West Germanic Ethnicity: West Germanic peoples Geographic distribution: Originally between the Rhine, Alps, Elbe, and North Sea; today worldwide Linguistic classification: Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Subdivisions: Ingvaeonic (English, Scots, Frisian, Low German) Low Franconian (Dutch, Afrikaans) High German (German, Yiddish) ISO 639-5: gmw Linguasphere: 52-AB & 52-AC Glottolog: west2793[1]