German Deutsch
Pronunciation:	[dɔɪ̯tʃ]
Spoken in:	Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and in some border areas, Belgium, Italy and Russia as a minority language and Alsace in the form of a dialect.
Region:	Central Europe, Western Europe
Total speakers:	Native speakers: ca. 105 million [1][2] Non-native speakers: ca. 80 million[1] [1]
Ranking:	10
Language family:	Indo-European  Germanic   West Germanic    German
Writing system:	Latin alphabet (German variant)
Official status
Official language in:	Austria Belgium Province of Bolzano-Bozen, Italy Germany Liechtenstein Luxembourg Switzerland European Union (official and working language) Further official standings in: Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. ... A current understanding of Western Europe. ... This is a list of languages, ordered by the number of native-language speakers, with some data for second-language use. ... A language family is a group of languages related by descent from a common proto-language. ... For other uses, see Indo-European. ... The West Germanic languages constitute the largest branch of the Germanic family of languages and include languages such as German, English and Frisian, as well as Dutch and Afrikaans. ... Writing systems of the world today. ... Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz redirects here. ... The German alphabet consists of the same 26 letters as the modern Roman alphabet: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J... The Province of Bolzano-Bozen[1][2][3] (Italian: ; German: ; Ladin: Provinzia autonoma de Bulsan), also referred to in English as Alto Adige (from the Italian name) or South Tyrol (from the German name Südtirol) is an autonomous province of Italy. ... Krahule/Blaufuß, Slovakia (Official municipal language)[3] Namibia (National language; official language 1984-90) [4] Poland(Auxiliary language in several municipalities) [5] Vatican City (Administrative and commanding language of the Swiss Guard) [6] Žiar nad Hronom District in the Banská Bystrica Region of Slovakia Krahule is a village and municipality in Žiar nad Hronom District in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. ... Papal Swiss Guards in traditional uniforms Swiss Guards are Swiss mercenary soldiers who have served as bodyguards, ceremonial guards, and palace guards at foreign European courts from the late 15th century until the present day (in the form of the Papal Swiss Guard). ... Recognised minority language in: Czech Republic [7] Denmark [8] Hungary [9] Romania [10] Slovakia [1],[3]
Regulated by:	no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	de
ISO 639-2:	ger (B)	deu (T)
ISO 639-3:	variously: deu – Modern German gmh – Middle High German goh – Old High German gsw – Swiss German swg – Swabian German gct – Alemán Coloniero wae – Walser German bar – Austro-Bavarian yid – Saxon-Thuringian Dialect mhn – Yiddish nds – Mócheno sxu – Low German cim – Upper Saxon sli – Cimbrian wep – Lower Silesian language pfl – Palatinate German pdt – Plautdietsch vmf – Main-Franconian ksh – Kölsch pdc – Pennsylvania German language geh – Hutterite German ltz – Luxembourgish language rip – Ripuarian (language) uln – Unserdeutsch
Major German-speaking communities
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

