9][10]
* Gothic †
* Vandalic †
* Burgundian †
* Bastarnisch (German -isch corresponds to English -ish, -ic, -ian) †
* Gepidisch (Spoken by the Gepids) †
* Herulisch †
* Rugisch †
* Skirisch †
* Crimean Gothic † (disputed, alternatively considered to be West Germanic)[11]

Frederik Hartmann argues that East Germanic is not a valid genetic clade, as the three most attested languages conventionally identified as east Germanic (Burgundian, Vandalic, Gothic) do not share any common innovations with each other and all independently split from Proto-Germanic.[12] Hartmann instead prefers the term Eastern rim languages to refer to these languages.[13]

## See also

* North Germanic languages
* Northwest Germanic languages
* West Germanic languages
* Ingvaeonic languages
* Irminonic languages
* Istvaeonic languages

## References

1. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds (2017). "East Germanic". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/east2805.
2. ↑ Wolfram, Herwig (1997). The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples. University of California Press. p. 259. ISBN 978-0520085114. https://books.google.com/books?id=tOnQDfRU-poC. "For a long time linguists considered the Burgundians to be an East Germanic people, but today they are no longer so sure."
3. ↑ Stearns 1989, p. 189.
4. ↑ John T. Koch (2020). "CELTO-GERMANIC, Later Prehistory and Post-Proto-Indo-European vocabulary in the North and West", p. 38
5. ↑ The Penguin Atlas of World History, Hermann Kinder and Werner Hilgemann; translated by Ernest A. Menze; with maps designed by Harald and Ruth Bukor. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-051054-0, 1988. Volume 1, p. 109.
6. ↑ Dabrowski 1989, p. 73.
7. ↑ Heinz Mettke, Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik, 8th ed., Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tübingen, 2000, p. 16 (chart) and 17: „Hauptvertreter des Ostgermanischen ist das Gotische (Wulfilas Bibelübersetzung aus dem 4. Jh.), ferner gehören dazu das Burgundische, das Vandalische und das Rugische.“
8. ↑ Peter Ernst, Deutsche Sprachgeschichte, 3rd ed., 2021, p. 50: „Ostgermanisch (†): Gotisch, Vandalisch, Burgundisch, Rugisch, u.a. [= und andere]“
9. ↑ Harald Haarmann, Die Indoeuropäer: Herkunft, Sprachen, Kulturen, Verlag C.H.Beck, München, 2010, p. 71: „Ostgermanisch (ausgestorben): Gotisch, Gepidisch, Burgundisch, Vandalisch, Herulisch“
10. ↑ Georg F. Meier, Barbara Meier, Handbuch der Linguistik und Kommunikationswissenschaft: Band 1: Sprache, Sprachentstehung, Sprachen, Akademie-Verlag, Berlin, 1979, p. 73: „1.5.1.2. übrige ostgermanische Sprachen
Dazu gehören: Vandalisch, Herulisch, Rugisch, Gepidisch, Burgundisch, Bastarnisch und Skirisch. Diese Sprachen sind meist nur durch kurze Inschriften bzw. aus historischen Quellen bekannt.“
11. ↑ Stearns 1989, p. 181-85.
12. ↑ Hartmann 2023, p. 187.
13. ↑ Hartmann 2023, p. 189.

## Sources

* Dabrowski, Jan (1989). "Nordische Kreis und Kulturen Polnischer Gebiete". in Ambrosiani, Björn (in de). Bronzezeit Im Ostseegebiet. ISBN 978-91-7402-203-2.
* Demougeot, E. La formation de l'Europe et les invasions barbares, Paris: Editions Montaigne, 1969–74.
* Hartmann, Frederik; Riegger, Chiara (2022-03-16). "The Burgundian language and its phylogeny: A cladistical investigation". NOWELE. North-Western European Language Evolution 75 (1): 42–80. doi:10.1075/nowele.00062.har. ISSN 0108-8416. http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/nowele.00062.har. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
* Hartmann, Frederik (2023). Germanic phylogeny. Oxford studies in diachronic and historical linguistics. Oxford, United Kingdom ; New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-887273-3. OCLC on1347218384. https://www.worldcat.org/title/on1347218384.
* Kaliff, Anders. 2001. Gothic Connections. Contacts between eastern Scandinavia and the southern Baltic coast 1000 BCE – 500 CE.
* Musset, L. Les invasions: les vagues germanique, Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1965.
* Nordgren, I. 2004. Well Spring of The Goths. About the Gothic Peoples in the Nordic Countries and on the Continent.
* “Gothic Language.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 20 July 1998, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gothic-language.
* Beck, Heinrich, ed (1989). "Das Krimgotische" (in de). Germanische Rest- und Trümmersprachen. Berlin: W. de Gruyter. pp. 175–194. ISBN 3-11-011948-X.

* v
* t
* e

Germanic languages

According to contemporary philology

West Germanic

| Anglo-Frisian|

| Anglic|

* English*
* dialects
* Yola
* Fingallian
* Old English
* Middle English
* Scots
* Early Scots
* Middle Scots

|

Frisian|

* East Frisian
* Ems
* Saterland Frisian
* Weser
* Wangerooge Frisian
* Wursten Frisian
* North Frisian
* Insular
* Eiderstedt
* Föhr–Amrum
* Föhr
* Amrum
* Heligolandic
* Sylt
* Mainland
* Bökingharde
* Mooring
* Halligen
* Goesharde
* Northern
* Central
* Southern
* Karrharde
* Strand
* Wiedingharde
* West Frisian
* Hindeloopen
* Schiermonnikoog
* Westlauwers–Terschellings
* Mainland West Frisian
* Clay Frisian
* Wood Frisian
* Westereendersk
* Terschelling
* Old Frisian
* Middle Frisian

