If you can read this, you can read the most commonly spoken Germanic language (and the most commonly spoken language in the world)—English! Germanic languages all come from German, but not the German language you’re used to hearing today. Their ancestral language is an ancient Proto-Germanic language that connects modern languages all over the globe.
Germanic languages are among the most spoken languages in the world, and in some countries, they are the official spoken language of entire populations. Discover the historical connections between languages that date back to a small region of Europe, and how becoming fluent in one Germanic language can help you learn a new language very quickly.
Table of Contents
What are the Germanic languages?
A full list of Germanic languages would include hundreds of extinct languages, such as Gothic and Burgundian, and many ancestral languages that evolved into modern Germanic languages today, including Old Norse (which evolved into Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish), Old High German (which evolved into German and Yiddish), and Old English (which evolved into English and Scots).
Today, there are dozens of living Germanic languages spoken around the world, including English, and together, they have nearly 1.7 billion speakers. These languages are from the Indo-European language family and are closely related to each other, despite being influenced by a variety of neighboring regional languages and dialects in their respective parts of the world.
| Germanic Language | Region | Number of Speakers* |
| Afrikaans | Southern Africa | 9 million |
| Danish | Northern Europe | 6 million |
| Dutch | Northern Europe | 24 million |
| English | North America, Europe, Oceania, Asia | 1.5 billion |
| Faroese | Northern Europe (Faroe Islands) | 48,000 |
| Frisian | Northern Europe (Friesland) | 400,000 |
| German | Western Europe | 133 million |
| Icelandic | Northern Europe | 380,000 |
| Luxembourgish | Western Europe | 390,000 |
| Norwegian | Northern Europe | 5.5 million |
| Scots | Northern Europe | 1.5 million |
| Swedish | Northern Europe | 10 million |
| Yiddish | North America, Middle East, Eastern Europe | 775,000 |
*data from www.worlddata.info, www.ethnologue.com, www.britannica.com
Branches of the Germanic language family
Germanic languages fall into three main categories: West Germanic languages, North Germanic languages, and East Germanic languages. The West Germanic and North Germanic branches include many modern Germanic languages. East Germanic languages (which include Gothic, Burgundian, and Vandalic) have not been widely spoken since the 17th century and are now considered extinct.
North Germanic languages
North Germanic languages are spoken in present-day Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark). Derived from Old Norse, these languages are related to their West Germanic counterparts in structure and syntax, with several familiar-sounding vocabulary words in each language.
| Language | Hello | Thank You | Friend |
| Danish | Hej | Tak | ven |
| Icelandic | Halló | Takk | vinur |
| Norwegian | Hallo | Takk skal du ha | venn |
| Faroese | Halló | Takk fyri | vinur |
| Swedish | Hallå | tack | vän |
West Germanic languages
Six West Germanic languages are still spoken today. These languages come from the North Sea and Rhine-Weser regions and stem from Old English, Old High German, Old Dutch, and Old Frisian. Many words and grammatical patterns are very similar across these languages.
| Language | Hello | Thank You | Friend |
| Afrikaans | Hallo | Dankie | vriend |
| Dutch | Hallo | Bedankt | vriend |
| English | Hello | Thank you | friend |
| Frisian | Hallo | Tanke | freon |
| German | Hallo | Danke | Freund/Freundin |
| Yiddish | Hala | Adank | fraynd |
You’ll notice that English is a Germanic language in this branch, as well as Dutch, Frisian, and other Northern European languages that are similar to modern English. And while Afrikaans and Yiddish are mainly spoken in different parts of the world, they still have strong ties to their West Germanic language cousins.
Common characteristics of Germanic languages
Many Germanic languages look and sound quite similar, but what specific language traits do they share? How can you tell whether a language is Germanic?
While some languages may differ, the majority of Germanic languages share these attributes:
- Latin alphabet: All Germanic languages use the Latin alphabet, though some Germanic languages use unique letters to represent sounds in those languages, such as the German umlaut (ü) or the Icelandic thorn (Þ).
