Editing Standard German (section)

== Terminology ==
In German, Standard German is generally called {{lang|de|Hochdeutsch}}, reflecting the fact that its [[phonetics]] are largely those of the [[High German languages|High German]] spoken in the southern uplands and [[Alps|the Alps]] (including [[Austria]], [[Switzerland]], [[Liechtenstein]] and [[South Tyrol|parts of northern Italy]] as well as [[southern Germany]]). The corresponding term [[Low German]] reflects the fact that these dialects belong to the lowlands stretching towards the [[North Sea]]. The widespread but mistaken impression that Hochdeutsch is so-called because it is perceived to be "good German" has led to use of the supposedly less judgmental {{lang|de|Standarddeutsch}} ("Standard German"), {{lang|de|deutsche Standardsprache}} ("German standard language"). On the other hand, the "standard" written languages of Switzerland and Austria have each been codified as standards distinct from that used in Germany. For this reason, "Hochdeutsch" or "High German", originally a mere geographic designation, applies unproblematically to [[Swiss Standard German]] and [[Austrian Standard German]] as well as to [[German Standard German]] and may be preferred for that reason.<ref>Schmidlin, Regula. 2011. ''Die Vielfalt des Deutschen: Gebrauch, Einschätzung und Kodifizierung einer plurizentrischen Sprache.'' Berlin: de Gruyter.</ref>