Low German|

| Historical forms|

* Old Saxon
* Middle Low German

|

West Low German|

* Dutch Low Saxon
* Stellingwarfs
* Tweants
* Gronings
* Drèents
* Gelders-Overijssels
* Achterhooks
* Sallaans
* Urkers
* Veluws
* Northern Low Saxon
* East Frisian Low Saxon
* Schleswigsch
* Holsteinisch
* Hamburgisch
* Ollnborger
* North Hanoveranian
* Dithmarsch
* Emsländisch
* Westphalian
* Eastphalian

East Low German|

* Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranian
* Mecklenburgish
* West Pomeranian
* Brandenburgisch
* East Pomeranian–West Prussian
* Western East Pomeranian
* Eastern East Pomeranian
* Bublitzisch
* Pommerellisch
* Central Pomeranian
* West Central Pomeranian
* Low Prussian
* Mennonite Low German

Low Franconian|

| Standard variants|

* Dutch*
* Frankish
* Old Dutch
* Middle Dutch
* Afrikaans*

|

West Low Franconian|

* Hollandic
* West Flemish
* French Flemish
* Zeelandic
* East Flemish
* Brabantian
* Surinamese Dutch
* Jersey Dutch
* Mohawk Dutch
* Stadsfries
* Bildts
* Yiddish Dutch

East Low Franconian|

* Meuse-Rhenish
* Limburgish
* Southeast Limburgish
* South Guelderish

Transitional|

* Low Dietsch

High German|

| Standard variants|

* German*
* Namibian German
* Namibian Black German
* Brazilian German
* Unserdeutsch
* Barossa German
* Belgranodeutsch
* Parana Volga German
* Kiautschou Pidgin German
* Old High German
* Middle High German
* Early New High German
* Yiddish
* Eastern
* Western
* Litvish
* Poylish
* Ukrainish
* Galitzish
* Scots Yiddish
* Alsatian Yiddish
* Klezmer-loshn
* Ganovim
* Balagole
* Katsoves
* Lachoudisch
* Yenish
* Rotwelsch
* Lotegorisch

|

Central German|

| West Central German|

* Central Franconian
* Ripuarian
* Colognian
* Moselle Franconian
* Luxembourgish
* Transylvanian Saxon
* Hunsrückisch
* Hunsrik
* Rhine Franconian
* Lorraine Franconian
* Palatine
* Volga German
* Pennsylvania German
* Hessian
* Amana

|

East Central German|

* Thuringian
* Upper Saxon
* Ore Mountainian
* Lusatian-Neumarkish
* Berlinerisch
* Silesian German
* High Prussian
* Wymysorys
* Halcnovian
* Prague German

High Franconian|

* South Franconian
* East Franconian
* Main Franconian
* Vogtlandian

Upper German|

* Alemannic
* Low Alemannic
* Alsatian
* Coloniero
* High Alemannic
* Swiss German
* Highest Alemannic
* Walser German
* Swabian
* Bavarian
* Northern Bavarian
* Central Bavarian
* Viennese German
* Southern Bavarian
* South Tyrolean
* Cimbrian
* Mòcheno
* Hutterite German
* Langobardic

Standard German|

* German Standard German
* Austrian Standard German
* Swiss Standard German

North Germanic and East Germanic

| North Germanic|

| Historical forms|

* Proto-Norse
* Old Norse
* Old West Norse
* Old East Norse
* Old Gutnish

|

West Scandinavian|

* Norwegian*
* Spoken
* Bergensk
* Kebabnorsk
* Sognamål
* Trøndersk
* Valdris
* Vestlandsk
* Vikværsk
* Written
* Bokmål
* Nynorsk
* Old Norwegian
* Middle Norwegian
* Insular Scandinavian
* Faroese
* Icelandic
* Old Icelandic
* Middle Icelandic
* Gronlandsk
* Norn

East Scandinavian|

* Swedish*
* Åland
* Estonian
* Finlandic
* Gotlandic/Gutnish
* Jämtlandic
* Kalix
* Kiruna
* Luleå
* Norrland
* Ostrobothnian
* Småländska
* South Swedish
* Scanian
* Stockholm
* Rinkeby
* Uppländska
* Västgötska
* Westrobothnian
* Old Swedish
* Danish*
* Bornholmsk
* Gøtudanskt
* Insular Danish
* Jutlandic
* South Jutlandic
* Perkerdansk
* Old Danish
* Middle Danish
* Dalecarlian
* Elfdalian

East Germanic|

* Gothic
* Crimean Gothic
* Burgundian
* Vandalic

Philology

| Language subgroups|

* North
* East
* West
* Elbe (Irminonic)
* Weser-Rhine (Istvaeonic)
* North Sea (Ingvaeonic)

* Northwest
* Gotho-Nordic
* South

|

Reconstructed|

* Proto-Germanic
* Proto-Germanic grammar
* Germanic parent language
* Ancient Belgian language

Diachronic features|

* Grimm's law
* Verner's law
* Holtzmann's law
* Sievers's law
* Kluge's law
* Germanic substrate hypothesis
* West Germanic gemination
* High German consonant shift
* Germanic a-mutation
* Germanic umlaut
* Germanic spirant law
* Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law
* Great Vowel Shift

Synchronic features|

* Germanic verb
* Germanic strong verb
* Germanic weak verb
* Preterite-present verb
* Grammatischer Wechsel
* Indo-European ablaut

* Italics indicate extinct languages
* * (asterisks) indicates languages with more than 3 million speakers
* Languages between parentheses are varieties of the language on their left.

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