Editing High German languages

{{short description|West Germanic language family}}
{{about|the family of regional language varieties|the Standard High German language|Standard German}}
{{pp-pc}}
{{Infobox language family
| name          = High German
| region        = [[German-speaking Europe]], [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[Brazil]], [[Chile]], [[Argentina]], [[Paraguay]], [[Colonia Tovar]]
*[[Central German|Central]] and [[Upper German|southern]] [[Germany]]
*[[Austria]] 
*[[Italy]] in [[South Tyrol]]
*[[Liechtenstein]]
*[[Luxembourg]]
*[[German-speaking Switzerland|Switzerland]]
*[[German-speaking Community of Belgium|Belgium]]
*[[Alsace]] and [[Lorraine]]
| familycolor   = Indo-European
| fam2          = [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
| fam3          = [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
| fam4          = [[Elbe Germanic]]
| child1        = [[Central German]]
| child2        = [[Upper German]]
| glotto        = high1289
| glottorefname = High German
}}

The '''High German languages''' ({{langx|de|hochdeutsche Mundarten}}, i.e. ''High German dialects''), or simply '''High German''' ({{lang|de|Hochdeutsch}} {{IPA|de|ˈhoːxˌdɔɪ̯t͡ʃ||audio=De-Hochdeutsch.ogg}}) – not to be confused with [[Standard German|Standard High German]] which is commonly also called "High German" – comprise the [[variety (linguistics)|varieties]] of [[German language|German]] spoken south of the [[Benrath line|Benrath]] and [[Uerdingen line|Uerdingen]] [[isogloss]]es, i.e., in central and southern [[Germany]], [[Austria]], [[Liechtenstein]], [[Switzerland]], [[Luxembourg]], and eastern [[Belgium]], as well as in neighbouring portions of [[France]] ([[Alsace]] and northern [[Lorraine]]), [[Italy]] ([[South Tyrol]]), the [[Czech Republic]] ([[Bohemia]]), and [[Poland]] ([[Upper Silesia]]). They are also spoken in [[diaspora]]s in [[Romania]], [[Russia]], [[Canada]], the [[United States]], [[Brazil]], [[Argentina]], [[Mexico]], [[Chile]], and [[Namibia]].

High German is marked by the [[High German consonant shift]], separating it from [[Low German]] (Low Saxon) and [[Low Franconian languages|Low Franconian]] (including [[Dutch language|Dutch]]) within the continental [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]] [[dialect continuum]]. "Low" and "high" refer to the lowland and highland geographies typically found in the two areas.

==Classification==
[[File:Map of German dialects (according to Wiesinger & König).png|350px|thumb|[[German dialects|German dialect area]], defined as all [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]] varieties using [[Standard German]] as their literary language:<ref>W. Heeringa: ''Measuring Dialect Pronunciation Differences using Levenshtein Distance.'' University of Groningen, 2009, pp. 232–234.</ref><ref>Peter Wiesinger: ''Die Einteilung der deutschen Dialekte.'' In: Werner Besch, Ulrich Knoop, Wolfgang Putschke, Herbert Ernst Wiegand (Hrsg.): ''Dialektologie. Ein Handbuch zur deutschen und allgemeinen Dialektforschung,'' 2.&nbsp;Halbband. de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1983, ISBN 3-11-009571-8, pp. 807–900.</ref><ref>Werner König: ''dtv-Atlas Deutsche Sprache.'' 19. Auflage. dtv, München 2019, ISBN 978-3-423-03025-0, pp. 230.</ref><ref>C. Giesbers: ''Dialecten op de grens van twee talen.'' Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, 2008, pp. 233.</ref>

{{legend|#df772a|[[Frisian languages|Frisian]]}}
{{legend|#8c506e|[[Low Franconian]]}}
{{legend|#3e9abc|[[Low Saxon]] or [[Low German]]}}
{{legend|#f5ef47|[[Central German]]}}
{{legend|#ecca09|[[Upper German]]}}]]

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 [[Standard German]], [[Yiddish]] and [[Luxembourgish]]. It refers to the [[Central Uplands]] (''[[Mittelgebirge]]'') and [[Alps|Alpine]] areas of central and southern Germany; it also includes Luxembourg, Austria, Liechtenstein, and most of Switzerland. This is opposed to [[Low German]], which is spoken in the lowlands and along the flat sea coasts of the [[North German Plain]].<ref>Compare the definition of "high" in the Oxford English Dictionary (Concise Edition): "... situated far above ground, sealevel, etc; upper, inland, as ... High German".</ref>

High German can be subdivided into [[Upper German]] (''Oberdeutsch'') and [[Central German|Central or Middle German]] (''Mitteldeutsch'', this includes [[Luxembourgish language|Luxembourgish]], which itself is now a [[standard language]]).<ref>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]<!-- : „In den ''niederdeutschen'' (und ''niederfränkischen'') Mundarten [...], während in den ''hochdeutschen'' Mundarten (unter diesem Terminus werden die ''mitteldeutschen'' und ''oberdeutschen'' Mundarten zusammengefasst) [...]“ -->
* 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
</ref>

High German varieties are distinguished from other West Germanic varieties in that they took part in the [[High German consonant shift]] ({{circa|AD 500}}) to various degrees. To see this, compare the following:<ref>[[Orrin W. Robinson (philologist)|Robinson, Orrin]]. Old English and its Closest Relatives. Routledge, 1994.</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2023}}

{| class="wikitable"
! [[English language|English]] !! [[Low German]] !! Standard High German !! Consonant shift
|-
| pan || Pann || Pfanne || {{IPA|[p]}} to {{IPA|[p͡f]}}
|-
| two || twee || zwei || {{IPA|[t]}} to {{IPA|[t͡s]}}
|-
| make || maken || machen || {{IPA|[k]}} to {{IPA|[x]}}
|}
In the southernmost [[High Alemannic German|High Alemannic]] dialects, there is a further shift: ''Sack'' (like English/Low German "sack/Sack") is pronounced {{IPA|[z̥ak͡x]}} ({{IPA|[k]}} to {{IPA|[k͡x]}}).

