View source for West Germanic languages

{{short description|Group of languages}}
{{Use Oxford spelling |date=December 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates |date=December 2024}}
{{Use shortened footnotes |date=May 2025}}
{{CS1 config |mode=cs1 }}
{{Infobox language family
| name          = West Germanic
| speakers      = {{est.|490 million}}{{sfnp |Vasagar |2013 }}{{sfnp |Nederlandse Taalunie |2010}}{{sfnp |Worlddata |2023 }}
| region        = Originally between the [[Rhine]], [[Alps]], [[Elbe]], and [[North Sea]]; today worldwide
| familycolor   = Indo-European
| fam2          = [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
| child1        = [[North Sea Germanic]] – <small>[[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo-Frisian]], [[Low German]]</small>
| child2        = [[Weser–Rhine Germanic]] – <small>[[Low Franconian]]</small>
| child3        = [[Elbe Germanic]] – <small>[[High German]]</small>
| map           = Germanic languages in Europe.png
| mapcaption    = Extent of Germanic languages in present-day Europe<br />
'''North Germanic languages'''
{{legend|#00FFFF|[[Icelandic language|Icelandic]]}}
{{legend|#00CED1|[[Faroese language|Faroese]]}}
{{legend|#007ffe|[[Norwegian language|Norwegian]]}}
{{legend|#003f7f|[[Swedish language|Swedish]]}}
{{legend|#0000FF|[[Danish language|Danish]]}}
'''West Germanic languages'''
{{legend|#D2691E|[[Scots language|Scots]]}}
{{legend|#ffa500|[[English language|English]]}}
{{legend|#E2BD00|[[Frisian languages|Frisian]]}}
{{legend|#FFF435|[[Dutch language|Dutch]]}}
{{legend|#418824|[[Low German]]}}
{{legend|#008000|[[High German languages|High German]]}}
Dots indicate areas where [[multilingualism]] is common
| iso5          = gmw
| glotto        = west2793
| glottorefname = West Germanic
| lingua        = 52-AB & 52-AC
| ancestor      = 
| glottoname    = 
| notes         = 
| map2          = Afrikaans Map-Africa.svg
| mapcaption2   = Extent of Germanic languages in present-day Africa<br />
'''West Germanic languages'''
{{legend|#ff3333|[[Afrikaans language|Afrikaans]]}}
| ethnicity     = West Germanic peoples
}}

The '''West Germanic languages''' constitute the largest of the three branches of the [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] family of [[Indo-European languages]] (the others being the [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]] and the extinct [[East Germanic languages|East Germanic]] languages). The West Germanic branch is classically subdivided into three branches: [[Ingvaeonic]], which includes [[English language|English]], [[Scots language|Scots]], the [[Low German|Low German languages]], and the [[Frisian languages]]; [[Istvaeonic]], which encompasses [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and its close relatives; and [[Elbe Germanic|Irminonic]], which includes [[German language|German]] and its close relatives and variants.

English is by far the most widely spoken West Germanic language, with over one billion speakers worldwide. Within Europe, the three most prevalent West Germanic languages are English, German, and Dutch. Frisian, spoken by about 450,000 people, constitutes a fourth distinct variety of West Germanic. The language family also includes [[Afrikaans]], [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]], [[Low Saxon]], [[Luxembourgish]], [[Hunsrik]], and [[Scots language|Scots]]. Additionally, several [[creole language|creoles]], [[patois]], and [[pidgin]]s are based on Dutch, English, or German.

==History==

===Origins and characteristics===
The Germanic languages are traditionally divided into three groups: West, [[East Germanic languages|East]] and [[North Germanic languages|North]] Germanic.{{sfnp |Hawkins |1987 |pp=68–76 }} In some cases, their exact relation was difficult to determine from the sparse evidence of runic inscriptions, so that some individual varieties have been difficult to classify. This is especially true for the unattested [[Jutes|Jute]] language; today, most scholars classify [[Jutes|Jute]] as a West Germanic variety with several features of North Germanic.{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |pp=25–26}}{{sfnp |Seebold |1998 |p=13 }}

Until the late 20th century, some scholars claimed that all Germanic languages remained mutually intelligible throughout the [[Migration Period]], while others hold that speakers of West Germanic dialects like [[Old Frankish]] and speakers of [[Gothic language|Gothic]] were already unable to communicate fluently by around the 3rd century AD. As a result of the substantial progress in the study of Proto-West Germanic in the early 21st century, there is a growing consensus that East and West Germanic indeed would have been mutually unintelligible at that time,{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |pp=238, 243}} whereas West and North Germanic remained partially intelligible.{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=243}}

Dialects with the features assigned to the western group formed from [[Proto-Germanic]] in the late [[Jastorf culture]] ({{Circa|1st century BC}}). The West Germanic group is characterized by a number of [[phonology|phonological]], [[morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] and [[Vocabulary|lexical]] innovations or [[Archaism|archaisms]] not found in North and East Germanic. Examples of West Germanic phonological particularities are:{{sfnp |Robinson |1992}}{{page needed |date=December 2024}}

* The [[labialization|delabialization]] of all [[Labiovelarisation|labiovelar]] consonants except word-initially.{{sfnp |Euler |2013 |p=53 }}{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=61 }}{{sfnp |Ringe |Taylor |2014 |p=104}}
* Change of ''*-zw-'' and ''*- đw-'' to ''*-ww-'' e.g. ''*izwiz'' > ''*iwwiz'' 'you' dat.pl.; ''*feđwōr'' > ''*fewwōr'' 'four'.{{sfnp |Stiles |1985 |pp=91–94 }}
* {{IPA|[ð]}}, the fricative [[allophone]] of {{IPA|/d/}}, becomes {{IPA|[d]}} in all positions.{{sfnp |Ringe |Taylor |2014 |pp=73,104}} (The two other fricatives {{IPA|[β]}} and {{IPA|[ɣ]}} are retained.). This must have occurred after ''*-zw-'' and ''*- đw-'' have become ''*-ww-''.{{sfnp |Stiles |2013 |p=15 }}
* Replacement of the second-person singular [[preterite]] ending ''-t'' with ''-ī'' ([[indicative]] and [[subjunctive mood]]).{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |pp=71-72 }} For more than 150 years there has been a scientific debate on the best explanation of these difficult forms. Today, some linguists, beginning with J. V. Fierlinger in 1885{{sfnp |Fierlinger |1885 }} and followed by R. Löwe (1907),{{sfnp |Löwe |1906 |p=267 }}{{efn |Quoted by Hirt.{{sfnp |Hirt |1932|p=152 }} }} O. Behaghel (1922),{{sfnp |Behaghel |1922 |p=167}} [[Jakob Sverdrup (philologist)|Jakob Sverdrup]] (1927), [[Hermann Hirt]] (1932),{{sfnp |Hirt |1932 |pp=152–153 }} [[Edgar C. Polomé|E. Polomé]] (1964),{{sfnp |Polomé |1964 }} W. Meid (1971),{{sfnp |Meid |1971 |p=13 }} E. Hill (2004),{{sfnp |Hill |2004 |pp=281–286 }} K.-H. Mottausch{{sfnp |Mottausch |2013 }}{{pages needed|date=August 2025}} and W. Euler (1992ff.){{sfnp |Euler |2022 |pp=153–154}} explain this ending as a relic of the [[Aorist (Indo-European linguistics)|Indo-European aorist tense]]. Under this assumption, the ending ''-t'' would have replaced older ''-ī(z)''. Sceptical about this explanation – and mostly explaining these forms as influenced by [[Optative mood|optative]] forms – are [[Wilhelm Scherer|W. Scherer]] (1868), [[Willem Lodewijk van Helten|W. L. van Helten]] (before 1917), [[Edward Schröder]] (1921), Bammesberger (1986) and [[Donald Ringe|Don Ringe]] (2014).
* Loss of word-final {{IPA|/z/}}.{{sfnp |Crist |2002 }}{{sfnp |Euler |2013 |p=53 }}{{sfnp |Ringe |Taylor |2014 |p=43}} Only Old High German preserves it at all (as {{IPA|/r/}}) and only in single-syllable words. Following the later loss of word-final {{IPA|/a/}} and {{IPA|/aN/}}, this made the nominative and accusative of many nouns identical.
*  Loss of final ''*-a'' (including from PGmc. ''*-an#'') in polysyllables: e.g. acc. sg. OHG ''horn'' vs. ORu. ''horna'' 'horn'; this change must have occurred after the loss of word-final {{IPA|/z/}}.{{sfnp |Stiles |2013 |p=15 }}
* [[West Germanic gemination]]: lengthening of all consonants except {{IPA|/r/}} before {{IPA|/j/}}.;{{sfnp |Euler |2013 |p=53 }}{{sfnp |Ringe |Taylor |2014 |pp=50–54}} this change must have occurred after the loss of final *-a.{{sfnp |Stiles |2013 |p=15 }}
* Change of Proto-Germanic ''*e'' to ''i'' before ''i'' and ''j''.{{sfnp |Euler |2013 |p=54 }}

A relative chronology of about 20 sound changes from Proto-Northwest Germanic to Proto-West Germanic (some of them only regional) was published by Don Ringe in 2014.{{sfnp |Ringe |Taylor |2014 |p=104}}

A phonological archaism of West Germanic is the preservation of ''[[grammatischer Wechsel]]'' in most verbs, particularly in Old High German.{{sfnp |Stiles |2013 |p=24 }}{{sfnp |Euler |2013 |p=49 }} This implies the same for West Germanic,{{sfnp |Euler |2013 |p=230 }} whereas in East and North Germanic many of these alternations (in Gothic almost all of them) had been levelled out analogically by the time of the earliest texts.