The German language (Deutsch, [dɔʏ̯tʃ] (help· info)) is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. German is closely related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 100 million native speakers and also about 80 million non-native speakers, and Standard German is widely taught in schools, universities and Goethe Institutes worldwide. ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages. ... ISO 639-3 is an international standard for language codes. ... German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ... Middle High German (MHG, German Mittelhochdeutsch) is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. ... The (Late Old High) German speaking area of the Holy Roman Empire around 950. ... Swiss German (Schweizerdeutsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch) is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland. ... Swabian (Schwäbisch) is one of the Alemannic dialects of High German, spoken in the region of Swabia. ... Alemán Coloniero, spoken in Colonia Tovar, is a dialect that belongs to the Low Alemannic branch of German. ... Distribution of Highest Alemannic dialects The Walser language, in German Walserdeutsch, is a group of Highest Alemannic dialects spoken in Walser settlements in parts of Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, and Austria. ... Austro-Bavarian or Bavarian is a major group of Upper German varieties. ... Yiddish (ייִדיש, Jiddisch) is a Germanic language spoken by about four million Jews throughout the world. ... Mócheno is an Upper German dialect spoken in three towns of the Fersina Valley (German: Fersental, Italian: Valle del Fersina), in Trentino-South Tyrol, northeastern Italy. ... Low German (also called Niederdeutsch, Plattdeutsch or Plattdüütsch) is a name for the regional language varieties of the West Germanic languages spoken mainly in Northern Germany where it is officially called Niederdeutsch (Low German), and in Eastern Netherlands where it is officially called Nedersaksisch (Low Saxon). Low refers to... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Cimbrian refers to any of several local Upper German dialects spoken in northeastern Italy. ... Westphalian is one of the major dialect groups of West Low German. ... Palatinate German (Pfälzisch/Pälzisch) is a West Franconian dialect of German which is spoken in the Rhine Valley between the cities of Zweibrücken, Kaiserslautern, and Mannheim. ... Plautdietsch or Mennonite Low German, is a language (or groups of dialects of Low German) spoken in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Honduras, Belize, and Argentina by over 300,000 Mennonites, members of a religious group that fled from Holland and Belgium in the 1500s to escape... Main-Franconian is group of German dialects being part of the East Franconian group. ... The term Kölsch refers to: the top-fermented Kölsch beer brewed in and around Cologne, Germany the Kölsch dialect, spoken in Cologne, Germany This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Kölsch is a very closely related small set of dialects, or variants, of the Ripuarian Middle German group of languages. ... Hutterite German (Hutterisch) is an Upper German dialect of the Austro-Bavarian variety of the German language, which is spoken by Hutterite communities in Canada and the United States. ... Luxembourgish (Luxembourgish: , French: , German: , Walloon: ), also spelled Luxemburgish, is a West Germanic language spoken in Luxembourg. ... For other uses, see Ripuarian (disambiguation). ... Unserdeutsch (literally, Our German) is a German-based creole language spoken primarily in Papua New Guinea and the northeast of Australia. ... The Unicode Standard, Version 5. ... Image File history File links De-Deutsch. ... The West Germanic languages constitute the largest branch of the Germanic family of languages and include languages such as German, English and Frisian, as well as Dutch and Afrikaans. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... “Native Language” redirects here. ... Standard German is the prescriptive norm variant of the German language used as a written language, in formal contexts, and for communication between different dialect areas. ... Goethe in der Campagna The Goethe-Institut (GI) is a German non-profit organisation whose mission is to promote German language and culture outside of the German-speaking countries. ...

Geographic distribution

Europe

Main article: German-speaking Europe

Further information: German as a minority language

German is spoken primarily in Germany (95%), Austria (89%) and Switzerland (64%) together with Liechtenstein, Luxembourg (D-A-CH-Li-Lux) constituting the countries where German is the majority language. German language skills of European Union citizens. ... German-speaking minorities live in many countries and on all six inhabited continents: the countries of the former Soviet Union, Poland, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Belgium, Italy, the United States, Latin America, Namibia, Israel, and Australia. ...

Other European German-speaking communities are found in Italy (Alto Adige/Südtirol), in the East Cantons of Belgium, and in some border villages of the former South Jutland County (in German, Nordschleswig, in Danish, Sønderjylland) of Denmark. South Tyrol (German Autonome Provinz Bozen-Südtirol, Italian Provincia autonoma di Bolzano-Alto Adige , Ladin Provinzia autonóma de Bulsan-Südtirol) is an autonomous province of Italy. ... The German-speaking Community of Belgium or Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgien in German is one of several federal communities in Belgium. ... Sønderjyllands Amt (English: South Jutland County) is a county (Danish, amt) on the Jutland peninsula in southern Denmark. ...

Some German-speaking communities still survive in parts of Romania, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and above all Russia and Kazakhstan, although forced expulsions after World War II and massive emigration to Germany in the 1980s and 1990s have depopulated most of these communities. It is also spoken by German-speaking foreign populations and some of their descendants in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Siberia in Russia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia and Slovenia). For other uses, see Scandinavia (disambiguation). ... This article is about Siberia as a whole. ... Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in the Latin alphabet, Југославија in Cyrillic; English: South Slavia, or literary The Land of South Slavs) describes three political entities that existed one at a time on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century. ... This article is about the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ... Not to be confused with Republika Srpska. ...

In Luxembourg and the surrounding areas, big parts of the native population speak German dialects, and some people also master standard German (especially in Luxembourg), although in the French regions of Alsace (German: Elsass) and Lorraine (German: Lothringen) French has replaced the local German dialects as the official language, even though it has not been fully replaced on the street. Elsaß redirects here. ... (Région flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Regional President Departments Meurthe-et-Moselle Meuse Moselle Vosges Arrondissements 19 Cantons 157 Communes 2,337 Statistics Land area1 23,547 km² Population (Ranked 11th)  - January 1, 2006 est. ...

