Preface Introduction: What this book covers Chapter One: Germanic Beginnings: Early Ancestors in Denmark Timeline : From the earliest settlements in northern Europe to the beginning of the Christian era Sidebars: 1. Indo-European: Protolanguage and culture 2. The First Sound Shift 3. Language contact and language change: The case of Finland Chapter Two: The Germanic Languages Survive the Romans: The Battle of Kalkriese Timeline: From the beginning of the Christian era to the end of the Western Roman Empire and the beginning of the Middle Ages Sidebars: 1. The Germanic tribes 2. The Goths and the Gothic language 3. The Celts Chapter Three: A Fork in the Road: Germanic languages separate into Low and High Timeline: From the beginning of the Middle Ages to the Protestant Reformation Sidebars: 1. The Second Sound Shift 2.

The Vikings: Raiders, traders, and neighbors 3. The Germanen go to England: The Anglo-Saxons and the English language 4. Yiddish: The creation of a new Germanic language Chapter Four: A perfect storm, and the birth of Standard German Timeline: From the beginning of the Reformation to the beginning of the First Industrial Revolution Sidebars: 1. The Thirty Years' War 2. The Reformation 3. The history of European printing Chapter Five: The German language gets a state Timeline: From the Unification of Germany to the beginning of World War I Sidebars: 1. The revolution of 1848 Chapter Six: Postwar Comeback Times Two: German Begins to Recover after a Fall from grace Timeline: From the end of World War I to the present Sidebars: 1. Spelling Reforms 2.

Early Germanic language in a deep freeze: The case of Icelandic Bibliography.