A common [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] innovation of the West Germanic languages is the development of a [[gerund]].{{sfnp |Euler |2013 |pp=61, 133, 171, 174 }}

Common morphological archaisms of West Germanic include:
* The preservation of an [[instrumental case]],{{sfnp |Euler |2013 |pp=67, 70, 74, 76, 97, 113, ''ff'' }}{{page range too broad|date=May 2025}}
* the preservation of the [[athematic]] verbs{{sfnp |Euler |2013 |pp=168-178 }} (e.g. [[Anglo-Saxon language|Anglo-Saxon]] ''dō(m)'', [[Old Saxon language|Old Saxon]] ''dōm'', [[Old High German|OHG.]] ''tōm'' "I do"{{sfnp |Euler |2013 |pp=170-173 }}),
* the preservation of some traces{{which|date=July 2013}} of the [[aorist]] (in Old English and Old High German, but neither in Gothic nor in [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]]).{{sfnp |Meid |1971 |p=13 }}{{sfnp |Euler |Badenheuer |2009 |pp=168–171 }}{{sfnp |Euler |2013 |pp=138-141 }}

Furthermore, the West Germanic languages share many [[lexeme]]s not existing in North Germanic and/or East Germanic – archaisms{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |pp=196–211}} as well as common [[Neologism|neologisms]].{{sfnp |Euler |2013 |pp=194-200 }}{{sfnp |Ringe |Taylor |2014 |pp=126–128}} Some [[Lexeme|lexemes]] have specific meanings in West Germanic{{sfnp |Ringe |Taylor |2014 |pp=128–129}} and there are specific innovations in word formation and derivational morphology,{{sfnp |Ringe |Taylor |2014 |pp=129–132}} for example neologisms ending with modern English ''-ship'' (< wgerm. ''-*skapi'', cf. German ''-schaft'') like ''friendship'' (< wg. ''*friund(a)skapi'', cf. German ''Freundschaft'') are specific to the West Germanic languages and are thus seen as a Proto West Germanic innovation.{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=132 }}{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=222}}

=== Validity of West Germanic as a subgroup ===
Since at least the early 20th century, a number of morphological, phonological, and lexical archaisms and innovations have been identified as specifically West Germanic. Since then, individual Proto-West Germanic lexemes have also been reconstructed. Yet, there was a long dispute if these West Germanic characteristics had to be explained with the existence of a West Germanic proto-language or rather with [[Sprachbund]] effects. [[Hans Frede ]]'s 1981 study ''Old English and the Continental Germanic Languages''{{sfnp |Nielsen |1985 }} made the conviction grow that a West Germanic proto-language did exist. But up until the 1990s, some scholars doubted that there was once a Proto-West Germanic [[proto-language]] which was ancestral only to later West Germanic languages.{{sfnp |Robinson |1992 |pp=17–18}} In 2002, Gert Klingenschmitt presented a series of pioneering reconstructions of Proto-West Germanic morphological paradigmas and new views on some early West Germanic phonological changes,{{sfnp |Klingenschmitt |2002 |pp=169-189 }} and in 2013 the first monographic analysis and description of Proto-West Germanic was published (second edition 2022).{{sfnp |Euler |2013 }}{{sfnp |Euler |2022 }}{{pages needed|date=August 2025}}

Today, there is a scientific consensus{{efn |"A West Germanic protolanguage is uncontroversial".{{sfnp |Hartmann |2023 |p=199 }}}} on what Don Ringe stated in 2012, that "these [phonological and morphological] changes amount to a massive evidence for a valid West Germanic clade".{{sfnp |Ringe |2012b |p=6}}

According to one proposal, after East Germanic broke off (an event usually dated to the 2nd or 1st century BC), the remaining Germanic languages, the [[Northwest Germanic]] languages, divided into four main dialects:{{sfnp |Kuhn |1955 |pp=1–47 }}{{obsolete source|reason=very old; does modern scholarship still follow this subdivision?|date=July 2020}} North Germanic, and the three groups conventionally called "West Germanic", namely:

{{tree list}}
* [[Northwest Germanic]]
** [[North Sea Germanic]], ancestral to [[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo-Frisian]] and [[Old Saxon language|Old Saxon]]
** [[Weser–Rhine Germanic]], ancestral to [[Old Dutch]] and present as a [[Stratum (linguistics)|substrate or superstrate]] in some of the [[Central Franconian]] and [[Rhine Franconian]] dialects of [[Old High German]]
** [[Elbe Germanic]], ancestral to the [[Upper German]] and most [[Central German]] dialects of [[Old High German]], and the extinct [[Langobardic language]].
{{tree list/end}}

Although there is quite a bit of knowledge about North Sea Germanic or Anglo-Frisian (because of the characteristic features of its daughter languages, Anglo-Saxon/[[Old English language|Old English]] and [[Old Frisian language|Old Frisian]]), linguists know almost nothing about "Weser–Rhine Germanic" and "Elbe Germanic". In fact, both terms were coined in the 1940s to refer to groups of archaeological findings, rather than linguistic features. Only later were the terms applied to hypothetical dialectal differences within both regions. Even today, the very small number of [[Migration Period]] [[runic inscriptions]] from the area, many of them illegible, unclear or consisting only of one word, often a name, is insufficient to identify linguistic features specific to the two supposed dialect groups.

Evidence that East Germanic split off before the split between North and West Germanic comes from a number of linguistic innovations common to North and West Germanic,{{sfnp |Robinson |1992}}{{page needed |date=December 2024}} including:
* The lowering of Proto-Germanic ''ē'' ({{IPA|/ɛː/}}, also written ''ǣ'') to ''ā''.{{sfnp |Cercignani |1972 |pp=104–110 }}
* The development of [[Germanic umlaut|umlaut]].
* The [[rhotacism (sound change)|rhotacism]] of {{IPA|/z/}} to {{IPA|/r/}}.
* The development of the [[demonstrative]] pronoun ancestral to English ''this''.

Under that view, the properties that the West Germanic languages have in common, separate from the North Germanic languages, are not necessarily inherited from a "Proto-West Germanic" language, but may have spread by [[language contact]] among the Germanic languages spoken in Central Europe, not reaching those spoken in Scandinavia or reaching them much later. Rhotacism, for example, was largely complete in West Germanic while North Germanic runic inscriptions still clearly distinguished the two phonemes. There is also evidence that the lowering of ''ē'' to ''ā'' occurred first in West Germanic and spread to North Germanic later since word-final ''ē'' was lowered before it was shortened in West Germanic, but in North Germanic the shortening occurred first, resulting in ''e'' that later merged with ''i''. However, there are also a number of common archaisms in West Germanic shared by neither Old Norse nor Gothic. Some authors who support the concept of a West Germanic proto-language claim that, not only shared innovations can require the existence of a linguistic [[clade]], but also that there are archaisms that cannot be explained simply as retentions later lost in the North or East, because this assumption can produce contradictions with attested features of the other branches.{{Clarify|reason=What contradictions result from assuming archaisms were lost in North and East Germanic after the divergence of West Germanic languages?|date=August 2024}}

Concerning the existence of a Proto-West Germanic clade Ringe has argued that "all the West Germanic languages share several highly unusual innovations that virtually force us to posit a West Germanic clade", although "the internal subgrouping of both North Germanic and West Germanic is very messy, and it seems clear that each of those subfamilies diversified into a network of dialects that remained in contact for a considerable period of time (in some cases right up to the present)".{{sfnp |Ringe |2006 |pp=213-214 }}

===The reconstruction of Proto-West Germanic===
Several scholars have published reconstructions of Proto-West Germanic morphological paradigms{{sfnp |Nielsen |1985 }}{{sfnp |Nielsen |2000 }}{{sfnp | Klingenschmitt |2002 }}{{sfnp |Mottausch |1998 }}{{sfnp |Mottausch |2011 }} and many authors have reconstructed individual Proto-West Germanic morphological forms or lexemes. The first comprehensive reconstruction of the Proto-West Germanic language was published in 2013 by [[Wolfram Euler]],{{sfnp |Euler |2013 }} followed in 2014 by the study of [[Donald Ringe]] and Ann Taylor.{{sfnp |Ringe |Taylor |2014}}

===Dating Proto-West Germanic===
[[File:2022 04 16 - MAP West Germanic – cc. 580 CE - END.png|thumb|West Germanic languages {{circa|580}}{{sfnp|Euler|2022|p=29}}]]
If indeed Proto-West Germanic existed, it must have been between the 2nd and 7th centuries. Until the late 2nd century AD, the language of runic inscriptions found in Scandinavia and in Northern Germany were so similar that Proto-North Germanic and the Western dialects in the south were still part of one language ("Proto-Northwest Germanic").

