* Language evolution is gradual: Languages don't appear overnight. They evolve over centuries, with dialects branching off and merging.
* Proto-Germanic: The ancestor of German is Proto-Germanic, spoken around 500 BC. It's not German as we know it today.
* No written record: The earliest written records of German dialects date back to the 8th century AD. However, this doesn't mean the language wasn't spoken before then.
Instead of a specific date, it's more accurate to think about a period:
* Proto-Germanic (500 BC): The root of the German language family.
* Old High German (750-1050 AD): The first recognizable stage of German, with several dialects.
* Middle High German (1050-1350 AD): The language of epic poems like the Nibelungenlied.
* Early New High German (1350-1650 AD): Standardized forms began to emerge.
* Modern German (1650-present): The language we know today, with regional variations.
Therefore, the "first spoken" German doesn't have a clear date. It's a gradual evolution that continues to this day.