High German languages
The term high German can be easily misunderstood, because it is used by most speakers equivalent to standard German. This article is about the concept of High German in the sense of a regional language variety.
The dialects of the German language south of the Benrather or Uerdinger line are called High German dialects, which in turn are divided into Central and Upper German dialects. A common characteristic of the High German dialects is fully or partially implemented or second ( old) High German sound shift, but also affected the Longobard.
The High German dialects form the continental West Germanic dialect continuum together with the Low German dialects and Dutch dialects north of this dialect lines.
Term
Among the languages that have arisen from the High German dialects, including the standard German (often simply called " German " ), the Yiddish and Luxembourgish.
High German dialects ( dialects ) are in the central and southern areas of Germany, Austria and South Tyrol ( Italy), Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Alsace and in Lorraine (France), in eastern Belgium and at points even in Upper Silesia (Poland ) spoken. In addition, there are high German language islands, for example in the USA, Russia or Romania.
The High High German in the name of dialects refers down on the dialects in the higher ( mountainous ) regions of central and southern German-speaking countries, as opposed to in the name of Low German dialects, located on the lower-lying, flat areas in the north of the German dialect area relates. The terms appear in transmissions from the High German into Dutch in the 15th century - High German for the first time in 1440: " Uut hoghen duutsche ghetransfereert / end in onser talented ghekeert " and low German for the first time in 1457: " vanden hooghen duutsche int neder duutsche ".
German etymologically means " the people belonging ", " popular " and designated in contrast to other nationality adjectives first language, of which the names of the speakers and the area they inhabit were derived from later: The Latin term theodiscus it first passes 786, as the papal nuncio George of Ostia the Pope Hadrian I reported two synods in England. The resolutions were read in Latin as well as in the vernacular ( gelatin and theo Disce ) so that all they could understand; but here the word denotes a variant of Old English or Anglo-Saxon. 813 recommends Charlemagne to the clergy, not only to preach in Latin, but also in rusticam Romanam linguam aut Theodiscam. This theodiscus the language of scholars would correspond to a West Frankish adjective * theo disk ( to Goth thiuda, OHG diot "people" ).
For the Germanic language (hence the English Dutch for the Dutch language ) there were in Old French by the 15th century the term tiedeis, tieis, tiois, in the Flemish dietsch. End of the 9th century. appears in Latin, the term teutonicus the theodiscus - last occupied in 1050 - gradually displaced. Get it remained until today in the Italian tedesco.
History
Old High German glosses from the 8th century are among the earliest evidence of high German language.
Around the year 1200 won the Middle High German -based Swabian varieties as poetic language national significance to the North of Germany.
In the early modern era, the modern high- German language developed ostmitteldeutscher based, Upper Franconian and of Bavarian firm languages as a national literary language, which until the 17th century in northern Germany ( in displacement of the perceived as old-fashioned Low German ), today until the 18th century in the entire language area prevailed.
The High German language eras are subdivided as follows:
There are however some problems with the accurate dating. Firstly, with the year 750, only the suspected beginning Old High German named because previous research locates the oldest known written language sources in the second half of the 8th century, for example, the glossary Abrogans around the year 770 around. Furthermore, the transitions between the different epochs are very fluent ( over a period of about 50 years ). The language change is taking place on many levels and certainly not at the same time.
Structure
The different varieties of High German languages are highly structured. Often only neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible ( continuum ), while speakers of more distant varieties not in their own dialects can understand each other, but have to use a so-called umbrella language.
The High German varieties are affected by the High German consonant shift to very different degrees: Only Bairische (eg Tirolerisch ), most and highly Alemannic dialects have the sound shift complete, most High German varieties but only partially, to the extreme of Ostbergisch and Mölmsch who participated only the shift from ik to me, but even north of the maken -making isogloss ( Benrather line) lie and therefore could be assigned just as good the low German dialects. Especially in West Germany means the impact of the High German consonant shift is often graded, with increasingly greater influence towards the south ( Rhenish subjects). The reason for this is the German dialect continuum, in which the dialects continuously vary a little from place to place without a change would be apparent at first glance. Only with increasing distance can account for differences. So there is no generally accepted dialect boundary between high and low German dialects.
- Central German languages and dialects West Central German languages ( see also: Franconian languages) Central Franconian ( Ripuarian, Moselle Franconian, Luxembourgish )
- Rhine Franconian ( Palatine, Hessian, Lorraine )
- Thuringian and Upper Saxon dialect group
- Berlin- Brandenburg dialects (mixed form with Ostniederdeutsch )
- Lausitzische dialects
- High- Prussian ( almost exclusively Diaspora )
- Silesian ( almost exclusively Diaspora )
- East Frankish dialect group main Franconian dialects, colloquial Fränkisch
- Alemannic dialects Swabian dialects
- Alsatian
- Niederalemannisch in Baden- Württemberg, Alsace and in the Basel region
- High Alemannic in the Swiss Plateau, in southern Baden, Vorarlberg, Liechtenstein and the Sundgau
- Höchstalemannisch in the heart of Switzerland, in the Sense district, in the Bernese Oberland and in the Upper Valais
- South Bavarian
- Means Bavarian
- North Bavarian