Sometime after that, the split into West and North Germanic occurred. By the 4th and 5th centuries the [[Migration Period|great migration]] set in. By the end of the 6th century, the area in which West Germanic languages were spoken, at least by the upper classes, had tripled compared to the year 400. This caused an increasing disintegration of the West Germanic language and finally the formation of the daughter languages.{{sfnp |Euler |2013 |pp=20-34, 229, 231 }}

It has been argued that, judging by their nearly identical syntax, the West Germanic dialects were closely enough related to have been mutually intelligible up to the 7th century.{{efn |[[Graeme Davis (mediaevalist)|Graeme Davis]] notes "the languages of the Germanic group in the Old period are much closer than has previously been noted. Indeed it would not be inappropriate to regard them as dialects of one language. They are undoubtedly far closer one to another than are the various dialects of modern Chinese, for example. A reasonable modern analogy might be Arabic, where considerable dialectical diversity exists but within the concept of a single Arabic language."{{sfnp |Davis |2006 |p=154 }}}} Over the course of this period, the dialects diverged successively. The [[High German consonant shift]] that occurred mostly during the 7th century AD in what is now southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland can be considered the end of the linguistic unity among the West Germanic dialects, although its effects on their own should not be overestimated. Bordering dialects very probably continued to be mutually intelligible even beyond the boundaries of the consonant shift.

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Historical West Germanic language area.png|350px|thumb|The approximate extent of the continental West Germanic languages in the early 10th century{{sfnp |Meineke |Schwerdt |2001 |p=209 }}{{legend|#f5e82b|[[Old Dutch]]}}
{{legend|#97d17b|[[Old High German]]}}
{{legend|#ffd29f|[[Old Frisian]]}}
{{legend|#dc99bd|[[Old Saxon]]}}
{{legend-line|#e51b19 dashed 2px|Line marking the boundaries of the continental West Germanic dialect continuum.}}]]
During the [[Early Middle Ages]], the West Germanic languages were separated by the insular development of [[Old English|Old]] and [[Middle English]] on one hand, and by the [[High German consonant shift]] on the continent on the other.

The [[High German consonant shift]] distinguished the [[High German languages]] from the other West Germanic languages. By early modern times, the span had extended into considerable differences, ranging from [[Highest Alemannic German|Highest Alemannic]] in the South (the [[Walliser German|Walliser]] dialect being the southernmost surviving German dialect) to [[Northern Low Saxon]] in the North. Although both extremes are considered [[German language|German]], they are not mutually intelligible. The southernmost varieties have completed the second sound shift, whereas the northern dialects remained unaffected by the consonant shift.

Of modern German varieties, [[Low German]] is the one that most resembles modern English. The district of [[Angeln]] (or Anglia), from which the name ''English'' derives, is in the extreme northern part of Germany between the Danish border and the Baltic coast. The area of the Saxons (parts of today's [[Schleswig-Holstein]] and [[Lower Saxony]]) lay south of Anglia. The [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]] and [[Saxons]], two [[Germanic tribes]], in combination with a number of other peoples from northern [[Germany]] and the [[Jutland]] Peninsula, particularly the [[Jutes]], settled in Britain following the end of Roman rule in the island. Once in Britain, these Germanic peoples eventually developed a shared cultural and linguistic identity as [[Anglo-Saxons]]; the extent of the linguistic influence of the native [[Romano-British]] population on the incomers is debatable.
[[File:West Germanic dialect continuum (according to Wiesinger, Heeringa & König).png|thumb|350x350px|The varieties of the continental West Germanic dialect continuum since 1945:{{sfnp |Heeringa |2009 |pp=232–234 }}{{sfnp |Wiesinger |1983 |pp=807–900 }}{{sfnp |König |2019 |p=230 }}{{sfnp |Giesbers |2008 |p=233 }} {{legend|#8c506e|[[Low Franconian]] or [[Netherlandic]]}} {{legend|#df772a|[[Frisian languages|Frisian]]}} {{legend|#3e9abc|[[Low Saxon]] or [[Low German]]}} {{legend|#f5ef47|[[Central German]]}} {{legend|#ecca09|[[Upper German]]}}]]

== Family tree ==
{{More citations needed section|talk=Sources needed in Family tree|date=August 2023}}

[[File:Einteilung der Germanen nach Maurer.en.svg|thumb|upright=2.75|Grouping of the main Germanic tribes (which can be equated with their languages/dialects) according to [[Friedrich Maurer (linguist)|Friedrich Maurer]]]]

Divisions between subfamilies of continental Germanic languages are rarely precisely defined; most form [[Dialect continuum|dialect continua]], with adjacent [[dialect]]s being mutually intelligible and more separated ones not.

{{tree list}}
* '''West Germanic languages'''
** '''[[North Sea Germanic]] / [[Ingvaeonic languages]]'''
*** [[Anglo-Frisian languages|Anglo-Frisian]]
**** [[Anglic languages|Anglic]]
***** [[English language|English]]
***** Irish Middle English / [[Normans in Ireland|Hiberno-Norman]] / Irish Anglo-Norman{{sfnp|Hickey|2005|pp=196–198}}{{sfnp|Hickey|2002|pp=28–29}}{{sfnp|Hammarström|Forkel|Haspelmath|Bank|2023|p=}} {{extinct}}
****** [[Fingalian language|Fingalian]] {{extinct}}
****** [[Yola language|Yola]] {{extinct}}
***** [[Scots language|Scots]]
**** [[Frisian languages|Frisian]]
***** [[West Frisian languages|West Frisian]]
****** [[Hindeloopen Frisian]]
****** [[Schiermonnikoog Frisian]]
****** Westlauwers–Terschellings
******* [[Terschelling Frisian]]
******* [[West Frisian language|West Lauwers Frisian]]
******** Clay Frisian
******** Wood Frisian
********* [[Westereendersk]]
***** [[East Frisian language|East Frisian]]
****** Ems
******* [[Saterland Frisian language|Saterland]]
******* [[Upgant Frisian|Upgant]] {{extinct}}
****** Weser {{extinct}}
******* [[Harlingerland Frisian|Harlingerland]] {{extinct}}
******* [[Wangerooge Frisian|Wangerooge]] {{extinct}}
******* [[Wursten Frisian|Wursten]] {{extinct}}
***** [[North Frisian language|North Frisian]]
****** Insular
******* Föhr–Amrum
******** [[Amrum North Frisian|Amrum]]
******** [[Föhr North Frisian|Föhr]]
******* [[Heligoland Frisian|Heligoland]]
******* [[Sylt North Frisian|Sylt]]
****** Mainland
******* [[Bökingharde North Frisian|Bökingharde]]
******* [[Goesharde Frisian|Goesharde]]
******* [[Karrharde Frisian|Karrharde]]
******* [[Strand Frisian|Strand]]
******** [[Halligen Frisian|Halligen]]
******* [[Wiedingharde Frisian|Wiedingharde]]
*** [[Low German]]
**** [[Northern Low Saxon]]
**** [[Westphalian language|Westphalian]]
**** [[Eastphalian language|Eastphalian]]
**** [[Marchian]]
**** [[Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch]]
**** [[Central Pomeranian dialect|Central Pomeranian]]
**** [[East Pomeranian dialect|East Pomeranian]] (moribund)
**** [[Low Prussian dialect|Low Prussian]] (moribund)
**** [[Dutch Low Saxon]]
** '''[[Weser–Rhine Germanic]] / [[Istvaeones|Istvaeonic languages]]'''
*** [[Low Franconian]]
**** [[Dutch language|Dutch]] (West/North Low Franconian)
***** [[West Flemish]]
***** [[East Flemish]]
***** [[Zeelandic]]
***** [[Central Dutch dialects|Central Dutch]]
****** [[Hollandic dialect|Hollandic]]
******* [[Afrikaans]]
******** [[Arabic Afrikaans]]
******* [[Kaaps]]
****** [[Kleverlandish]]
***** [[Brabantian dialect|Brabantian]]
**** [[Limburgish]] ([[South Low Franconian|East/South Low Franconian]])
*** [[Central German]]
**** [[Central Franconian languages|Central Franconian]]
***** [[Ripuarian language|Ripuarian]]
***** [[Luxembourgish language|Luxembourgish]]
**** [[Rhine Franconian languages|Rhine Franconian]], including the dialects of [[Hessen]], [[Pennsylvania Dutch language|Pennsylvania German]], and most of those from [[Lorraine Franconian|Lorraine]]
***** [[Pennsylvania Dutch language|Pennsylvania Dutch]]
**** [[Thuringian dialect|Thuringian]]
**** [[Upper Saxon German]]
**** Schlesisch–Wilmesau
***** Bielsko-Biała{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}
****** [[Alzenau dialect|Halcnovian]]
****** [[Wymysorys language|Wymysorys]]
***** [[Silesian German|Silesian]] (moribund)
**** [[High Prussian]] (moribund)
** '''[[Elbe Germanic]] / [[Irminonic languages]]'''
*** [[Upper German]]
**** [[Alemannic German|Alemannic]], including [[Swiss German language|Swiss German]] and [[Alsatian language|Alsatian]]
**** [[Swabian German|Swabian]]
**** [[Bavarian language|Bavarian]]
**** [[East Franconian]]
**** [[South Franconian]]
**** [[Lombardic language|Lombardic]] (extinct)
*** [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]] (a language based on [[Middle High German]])
{{tree list/end}}

