East Germanic languages | History, Characteristics & Dialects

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Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/topic/East-Germanic-languages">Introduction</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref74741"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/East-Germanic-languages#ref74741">History</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref74742"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/East-Germanic-languages#ref74742">Characteristics</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref74743"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/East-Germanic-languages#ref74743">Phonology</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref74744"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/East-Germanic-languages#ref74744">Archaic features</a></li></ul></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/East-Germanic-languages/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/East-Germanic-languages">Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/East-Germanic-languages/images-videos">Images</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100 "> <div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex overflow-hidden text-nowrap ml-15"> <a 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<div> <div> <h1>East Germanic languages</h1></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="d-none d-sm-flex flex-row"> <div class="mr-10 mb-15"> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="d-block md-topic-tools qa-action-buttons mb-15" data-topic-id="176619"> <button class="js-tooltip btn btn-sm btn-outline-blue border pr-10 border-2 text-nowrap" > <em class="material-icons md-icon ml-n10 my-n5 mr-5" data-icon="more_vert"></em> More Actions </button> <div class="md-more-popover popover popover-sm p-0 font-14 z-1"> <div> <button class="js-print-modal-button js-modal gtm-topic-tool btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" data-modal="[data-topic-id=176619] .md-print-modal" > <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="print"></em> Print </button> <div class="md-print-modal size-lg d-none"> <div class="md-modal-body"> <div class="h2 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Buccini</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black"> Research Associate, Department of Linguistics, University of Chicago. Author of "Ontstaan en vroegste ontwikkeling van het Nederlandse taalandschap" in <i>Taal en Tongval (</i>vol. 48<i>).</i></div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Anthony F. Buccini</span>, <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 qa-editor-popup gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" href="/contributor/William-G-Moulton/2067" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">William G. Moulton</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Professor of Linguistics, Princeton University, 1960–79. Professor of Germanic Linguistics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1949–60. Author of <i>The Sounds of English and German.</i></div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> William G. 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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/East-Germanic-languages/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Related Topics: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/Gothic-language" topicid="239762">Gothic language</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/Ostrogothic" topicid="434473">Ostrogothic</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/Visigothic" topicid="630598">Visigothic</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/dead-language" topicid="154237">extinct language</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/East-Germanic-languages"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref603775"></span>East Germanic languages</strong>, group of long extinct <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Germanic-languages" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Germanic languages</a> once spoken by Germanic tribes located between the middle <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Oder-River" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Oder</a> and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Vistula-River" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Vistula</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker h2"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref74741"><h2 class="h1">History</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">According to historical tradition, at least some of the Germanic tribes <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="migrated" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/migrated" data-type="EB">migrated</a> to the mouth of the Vistula from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Scandinavia" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Scandinavia</a>. Little is known of Gepidic, Rugian, and Burgundian; some knowledge of Vandalic, Visigothic, and, especially, Ostrogothic is provided by the names recorded in Greek and Latin writings. The only East Germanic <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/language" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">language</a> on which there is extensive information is the <span id="ref663491"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gothic-language" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Gothic</a>—more specifically, <span id="ref603776"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Visigothic" class="md-crosslink ">Visigothic</a>—that was spoken along the western shore of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Black-Sea" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Black Sea</a> about the middle of the 4th century <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span>.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Knowledge of Gothic is derived primarily from the remains of a <span id="ref603777"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-translation" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Bible translation</a> made for the Visigoths living along the lower Danube by <span id="ref603778"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ulfilas" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Ulfilas</a>, a Visigothic bishop of the Arian church, who lived during the 4th century. The surviving manuscripts of this translation, which are not originals but later copies thought to have been written in northern Italy during the period of Ostrogothic rule (493–554), include considerable portions of the New <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="Testament" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/Testament" data-type="EB">Testament</a>. The best-known manuscript is the <span id="ref603779"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Codex-Argenteus" class="md-crosslink ">Codex Argenteus</a>, written in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/silver" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">silver</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/gold-chemical-element" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">gold</a> letters on purple parchment and containing (in 188 leaves remaining from an original 330 or 336) portions of the four Gospels. Closely related to these biblical manuscripts are eight leaves containing fragments of a commentary (called the <em>Skeireins</em> in Gothic) on the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gospel-According-to-John" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Gospel According to John</a>. Minor nonbiblical texts include a fragment of a calendar, two deeds containing some Gothic sentences, and a 10th-century Salzburg manuscript that gives the Gothic alphabet, a few Gothic words with Latin transliteration, and some phonetic remarks with illustrative examples.