German language

German, or Deutsch, is a major language spoken by nearly 100 million people as their first language and over 130 million people in total. 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, and also an official language in Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Italian region of South Tyrol. There are also big groups of 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 had a big influence on philosophy, science, and technology. It is commonly used in science and on websites. German-speaking countries publish many books each year, making up a large part of all books in the world.

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 a special group called the Council for German Orthography helps decide how German should be written.

Classification

German is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages. The Germanic languages are divided into three groups: North Germanic, East Germanic, and West Germanic. North Germanic languages include modern Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Faroese, and Icelandic, which all come from Old Norse. The East Germanic languages are no longer spoken, with Gothic being the only one that still exists in written form. The West Germanic group includes languages such as English, German, Dutch, Yiddish, and Afrikaans.

In the West Germanic group, the Benrath and Uerdingen lines help separate 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, as well as 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 how words sounded during the Migration Period. This change is called the High German consonant shift. It made the sounds of some letters very different from before.

We have old writings in German from as early as the sixth century, but the real start of Old High German is with a book called Abrogans from around 765–775. This book helped people learn German words by matching them with Latin words. Later, more books were written, like poems and stories, showing how people spoke in different places.

The Middle High German time, from about 1050 to 1350, had many stories and poems written in German. This showed that German was becoming more important for writing and speaking, not just Latin.

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 for everyone. German became the main language for books, speaking, and important meetings.

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

Geographical distribution

German is spoken by about 90–95 million people as their first language. It is mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe. Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein use German as their official language. It is also an official language in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Italian region of South Tyrol.

Because of German history and people moving to different places, German is spoken in many parts of the world. In Europe, German is a common language in countries like the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and others. In Africa, Namibia has many German speakers today because it was once a German colony. In South America, Brazil and Chile have communities where German is still spoken. In North America, especially in the United States, German is one of the most spoken languages after English and Spanish. In Australia and New Zealand, German is also spoken by some communities.

Standard German

Main article: Standard German

Standard German started to form with the Luther Bible and the language used by the Saxon court. In many parts of Northern Germany and in big cities elsewhere, people now speak versions of Standard German instead of old local dialects. Even so, the way people speak Standard German in everyday life is a bit different from how it is written, especially in rules and structure, because of influences from 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. Though these local versions of Standard German are affected a little by local dialects, they are quite different from each other. German is called 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, which can be quite different from the standard language. These dialects vary a lot in words, sounds, and sentence structure. Sometimes, people from nearby areas can understand each other, but other times, it can be hard to understand someone who speaks only 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 the old trading cities. Over time, the standard German language became more common in schools and literature. 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

There are different ways people speak German depending on where they live. In Berlin, people speak a special version called Berlinian. In areas like the Ruhr area, people speak Ruhr German. Another way of speaking is called Missingsch, which mixes Low German and High German sounds.

Grammar

Main article: German grammar

German is a language with many ways to change words, making it interesting to study. It has three types of nouns: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Nouns can change their endings based 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 become very long, like a special law name that means "beef labelling supervision duties assignment law."

Verbs in German can change in many ways too. 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. For example, "The old man gave me the book yesterday" can also be said as "Yesterday, the old man gave me the book." This helps speakers show which part of the sentence they want you to notice most.

Vocabulary

German words come mostly from the Germanic family of languages. But many words in German also come from other languages like Latin, Greek, Italian, French, and English. Long ago, people brought in words from these languages.

Some Latin words entered German a very long time ago, so many people don’t even know they are not original German words. Later, 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 or learned. 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 huge 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 in science and other areas.

Orthography

Main articles: German orthography and German braille

German writing has special features that make it easy to recognize, like umlauts and the rule that all nouns start with a capital letter. German also often joins words together to make longer ones, but usually only for fun.

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

Before the year 1996, a special letter ß was used instead of ss after certain sounds. Now, ß is only used in specific cases. There is no big version of ß, so it was written as SS when needed. 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 are not available. German readers understand these, but they are not 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 people to read. Some leaders once thought these letters were special to their culture, but later changed their minds. Even though these old letters are not 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 rich history in literature, dating back to the Middle Ages. Famous writers from this time include Walther von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von Eschenbach. Another important work from this period is Nibelungenlied, though we do not know who wrote it. In the 19th century, the fairy tales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm became well-known all around the world.

Martin Luther helped shape modern Standard German by translating the Bible into the language. Many famous poets and authors have written in German, such as Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, Hoffmann, Brecht, Heine, and Kafka. Fourteen German-speaking writers have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making German one of the most honored languages for literature.