==Comparison of phonological and morphological features==
{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2019}}
The following table shows a list of various linguistic features and their extent among the West Germanic languages, organized roughly from northwest to southeast. Some may only appear in the older languages but are no longer apparent in the modern languages.

{|class="wikitable"
|-
!
!scope="col"| Old English
!scope="col"| Old Frisian
!scope="col"| Old Saxon
!scope="col"| Old Dutch
!scope="col"| Old Central<br />German
!scope="col"| Old Upper<br />German
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| Palatalisation of velars
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Partial|Rare}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| Unrounding of front rounded vowels
| {{Partial|Partial}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{Partial|Southwestern}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| Loss of intervocalic *''-h-''
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Partial|Developing}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Partial|Developing}}
| {{No2|No}}
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| Class II weak verb ending ''*-(ō)ja-''
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Partial|Sometimes}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| Merging of plural forms of verbs
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| [[Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law]]
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Partial|Rare}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| Loss of the [[reflexive pronoun]]
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Partial|Most dialects}}
| {{Partial|Most dialects}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| Loss of final ''*-z'' in single-syllable words
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| Reduction of weak class III to four relics
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| Monophthongization of *''ai''
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Partial|Usually}}
| {{Partial|Usually}}
| {{Partial}}
| {{Partial}}
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| Monophthongization of *''au''
| {{No2|No}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Partial}}
| {{Partial}}
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| Diphthongization of *''ē'', *''ō''
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{Partial|Rare}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| [[Final-obstruent devoicing]]
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{Partial|Developing}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Partial|Developing}}
| {{No2|No}}
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| Loss of initial ''*h-'' before consonant
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
| {{Partial|Developing}}
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| Loss of initial ''*w-'' before consonant
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{Partial|Developing}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{Partial|Most dialects}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
|-
!scope="row" style="text-align:left"| [[High German consonant shift]]
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{No2|No}}
| {{Partial}}
| {{Yes2|Yes}}
|}

The following table shows some comparisons of consonant development in the respective dialect/language (online examples though) continuum, showing the gradually growing partake in the [[High German consonant shift#Geographical distribution|High German consonant shift]] and the anglofrisian palatalization. The table uses [[:de:Internationales Phonetisches Alphabet|IPA]], to avoid confusion via orthographical differences. The realisation of [r] will be ignored.

C = any consonant, A = back vowel, E = front vowel
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Proto West Germanic
!*θ-
!*-ð-
!*-β-
!*-β
!*g-
!*-Aɣ-
!*-Eɣ-
!*-Ak-
!*-Ak
!*-Ek-
!*-Ek
!*d-
!*-d-
!*b-
!*sA-
!*sE-
!*sk
!*-t-
!*-p-
!*-tt-
!*t-
!*-pp-
!*p-
!*-kk-
!*kA-
!*kE-
|-
|PR-English
|θ
|ð
| rowspan="9" |v
| rowspan="8" |f
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |ɣ 
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" |j
| colspan="2" rowspan="7" |k
| colspan="2" |t̠ʃ
| colspan="2" rowspan="7" |d
| rowspan="11" |b
| rowspan="2" |s
| rowspan="2" |ʃ
|ʃ
| rowspan="8" |t
| rowspan="8" |p
| colspan="2" rowspan="7" |t
| rowspan="8" |p
| rowspan="10" |p
| rowspan="8" |k
| rowspan="2" |k
| rowspan="2" |t̠ʃ
|-
|Frisian
|t
|ɾ~d
| colspan="2" rowspan="6" |k
|sk
|-
|South Low Franconian
| rowspan="10" |d
| rowspan="6" |d
| colspan="3" |ɣ
| colspan="2" rowspan="9" |z
| rowspan="2" |sx
| colspan="2" rowspan="9" |k
|-
|North Low Franconian (Dutch)
| rowspan="2" |x
| rowspan="3" |x
| rowspan="3" |ç
|-
|West Low German
| rowspan="8" |ʃ
|-
|North/Central Low German
| rowspan="6" |g
|-
|East Low German
|ʝ
|ʃ
|-
|West Central German
|x
|ç
| colspan="2" |x
| colspan="2" |ʃ
| colspan="2" |t
| colspan="2" rowspan="5" |t͡s
|-
|Mid Central German
|ɾ
| rowspan="4" |b
|ɣ
|ʝ
|ɣ
|x
|ʒ
|ʃ
| colspan="2" |d
|z
|v
|b
|g
|-
|East Central German
| rowspan="3" |d
| rowspan="3" |b
| colspan="2" rowspan="3" |g
| colspan="2" rowspan="3" |x
| colspan="2" |ʃ
| colspan="2" rowspan="3" |t
| rowspan="3" |s
| rowspan="3" |f
|p
| rowspan="2" |k
|-
|Upper German (only partly HG)
| colspan="2" |ç
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" |p͡f
|-
| -> some southernmost dialects
|k
| colspan="2" |x
|p
|s
|
| colspan="3" |k͡x
|}

== Phonology ==

The existence of a unified Proto-West Germanic language is debated. Features which are common to West Germanic languages may be attributed either to common inheritance or to areal effects.

The phonological system of the West Germanic branching as reconstructed is mostly similar to that of Proto-Germanic, with some changes in the categorization and phonetic realization of some phonemes.

=== Consonants ===
In addition to the particular changes described above, some notable differences in the consonant system of West Germanic from Proto-Germanic are:

* Fortition of /ð/ to /d/ in all positions
* The transition of /z/ into a [[rhotic consonant]] (often transcribed as '''ʀ'''), which eventually merged with /r/
* A process referred to as [[West Germanic gemination]], which is visible in the history of all West Germanic languages

{| class="wikitable"
|+Consonant phonemes of West Germanic
!
! colspan="2" |Labial
! colspan="2" |Dental
! colspan="2" |Alveolar
!Palatal
! colspan="2" |Velar
! colspan="2" |Labio-Velar
|-
!Nasal
| colspan="2" |m
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |n
|
| colspan="2" |(ŋ)
| colspan="2" |(ŋʷ)
|-
!Stop
|p
| rowspan="2" |b~v
|t
|d
| colspan="2" |
|
|k
| rowspan="2" |g~ɣ
|kʷ
| rowspan="2" |gʷ~ɣʷ
|-
!Fricative
|f
| colspan="2" |θ
|s
| rowspan="2" |z
|
|x
|xʷ
|-
!Rhotic
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
|r
|
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
|-
!Approximant
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |l
|j
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |w
|}

=== Vowels ===
Some notable differences in the vowel system of West Germanic from Proto-Germanic are:

* Reduction of overlong vowels to simple long vowels
* Lowering of /ɛː/ to /æː/
* The creation of a new short /o/ phoneme, from the lowering of /u/ in initial syllables before /a/, and the reduction of word-final /ɔː/

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+Monophthong phonemes of West Germanic
!rowspan=2|
!colspan=2| [[Front vowel|Front]]
!colspan=2| [[Central vowel|Central]]
!colspan=2| [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-class=small
!colspan=2| [[Roundedness|unrounded]]
!colspan=2| [[Roundedness|unrounded]]
!colspan=2| [[Roundedness|rounded]]
|-class=small
!
! [[Short vowel|short]]
! [[Long vowel|long]]
! short
! long
! short
! long
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA|i}}
| {{IPA|iː}}
!colspan=2|
| {{IPA|u}}
| {{IPA|uː}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA|e}}
| {{IPA|eː}}
!colspan=2|
| {{IPA|o}}
| {{IPA|oː}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
! colspan=1|
| {{IPA|æː}}
| {{IPA|a}}
| {{IPA|aː}}
!colspan=2|
|}