Overseas

Main article: German diaspora

Examples of German language in Namibian everyday life.

Outside of Europe and the former Soviet Union, the largest German-speaking communities are to be found in the United States, Canada, Brazil and in Argentina where millions of Germans migrated in the last 200 years; but the vast majority of their descendants no longer speak German. Additionally, German-speaking communities can be found in the former German colony of Namibia independent from South Africa since 1990, as well as in the other countries of German emigration such as Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Venezuela (where Alemán Coloniero developed), South Africa and Australia. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (841x557, 179 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): German language Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (841x557, 179 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): German language Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... German colonial empire This is a list of former German Empire colonies and protectorates (German: Schutzgebiete), the German colonial empire. ... Alemán Coloniero, spoken in Colonia Tovar, is a dialect that belongs to the Low Alemannic branch of German. ...

South America

In Brazil the largest concentrations of German speakers are in Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch was developed), Santa Catarina, Paraná, and Espírito Santo, and large German-speaking descendant communities in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. In the 20th century, over 100,000 German political refugees and invited entrepreneurs settled in Latin America, such as Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic to establish German-speaking enclaves, and there is a reportedly small German immigration to Puerto Rico. Flag of Rio Grande do Sul See other Brazilian States Capital Porto Alegre Largest City Porto Alegre Area 282,062 km² Population   - Total   - Density 10. ... Riograndenser Hunsrückisch (hunsriqueano riograndense) is a Brazilian variation of the German dialect Hunsrückisch, which is originally from the Hunsrück region of Germany (Rheinland-Pfalz). ... Capital Florianópolis Largest city Joinville Demonym Catarinense or Barriga-verde Government  -  Governor Luiz Henrique  -  Vice Governor Leonel Pavan Area  -  Total 95. ... Capital (and largest city) Curitiba Demonym Paranaense Government  -  Governor Roberto Requião  -  Vice Governor Orlando Pessuti Area  -  Total 281. ... Motto Trabalha e Confia (Portuguese) Work and Trust [in God] Capital Vitória Largest city Vila Velha Demonym Capixaba or Espiritossantense Government  -  Governor Paulo Hartung  -  Vice Governor Ricardo Ferraço Area  -  Total 46. ... For other uses, see Refugee (disambiguation). ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... During the mid-19th century, hundreds of German families fled Europe and immigrated to the New World in search of a better life. ...

