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High German

Specialty Definition: German language

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

German (Deutsch) is one of the world's major languages, a member of the western group of the Germanic languages. It is spoken primarily in Germany, Austria, the major part of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Südtirol (South Tyrol) region of Italy, the Opole Voivodship of Poland, parts of Belgium, parts of Romania and the Alsace (Elsass) region of France. Additionally, several former colonial possessions of these countries, such as Namibia, have sizable German-speaking populations, and there are German-speaking minorities in several eastern European countries, including Russia, and in the United States. Approximately 125 Million people have German as their mother tongue. German is the third most popular foreign language worldwide, and the second most popular in Europe and East Asia (Japan). It is an official language of the European Union.

History

The dialects that participated in the second German vowel shift during medieval times are regarded as those of the German language.

As a consequence of the colonization patterns, the Völkerwanderung (pronounced: 'fœl ker 'van der ung), the routes for trade and communication (chiefly the rivers), and of physical isolation (high mountains and deep forests) very different regional dialects developed. These dialects, sometimes mutually unintelligible, were used across the Holy Roman Empire. As Germany was divided into many different states, there was for long no force working for a unification or standardization of German, until Martin Luther translated the Bible (the New Testament in 1521 and the Old Testament in 1534).

The regional variety (dialect) into which Martin Luther translated the Bible is now regarded as the guideline language upon which Standard German is built. Media and written works are almost all produced in this variety of High German (usually called Standard German in English or Hochdeutsch in German) which is understood in all areas of German languages (except by pre-school children in areas which speak only dialect - but in the age of TV even they usually learn to understand Standard German before school age).

The first dictionary of the Brothers Grimm, the 16 parts of which were issued between 1852 and 1960, was and still is the most complete census of the words of the German language. In 1860, grammatical and orthographical rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, this was declared the standard definition of the German language in these matters. Official revisions of some of these rules were not issued until 1998.

Status

German is the only official language in Germany, Liechtenstein and Austria; it shares official status in Belgium (with French and Dutch), Italy (with Italian, French and Slovenian), Switzerland (with French, Italian and Romansh), Luxembourg (with French and Luxembourgish). It is one of 11 official languages in the European Union.

It is also a minority language in Denmark, France, Russia, Tajikistan, Poland, Romania, Togo, Cameroon, the USA, Namibia, Paraguay, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Ukraine, Croatia, Moldavia, Australia, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

Increasing influence from the English language has affected German recently.

Dialects of German

The term "German" is used for several dialects of Germany and surrounding countries and in North America.

The dialects of Germany are typically divided into Low German and High German. The Low German dialects, or Low Saxon as they are sometimes known more precisely, are more closely related to Lower Franconian languages like Dutch than to the High German dialects, and from a linguist's perspective are not part of the German language proper. The High German dialects spoken by Ashkenazi Jews have several unique features, and are usually considered the separate language Yiddish. There are also distinctive dialects of German which are or were primarily spoken in North America, including Pennsylvania German, Texas German, and Hutterite German.

The modern dialects of German proper are divided into Middle German and Upper German; Standard German is a Middle German dialect, while Austrian and Swiss German are Upper German. A moderately complete listing of these dialects may be found at High German.

Development of the German language

• Old High German
• Middle High German

Language Codes

• SIL code: GER
• ISO 639-1: de
• ISO 639-2(B): ger
• ISO 639-2(T): deu

See also

• German grammar
• Common phrases in different languages
• List of German expressions in English
• Umlaut, Ess-tsett
• German spelling reform
• Germish

Reference

• George O. Curme, A Grammar of the German Language (1904, 1922) - the most complete and authoritative work in English

External links

• Ethnologue report for German
• Free online resources for learners
• Verein Deutsche Sprache
• A beginning German Language Textbook under development at Wikibooks

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "German language."

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High German

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

High German (in German, Hochdeutsch) is any of several West Germanic languages spoken in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Luxembourg (as well as in neighbouring portions of Belgium, France (Alsace), Italy, Poland, and Romania (Transylvania) and in some areas of former colonial settlement, i.e. in Namibia). Alternatively, and especially in Switzerland and Luxembourg, the term "High German" may refer to one High German dialect to the exclusion of all others, standard written German. In the first context, the "high" refers to the mountainous areas of southern Germany and the Alps; in the second context, the "high" means "official". The term also sometimes includes Yiddish.

High German (and Yiddish) are distinguished from other Western Germanic dialects in that they took part in the second (High German) sound shifting of the 700s and 800s. To see this, compare English "pan" with German "Pfanne" (/p/ to /pf/), English "two" with German "zwei" (/t/ to /ts/), English "make" with German "machen" (/k/ to /x/). In the High Alemannic dialects of Swiss German, there is a further shift; "Kaffee" (like English "coffee") becomes "Kchafi" (/k/ to /kx/).

The name "High German" contrasts with "Low German", a term variously used to refer to the Low Saxon dialects originating from around the Baltic city of Lübeck; these dialects together with the Low Franconian languages (Dutch, West Flemish, and Afrikaans); or all of the Western Germanic languages other than High German (including English and Frisian).

Family tree

Note that divisions between subfamilies of Germanic are rarely precisely defined; most form continuous clines, with adjacent dialects being mutually intelligible and more separated ones not. In particular, there never has been an original "Proto-High German".

• Middle German
  • East Middle German
    • Standard German
    • Lower Silesian (mostly in Lower Silesia, in Poland)
    • Upper Saxon (in Saxony and other areas of eastern Germany)
  • Luxembourgeois (mostly in Luxembourg)
  • Transylvanian Saxon (in Transylvania)
  • West Middle German
    • Franconian (near Mainz, in Germany)
    • Kölsch (near Cologne, in Germany)
    • Pfälzisch (in Palatinate and Rheinpfalz, in Germany)
      • Pennsylvania German (in the United States and Canada)
• Upper German
  • Alemannic
    • Swiss German (mostly in Switzerland)
    • Alsatian (in Alsace, in France)
    • Swabian (mostly in Schwaben, in Germany)
    • Alemán Coloneiro (in Venezuela)
  • Walser (originally in the Wallis Canton of Switzerland)
  • Austro-Bavarian
    • Bavarian (mostly in Austria and in Bavaria, in Germany)
    • Cimbrian (northeastern Italy)
    • Mócheno (near Trentino, in Italy)
    • Hutterite German (in Canada and the United States)
• Fränkisch (extinct in the 1800s)

External link

• Ethnologue report for High German

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "High German."

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Commercial Usage: High German

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Non-Fiction Usage: High German

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Expressions: High German

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Modern Translation: High German

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Anagrams: High German

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