==Morphology==

===Nouns===

The noun paradigms of Proto-West Germanic have been reconstructed as follows:{{sfnp |Ringe |Taylor |2014 |pp=114–115}}{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |pp=78–107}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan="2" | Case
! colspan="2" | Nouns in ''-a-'' (m.)<BR>*dagă (day)!! colspan="2" | Nouns in ''-ja-''<BR>*herjă (army)!! colspan="2" | Nouns in ''-ija-''<BR>*hirdijă (herder)!! colspan="2" | Nouns in ''-a-'' (n.)<BR>*joką (yoke)!! colspan="2" | Nouns in ''-ō-''<BR>*gebu (gift)!! colspan="2" | Nouns in ''-i-''<BR>*gastĭ{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=85 }}/*gasti{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=115 }} (guest)!! colspan="2" | Nouns in ''-u-''<BR>*sunu (son)!! colspan="2" | Nouns in ''-u-'' (n.)<BR>*fehu (cattle)
|-
! style="width:80px;"| Singular!! style="width:80px;"| Plural !! style="width:80px;"| Singular!! style="width:80px;"| Plural!! style="width:80px;"| Singular!! style="width:80px;"| Plural!! style="width:80px;"| Singular!! style="width:80px;"| Plural!! style="width:80px;"| Singular!! style="width:80px;"| Plural!! style="width:80px;"| Singular!! style="width:80px;"| Plural!! style="width:80px;"| Singular!! style="width:80px;"| Plural!! style="width:80px;"| Singular!! style="width:80px;"| Plural
|-
! Nominative
| *dag{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }}/dagă{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=81 }} || rowspan="2" | *dagō?{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }}/dagā{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=78 }} || *herjă{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=81 }}/*hari{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }} || rowspan="2" | *herjā{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=81 }}/*harjō?{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }} || *hirdijă || rowspan="2" | *hirdijō || rowspan="3" | *joką || rowspan="3" | *joku || rowspan="2" | *gebu || rowspan="2" | *gebā{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=83 }}/*gebō{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }} || rowspan="2" | *gastĭ/*gasti || rowspan="2" | *gastī || rowspan="2" | *sunu || rowspan="2" | *sunī<*suniwi{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=88 }}/*suniwi, -ō{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=115 }} || rowspan="3" | *fehu || rowspan="6" | (?)
|-
! Vocative
| *dag(ă) || *herjă{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=81 }}/*hari{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }} || *hirdī
|-
! Accusative
| *dag{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }}/dagă{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=78 }} || *dagą̄?{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }}/dagą{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=78 }} || *herjă{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=81 }}/*hari{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }} || *herją{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=81 }}/*harją̄?{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }} || *hirdiją || *hirdiją̄ || *geba{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=83 }}/*gebā{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }} || *gebā || *gastĭ/*gasti || *gasti{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=85 }}/*gastį̄{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=115 }} || *sunu || *sunu < *sunų{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=88 }} / *sunų̄?{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=115 }}
|-
! Genitive
| *dagas || *dagō || *herjes{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=81 }}/*harjas{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }} || *herjō{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=81 }}/*harjō{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }} || *hirdijas || *hirdijō || *jokas || *jokō || *gebā || *gebō(nō){{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=83 }}/*gebō{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }} || *gastes{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=85 }}/*gastī{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=115 }} || *gastijō || *sunō || *suniwō || *fehō
|-
! Dative
| *dagē || rowspan="2" | *dagum || *herjē{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=81 }}/*harjē{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }} || rowspan="2" | *herjum{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=81 }}/*harjum{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }} || *hirdijē || rowspan="2" | *hirdijum || *jokē || rowspan="2" | *jokum || *gebu{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=83 }}/*gebē{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }} || rowspan="2" | *gebōm || rowspan="2" | *gastē{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=85 }}/*gastī{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=115 }} || rowspan="2" | *gastim || *suniu < *suniwi{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=88 }} / *suniwi, -ō{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=115 }} || rowspan="2" | *sunum || *fehiwi, -ō
|-
! Instrumental
| *dagu || *herju{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=81 }}/*harju{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=114 }} || *hirdiju || *joku || *gebu || *sunu < *sunū{{sfnp |Euler |2022 |p=88 }} / *sunu{{sfnp |Ringe|Taylor|2014 |p=115 }} || *fehu
|}

==West Germanic vocabulary==
The following table compares a number of Frisian, English, Scots, Yola, Dutch, Limburgish, German and Afrikaans words with common West Germanic (or older) origin. The [[grammatical gender]] of each term is noted as masculine (''m.''), feminine (''f.''), or neuter (''n.'') where relevant.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! West Frisian !! English !! Scots !! Yola
! Afrikaans !! Dutch
! Limburgish !! [[Standard German|Standard High German]] 
! [[Old English]] !! [[Old High German]] !! Proto-West Germanic{{sfnp |Euler |2013 |loc=passim }}{{sfnp |Ringe |Taylor |2014}} !! [[Proto-Germanic]]
|-
| {{lang|fy|kaam}} || comb ||  {{lang|sco|kaim}} || khime / rack
| kam || kam ''m.'' 
| kâmp || Kamm ''m.'' 
| camb ''m.'' || camb ''m.'' || kąbă [see inscription of Erfurt-Frienstedt], *kambă ''m.'' || *kambaz ''m.''
|-
| {{lang|fy|dei}} || day || {{lang|sco|day}} || dei
| dag || dag ''m.'' 
| daag || Tag ''m.'' 
| dæġ ''m.'' || tag ''m.'' || *dagă ''m.'' || *dagaz ''m.''
|-
| {{lang|fy|rein}} || rain || {{lang|sco|rain}} || rhyne
| reën || regen ''m.'' 
| rengel, raege || Regen ''m.'' 
| reġn ''m.'' || regan ''m.'' || *regnă ''m.'' || *regnaz ''m.''
|-
| {{lang|fy|wei}} || way || {{lang|sco|wey}} || wei / wye
| weg || weg ''m.'' 
| weeg || Weg ''m.'' 
| weġ ''m.'' || weg ''m.'' || *wegă ''m.'' || *wegaz ''m.''
|-
| {{lang|fy|neil}} || nail || {{lang|sco|nail}} || niel
| nael || nagel ''m.'' 
| nieëgel || Nagel ''m.'' 
| næġel ''m.'' || nagal ''m.'' || *naglă ''m.'' || *naglaz ''m.''
|-
| {{lang|fy|tsiis}} || cheese || {{lang|sco|cheese}} || cheese
| kaas || kaas ''m.'' 
| kieës || Käse ''m.'' 
| ċēse, ċīese ''m.'' || chāsi, kāsi ''m.'' || *kāsī ''m.'' || *kāsijaz ''m.'' (late Proto-Germanic, from Latin ''cāseus'')
|-
| {{lang|fy|tsjerke}} || church || {{lang|sco|kirk}} || chourch
| kerk || kerk ''f.'' 
| kêrk || Kirche ''f.'' 
| ċiriċe ''f.'' || chirihha, *kirihha ''f.'' || *kirikā ''f.'' || *kirikǭ ''f.'' (from Ancient Greek ''kuriakón'' "belonging to the lord")
|-
| {{lang|fy|sibbe}} || sib; sibling{{efn |Original meaning "relative" has become "brother or sister" in English.}} || {{lang|sco|sib}} || sibbe (dated) / meany
| – || sibbe ''f.''
| – || Sippe ''f.'' 
| sibb ''f.'' "kinship, peace" || sippa ''f.'' [cp. [[Old Saxon]]: sibbia] || sibbju, sibbjā ''f.'' || *sibjō ''f.'' "relationship, kinship, friendship"
|-
| {{lang|fy|kaai}} ''f.'' || key || {{lang|sco|key}} || kei / kie
| sleutel || sleutel ''m.''
| slueëtel || Schlüssel ''m.''
| cǣġ(e), cǣga ''f.'' "key, solution, experiment" || sluzzil ''m.'' || *slutilă ''m.'', *kēgă ''f.'' || *slutilaz ''m.'' "key"; *kēgaz, *kēguz ''f.'' "stake, post, pole"
|-
| {{lang|fy|ha west}} || have been || {{lang|sco|hae(s)}}/{{lang|sco|hiv been}} || ha bin
| was gewees || ben geweest 
| bin geweis(t)|| bin gewesen 
|  ||  ||  ||
|-
| {{lang|fy|twa skiep}} || two sheep || {{lang|sco|twa sheep}} || twye zheep
| twee skape || twee schapen ''n.'' 
| twieë schäöp || zwei Schafe ''n.'' 
| twā sċēap ''n.'' || zwei scāfa ''n.'' || *twai skēpu ''n.'' || *twai(?) skēpō ''n.''
|-
| {{lang|fy|hawwe}} || have || {{lang|sco|hae}} || ha
| het || hebben 
| hebbe, höbbe || haben 
| habban, hafian || habēn || *habbjană || *habjaną
|-
| {{lang|fy|ús}} || us || {{lang|sco|us}} || ouse
| ons || ons 
| os || uns 
| ūs || uns || *uns || *uns
|-
| {{lang|fy|brea}} || bread || {{lang|sco|breid}} || breed
| brood || brood ''n.'' 
| mik, broeëd || Brot ''n.'' 
| brēad ''n.'' "fragment, bit, morsel, crumb" also "bread" || brōt ''n.'' || *braudă ''m.''|| *braudą ''n.'' "cooked food, leavened bread"
|-
| {{lang|fy|hier}} || hair || {{lang|sco|hair}} || haar
| haar || haar ''n.'' 
| haor || Haar ''n.'' 
| hēr, hǣr ''n.'' || hār ''n.'' || *hǣră ''n.''|| *hērą ''n.''
|-
| {{lang|fy|ear}} || ear || {{lang|sco|lug}} || lug
| oor || oor ''n.'' 
| oeër || Ohr ''n.'' 
| ēare ''n.'' < pre-English *ǣora || ōra ''n.'' || *aura < *auza ''n.'' || *auzǭ, *ausōn  ''n.''
|-
| {{lang|fy|doar}} || door || {{lang|sco|door}} || dher
| deur || deur ''f.'' 
| dueër || Tür ''f.'' 
| duru ''f.'' || turi ''f.'' || *duru ''f.'' || *durz ''f.''
|-
| {{lang|fy|grien}} || green || {{lang|sco|green}} || green
| groen || groen 
| greun || grün 
| grēne || gruoni || *grōnĭ ||*grōniz
|-
| {{lang|fy|swiet}} || sweet || {{lang|sco|sweet}} || sweet
| soet || zoet 
| zeut || süß 
| swēte || s(w)uozi (< *swōti) || *swōtŭ || *swōtuz
|-
| {{lang|fy|troch}} || through || {{lang|sco|throu}} || draugh
| deur || door 
| doeër || durch 
| þurh || duruh || || *þurhw
|-
| {{lang|fy|wiet}} || wet || {{lang|sco|weet}} || weate
| nat || nat 
| naat || nass (traditional spelling: naß)
| wǣt || naz (< *nat) || *wǣtă / *nată || *wētaz / *nataz
|-
| {{lang|fy|each}} || eye || {{lang|sco|ee}}|| ei / iee
| oog || oog ''n.'' 
| oug || Auge ''n.'' 
| ēage ''n.'' < pre-English *ǣoga || ouga ''n.'' || *auga ''n.'' || *augō ''n.''
|-
| {{lang|fy|dream}} || dream || {{lang|sco|dream}} || dreem
| droom || droom ''m.'' 
| draum || Traum ''m.'' 
| drēam ''m.'' "joy, pleasure, ecstasy, music, song" || troum ''m.'' || *draumă ''m.'' || *draumaz (< *draugmaz) ''m.''
|-
| {{lang|fy|stien}} || stone || {{lang|sco|stane}} || sthoan
| steen || steen ''m.'' 
| stein || Stein ''m.'' 
| stān ''m.'' || stein ''m.'' || *staină ''m.'' || *stainaz ''m.''
|-
| {{lang|fy|bed}} || bed || {{lang|sco|bed}} || bed
| bed || bed ''n.'' 
| bed || Bett ''n.'' 
| bedd ''n.'' || betti ''n.'' || *baddjă ''n.'' || *badją ''n.''
|}

