German Language

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German Language

German is a Germanic (Gmc) language, most closely related to the other West Germanic (WGmc) languages English, Frisian, Dutch (Flemish in Belgium), and Afrikaans, and more distantly related to the North Germanic (Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish) and East Germanic groups (represented by Gothic). In terms of its wider genetic affiliations, German is a member of the Indo-European (IE) group. Salient archaic features include inherited core vocabulary and a three-term gender system. By contrast, innovation characterizes the sound system and syntax in particular. Archaic features and innovatory processes combine to give the impression of a language typologically very different from its close relative English.

Writing in German begins in the 8th century, and helps shape a cultural identity which has always transcended transient political arrangements. But its pluricentricity means that German has never been a national language in the narrow sense. Until the emergence of the supraregional, written standard during the course of the 18th century (NHG, New High German, 1750 - present day), German was essentially regional in character, as the spoken language by and large still is. The dialects of Upper and Central German (UG, CG) in the south are primarily characterized by the Second (High German) Sound Shift. So words like UG Pfeffer "pepper" and Wasser "water" contrast with northern (Low German, LG) Pepper and Water , and serve to mark UG and CG off from LG, English and the other Gmc languages. The major linguistic influence on German in the historical period is Latin, which, during the Middle Ages (Old High German, OHG, ca. 750 - ca. 1350; Middle High German, MHG, 1050-1350) and the Early Modern period (Early New High German, ENHG, 1350-1750), functioned as the standard written medium in the German-speaking world. The history of written German can therefore be seen first in terms of increasing distance from the spoken language and second in terms of emancipation from Latin and the gradual assumption of its functions. Broadly speaking, the standardization process is characterized linguistically by a period of unconscious convergence of written regional varieties in the late Middle Ages and the elimination of competing regional forms, followed, from the 16th century onwards, by conscious codification, which eventually produced standard dictionaries and grammars. The result is a major world standard language of extraordinary versatility and expressive power.

All these idiosyncratic features of German, as well as more general features such as length of sentence, number of adjectives, nominal vs. verbal constructions, have been used by German authors to stylistic effect. In the future, if emerging features of German usage are translated into longer-term developments, we may well see increasing linguistic distance between standard (written) and colloquial (spoken) German producing tension and a motive for change.