Wiktionary:About Proto-West Germanic

Proto-West Germanic is the ancestor of all West Germanic languages, old as well as modern. It is a descendant of Proto-Germanic. This page details various considerations to be taken into account when editing Proto-West Germanic entries.

Vowels

 * Short vowels: a e i o u
 * Long vowels: ā ē ī ō ū
 * Nasal vowels: ą̄ į̄ ų̄
 * Diphthongs: ai au eu iu

The long nasal vowels result from Proto-Germanic short vowels + -nh-. Other nasal vowels, in particular in the accusative plural ending, are uncertain.

Lowering of *u to *o is shown in the environments where it occurs in all descendants. In some words, for example, the lowering is found only in the southern languages, but not in the northern languages. Sometimes the situation is the other way around, most noticeably with, which lowered in all descendants except High German. Since *u is the original vowel in these words, this is the form that gets the entry, with the southern (lowered) form treated as an alternative form. Lowering of *i to *e, likewise restricted to the southern dialects, follows the same rules.

Consonants

 * Voiceless stops: k p t
 * Voiceless fricatives: f h s þ
 * Voiced obstruents: b d g
 * Sonorants: j l m n r ʀ w

The result of the gemination before *j is indicated by doubling the previous consonant, for example -nnj-. The result of gemination is unclear in the case of the Proto-Germanic labiovelars.

The outcome of Proto-Germanic *z is written with ʀ, following the traditions for Runic Norse studies. It was clearly no longer an obstruent, as it was not affected by the gemination before *j, but it was also still distinct from *r on account of dialect-specific differences.

Restrictions on semivowels:
 * Short vowel + j or w is not allowed unless followed by a vowel; > diphthong otherwise.
 * -jj- and -ww- are not allowed; > -ij- or -uw-.
 * -ji- and -wu- are not allowed after a consonant; > -i- or -u-.

Descendants
When descended in the usual, linear fashion, the main "old" languages are always listed in north-to-south order, with English at the top.


 * Old English
 * Middle English
 * Scots
 * English
 * Yola
 * Old Frisian
 * Saterland Frisian
 * West Frisian
 * North Frisian
 * Old Saxon
 * Middle Low German
 * Low German
 * German Low German
 * Plautdietsch
 * Dutch Low Saxon
 * Old Dutch
 * Middle Dutch
 * Dutch
 * Afrikaans
 * Limburgish
 * West Flemish
 * Zealandic
 * Old High German
 * Middle High German
 * German
 * Rhine Franconian
 * Pennsylvania German
 * Volga German
 * Central Franconian
 * Hunsrik
 * Transylvanian Saxon
 * East Central German (Upper Saxon, Silesian German, etc.)
 * East Franconian
 * Bavarian
 * Cimbrian
 * Gottscheerish
 * Hutterisch
 * Mòcheno
 * Alemannic German
 * Swabian
 * Sathmar Swabian
 * Colonia Tovar German
 * Luxembourgish
 * Vilamovian
 * Yiddish
 * Zipser German

Please note that the is considered an etymology-only variant of Proto West-Germanic per Votes/2020-01/Make Frankish an etymology-only variant of Proto-West Germanic.