Other words, with a variety of origins:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! West Frisian !! English !! Scots
! Afrikaans !! Dutch 
! Limburgish !! [[Standard German|Standard High German]]
! [[Old English]] !! [[Old High German]] !! Proto-West Germanic{{sfnp |Euler |2013 |loc=passim }} !! [[Proto-Germanic]]
|-
| tegearre || together || thegither
| saam <br /> tesame || samen <br /> tezamen 
| same || zusammen 
| tōgædere <br /> samen <br /> tōsamne || saman <br /> zisamane || *tōgadura, *tegadura / *tesamane || *tōgadur <br /> *samana
|-
| hynder || horse || pony
| perd || paard  ''n.'' <br /> ros  ''n.'' (dated)
| perd <br /> ros || Pferd ''n.'' /  Ross ''n.'' (traditional spelling: Roß) 
| hors ''n.'' eoh ''m.'' || (h)ros ''n.'' / pfarifrit ''n.'' / ehu- (in compositions) || *hrussă ''n.'' / *ehu ''m.'' || *hrussą ''n.'', *ehwaz ''m.''
|}
Note that some of the shown similarities of Frisian and English vis-à-vis Dutch and German are secondary and not due to a closer relationship between them. For example, the plural of the word for "sheep" was originally unchanged in all four languages and still is in some Dutch dialects and a great deal of German dialects. Many other similarities, however, are indeed old inheritances.

