High German languages

<h2 id="classification">Classification</h2>

<p>As a technical term, the "high" in High German is a geographical reference to the group of dialects that forms "High German" (i.e. "Highland" German), out of which developed <a href="/facts/Standard_German/9qsa3C2S">Standard German</a>, <a href="/facts/Yiddish/VfmsR6pW">Yiddish</a> and <a href="/facts/Luxembourgish/HsVzn2YA">Luxembourgish</a>. It refers to the <a href="/facts/Central_Uplands/aAbLmuY2">Central Uplands</a> (<i><a href="/facts/Mittelgebirge/bmdD5dv0">Mittelgebirge</a></i>) and <a href="/facts/Alps/Q3zdQId4">Alpine</a> areas of central and southern Germany; it also includes Luxembourg, Austria, Liechtenstein, and most of Switzerland. This is opposed to <a href="/facts/Low_German/BPxhrjlB">Low German</a>, which is spoken in the lowlands and along the flat sea coasts of the <a href="/facts/North_German_Plain/xDbsLcXu">North German Plain</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a>
</p><p>High German can be subdivided into <a href="/facts/Upper_German/NUt8V9Gc">Upper German</a> (<i>Oberdeutsch</i>) and <a href="/facts/Central_German/WWbh58Ab">Central or Middle German</a> (<i>Mitteldeutsch</i>, this includes <a href="/facts/Luxembourgish_language/HsVzn2YA">Luxembourgish</a>, which itself is now a <a href="/facts/Standard_language/1AV0uont">standard language</a>).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a>
</p><p>High German varieties are distinguished from other West Germanic varieties in that they took part in the <a href="/facts/High_German_consonant_shift/B4LuIgoe">High German consonant shift</a> (c. AD 500) to various degrees. To see this, compare the following:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a>
</p>
<table><tbody><tr><th><a href="/facts/English_language/tpkxGt7b">English</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Low_German/BPxhrjlB">Low German</a></th><th>Standard High German</th><th>Consonant shift</th></tr><tr><td>pan</td><td>Pann</td><td>Pfanne</td><td>[p] to [p͡f]</td></tr><tr><td>two</td><td>twee</td><td>zwei</td><td>[t] to [t͡s]</td></tr><tr><td>make</td><td>maken</td><td>machen</td><td>[k] to [x]</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>In the southernmost <a href="/facts/High_Alemannic_German/2XQ7gCue">High Alemannic</a> dialects, there is a further shift: <i>Sack</i> (like English/Low German "sack/Sack") is pronounced [z̥ak͡x] ([k] to [k͡x]).
</p>
<h2 id="history">History</h2>
<p class="note">See also: <a href="/facts/Theodiscus/8ctXUl4k">Theodiscus</a></p>
<p><a href="/facts/Old_High_German/Vr3YC8sW">Old High German</a> evolved from about 500 AD. Around 1200 the <a href="/facts/Swabian_German/yWAcdueM">Swabian</a> and <a href="/facts/East_Franconian_German/yUNDl2lX">East Franconian</a> varieties of <a href="/facts/Middle_High_German/LI9JRDIu">Middle High German</a> became dominant as a court and poetry language (<i><a href="/facts/Minnesang/4T5hQ93m">Minnesang</a></i>) under the rule of the House of <a href="/facts/Hohenstaufen/zcy1ntA6">Hohenstaufen</a>.
</p><p>The term "High German" as spoken in central and southern Germany (<a href="/facts/Upper_Saxony/gvbIjFeN">Upper Saxony</a>, <a href="/facts/Franconia/1VSFAoUv">Franconia</a>, <a href="/facts/Swabia/lymMtyP5">Swabia</a>, <a href="/facts/Bavaria/CLbr6NIG">Bavaria</a>) and <a href="/facts/Austria/4qWIMIyc">Austria</a> was first documented in the 15th century.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
</p><p>Gradually driving back Low German variants since the <a href="/facts/Early_modern_period/hhpHM721">Early modern period</a>, the <a href="/facts/Early_New_High_German/uNAnVEq4">Early New High German</a> varieties, especially the <a href="/facts/East_Central_German/bVa7ptNJ">East Central German</a> of the <a href="/facts/Luther_Bible/ePJEIC6x">Luther Bible</a>, formed an important basis for the development of Standard German.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="family">Family</h2>

