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Glite Dictionary
Germanic language

Germanic language

1 6.0
A group of languages like English, German, Dutch, and Swedish
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒɜrmænɪk ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : lengua germánica
  • In many Germanic languages, "poison" is euphemistically named by a word equivalent to the English gift (cf. O.H.G. gift, Dan., Swed. gift; Du. gift, vergift).

Examples

  • English, German, and Dutch are examples of Germanic languages that share common roots.

  • I think most Germanic languages actually do the, e.g., "glass of water" without any marking (am I remembering this right?).

    Blog text (3)

  • Who could learn English easily because English is a West Germanic language?

    Blog text (17)

  • Swedish, on the other hand, is related to Germanic languages.

    Academic text (2008)

  • John McCumber is a professor of Germanic languages at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author, most recently, of The Philosophy Scare: The Politics of Reason in the Early Cold War (University of Chicago Press, 2016).

    Academic text (2016)

  • They have similar languages, with some small semantic differences. Dutch, which is used in Holland, is a West Germanic language that closely resembles German and English.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Swedish is a North Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Sweden and parts of Finland.

  • Many languages, including English and German, belong to the Germanic language family, which is part of the larger Indo-European group.

Synonyms

Germanic
vsGermanic language
  • Specialized
1 6.2

A group of languages that includes English, German, and Dutch

is the full phrase used to state the branch explicitly

Surface Forms

Germanic language singular
Germanic languages plural

Morphology

Germanic + language

The meaning — a language belonging to the Germanic branch of languages — is directly and transparently derived from combining 'Germanic' (pertaining to the Germanic family) with 'language' (a speech/written system). This modifier+head composition is a straightforward compositional pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Germanic language comes from the name the Romans used for the people in northern Europe, whom they called Germans. Languages such as English, German and Dutch share old roots from those tribes, so they are called a 'Germanic' group today.