North America

The United States has the largest concentration of German speakers outside of Europe; an indication of this presence can be found in the names of such villages and towns as New Leipzig, Munich, Karlsruhe, and Strasburg, North Dakota, and New Braunfels, Texas. Though over the course of the 20th century many of the descendants of 18th and 19th-century immigrants ceased speaking German at home, small populations of elderly (as well as some younger) speakers can be found in Pennsylvania (Amish, Hutterites, Dunkards and some Mennonites historically spoke Pennsylvania Dutch (a West Central German variety) and Hutterite German), Kansas (Mennonites and Volga Germans), North Dakota (Hutterite Germans, Mennonites, Russian Germans, Volga Germans, and Baltic Germans), South Dakota, Montana, Texas (Texas German), Wisconsin, Indiana, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Early twentieth century immigration was often to St. Louis, Chicago, New York, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Most of the post-World War II wave are in the New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago urban areas, and in Florida, Arizona and California where large communities of retired German, Swiss and Austrian expatriates live. New Leipzig is a city located in Grant County, North Dakota. ... Munich is a city located in Cavalier County, North Dakota. ... Karlsruhe is a city located in McHenry County, North Dakota. ... Strasburg is a city in Emmons County, North Dakota in the United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Bismarck Largest city Fargo Area  Ranked 19th in the US  - Total 70,762 sq mi (183,272 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 340 miles (545 km)  - % water 2. ... New Braunfels is a city located in Texas, United States. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... This article is about Old Order Amish, but also refers to other Amish sects. ... Like the two best-known Anabaptist denominations, the Amish and the Mennonites, the Hutterites had their beginnings in the Radical Reformation of the 16th Century. ... Dunkard may mean: Dunkard Township, Pennsylvania - a township in Greene County, Pennsylvania The term has been used to describe any one of several Christian pietist sects such as: Dunkard Brethren Old German Baptist Brethren Schwarzenau Brethren Category: ... The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations based on the teachings and tradition of Menno Simons. ... Pennsylvania German, or more commonly Pennsylvania Dutch, (Deitsch, Pennsylvania Deutsch, Pennsilfaanisch-Deitsch, Pennsilfaani-Deitsch, Pennsilweni-Deitsch, Pennsilfaanisch), is a West Central German variety spoken by 150,000 to 250,000 people in North America. ... West Central German (Westmitteldeutsch) is a High German dialect family in the German language. ... Hutterite German (Hutterisch) is an Upper German dialect of the Austro-Bavarian variety of the German language, which is spoken by Hutterite communities in Canada and the United States. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Volga German pioneer family commemorative statue in Victoria, Kansas, USA. The Volga Germans (German: or Russlanddeutsche) were ethnic Germans living near the Volga River in the region of southern European Russia around Saratov and to the south, maintaining German culture, language, traditions and religions: Evangelical Lutheranism, Reformed and Roman Catholicism... The German minority in Russia and the Soviet Union was created from several sources and in several waves. ... The Baltic Germans (German: , or Baltendeutsche) were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today form the countries of Estonia and Latvia. ... Official language(s) English Capital Pierre Largest city Sioux Falls Area  Ranked 17th  - Total 77,116[1] sq mi (199,905 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 380 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... For other uses, see Texas (disambiguation). ... Texas German is a dialect of the German language that is spoken by descendants of German immigrants who founded the town of Fredericksburg, Texas in 1846. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... For other uses, see Indiana (disambiguation). ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... For other uses, see Oklahoma (disambiguation). ... Nickname: Location in the state of Missouri Coordinates: , Country State County Independent City Government  - Mayor Francis G. Slay (D) Area  - City  66. ... For other uses, see Chicago (disambiguation). ... This article is about the state. ... City nickname: The Steel City Location in the state of Pennsylvania Founded 1758 Mayor Tom Murphy (Dem) Area  - Total  - Water 151. ... Cincinnati, Ohio viewed from the SW, across the Ohio River from Kentucky. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... For other uses, see Philadelphia (disambiguation) and Philly. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Cities with at least a million inhabitants in 2006 An urban area is an area with an increased density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. ... This article is about the U.S. State of Florida. ... Official language(s) English Spoken language(s) English 74. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ...

In Canada there are people of German ancestry throughout the country and especially in the western cities such as Kelowna. German is also spoken in Ontario and southern Nova Scotia. There is a large and vibrant community in the city of Kitchener, Ontario. German immigrants were instrumental in the country's three largest urban areas: Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, but post-WWII immigrants managed to preserve a fluency in the German language in their respective neighborhoods and sections. In the first half of the 20th century, over a million German-Canadians made the language one of Canada's most spoken after French. Locator map for Kelowna, BC Kelowna (2001 population 96,288, metropolitan population 147,739) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the interior of British Columbia, Canada. ... This article is about the Canadian province. ... Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (Latin: One defends and the other conquers) Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Regional Municipality Official languages English (de facto) Government Lieutenant-Governor Mayann E. Francis Premier Rodney MacDonald (PC) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament House seats 11 Senate seats 10 Confederation July 1, 1867... , The City of Kitchener (IPA ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. ... Nickname: Motto: Concordia Salus (well-being through harmony) Coordinates: , Country Province Region Montréal Founded 1642 Established 1832 Government  - Mayor Gérald Tremblay Area [1][2][3]  - City 365. ... For other uses, see Vancouver (disambiguation). ... German-Canadians are those Canadians of German decent. ...

In Mexico there are also large populations of German ancestry, mainly in the cities of: Mexico City, Puebla, Mazatlán, Tapachula, and larger populations scattered in the states of Chihuahua, Durango, and Zacatecas. German ancestry is also said to be found in neighboring towns around Guadalajara, Jalisco and much of Northern Mexico, where German influence was immersed into the Mexican culture. Nickname: Location of Mexico City Coordinates: , Country Federal entity Boroughs The 16 delegaciones Founded c. ... The Mexican state of Puebla is located in the center of the country, to the east of Mexico City. ... Coordinates: , Country State Municipality Mazatlán Government  - Mayor Alejandro Higuera Osuna Area  - Municipality 3,068. ... Tapachula is a city in the Mexican state of Chiapas. ... THEY SUC |native_name = |nickname = Lady of the Desert |settlement_type = |motto = |image_skyline = |imagesize = |image_caption = |image_flag = Mexico stateflags Chihuahua. ... Durango (IPA pronunciation ) is one of the constituent states of Mexico. ... Zacatecas is one of the 31 constituent states of Mexico. ... Coordinates: , Country State Foundation 1542 Government  - Mayor Alfonso Petersen Farah ( PAN) Area  - City 187. ...

