When did Proto-Germanic emerge and where was it spoken?
Proto-Germanic likely emerged around the middle of the first millennium BC. It was spoken across Iron Age Scandinavia and Northern Germany along the North Sea and Baltic coasts.
Questions about Germanic languages
Short answers, pulled from the story.
How many people speak Germanic languages today and which are the most common?
About 515 million people speak Germanic languages today. The West Germanic branch contains English with between 360 and 400 million native speakers, German with over 100 million, and Dutch with approximately 24 million native speakers.
What sound changes distinguish Germanic languages from other Indo-European tongues?
Two sound changes known as Grimm's Law and Verner's Law shifted the values of all Indo-European stop consonants. A strong stress accent developed on the first syllable of words triggering significant phonological reduction of unstressed syllables.
Which Old Germanic language survived until the late eighteenth century?
Crimean Gothic was the last to die off speaking until the late eighteenth century in isolated areas of Crimea. This East Germanic branch included Gothic Burgundian and Vandalic before its extinction.
When did the earliest evidence of Germanic writing appear and what script was used?
The earliest evidence of Germanic writing appears on the Negau helmet dated to the second century BC written in Old Italic script. From roughly the first to second century AD speakers developed Elder Futhark an early form of runic alphabet.