German language

German, or Deutsch, is a major language spoken by many people. It belongs to the West Germanic group of languages and is mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe. It is the official language of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It is also an official language in Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Italian region of South Tyrol. There are German speakers in places like Namibia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, and France, as well as in parts of the Americas.

German is very important around the world. It is the most spoken native language in the European Union and the second-most widely spoken Germanic language after English. Many people learn German as a second language, especially in Europe and the United States. German has influenced many areas like philosophy, science, and technology. It is used a lot in science and on websites. German-speaking countries publish many books each year.

German is related to languages like Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, and Scots. It developed from Old High German during the Early Middle Ages. German is an inflected language, meaning its words change form to show relationships. It has four cases, three genders, and two numbers. Most of its words come from ancient Germanic roots, with some from Latin, Greek, French, and modern English.

There are three main standard forms of German: German, Austrian, and Swiss Standard German. German has many dialects spoken across Europe and the world. Since 2004, leaders from German-speaking countries have met every year to discuss the language, and the Council for German Orthography helps decide how German should be written.

Classification

German is an Indo-European language from the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages. The Germanic languages have three groups: North Germanic, East Germanic, and West Germanic. North Germanic languages include modern Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Faroese, and Icelandic, from Old Norse. The East Germanic languages are no longer spoken, with Gothic being the only one that still exists in writing. The West Germanic group includes English, German, Dutch, Yiddish, and Afrikaans.

In the West Germanic group, the Benrath and Uerdingen lines help divide dialects affected by the High German consonant shift from those that were not. Dialects south of these lines are called High German, while those to the north are Low German and Low Franconian. Standard German is based on Thuringian-Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects. It is closely related to Luxembourgish and Yiddish, and to southern German-speaking countries like Swiss German. Standard German is less closely related to Dutch, Afrikaans, Low German, and Frisian languages such as North Frisian, Saterland Frisian, and West Frisian.

History

Main article: History of German

The history of the German language began with changes in sounds during the Migration Period. This change is called the High German consonant shift. It made some letter sounds very different.

We have old writings in German from the sixth century, but Old High German started with a book called Abrogans from around 765–775. This book helped people learn German by matching words with Latin words. Later, more books like poems and stories were written.

The Middle High German time, from 1050 to 1350, had many German stories and poems. This showed German was becoming more important for writing and speaking.

Modern German started around 1350. A big help was when Martin Luther translated the Bible into German. This made German easier to read and understand. German became the main language for books and speaking.

In 1901, rules were made to standardize German writing. These rules were updated in 1996, and today, most German writing follows these rules.

Geographical distribution

German is spoken by many people around the world. It is mainly used in Western and Central Europe. Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein have German as their official language. It is also an official language in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Italian region of South Tyrol.

Because of history and people moving, German is spoken in many places. In Europe, you can hear German in countries like the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and others. In Africa, Namibia has many German speakers because it was once a German colony. In South America, Brazil and Chile have communities where German is spoken. In North America, especially in the United States, German is popular after English and Spanish. In Australia and New Zealand, some people also speak German.

Standard German

Main article: Standard German

Standard German began with the Luther Bible and the language of the Saxon court. In many parts of Northern Germany and in big cities, people now speak Standard German instead of old local dialects. But how people speak Standard German in daily life is a little different from how it is written, especially in rules and structure, because of local dialects.

Standard German changes a little in different German-speaking places mostly in vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and orthography. These changes are not the same as local dialects. Even though these local versions of Standard German are influenced by local dialects, they are quite different from each other. German is a pluricentric language, meaning it has three main standard types: German Standard German, Austrian Standard German, and Swiss Standard German.

In German linguistics, German dialects are separate from types of Standard German. These types of Standard German change mostly in words and sounds, and sometimes a little in grammar. In some places, they have replaced the old local dialects, especially in Northern Germany.

• German Standard German
• Austrian Standard German
• Swiss Standard German

In Switzerland, mixing local dialects with Standard German is rare, and Standard German is mostly used in writing. About 11% of Swiss people speak Standard German at home, mostly because of German immigrants. This situation is called _medial diglossia. Swiss Standard German is used in schools in Switzerland, while Austrian German is used in schools in Austria.

Dialects

Main article: German dialects

German has many local dialects that can sound very different from the standard language. These dialects change words, sounds, and how sentences are built. Sometimes people from nearby places can understand each other, but other times it can be hard to understand someone who only speaks a dialect.

German dialects are mainly split into two big groups: High German and Low German. Even though they are all part of the German language family, they can be very different from each other.

Low German

Main article: Low German

Low German was once the main language in Northern Germany, especially in old trading cities. Over time, standard German became more common in schools and books. Today, fewer people speak Low German, and it is often seen as a local way of speaking rather than a proper language.