==History==
{{see also|Theodiscus}}
[[Old High German]] evolved from about 500 AD. Around 1200 the [[Swabian German|Swabian]] and [[East Franconian German|East Franconian]] varieties of [[Middle High German]] became dominant as a court and poetry language (''[[Minnesang]]'') under the rule of the House of [[Hohenstaufen]].

The term "High German" as spoken in central and southern Germany ([[Upper Saxony]], [[Franconia]], [[Swabia]], [[Bavaria]]) and [[Austria]] was first documented in the 15th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Understanding High German: The Standardized Linguistic Bridge of the German-Speaking World |url=https://www.verbalplanet.com/learn-german/blog/what-is-high-german-language.asp |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=www.verbalplanet.com}}</ref>

Gradually driving back Low German variants since the [[Early modern period]], the [[Early New High German]] varieties, especially the [[East Central German]] of the [[Luther Bible]], formed an important basis for the development of Standard German.<ref>Russ, Charles V.J. ''The German Language Today: A Linguistic Introduction.'' Routledge, 1994, p. 15f.</ref>

==Family==
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2024}}
Divisions between subfamilies within Germanic are rarely precisely defined, because most form continuous clines, with adjacent [[dialect]]s being mutually intelligible and more separated ones not. In particular, there has never been an original "[[Proto-language|Proto-High German]]". For this and other reasons, the idea of representing the relationships between [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]] 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.

{{tree list}}
* High German
** '''[[Central German]]''' (German: {{lang|de|Mitteldeutsch}})
*** ''[[East Central German]]''
**** [[Thuringian dialect|Thuringian]]
**** [[Upper Saxon German|Upper Saxon]], including [[Erzgebirgisch]]
**** [[South Marchian dialect|South Marchian]]
**** [[Lusatian dialects|Lusatian]]
**** [[Silesian German|Silesian]] (now mostly spoken by the [[German minority in Poland|German minority]] in [[Upper Silesia]])
**** [[High Prussian]] (nearly extinct)
*** ''[[West Central German]]''
**** [[Central Franconian dialects|Central Franconian]]
***** [[Ripuarian language|Ripuarian]]
***** [[Moselle Franconian dialects]], including [[Luxembourgish]]
****** [[Hunsrik language]] (from the [[Hunsrückisch dialect]])
**** [[Rhine Franconian dialects|Rhine Franconian]]
***** [[Palatine German language|Palatine]], including [[Lorraine Franconian]] (France)
****** [[Pennsylvania Dutch language|Pennsylvania Dutch]] (in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]])
***** [[Hessian dialects|Hessian]]
** '''[[High Franconian German|High Franconian]]''', in the transitional area between Central and Upper German
*** ''[[East Franconian German|East Franconian]]''
*** ''[[South Franconian German|South Franconian]]''
** '''[[Upper German]]''' (German: {{lang|de|Oberdeutsch}})
*** ''[[Alemannic German|Alemannic]]'' in the broad sense or West Upper German (German: ''Westoberdeutsch''), including [[Swiss German]] dialects
**** [[Swabian German|Swabian]]
**** [[Alemannic German|Alemannic]] in the strict sense
***** [[Low Alemannic German|Low Alemannic]], including [[Alsatian language|Alsatian]] and [[Basel German]]
***** [[High Alemannic German|High Alemannic]]
***** [[Highest Alemannic German|Highest Alemannic]]
*** ''[[Bavarian language|Bavarian]]'' or East Upper German (German: ''Ostoberdeutsch''), including [[Austrian German]] dialects
**** [[Northern Bavarian]] 
**** [[Central Bavarian]], including [[Viennese German|Viennese]]
**** [[Southern Bavarian]], including [[Mòcheno language|Mócheno]] in [[Trentino]], Italy
***** [[Gottscheerish]]
**** [[Cimbrian language|Cimbrian]], nearly extinct 
**** [[Hutterite German]] (in [[Canada]] and the [[United States]])
*** ''[[Lombardic language|Lombardic]]'', extinct
** '''[[Yiddish]]''', evolved from Middle High German
{{tree list/end}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Germany}}
* [[High Germany]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [[Friedrich Maurer (linguist)|Friedrich Maurer]] (1942), ''Nordgermanen und Alemannen:  Studien zur germanischen und frühdeutschen Sprachgeschichte, Stammes- und Volkskunde'', Strasbourg:  Hünenburg, [designation of High German languages as '''[[Irminones|Irminonic]]'''].

{{Germanic languages}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:High German Languages}}
[[Category:High German languages| ]]
[[Category:German dialects]]
[[Category:West Germanic languages]]