Indo-Germanic

[pf at cix.co.uk]

I am not a linguist, and therefore kept out of this strange debate, which,
finally, seems to address some interesting terminological questions after
all.
 
I looked up Collins Concise Dictionary 3rd ed. 1995 (sorry: not the
Oxfordian one this time: I don't have it at home):

"Germanic. ... 1. a branch of Indo-Eurpoean family of languages that
includes English, Dutch, German, the Scandinavian languages, and Gothic.
...2. Also called: Proto-Germanic. the unrecorded language from which all
these languages developed. ....4. of relating to, or characteristic of te
German language ... 5. (formerly) of the German people".

Could anyone enlighten me about current linguistic views on this?

Peter