In my readings about German, I found out there used to be East Germanic languages in what is now Eastern Europe and parts of Russia. Barely recorded at all, and certainly now extinct. There was one notable case when a Flemish diplomat called, Busbecq went to Turkey in the 1500s and met with a Crimean delegation who spoke a Germanic dialect. Being a linguist he tried to work out where it came from. The thing is, he just wrote down 80 or so random words, and compared them to German... ...that is our only insight into the language. He also wrote down a song in the language, but didn't translate it. It's quite interesting also because the langauge is suspected to have lasted into the 17-1800s. Anyway here are some extracts from his letter; Ich Malthata I say Tzo Vvarthata Thou hast made Les Vvarthata He made Kilemschkop Drink up your cup Vvintch Wind VVitchgata White Gadeltha Beautiful Knauen Tag Good Day Complete list here http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/l...otol-10-R.html As for the song; Wara wara Ingdolou Seu te gira Galtzou Hoemisclep Dorbiza ea No one's really been able to translate this, and wonder if he maybe got confused and transcribed something from Crimean Greek or another dialect. "Wara" however is Swedish (and was old norse) for "to be" ... Incase anyone wants to have a stab at it...
Despite the Swedish and German influence, the Russian language has few words from those Germanic languages.