==See also==
*[[Wiktionary:Appendix:West Germanic Swadesh lists|West Germanic Swadesh lists]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist |20em}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin |30em |indent=yes}}
*{{cite journal |last=Behaghel |first=Otto |author-link=Otto Behaghel |year=1922 |title=Die 2. Pers. Sg. Inf. st. Flexion im Westgermanischen |journal=[[Indogermanische Forschungen]] |location=Berlin |publisher=[[De Gruyter]] |volume=40 |pages=167–168 |doi=10.1515/if-1922-0117 |language=de |url=https://archive.org/details/indogermanisch4041berluoft/page/n176/mode/1up |access-date=2024-12-29 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Cercignani |first=Fausto |author-link=Fausto Cercignani |year=1972 |title=Indo-European ē in Germanic |pages=104–110 |journal=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung |volume=86 |number=1 }}
*{{cite report |last=Crist |first=Sean |year=2002 |title=An Analysis of *z loss in West Germanic |publisher=Linguistic Society of America, Annual Meeting |url=https://www.sean-crist.com/professional/publications/crist_z_loss.pdf |access-date=2025-05-08 }}
*{{cite book |last=Davis |first=Graeme |year=2006 |title=Comparative Syntax of Old English and Old Icelandic: Linguistic, Literary and Historical Implications |publisher=Peter Lang |location=Bern |isbn=3-03910-270-2}}
*{{cite book |last=Euler |first=Wolfram |author-link=Wolfram Euler |year=2013 |title=Das Westgermanische – von der Herausbildung im 3. bis zur Aufgliederung im 7. Jahrhundert – Analyse und Rekonstruktion |trans-title=West Germanic: From its Emergence in the 3rd Century to its Split in the 7th Century: Analysis and Reconstruction |language=de |publisher=Verlag Inspiration Un Limited |location=London |isbn=978-3-9812110-7-8 }} [Later edition]: {{cite book |last=Euler |first=Wolfram |author-link=Wolfram Euler |year=2022 |title=Das Westgermanische: von der Herausbildung im 3. bis zur Aufgliederung im 7. Jahrhundert – Analyse und Rekonstruktion |trans-title=West Germanic: from its Emergence in the 3rd up until its Dissolution in the 7th Century CE: Analysis and Reconstruction |language=de |edition=2nd |publisher=Verlag Inspiration Unlimited |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-945127-414 |author-mask=2 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Euler |first1=Wolfram |author1-link=Wolfram Euler |last2=Badenheuer |first2=Konrad |year=2009 |title=Sprache und Herkunft der Germanen |language=de |location=Hamburg |publisher=Verlag Inspiration Un Limited |ol=OL25023780M |isbn=9783981211016 |lccn=2010416379 |oclc=638849539 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Fierlinger |first=J. v. |year=1885 |title=Zur deutschen conjugation. §1. Die II. ps. sg. perf. starker flexion im westgerm. §2. Praesentia der wurzelclasse. §3. Zur westgerm. flexion des verb. subst. |pages=430–441  |journal=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiete des Deutschen, Griechischen und Lateinischen {{!}} Kuhns Zeitschrift |language=de |volume=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zuEqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA430 |editor=Adalbert Kuhn |editor-link=Adalbert Kuhn}}
*{{cite book |last=Giesbers |first=C. |year=2008 |title=Dialecten op de grens van twee talen |language=nl |publisher=[[Radboud University Nijmegen|Radboud University]] |location=Nijmegen }}
*{{cite journal |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/east2834 |title=Glottolog 4.8 - Irish Anglo-Norman |date=2023-07-10 |access-date=2023-07-16 |website=[[Glottolog]] |last1=Hammarström |first1=Harald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230717050346/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/east2834 |archive-date=2023-07-17 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]] |author-link=Harald Hammarström |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |publication-place=Leipzig, Germany |doi=10.5281/zenodo.8131084 |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |author-link3=Martin Haspelmath |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian |doi-access=free}}
*{{cite book |last=Hartmann |first=Frederik |year=2023 |title='Germanic Phylogeny |series=Oxford Studies in Diachronic and Historical Linguistics |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-198-87273-3 }}
*{{cite book|last=Hawkins|first=John A.|year=1987|chapter=Germanic languages|pages=68–76|editor=[[Bernard Comrie]]|title=The World's Major Languages|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-520521-9}}
*{{cite book |last=Heeringa |first=W. |year=2009 |title=Measuring Dialect Pronunciation Differences using Levenshtein Distance |publisher=University of Groningen }}
*{{cite book |last=Hickey |first=Raymond |year=2002 |title=A Source Book for Irish English |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |isbn= 9027237530 }}
*{{cite book |last=Hickey |first=Raymond |year=2005 |title=Dublin English: Evolution and Change |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |isbn= 90-272-4895-8 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Hill |first=Eugen |year=2004 |title=Das germanische Verb für 'tun' und die Ausgänge des germanischen schwachen Präteritums |journal=Sprachwissenschaft |issn=0344-8169 |volume=29 |number=3 |pages=257–304 }}
*{{cite book |last=Hirt |first=Hermann |author-link=Hermann Hirt |year=1932 |title=Handbuch des Urgermanischen |trans-title=Handbook of Proto-Germanic |series=Parts 1–3, in three volumes: 1931–1934 |location=Heidelberg |publisher=Winters |volume=2 |id=(Teil 2 [Part 2]) |language=de |url= https://www.academia.edu/96139132}}
*{{cite book |last=Klingenschmitt |first=Gert |year=2002 |chapter=Zweck und Methode der sprachlichen Rekonstruktion |editor-last=Anreiter |editor-first=Peter |title=Name, Sprache, und Kulturen. Festschrift Heinz Dieter Pohl |location=Wien |publisher=none |pages=453–474 }}
*{{cite book |last=König |first=Werner |year=2019 |title=dtv-Atlas Deutsche Sprache |language=de |edition=19th |publisher=dtv |location=München |isbn=978-3-423-03025-0 }}
*{{cite Q |Q134384079 |last=Kuhn |first=Hans |author-link=Hans Kuhn (philologist) }}{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFKuhn1955}}
*{{cite journal |last=Löwe |first=Richard |year=1906 |title=Das starke präteritum des Germanischen |pages=266–352 |editor1-first=B. |editor1-last=Kuhn |editor2-first=W. |editor2-last=Schulze |journal=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung |volume=40 |issue=3 |location=Gütersloh |publisher=[[Bertelsmann]] |url=https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftfrve22kuhngoog/page/266 |access-date=2025-05-04 |lccn=10032846 |oclc=7054927 }}
*{{cite book |last=Meid |first=Wolfgang |year=1971 |title=Das germanische Praeteritum. Indogermanische Grundlagen und Entfaltung im Germanischen |trans-title=The Germanic Praeteritum. Indo-European foundations and development in Germanic |series=Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft |number=3 |publisher=Innsbruck University|oclc=363396827 |ol=OL16371146M }}
*{{cite book |last1=Meineke |first1=Eckhard |last2=Schwerdt |first2=Judith |year=2001 |title=Einführung in das Althochdeutsche |location=Paderborn |publisher=[[Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh]] |isbn=3-506-97006-2 |ol=OL12976077M }}
*{{cite journal |last=Mottausch |first=Karl-Heinz |year=1998 |title=Die reduplizierenden Verben im Nord- und Westgermanischen: Versuch eines Raum-Zeit-Modells |journal=North-Western European Language Evolution |volume=33 |pages=43–91 |doi=10.1075/nowele.33.03mot }}
*{{cite book |last1=Mottausch |first1=Karl-Heinz |title=Der Nominalakzent im Frühurgermanischen: Konstanten und Neuerungen |trans-title=The nominal accent in Early Proto-Germanic: Constants and innovations |date=2011 |publisher=Kovač |location=Hamburg |isbn=978-3830058335 |language=de}}
*{{cite book |last1=Mottausch |first1=Karl-Heinz |title=Untersuchungen zur Vorgeschichte des Germanischen Starken Verbs. Die Rolle des Aorists |date=2013 |publisher=Verlag Dr. Kovač |language = de |isbn=978-3-8300-6965-2 |trans-title=Investigations into the prehistory of the Germanic strong verb: The role of the aorists}}{{pages needed|date=August 2025}}
*{{cite web |ref={{sfnref |Nederlandse Taalunie |2010}} |year=2010 |title=Nederlands, wereldtaal |website=Nederlandse Taalunie |language=nl |url=http://taalunieversum.org/taal/feiten_en_weetjes/#feitencijfers |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021192842/http://taalunieversum.org/taal/feiten_en_weetjes/#feitencijfers |archive-date=21 October 2012 |access-date=2025-05-07 }}
*{{cite book |last=Nielsen |first=Hans F. |year=1985 |orig-year=1981 |title=Old English and the Continental Germanic languages. A Survey of Morphological and Phonological Interrelations |location=Innsbruck, Austria |publisher=Institut für Sprachwissenschaft |edition=2nd }}
*{{cite book |last=Nielsen |first=Hans Frede |year=2000 |chapter=Ingwäonisch |editor-first=Heinrich |editor-last=Beck |title=Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde |edition=2nd |volume=15 |pages=432–439 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter }}
*{{cite journal |last=Polomé |first=Edgar C. |author-link=Edgar C. Polomé |year=1964 |title=Diachronic development of structural patterns in the Germanic conjugation system' |pages=870–880 |editor-last=Lunt |editor-first=Horace G. |journal=Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Linguists |location=The Hague }}
*{{cite book |last1=Ringe |first1=Don |title=From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic |series=''A Linguistic History of English'' series |volume=1 |date=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0199552290 |edition=First |url=https://ia801802.us.archive.org/26/items/don-ringe-2006-from-proto-indo-european-to-proto-germanic/DON_RINGE_2006_From_Proto-Indo-European_to_Proto-Germanic.pdf |author-link=Donald Ringe}}
*{{cite report |last=Ringe |first=Donald R. |author-link=Donald Ringe |year=2012 |title=Cladistic Methodology and West Germanic |department=Yale Linguistics |ref={{sfnref |Ringe |2012b}} }}<!--NOTE (Aug 2025): Unable to find the above cite (Ringe (2012b), nor any reference to it anywhere (unless copied from WP). It's possibly a mistaken citation to the following (although this chapter does not seem to include the quotes):-->
**See also: {{cite book |last1=Ringe |first1=Don |editor1-last=Philomen Probert |editor2-last=Andreas Willi |title=Laws and Rules in Indo-European |date=2012a |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |pages=33–42 |chapter=Cladistic Principles and Linguistic Reality: The Case of West Germanic |doi= 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199609925.003.0003 |isbn=978-0-19-960992-5 |author-mask=2|ref=none}}
*{{cite book |editor-last1=Ringe |editor-first1=Donald R. |editor-last2=Taylor |editor-first2=Ann |date=2014 |title=The Development of Old English |series=''A Linguistic History of English'' series |volume=2 |isbn=978-0199207848 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press }}