</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/quiz/languages-alphabets" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/62/129562-131-63F782C3/wall-engravings-Buddhist-Thailand-Hands-society-history-2009.jpg" alt="Buddhist engravings on wall in Thailand. Hands on wall. Hompepage blog 2009, history and society, science and technology, geography and travel, explore discovery" class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Languages & Alphabets</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In the 4th and 5th centuries Gothic (Visigothic and Ostrogothic) must have spread to some degree, along with the conquering Goths, throughout much of southern Europe; but there is no evidence for its survival in Italy after the fall of the Ostrogothic kingdom, and in Spain it is doubtful that the Visigoths retained their language until the Arab <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="conquest" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/conquest" data-type="EB">conquest</a>. In the 9th century the German monk <span id="ref603780"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walafrid-Strabo" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Walafrid Strabo</a> mentions that Gothic was still being used in some churches near the lower Danube. After that time Gothic seems to have survived only among the Goths of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Crimean-Peninsula" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Crimean Peninsula</a>, who were last mentioned in the middle of the 16th century by a Flemish diplomat named <span id="ref603781"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Augier-Ghislain-de-Busbecq" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Augier Ghislain de Busbecq</a>, who, while on a mission to Constantinople in 1560–62, collected a number of words and phrases showing that their language was still essentially a form of Gothic.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker h3"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref74742"><h2 class="h1">Characteristics</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The <span id="ref603782"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gothic-alphabet" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Gothic alphabet</a>, said to have been created by Ulfilas, contained 27 symbols, two of which functioned only as numbers, while the remaining 25 were used as both numbers and letters. The shape, numerical <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="value" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/value" data-type="EB">value</a>, and ordering of the symbols show clearly that the alphabet was based primarily on that of Greek, though a few symbols seem to have been adapted from the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Latin-alphabet" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Latin alphabet</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span> <section data-level="2" id="ref74743"><h2 class="h2"><span id="ref603783"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/phonology" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Phonology</a></h2> <span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The Gothic consonant system seems to have been largely identical with that assumed above for Proto-Germanic: <em>p, t, k, k<sup>w</sup></em> (this last sound was probably much like the <em>qu</em> in <em>queen</em>); <em>f, þ, h, h<sup>w</sup></em> (this last sound was probably pronounced much like the <em>wh</em> in <em>white</em>); <em>b, d, g; s, z; m, n; l, r; w, j</em>. The nasal <em>n</em> was presumably velar before the velar consonants <em>k, q</em>, and <em>g</em>; in these positions it was usually written (as in Greek) as <em>g</em> or <em>gg</em>. Examples of this spelling include <em>dragk</em> ‘drank,’ <em>igqis</em> ‘you two,’ and <em>briggan</em> ‘bring,’ although <em>n</em> was occasionally used as in Latin (<em>e.g., þank</em> ‘thanks,’ <em>inqis</em> ‘you two,’ and <em>bringiþ</em> ‘bring ye’).</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="61401" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/52/2052-004-81BE13C3/Diagram-Development-alphabet-vowels-Gothic-Proto-Germanic.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/176619/61401"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/52/2052-004-81BE13C3/Diagram-Development-alphabet-vowels-Gothic-Proto-Germanic.jpg"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/52/2052-004-81BE13C3/Diagram-Development-alphabet-vowels-Gothic-Proto-Germanic.jpg?w=300" alt="Diagram: Development of the Gothic alphabet from Proto-Germanic vowels." data-width="530" data-height="130" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">The Gothic alphabet contained the five simple <span id="ref603784"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/vowel" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">vowel</a> symbols, <em>i, e, a, o</em>, and <em>u</em>, from which four <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="compound" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compound" data-type="MW">compound</a> symbols, <em>ei, ai, au</em>, and <em>iu</em>, also were made; in addition, <em>w</em> was used to transliterate Greek υ and οι (both of which were pronounced as umlauted <em>u</em> /ü/ in 4th-century Greek). The generally accepted development of the <span id="ref603785"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Proto-Germanic-language" class="md-crosslink ">Proto-Germanic</a> vowels in Gothic can be diagrammed as follows:</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; min-width: 80px" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/marketing/BlueThistle.webp" /> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-text-wrapper ml-0 mb-10 text-center text-white"> <div class="h2 mb-10">Get Unlimited Access</div> <div class="h4 font-weight-semi-bold">Try Britannica Premium for free and discover more.</div> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-button-wrapper d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center ml-auto mr-auto"> <a class="btn btn-m btn-orange" href="https://premium.britannica.com/premium-membership/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=inline-cta&utm_campaign=august-2024">Subscribe</a> </div> </div> </div> </DIV></div><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD9 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Brackets in the Proto-Germanic line indicate that the two linked sounds coalesced into one; brackets in the Gothic line indicate two variants of the same sound that are in different phonetic <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="environments" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/environments" data-type="MW">environments</a>. Proto-Germanic *<em>i</em> and *<em>e</em> apparently first merged as a single vowel and then became Gothic <em>i</em> in most positions but became <em>ai</em> before <em>h, h<sup>w</sup></em>, and <em>r</em>. Similarly, Proto-Germanic *<em>u</em>∼<em>o</em> became Gothic <em>u</em> in most positions, but <em>au</em> before <em>h, h<sup>w</sup></em>, and <em>r</em>.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD9 mod-inline"></span></section> <section data-level="2" id="ref74744"><h2 class="h2">Archaic features</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD10 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Gothic shows a number of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="archaic" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/archaic" data-type="MW">archaic</a> features that had been almost or entirely lost by the time the other Germanic languages began to appear in writing; among these are a passive voice and one type of past tense formed with reduplication, a dual number in the first and second persons of its verbs and pronouns, and a special vocative case in one noun class. At the same time, Gothic also shows changes from Proto-Germanic, among which are the shortening of most long vowels in final unstressed syllables and the loss of most short vowels (e.g., Proto-Germanic *<em>erþō</em> ‘earth’ became Gothic <em>airþa</em>, Proto-Germanic *<em>stainaz</em> ‘stone’ became Gothic <em>stains</em>). Finally, voiced fricatives that occurred or came to occur at the end of a word are unvoiced (e.g., nominative *<em>hlaiaz</em>, accusative *<em>hlaian</em> ‘bread, loaf’ changed to <em>hlaifs</em> and <em>hlaif</em>, respectively [but dative <em>hlaiba</em>]).</p><span class="marker MOD10 mod-inline"></span><span class="md-signature"><a href="/contributor/William-G-Moulton/2067">William G. Moulton</a></span> <span class="md-signature"><a href="/contributor/Anthony-F-Buccini/4250">Anthony F. 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East Germanic languages | History, Characteristics & Dialects | Britannica