Around the turn of the century Sophus Bugge (1891-1903:152-8) discussed a number of linguistic arguments suggesting Gotland, home to the unique North Germanic language found in Guta Lag and Guta Saga, may have been inhabited by speakers of Gothic in the first centuries ᴀᴅ. Though not the first proposal put forth connecting the island of Gotland to the East Germanic tribe (Bartholomæus Anglicus writes in the 13th century of the Goths stemming from Gotland, cf. Stobaeus 2006:11-12), a number of Bugge’s arguments have remained central to the claims of especial linguistic affinity between Gutnish and Gothic, echoed as recently as Peel (2015:272, 290). 
While Gutnish was undoubtedly not the first language spoken on the island of Gotland, the question of East Germanic influence on the North Germanic language is still a topic of some debate. This paper outlines a number of the linguistic arguments discussed by Bugge and other scholars, ranging from etymology (Gut-land, Gut-þiuda), semantics (lamb ‘sheep’), and phonology (haur, hauhs), with special attention placed on the ‘East Germanic’ runic inscriptions found on Gotland (Mos lancehead, Etelhem brooch, and Gurfiles bracteate, cf. Peterson 1998). 
After considering these arguments, the paper shifts focus to the specifically North (or Northwest) Germanic developments and their presence in Gutnish, in an attempt to pinpoint when in the relative chronology of Norse Gotland may have switched from an East Germanic to a North Germanic-speaking population. Developments discussed follow the language stadia from Northwest Germanic (dat.sg.fem.adj. -r-) to Common Nordic (*auh>ō) to East Norse (*ai,*au>ē,ø̄). The paper concludes that, were Gotland to have ever been inhabited by speakers of East Germanic, the shift to North Germanic must have occurred too early to leave any significant impact on the Gutnish language. The idiosyncrasies of Gutnish, including the alleged shared traits with Gothic, are all best explained elsewise.