West Germanic dialects in the context of "Celtic language decline in England"

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⭐ Core Definition: West Germanic dialects

The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic family of languages (the others being the North Germanic and the extinct East Germanic languages). The West Germanic branch is classically subdivided into three branches: Ingvaeonic, which includes English, Scots, the Low German languages, and the Frisian languages; Istvaeonic, which encompasses Dutch and its close relatives; and Irminonic, which includes 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, Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, Hunsrik, and Scots. Additionally, several creoles, patois, and pidgins are based on Dutch, English, or German.

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👉 West Germanic dialects in the context of Celtic language decline in England

Prior to the 5th century AD, most people in Great Britain spoke a Brittonic language, but the number of these speakers declined sharply throughout the Anglo-Saxon period (between the 5th and 11th centuries), when Brittonic languages were displaced by Old English.

Debate continues over whether this change was due to mass migration or to a small-scale military takeover by people who spoke the West Germanic dialects that became Old English. The situation in post-Roman Britain was certainly strikingly different from, for example, post-Roman Gaul, Iberia or North Africa, where invaders speaking other languages gradually switched to local languages. This linguistic decline is therefore crucial to understanding the cultural changes in post-Roman Britain, the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain and the emergence of an English language.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Celtic language decline in England
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Germanic languages → Language → North Germanic languages → East Germanic languages → Ingvaeonic → English language → Scots language → Low German → Frisian languages → Istvaeonic → Dutch language → Elbe Germanic → German language → Afrikaans → Yiddish language → Low Saxon → Luxembourgish → Hunsrik → Creole language → Patois → Pidgin →