East Germanic languages


East Germanic languages - Definition

Language classification

The East Germanic languages are a group of extinct Indo-European languages in the Germanic family. The only East Germanic language of which texts are known is Gothic; other languages that are assumed to be East Germanic include Vandalic, Burgundian, and Crimean Gothic, which survived until the 18th century.

Based on accounts by Jordanes, Procopius, Paul the Deacon and others, linguistic evidence (see Gothic language), placename evidence, and on archaeological evidence it is assumed that the speakers of East Germanic languages migrated from Scandinavia to the area between the Oder and the Vistula rivers, ca 600 BC - ca 300 BC.

A connection has been posited between the Burgundians and the island of Bornholm in Denmark (Old Norse: Borgundarholm).

East Germanic tribes