Editing North Germanic languages (section)

===Features shared with West Germanic===

The North Germanic group is characterized by a number of [[phonology|phonological]] and [[morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] innovations shared with [[West Germanic]]:
* The retraction of Proto-Germanic ''ē'' ({{IPA|/ɛː/}}, also written ''ǣ'') to ''ā''.<ref>But see [[Fausto Cercignani|Cercignani, Fausto]], ''Indo-European ē in Germanic'', in «Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung», 86/1, 1972, pp. 104–110.</ref>
** Proto-Germanic *''jērą'' 'year' > Northwest Germanic *''jārą,'' whence
*** North Germanic *{{lang|gmq|āra}} > Old Norse {{lang|non|ár}},
*** West Germanic *{{lang|gmw|jāra}} > Old High German {{lang|goh|jār}}, Old English {{lang|ang|ġēar}} {{IPA|[jæ͡ɑːr]}} vs. Gothic {{lang|got|jēr}}.
* The raising of {{IPA|[ɔː]}} to {{IPA|[oː]}} (and word-finally to {{IPA|[uː]}}). The original vowel remained when nasalised *''ǭ'' {{IPA|[ɔ̃ː]}} and when before {{IPA|/z/}}, and was then later lowered to {{IPA|[ɑː]}}.
** Proto-Germanic *''gebō'' 'gift' {{IPA|[ˈɣeβɔː]}} > Northwest Germanic *''geƀu,'' whence
*** North Germanic *{{lang|gmq|gjavu}} > with ''u''-umlaut *''gjǫvu'' > ON {{lang|non|gjǫf}},
*** West Germanic *''gebu'' > OE {{lang|ang|giefu}} vs. Gothic {{lang|got|giba}} (vowel lowering).
** Proto-Germanic *''tungǭ'' 'tongue' {{IPA|[ˈtuŋɡɔ̃ː]}} > late Northwest Germanic *''tungā'' > *''tunga'' > ON {{lang|non|tunga}}, OHG {{lang|goh|zunga}}, OE {{lang|ang|tunge}} (unstressed ''a'' > ''e'') vs. Gothic {{lang|got|tuggō}}.
** Proto-Germanic gen. sg. *''gebōz'' 'of a gift' {{IPA|[ˈɣeβɔːz]}} > late Northwest Germanic *''gebāz,'' whence
*** North Germanic *{{lang|gmq|gjavaz}} > ON {{lang|non|gjafar}},
*** West Germanic *{{lang|gmw|geba}} > OHG {{lang|goh|geba}}, OE {{lang|ang|giefe}} (unstressed ''a'' > ''e'') vs. Gothic {{lang|got|gibōs}}.
* The development of [[Germanic umlaut|i-umlaut]].
* The [[Rhotacism (sound change)|rhotacism]] of {{IPA|/z/}} to {{IPA|/r/}}, with presumably a rhotic fricative of some kind as an earlier stage.
** This change probably affected West Germanic much earlier and then spread from there to North Germanic, but failed to reach East Germanic which had already split off by that time. This is confirmed by an intermediate stage ''ʀ'', clearly attested in late runic East Norse at a time when West Germanic had long merged the sound with {{IPA|/r/}}.
* The development of the [[demonstrative]] pronoun ancestral to English ''this''.
** Germanic *''sa'', ''sō'', ''þat'' 'this, that' (cf. ON {{lang|non|sá}} m., ''sú'' f., ''þat'' n.; OE {{lang|ang|se}}, {{lang|ang|sēo}}, {{lang|ang|þæt}}; Gothic {{lang|got|sa}} m., {{lang|got|so}} f., {{lang|got|þata}} n.) + proximal *''si'' 'here' (cf. ON {{lang|non|si}}, OHG {{lang|goh|sē}}, Gothic {{lang|got|sai}} 'lo!, behold!');
*** Runic Norse: nom. sg. ''sa-si'', gen. ''þes-si'', dat. ''þeim-si'' etc., with declension of the first part;
** fixed form with declension on the second part: ON {{lang|non|sjá}}, {{lang|non|þessi}} m., OHG {{lang|goh|these}} m., OE {{lang|ang|þes}} m., {{lang|ang|þēos}} f., {{lang|ang|þis}} n.

Some have argued that after East Germanic broke off from the group, the remaining Germanic languages, the [[Northwest Germanic]] languages, divided into four main dialects:<ref name=Kuhn>{{cite journal|last=Kuhn|first=Hans|title=Zur Gliederung der germanischen Sprachen|journal=Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur|volume=86|year=1955–1956|pages=1–47}}</ref> North Germanic, and the three groups conventionally called "West Germanic", namely
# [[North Sea Germanic]],
# [[Weser–Rhine Germanic]]), and
# [[Elbe Germanic]]).

The inability of the [[tree model]] to explain the existence of some features in the West Germanic languages stimulated the development of an alternative, the so-called [[wave model]].

Under this view, the properties that the West Germanic languages have in common separate from the North Germanic languages are not inherited from a "Proto-West-Germanic" language, but rather spread by [[language contact]] among the Germanic languages spoken in central Europe, not reaching those spoken in Scandinavia.