| East Germanic | |
|---|---|
| Oder-Vistula Germanic, Illevionic (uncommon) | |
| Geographic distribution | Varying depending on time (4th–18th centuries), currently all languages are extinct Until late 4th century: Central and Eastern Europe (as far as Crimea) late 4th–early 10th centuries: Much of southern, western, southeastern, and eastern Europe (as far as Crimea) and North Africa early 10th–late 18th centuries — disputed (cp. Crimean Gothic): Isolated areas in Eastern Europe (as far as Crimea) |
| Linguistic classification | Indo-European
|
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-5 | gme |
| Glottolog | east2805 |
 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
East Germanic † | |
The East Germanic languages, also called the Oder-Vistula Germanic languages, are a group of extinct Germanic languages that were spoken by East Germanic peoples. East Germanic is one of the primary branches of Germanic languages, along with North Germanic and West Germanic.
The only East Germanic language of which texts are known is Gothic, although a word list and some short sentences survive from the debatedly-related Crimean Gothic. Other East Germanic languages include Vandalic and Burgundian, though the only remnants of these languages are in the form of isolated words and short phrases. Furthermore, the inclusion of Burgundian has been called into doubt.[1] Crimean Gothic is believed to have survived until the 18th century in isolated areas of Crimea.[2]: 189
- ^ Wolfram, Herwig (1997). The Roman Empire and Its Germanic Peoples. University of California Press. p. 259. ISBN 978-0520085114.
For a long time linguists considered the Burgundians to be an East Germanic people, but today they are no longer so sure.
- ^ MacDonald Stearns Jr. (1989). "Das Krimgotische" [Crimean Gothic]. In Beck, Heinrich (ed.). Germanische Rest- und Trümmersprachen (in German). Berlin: W. de Gruyter. pp. 175–194. ISBN 3-11-011948-X.