- strong and weak verbs: Germanic languages (except Afrikaans) have regular verbs (“weak”) that conjugate with suffixes and irregular verbs (“strong”) that change internal vowel sounds when conjugated.
- vowel sounds: Germanic languages have multiple ways to pronounce the few vowels in their alphabets.
- root syllable stress: The first syllable in the root stem of Germanic words typically has the stress (as in “WA-ter” or “FA-ther”).
- noun inflection: Most Germanic languages change noun endings to show plural forms.
- word order: Unlike agglutinative languages, which change word meanings with affixes, Germanic languages rely on a sentence’s word order to create meaning.
In addition, all Germanic languages underwent a consonant sound change before the 6th century C.E. This linguistic process is known as the First Germanic Consonant Shift or Grimm’s Law, and describes the change from previously unvoiced consonants to voiced aspirated stops or voiceless fricatives, depending on the language.
Origin of the Germanic language family
Germanic languages all come from a common Proto-Germanic ancestor, known in the Indo-European language family. Linguists date this common language as early as 200 C.E., with different Germanic languages forming in various regions between 700 and 1500 C.E.
| Language | Approximate Period | Region |
| Old Dutch | 500-1150 C.E. | Netherlands, Belgium |
| Old English | 700-1050 C.E. | England, Scotland |
| Old Norse | 700-1350 C.E. | Scandinavia |
| Old Frisian | 700-1500 C.E. | Netherlands, Germany, Friesland |
| Old High German | 750-1050 C.E. | Germany, Switzerland, Austria |
| Old Saxon | 850-1050 C.E. | Germany, Netherlands |
Most of these languages continued to adapt past 1500 C.E., with modern languages finding grammatical and vocabulary roots in these ancestral tongues. Old Dutch became Middle Dutch (1150-1600 C.E.), for example, and Old English became Middle English (1050-1600 C.E.). Old Norse diverged into several dialects in the 14th century, including Old Norwegian and Old Icelandic.
Frequently asked questions about Germanic languages
From their Proto-Germanic roots to their modern spread throughout the globe, Germanic languages represent a fascinating and diverse journey throughout linguistic history.
What languages do Germans speak?
The population of Germany speaks a number of languages, but 90% of people living in Germany speak German (High German, known as Hochdeutsch). Other languages spoken in Germany are Russian (3.6%) and Turkish (2.6%), with smaller populations speaking Italian, Greek, Polish, and other languages as their native languages. Germany also has a very high English proficiency and ranks as the fourth-highest non-English speaking country in the world, behind the Netherlands, Croatia, and Austria.
Depending on the part of Germany, Germans also speak dialects that are mutually intelligible with Standard German. Examples include Low German (Plattdeutsch), Bavarian, Swabian, Swiss German, and Berlinerisch, an urban dialect spoken in the capital city of Berlin.
Is English more Latin or Germanic?
While English is a Germanic language, a large part of its vocabulary is based on Latin, just like Romance languages like French, Italian, and Spanish. Many Germanic languages share vocabulary and an alphabet with Romance languages, thanks to the expansion of the Roman Empire in Europe.
What are the top 3 Germanic languages?
The top three Germanic languages in the world are English, German, and Dutch. Altogether, nearly 2 billion people speak one or more of these languages, which is close to one quarter of the world’s population. By itself, English is the most commonly spoken language in the world, and is often spoken as a second language by many speakers of other Germanic languages.
Is Russian a Germanic language?
Russian is not a Germanic language. While it is in the Indo-European language family, Russian is a Slavic language, similar to Polish, Ukrainian, and Czech, and uses the Cyrillic alphabet rather than the Latin alphabet. There is some shared vocabulary between Russian and German due to their geographical proximity, but they are distinctly different languages.
Which Germanic languages are the easiest to learn?
Thanks to their many similarities, Germanic languages are straightforward to learn if you know another Germanic language. English speakers would find Norwegian, Dutch, and Frisian easy to learn (especially because Frisian is the closest language to English), while German speakers can learn Dutch and Afrikaans in a relatively short amount of time.
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