<p>Divisions between subfamilies within Germanic are rarely precisely defined, because most form continuous clines, with adjacent <a href="/facts/Dialect/gJ7uQQoj">dialects</a> being mutually intelligible and more separated ones not. In particular, there has never been an original "<a href="/facts/Proto-language/BkXHmE3J">Proto-High German</a>". For this and other reasons, the idea of representing the relationships between <a href="/facts/West_Germanic_languages/PbeIH9Jz">West Germanic</a> language forms in a tree diagram at all is controversial among linguists. What follows should be used with care in the light of this caveat.
</p>

<ul><li>High German
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Central_German/WWbh58Ab">Central German</a> (German: <i>Mitteldeutsch</i>)
<ul><li><i><a href="/facts/East_Central_German/bVa7ptNJ">East Central German</a></i>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Thuringian_dialect/lrPzxCy2">Thuringian</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Upper_Saxon_German/oTPKnvjU">Upper Saxon</a>, including <a href="/facts/Erzgebirgisch/IQMJSvQF">Erzgebirgisch</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/South_Marchian_dialect/9kUwv9UD">South Marchian</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Lusatian_dialects/UFdz8g4C">Lusatian</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Silesian_German/pfFPGm5W">Silesian</a> (now mostly spoken by the <a href="/facts/German_minority_in_Poland/K5YQrerC">German minority</a> in <a href="/facts/Upper_Silesia/NHm8MPN6">Upper Silesia</a>)</li>
<li><a href="/facts/High_Prussian/1fIzrCrP">High Prussian</a> (nearly extinct)</li></ul></li>
<li><i><a href="/facts/West_Central_German/EcIcx3u1">West Central German</a></i>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Central_Franconian_dialects/DGI5vBtt">Central Franconian</a>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Ripuarian_language/NF1L8cm4">Ripuarian</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Moselle_Franconian_dialects/Ud4AMmeG">Moselle Franconian dialects</a>, including <a href="/facts/Luxembourgish/HsVzn2YA">Luxembourgish</a>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Hunsrik_language/qBHnYban">Hunsrik language</a> (from the <a href="/facts/Hunsr%C3%BCckisch_dialect/UwKT6x50">Hunsrückisch dialect</a>)</li></ul></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Rhine_Franconian_dialects/BoW2j1HQ">Rhine Franconian</a>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Palatine_German_language/cWAEdv0F">Palatine</a>, including <a href="/facts/Lorraine_Franconian/bFuDTuxP">Lorraine Franconian</a> (France)
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Pennsylvania_Dutch_language/NeAY36oU">Pennsylvania Dutch</a> (in the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> and <a href="/facts/Canada/cWWFM8oc">Canada</a>)</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Hessian_dialects/sjrvuB3a">Hessian</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/facts/High_Franconian_German/qppX56ud">High Franconian</a>, in the transitional area between Central and Upper German
<ul><li><i><a href="/facts/East_Franconian_German/yUNDl2lX">East Franconian</a></i></li>
<li><i><a href="/facts/South_Franconian_German/Cprz3gku">South Franconian</a></i></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Upper_German/NUt8V9Gc">Upper German</a> (German: <i>Oberdeutsch</i>)
<ul><li><i><a href="/facts/Alemannic_German/F9JVuJa1">Alemannic</a></i> in the broad sense or West Upper German (German: <i>Westoberdeutsch</i>), including <a href="/facts/Swiss_German/a90wuKPb">Swiss German</a> dialects
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Swabian_German/yWAcdueM">Swabian</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Alemannic_German/F9JVuJa1">Alemannic</a> in the strict sense
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Low_Alemannic_German/2ByR35vq">Low Alemannic</a>, including <a href="/facts/Alsatian_language/oQ9Jtwo8">Alsatian</a> and <a href="/facts/Basel_German/wbC3SwhK">Basel German</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/High_Alemannic_German/2XQ7gCue">High Alemannic</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Highest_Alemannic_German/yhpQFap5">Highest Alemannic</a></li></ul></li></ul></li>
<li><i><a href="/facts/Bavarian_language/mdBH4q9z">Bavarian</a></i> or East Upper German (German: <i>Ostoberdeutsch</i>), including <a href="/facts/Austrian_German/295QUGfF">Austrian German</a> dialects
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Northern_Bavarian/zvFheJUy">Northern Bavarian</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Central_Bavarian/1YRkak4t">Central Bavarian</a>, including <a href="/facts/Viennese_German/ceE3IfQy">Viennese</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Southern_Bavarian/gdGmjv6H">Southern Bavarian</a>, including <a href="/facts/M%C3%B2cheno_language/6T64Dbhr">Mócheno</a> in <a href="/facts/Trentino/hjF8gkYG">Trentino</a>, Italy
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Gottscheerish/SzpuxId7">Gottscheerish</a></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Cimbrian_language/XE9zeMJW">Cimbrian</a>, nearly extinct</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Hutterite_German/Hh9DhG3l">Hutterite German</a> (in <a href="/facts/Canada/cWWFM8oc">Canada</a> and the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a>)</li></ul></li>
<li><i><a href="/facts/Lombardic_language/pof0h1Jp">Lombardic</a></i>, extinct</li></ul></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Yiddish/VfmsR6pW">Yiddish</a>, evolved from Middle High German</li></ul></li></ul>

