North Sea Germanic | |
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Ingvaeonic, Ingveonic,[1] coastal Germanic[1] | |
Geographic distribution | Originally the North Sea coast from Friesland to Jutland; today, worldwide |
Native speakers | 325 million (2004) |
Linguistic classification | Indo-European
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Subdivisions | |
Language codes | |
Glottolog | nort3175 |
The distribution of the primary Germanic languages in Europe c. AD 1:
North Sea Germanic, or Ingvaeonic
Weser–Rhine Germanic, or Istvaeonic
Elbe Germanic, or Irminonic
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North Sea Germanic, also known as Ingvaeonic (/ˌɪŋviːˈɒnɪk/ ING-vee-ON-ik),[2] is a subgrouping of West Germanic languages that consists of Old Frisian, Old English, and Old Saxon, and their descendants.
Ingvaeonic is named after the Ingaevones, a West Germanic cultural group or proto-tribe along the North Sea coast that was mentioned by both Tacitus and Pliny the Elder (the latter also mentioning that tribes in the group included the Cimbri, the Teutoni and the Chauci). It is thought of as not a monolithic proto-language but as a group of closely related dialects that underwent several areal changes in relative unison.