Wiktionary:About Proto-West Germanic

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Proto-West Germanic is the ancestor of all West Germanic languages, old as well as modern. It is a descendant of Proto-Germanic. This page details various considerations to be taken into account when editing Proto-West Germanic entries.

Notation

Vowels

• Short vowels: a e i o u
• Long vowels: ā ē ī ō ū
• Nasal vowels: ą̄ į̄ ų̄
• Diphthongs: ai au eu iu

The long nasal vowels result from Proto-Germanic short vowels + -nh-. Other nasal vowels, in particular in the accusative plural ending, are uncertain.

Lowering of *u to *o is shown in the environments where it occurs in all descendants. In some words, for example *fugl, the lowering is found only in the southern languages, but not in the northern languages. Sometimes the situation is the other way around, most noticeably with *sturm, which lowered in all descendants except High German. Since *u is the original vowel in these words, this is the form that gets the entry, with the southern (lowered) form treated as an alternative form. Lowering of *i to *e, likewise restricted to the southern dialects, follows the same rules.

Consonants

• Voiceless stops: k p t
• Voiceless fricatives: f h s þ
• Voiced obstruents: b d g
• Sonorants: j l m n r ʀ w

The result of the gemination before *j is indicated by doubling the previous consonant, for example -nnj-. The result of gemination is unclear in the case of the Proto-Germanic labiovelars.

The outcome of Proto-Germanic *z is written with ʀ, following the traditions for Runic Norse studies. It was clearly no longer an obstruent, as it was not affected by the gemination before *j, but it was also still distinct from *r on account of dialect-specific differences.

Restrictions on semivowels:

• Short vowel + j or w is not allowed unless followed by a vowel; > diphthong otherwise.
• -jj- and -ww- are not allowed; > -ij- or -uw-.
• -ji- and -wu- are not allowed after a consonant; > -i- or -u-.

Descendants

When descended in the usual, linear fashion, the main "old" languages are always listed in north-to-south order, with English at the top.

• Old English
  • Middle English
    • Scots
    • English
    • Yola
• Old Frisian
  • Saterland Frisian
  • West Frisian
  • North Frisian
• Old Saxon
  • Middle Low German
    • Low German
      • German Low German
        • Plautdietsch
      • Dutch Low Saxon
• Old Dutch
  • Middle Dutch
    • Dutch
      • Afrikaans
    • Limburgish
    • West Flemish
    • Zealandic
• Old High German
  • Middle High German
    • German
    • Rhine Franconian
      • Pennsylvania German
      • Volga German
    • Central Franconian
      • Hunsrik
      • Transylvanian Saxon
    • East Central German (Upper Saxon, Silesian German, etc.)
    • East Franconian
    • Bavarian
      • Cimbrian
      • Gottscheerish
      • Hutterisch
      • Mòcheno
    • Alemannic German
      • Swabian
        • Sathmar Swabian
      • Colonia Tovar German
    • Luxembourgish
    • Vilamovian
    • Yiddish
    • Zipser German

Please note that the Frankish language is considered an etymology-only variant of Proto West-Germanic per Wiktionary:Votes/2020-01/Make Frankish an etymology-only variant of Proto-West Germanic.