Plautdietsch/Plattdeitsch is a large minority language spoken in the north by the Mennonite communities, and is spoken by more than 200,000 people in Mexico, while standard German is spoken by the affluent German communities in Puebla, Mexico City, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi and Quintana Roo. Plautdietsch or Mennonite Low German, is a language (or groups of dialects of Low German) spoken in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Honduras, Belize, and Argentina by over 300,000 Mennonites, members of a religious group that fled from Holland and Belgium in the 1500s to escape... A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a country. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      The... Other Mexican States Capital Monterrey Other major cities Area 64,924 km² Ranked 13th Population (2000 census) 3,826,240 Ranked 9th Governor (2003-09) José Natividad González Parás (PRI/PVEM) Federal Deputies (11) PRI/PVEM = 10 PAN = 1 Federal Senators PAN = 2 PRI = 1 ISO 3166-2 Postal abbr. ... San Luis Potosí is the name of a city and a state in Mexico. ... Quintana Roo is a state of Mexico, on the eastern part of the Yucatán Peninsula. ...

Creoles

There is an important German creole being studied and recovered, named Unserdeutsch, spoken in the former German colony of New Guinea and in North Australia, by few elderly people. The risk of its extinction is serious and efforts to revive interest in the language are being implemented by scholars. Unserdeutsch (literally, Our German) is a German-based creole language spoken primarily in Papua New Guinea and the northeast of Australia. ...

Internet

According to Global Reach (2004), 6.9% of the Internet population is German.^[11][12] According to Netz-tipp (2002), 7.7% of webpages are written in German,^[13] making it second only to English. They also report that 12% of Google's users use its German interface.^[13] Global Reach is a business initiative to increase the access between a company and their current and potential customers through the use of the Internet. ...

Older statistics: Babel (1998) found somewhat similar demographics.^[14] FUNREDES^[15] (1998) and Vilaweb^[16] (2000) both found that German is the third most popular language used by websites, after English and Japanese.

History

Main article: History of German

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.(December 2007) Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.

The German-speaking area of the Holy Roman Empire around 962.

The history of the language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, separating High German dialects from common West Germanic. The earliest testimonies of Old High German are from scattered Elder Futhark inscriptions, especially in Alemannic, from the 6th century, the earliest glosses (Abrogans) date to the 8th and the oldest coherent texts (the Hildebrandslied, the Muspilli and the Merseburg Incantations) to the 9th century. Old Saxon at this time belongs to the North Sea Germanic cultural sphere, and Low Saxon should fall under German rather than Anglo-Frisian influence during the Holy Roman Empire. The history of German as separate from common West Germanic begins in the Early Middle Ages with the High German consonant shift. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1114x1585, 1997 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): German language History of German ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1114x1585, 1997 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): German language History of German ... This article is about the medieval empire. ... High German subdivides into Upper German (green) and Central German (blue), and is distinguished from Low German (yellow). ... Human migration denotes any movement of groups of people from one locality to another, rather than of individual wanderers. ... Subdivisions Central German Upper German High German (in German, Hochdeutsch) is any of several German dialects spoken in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Luxembourg (as well as in neighbouring portions of Belgium, France (Alsace), Italy, Poland, and Romania (Transylvania) and in some areas of former colonial settlement, for example in... West Germanic is the largest branch of the Germanic family of languages, including such languages as English, Dutch, and German. ... The (Late Old High) German speaking area of the Holy Roman Empire around 950. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... The term Alemannic can have several meanings. ... First page of Codex Abrogans The Abrogans, or Codex Abrogans, is probably the oldest book in the German language. ... The Lay of Hildebrand (Das Hildebrandslied), is a unique example of Old German alliterative poetry, written about the year 800 on the first and last pages of a theological manuscript by two monks of the monastery of Fulda. ... The Muspilli is one of the sole two substantial surviving fragments of Old High German epic poetry (the other being the Hildebrandslied), dating to ca. ... The Merseburg Incantations The Merseburg Incantations (German: die Merseburger Zaubersprüche) are two medieval magic spells, charms or incantations, written in Old High German. ... Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, is a Germanic language. ... Also referred to as Ingaevones, North Sea Germans (Ingwäonen, Nordsee-Germanen in German). ... Low Saxon (in Low Saxon, Nedersaksisch, Neddersassisch, Plattdüütsch or Nedderdüütsch) is any of a variety of Low German dialects spoken in northern Germany and the Netherlands. ... The Anglo-Frisian languages (also known as Ingvaeonic languages or North Sea Germanic languages) are a group of West Germanic languages consisting of Old English, Old Frisian, and their descendants. ... This article is about the medieval empire. ...

