West Germanic

West Germanic
1. noun
a) The branch of the Germanic language family consisting of English, Frisian languages, Dutch, Low Saxon languages, German, and Yiddish, and their immediate predecessors.

German and English are sister languages, descended from West Germanic.

b) The presumed unattested ancestor of these languages (more properly called ).

The next logical step is to note that the Scandinavian languages, descended from a North Germanic parent, are more distant historically from English than are Dutch and German, which, like English, are descended from West Germanic.

Of or relating to these languages.

Wikipedia foundation.

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  • West Germanic language — noun a branch of the Germanic languages • Syn: ↑West Germanic • Hypernyms: ↑Germanic, ↑Germanic language • Hyponyms: ↑English, ↑English language, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • West Germanic — /wɛst dʒəˈmænɪk/ (say west juh manik) noun the subgroup of Germanic languages which includes English, German, Dutch, Frisian, etc …  

  • West Germanic — 1. a subbranch of Germanic that includes English, Frisian, Flemish, Dutch, Plattdeutsch, Yiddish, and German. Abbr.: WGmc 2. of or pertaining to this subbranch of Germanic. [1890 95] * * * …   Universalium

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