Germanic languages

High school (ages 12+)
People & Society

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/germanic-languages

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the language family?Germanic languages, a major branch of the Indo-European family
2. What is the estimated native speakers?Approximately 500 million
3. Where did Germanic languages come from?They likely started around 500 BCE in Scandinavia or the northern part of modern Germany. From there they spread across Europe.
4. Why is English so popular?English is used for international business, science, aviation, computing, and diplomacy, so many people learn it to talk with others around the world.

Reconstructed Language: A hypothetical language, like Proto-Germanic, inferred from its descendant languages.
Lingua Franca: A common language used between speakers of different native languages for communication.
Ablaut: A systematic vowel change within a word root, used to form different grammatical forms, especially in strong verbs.