*{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Orrin W. |author-link=Orrin W. Robinson (philologist) |year=1992 |title= Old English and its closest Relatives. A Survey of the earliest Germanic Languages |location=Stanford |publisher=Stanford University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/oldenglishitsclo0000robi/page/n6/mode/1up |url-access=registration |access-date=2024-12-29 |lccn=90024700 |ol=OL1866584M |oclc=1150958619 |isbn=0-8047-1454-1 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Seebold |first=Elmar |author-link=Elmar Seebold |year=1998 |title=Die Sprache(n) der Germanen in der Zeit der Völkerwanderung |trans-title=The Language(s) of the Germanic Peoples during the Migration Period |editor1-last=Koller |editor1-first=E. |editor2-last=Laitenberger |editor2-first=H. |journal=Suevos – Schwaben. Das Königreich der Sueben auf der Iberischen Halbinsel (411–585) |location=Tübingen |pages=11–20 }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Stiles |first1=Patrick V. |title=The Fate of the Numeral '4' in Germanic (1) |journal=NOWELE. North-Western European Language Evolution |date=January 1985 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=81–104 |doi=10.1075/nowele.6.06sti |url=https://doi.org/10.1075/nowele.6.06sti |language=en |issn=0108-8416 |url-access=subscription |id=(Part 1{{nbsp}}of{{nbsp}}3) }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Stiles |first1=Patrick V. |title=The Pan-West Germanic Isoglosses and the Subrelationships of West Germanic to Other Branches |journal=NOWELE. North-Western European Language Evolution |date=6 March 2013 |volume=66 |issue=1: ''Unity and Diversity in West Germanic I'' |pages=5–38 |doi=10.1075/nowele.66.1.02sti |url=https://doi.org/10.1075/nowele.66.1.02sti |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |issn=0108-8416 |url-access=subscription |id=[Special issue]}}
*{{cite news |last=Vasagar |first=Jeevan |date=18 June 2013 |title=German 'should be a working language of EU', says Merkel's party |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10128380/German-should-be-a-working-language-of-EU-says-Merkels-party.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10128380/German-should-be-a-working-language-of-EU-says-Merkels-party.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |access-date=2025-05-07 }}{{cbignore}}
*{{cite journal |last=Wiesinger |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Wiesinger |year=1983 |title=Die Einteilung der deutschen Dialekte |language=de |editor1-last=Besch |editor1-first=Werner |editor2-last=Knoop |editor2-first=Ulrich |editor3-last=Putschke |editor3-first=Wolfgang |editor4-last=Wiegand |editor4-first=Herbert Ernst |journal=Dialektologie. Ein Handbuch zur Deutschen und Allgemeinen Dialektforschung |volume=2 |publisher=de Gruyter |location=Berlin |doi=10.1515/9783110203332.807 |isbn=3-11-009571-8 }}
*{{cite web |ref={{sfnref |Worlddata |2023 }} |orig-date=April 2015 |date=October 2023 |title=Afrikaans speaking countries |url=https://www.worlddata.info/languages/afrikaans.php |access-date=3 April 2024 |website=Worlddata |archive-date=3 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240403212057/https://www.worlddata.info/languages/afrikaans.php |url-status=live }}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
*{{cite journal |last=Adamus |first=Marian |year=1962 |title=On the mutual relations between Nordic and other Germanic dialects |journal=Germanica Wratislavensia |volume=7 |pages=115–158}}
*{{cite journal |last=Bammesberger |first=Alfred |author-link=Alfred Bammesberger |year=1984 |title=Der indogermanische Aorist und das germanische Präteritum |trans-title=The Indo-European aorist and the Germanic past tense |journal=Languages and Cultures. Studies in Honor of Edgar C. Polomé |location=Berlin |publisher=de Gruyter}}
*{{cite book |editor-last=Bammesberger |editor-first=Alfred |editor-link=Alfred Bammesberger |year=1991 |title=Old English Runes and their Continental Background |location=Heidelberg |publisher=Winter}}
*{{cite journal |last=Bammesberger |first=Alfred |author-link=Alfred Bammesberger |year=1996 |title=The Preterite of Germanic Strong Verbs in Classes Fore and Five |journal=North-Western European Language Evolution |volume=27 |pages=33–43 |doi=10.1075/nowele.27.02bam}}
*{{cite journal |editor-last=Bremmer |editor-first=Rolf H. |year=1993 |title=Current trends in West Germanic etymological lexicography |journal=Proceedings of the Symposium Held in Amsterdam 12–13 June 1989 |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill}}
* {{cite book |last1=Bremmer |first1=Rolf Hendrik Jr. |date=2009 |title=An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary |url=https://dn721601.ca.archive.org/0/items/runik-yazi/Rolf%20H.%2C%20Jr.%20Bremmer%20-%20An%20Introduction%20to%20Old%20Frisian.pdf |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-90-272-3255-7}}
*{{cite journal |last=Euler |first=Wolfram |author-link=Wolfram Euler |year=2002–2003 |title=Vom Westgermanischen zum Althochdeutschen |trans-title=From West Germanic to Old High German |journal=Sprachaufgliederung Im Dialektkontinuum |series=Klagenfurter Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft |volume=28/29 |pages=69–90}}
*{{cite journal |last=Härke |first=Heinrich |year=2011 |title=Anglo-Saxon Immigration and Ethnogenesis |journal=Medieval Archaeology |volume=55 |number=55, ''2011'' |pages=1–28 |doi=10.1179/174581711X13103897378311}}
*{{cite thesis |type=Magister |last=Hilsberg |first=Susan |year=2009 |title=Place-Names and Settlement History. Aspects of Selected Topographical Elements on the Continent and in England |publisher=Universität Leipzig}}
*{{cite book |last=Klein |first=Thomas |year=2004 |chapter=Im Vorfeld des Althochdeutschen und Altsächsischen |trans-chapter=Prior to Old High German and Old Saxon |title=Entstehung des Deutschen |location=Heidelberg |publisher=none |pages=241–270}}
*{{cite journal |last=Kortlandt |first=Frederik |author-link=Frederik Kortlandt |year=2008 |title=Anglo-Frisian |journal=North-Western European Language Evolution |volume=54/55 |pages=265–278 |doi=10.1075/nowele.54-55.08kor}}
*{{cite book |last=Looijenga |first=Jantina Helena |year=1997 |title=Runes around the North Sea and on the Continent AD 150–700; Text & Contents |location=Groningen |publisher=SSG Uitgeverij}}
*{{cite book |last=Maurer |first=Friedrich |author-link=Friedrich Maurer (linguist) |year=1942 |title=Nordgermanen und Alemannen: Studien zur germanischen und frühdeutschen Sprachgeschichte, Stammes- und Volkskunde |location=Straßburg |publisher=Hüneburg}}
*{{cite journal |last=Mees |first=Bernard |year=2002 |title=The Bergakker inscription and the beginnings of Dutch |journal=Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik |volume=56 |pages=23–26 |doi=10.1163/18756719-056-01-90000004}}
*{{cite book |last=Page |first=Raymond I. |author-link=R. I. Page |year=1999 |title=An Introduction to English Runes |edition=2nd |location=Woodbridge |publisher=Bogdell Press}}
*{{cite book |last=Page |first=Raymond I. |author-link=R. I. Page |year=2001 |chapter=Frisian Runic Inscriptions |editor-first=Horst |editor-last=Munske |title=Handbuch des Friesischen |location=Tübingen |publisher=none |pages=523–530}}
*{{cite journal |last=Ringe |first=Donald R. |author-link=Donald Ringe |year=2012 |title=Cladistic principles and linguistic reality: the case of West Germanic |editor1-first=Philomen |editor1-last=Probert |editor1-link=Philomen Probert |editor2-first=Andreas |editor2-last=Willi |editor2-link=Andreas Willi |journal=Laws and Rules on Indo-European |pages=33–42 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199609925.003.0003 |isbn=9780191741579 |ref={{sfnref |Ringe |2012a}}}}
*{{cite book |last=Seebold |first=Elmar |author-link=Elmar Seebold |year=2006 |chapter=Westgermanische Sprachen |trans-chapter=West Germanic Languages |title=Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde |volume=33 |pages=530–536}}
*{{cite journal |last=Stifter |first=David |year=2009 |title=The Proto-Germanic shift *ā > ō and early Germanic linguistic contacts |journal=[[Historische Sprachforschung]] |volume=122 |pages=268–283}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Stiles |first1=Patrick V. |title=The fate of the numeral '4' in Germanic (2) |journal=NOWELE. North-Western European Language Evolution |date=March 1986a |volume=7 |pages=3–27 |doi=10.1075/nowele.7.01sti |url-access=subscription |url=https://doi.org/10.1075/nowele.7.01sti |issn=0108-8416 |id=(Part 2)}}
*{{cite journal |last=Stiles |first=Patrick V. |date=September 1986b |title=The fate of the numeral '4' in Germanic (3) |journal=NOWELE |volume=8 |pages=3–25 |doi=10.1075/nowele.8.01sti |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/22129715/8/1 |issn=0108-8416 |author-mask=2 |id=(Part 3)}}
*{{cite book |last=Stiles |first=Patrick V. |date=1995 |title=Friesische Studien II: Beiträge des Föhrer Symposiums zur Friesischen Philologie vom 7.–8. April 1994 |trans-title=Frisian Studies II: Articles from the Föhr Symposium on Frisian Philology on 7th–8th April 1994 |chapter=Remarks on the 'Anglo-Frisian' Thesis |url=https://www.academia.edu/37163852 |series=NOWELE Supplement Series |language=en |volume=12 |doi=10.1075/nss.12 |publisher=Odense University Press |location=Odense, Denmark |isbn=978-87-7838-059-3 |editor1=Volkert F. Faltings |editor2=Alastair Walker |editor3=Ommo Wilts}} 
*{{cite journal |last=Stiles |first=Patrick V. |year=2004 |title=Place-adverbs and the development of Proto-Germanic long *ē1 in early West Germanic |editor-first=Irma |editor-last=Hyvärinen |journal=Etymologie, Entlehnungen und Entwicklungen |series=Mémoires de la Soc. Néophil. de Helsinki |volume=63 |location=Helsinki |pages=385–396}}
*{{cite book |last=Voyles |first=Joseph B. |year=1974 |title=West Germanic inflection, derivation and compounding |location=The Hague |publisher=Mouton}} {{isbn|9789027927118}}.
*{{cite book |last1=Voyles |first1=Joseph |title=Early Germanic Grammar: Pre-, Proto-, and Post-Germanic Languages |date=October 2023 |orig-date=First published 1992 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-65723-6 |url=https://brill.com/display/title/23212?language=en |language=en}}
{{Refend}}

{{subject bar |auto=y |d=y |wikt=West Germanic |v=Category:West Germanic languages}}
{{Germanic languages}}
{{History of English}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:West Germanic languages| ]]
[[Category:Germanic languages]]