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul>
<li>Germany portal</li></ul>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/High_Germany/0NDt1ruA">High Germany</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Friedrich_Maurer_(linguist)/Syr7MWxX">Friedrich Maurer</a> (1942), <i>Nordgermanen und Alemannen:  Studien zur germanischen und frühdeutschen Sprachgeschichte, Stammes- und Volkskunde</i>, Strasbourg:  Hünenburg, [designation of High German languages as <a href="/facts/Irminones/RQAuQSvJ">Irminonic</a>].</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Compare the definition of "high" in the Oxford English Dictionary (Concise Edition): "... situated far above ground, sealevel, etc; upper, inland, as ... High German". <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>E.g.
Hermann Niebaum, Jürgen Macha, Einführung in die Dialektologie des Deutschen (series: Germanistische Arbeitshefte), 2nd ed., Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tübingen, 2006, p. 220 [1st ed. 1999, 3rd ed. 2014]
Gabriele Graefen, Martina Liedke-Göbel, Germanistische Sprachwissenschaft: Deutsch als Erst-, Zweit- oder Fremdsprache, 3rd ed.,  2020, p. 31.

For the Middle High German time e.g.:
Howard Jones & Martin H. Jones, The Oxford Guide to Middle High German, Oxford University Press, 2019, p. 7
M. O'C. Walshe, A Middle High German reader with grammar, notes, and glossary, Oxford University Press, 1974, p. 3
 <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Robinson, Orrin. Old English and its Closest Relatives. Routledge, 1994. <a href="/wiki/Orrin_W._Robinson_(philologist)" target="_blank">/wiki/Orrin_W._Robinson_(philologist)</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>"Understanding High German: The Standardized Linguistic Bridge of the German-Speaking World". www.verbalplanet.com. Retrieved 2025-03-12. <a href="https://www.verbalplanet.com/learn-german/blog/what-is-high-german-language.asp" target="_blank">https://www.verbalplanet.com/learn-german/blog/what-is-high-german-language.asp</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Russ, Charles V.J. The German Language Today: A Linguistic Introduction. Routledge, 1994, p. 15f. <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

High German languages open-in-new

High German languages