protogermanska

Proto-Germanic, or protogermanska in some languages, is the reconstructed ancestor of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is believed to have been spoken in parts of northern Europe during the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age, roughly from 500 BCE to the first centuries CE, before it diversified into distinct Germanic languages. The homeland is debated, but many scholars place its origin in southern Scandinavia and northern Germany (the Jastorf area).

Scholars reconstruct Proto-Germanic using the comparative method, drawing on the attested Germanic languages—Gothic, Old Norse, Old English, Old High German, Old Saxon—and runic inscriptions. From these, they infer phonology, grammar, and basic vocabulary, and identify regular sound changes that separate Germanic from other Indo-European branches.

Key innovations include Grimm's law, with PIE voiceless stops p, t, k becoming f, th, h in Germanic; PIE voiced stops b, d, g becoming p, t, k in certain environments; and Verner's law adding further fricative changes where the syllable is stressed. Proto-Germanic also featured stress on the first syllable, an ablaut system in its strong verbs, and a four-case inflectional system (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative) with strong and weak verb classes.

Descendant languages form three groups: West Germanic (Old English, Old High German, Old Saxon, and later English, German, Dutch), North Germanic (Old Norse and its descendants), and East Germanic (Gothic and other extinct languages). Proto-Germanic underpins the vocabulary and grammar of many modern European languages, and its reconstruction remains central to historical linguistics.