ProtoWestGermanic

Proto-West Germanic, sometimes written ProtoWestGermanic, is the reconstructed ancestor of the West Germanic languages, a branch of the Germanic language family. It is hypothesized to lie between Proto-Germanic and the earliest attested West Germanic varieties, serving as the common stem for Old English, Old High German, Old Dutch, Old Saxon, and Old Frisian.

Dating and region: The reconstruction places Proto-West Germanic in the early centuries of the Common Era, with a homeland in northern-central Europe—roughly the area of modern northern Germany, southern Denmark, and the neighboring Low Countries. As with many proto-stages, precision is uncertain and varies among scholars.

Features and evidence: Proto-West Germanic is reconstructed from regular sound correspondences and shared vocabulary among its descendants. It inherits the First Germanic Sound Shift from Proto-Germanic and displays innovations that define the West Germanic subgroup; but it does not include later innovations specific to individual West Germanic languages, such as the High German consonant shift. The evidence comes from comparative analysis of Old English, Old Dutch, Old Saxon, Old Frisian, and Old High German.

Significance: The concept helps explain why these languages form a coherent subgroup within the Germanic family and clarifies the genealogical relations among them. The status of Proto-West Germanic is a hypothesis subject to revision as new data and methods become available.

See also: Proto-Germanic; West Germanic languages; Grimm's law; High German consonant shift.