All Germanic languages are thought to be descended from a hypothetical Proto-Germanic HYPERLINK ", united by subjection to the sound shifts of /These probably took place during the Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe.
From the time of their earliest attestation, the Germanic varieties are divided into three groups, West, East, and North Germanic. Their exact relation is difficult to determine from the sparse evidence of runic inscriptions, and they remained mutually intelligible throughout the Migration period, so that some individual varieties are difficult to classify.
West Germanic languages Dutch (Low Franconian, West Germanic) Low German (West Germanic)Central German (High German, West Germanic) Upper German (High German, West Germanic) English (Anglo-Frisian, West Germanic) Frisian (Anglo-Frisian, West Germanic) North Germanic languages East Scandinavian West Scandinavian
The East Germanic languages were marginalized from the end of the Migration period.During the early Middle Ages, the West Germanic languages were separated by the insular development of Middle English on one hand, and by the High German consonant shift on the continent on the other, resulting in Upper German and Low Saxon, with graded intermediate Central German varieties.The southernmost varieties had completed the second sound shift, while the northern varieties remained unaffected by the consonant shift.