Low Franconian

Further information: Low Franconian

Low Franconian dialects are mostly spoken in places outside of Germany, like the Netherlands and Belgium. In Germany, they are spoken along the Lower Rhine River. These dialects include Dutch and Afrikaans. In Germany, these dialects are now usually considered part of German.

High German

Main article: High German languages

High German dialects include Central German, High Franconian, and Upper German. These dialects are spoken in many parts of Germany and nearby countries.

Central German

The Central German dialects are spoken in the middle part of Germany. Modern standard German is mostly based on these dialects.

West Central German

The West Central German dialects include several groups like Ripuarian and Moselle Franconian. These dialects are spoken in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, and Romania.

East Central German

Further east, other Central German dialects are spoken, such as Thuringian and Upper Saxon.

High Franconian

The High Franconian dialects are in between Central and Upper German. They include East and South Franconian dialects.

East Franconian

East Franconian dialects are spoken in parts of Bavaria and Thuringia in Germany.

South Franconian

South Franconian is spoken in northern Baden-Württemberg in Germany and a small part of France.

Upper German

The Upper German dialects include Alemannic and Swabian in the west and Austro-Bavarian in the east.

Alemannic and Swabian

Alemannic dialects are spoken in Switzerland, Baden-Württemberg, Bavarian Swabia, Vorarlberg in Austria, Alsace in France, and Liechtenstein.

Austro-Bavarian

The Austro-Bavarian dialects are spoken in Austria, southern and eastern Bavaria, and South Tyrol in Italy. They are also spoken in a few places in Switzerland and Saxony in Germany.

Regiolects

People in Germany speak German in different ways depending on where they live. In Berlin, they speak a special version called Berlinian. In places like the Ruhr area, people speak Ruhr German. There is also a way of speaking called Missingsch, which mixes sounds from Low German and High German.

Grammar

Main article: German grammar

German is a language with many ways to change words. It has three types of nouns: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Nouns change their endings depending on who or what they are talking about, how many there are, and their role in the sentence.

German also uses special word combinations called compounds. For example, "Baumhaus" means "tree house." These compounds can sometimes be very long.

Verbs in German can change in many ways. There are two main types of verbs, and they can show if something is happening now, will happen later, or already happened. Sentences in German can move words around to show what is most important.

Vocabulary

German words come from the Germanic family of languages. Many German words also come from other languages like Latin, Greek, Italian, French, and English. People brought these words into German long ago.

Some Latin words entered German very early, so many people do not know they are not original German words. More Latin words came in during important times like the Christianisation and the Renaissance. Italian words became common in areas like building and music. French had a big influence for a long time, and more recently, English has added many words to German.

There are often two words that mean the same thing in German—one that is a classic German word and one that came from another language. The borrowed word often sounds more formal. For example:

• Historie, historisch means “history, historical” and Geschichte, geschichtlich is another way to say it.
• Millennium means “millennium” and Jahrtausend is another way to say it.

German has a large vocabulary. One famous German dictionary made by the Brothers Grimm had over 330,000 words. Today, German has about nine million words and phrases that people use.

Orthography

Main articles: German orthography and German braille

German writing has special features that make it easy to spot, like umlauts and the rule that all nouns start with a capital letter. German sometimes joins words together to make longer ones, just for fun.

In German, every noun begins with a capital letter. This helps readers understand sentences better. This rule is mostly unique to German today.

Before 1996, a special letter ß was used instead of ss after certain sounds. Now, ß is only used in special cases. There is no big version of ß, so it was written as SS. In 2017, a big version of ß was officially added to German writing.

Umlauts (ä, ö, ü) can be written as ae, oe, and ue if the special letters aren’t available. German readers understand these, but they aren’t the proper way to write words.

Until the early 1900s, German was printed in special old-style letters called blackletter. These looked very different from the letters we use today and were hard for many to read. Some leaders once thought these letters were special to their culture, but later changed their minds. Even though these old letters aren’t used much anymore, you might still see them on signs for pubs or beer brands to give a feeling of the past.

Literature

Main article: German literature

The German language has a long history in stories and books, going back to the Middle Ages. Famous writers from this time include Walther von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von Eschenbach. Another important book from this time is Nibelungenlied, but we do not know who wrote it. In the 1800s, the fairy tales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm became loved by many around the world.

Martin Luther helped shape modern Standard German by translating the Bible into the language. Many well-known poets and authors have written in German, such as Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, Hoffmann, Brecht, Heine, and Kafka. Fourteen German-speaking writers have won the Nobel Prize in Literature.