Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European family. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, scholars often divide them into three groups:
- West Germanic — including English, German, and Netherlandic (Dutch)
- North Germanic — including Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Faroese
- East Germanic — now extinct, including Gothic and the languages of the Vandals, Burgundians, and a few other tribes
Related West Germanic standards also include Frisian, Afrikaans, and Yiddish. English has by far the most native speakers among living Germanic languages; German ranks next among the major ones.