THE EARLIEST PERIOD OF GERMANIC LANGUAGE HISTORY PROTO GERMANIC LANGUAGE

Abstract

This paper explores the development, expansion, and intercultural impact of Proto-Germanic, the reconstructed common ancestor of all Germanic languages. Emerging in Northern Europe during the Iron Age, Proto-Germanic evolved through sound shifts and grammatical innovations and later spread across Central Europe through migration. The study focuses on the language’s interaction with neighboring linguistic groups—namely Celtic, East Iranian, and Finnic speakers—through mutual contact, resulting in significant lexical borrowing. It also examines the earliest surviving Germanic inscriptions and literary texts, tracing how Proto-Germanic laid the foundation for later linguistic diversification within the Germanic family.