As Germany was divided into many different states, the only force working for a unification or standardization of German during a period of several hundred years was the general preference of writers trying to write in a way that could be understood in the largest possible area. For other uses, see State (disambiguation). ... A standard language (also standard dialect or standardized dialect) is a particular variety of a language that has been given either legal or quasi-legal status. ...

When Martin Luther translated the Bible (the New Testament in 1522 and the Old Testament, published in parts and completed in 1534) he based his translation mainly on the bureaucratic standard language used in Saxony (sächsische Kanzleisprache) also known as Meißner-Deutsch (Meißner-German), which was the most widely understood language at this time, because the region it was spoken in was quite influential amongst the German states.^{[citation needed]} This language was based on Eastern Upper and Eastern Central German dialects and preserved much of the grammatical system of Middle High German (unlike the spoken German dialects in Central and Upper Germany that already at that time began to lose the genitive case and the preterite tense). In the beginning, copies of the Bible had a long list for each region, which translated words unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics rejected Luther's translation in the beginning and tried to create their own Catholic standard (gemeines Deutsch) — which, however, only differed from 'Protestant German' in some minor details. It took until the middle of the 18th century to create a standard that was widely accepted, thus ending the period of Early New High German. In 1901 the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a complete standardization of German language in written form while the Deutsche Bühnensprache (literally: German stage-language) had already established spelling-rules for German three years earlier which were later to become obligatory for general German pronunciation. Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk,[1] priest, professor, theologian, and church reformer. ... For other uses, see Bible (disambiguation). ... This article is about the Christian scriptures. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Note: Judaism... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Early New High German, or Early Modern German, is the direct ancestor of the modern German language, and was used from 1350 to 1750. ...

Animation of the changing geography of the German Sprachraum in Europe.

German used to be the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire. It indicated that the speaker was a merchant, an urbanite, not their nationality. Some cities, such as Prague (German: Prag) and Budapest (Buda, German: Ofen), were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain. Others, such as Bratislava(German: Pressburg), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. A few cities such as Milan (German: Mailand) remained primarily non-German. However, most cities were primarily German during this time, such as Prague, Budapest, Bratislava (German: Pressburg), Zagreb (German: Agram), and Ljubljana (German: Laibach), though they were surrounded by territory that spoke other languages. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1248x1472, 2115 KB) The map shows the emergence of the German linguistic area in the course of the so-called German settlement of the east in the period of time from the 7th until the 19th centuries. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1248x1472, 2115 KB) The map shows the emergence of the German linguistic area in the course of the so-called German settlement of the east in the period of time from the 7th until the 19th centuries. ... Habsburg (sometimes spelled Hapsburg, but never so in official use) was one of the major ruling houses of Europe. ... A merchant making up the account by Shiatsus Hokusai Merchants function as professionals who deal with trade, dealing in commodities that they do not produce themselves, in order to produce profit. ... For other uses, see Prague (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Budapest (disambiguation). ... Buda (German: Ofen, Croatian: Budim, Slovak: Budín, Serbian: Будим or Budim, Turkish: Budin) is the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest on the right bank of the Danube. ... Germanization (also spelled Germanisation) is either the spread of the German language and culture either by force or assimilation, or the adaptation of a foreign word to the German language in linguistics, much like the Romanization of many languages which do not use the Latin alphabet. ... , Nickname: Beauty on the Danube, City of peace Country  Slovakia Region Districts 5  - Bratislava I  - Bratislava II  - Bratislava III  - Bratislava IV  - Bratislava V Rivers Elevation 134 m (440 ft) Coordinates , Highest point Devínska Kobyla  - elevation 514 m (1,686 ft) Lowest point Danube River  - elevation 126 m (413 ft... Type Anti-tank Nationality Joint France/Germany Era Cold War, modern Launch platform Individual, Vehicle Target Vehicle, Fortification History Builder MBDA, Bharat Dynamics (under license) Date of design 70s Production period since 1972 Service duration since 1972 Operators 41 countries Variants MILAN 1, MILAN 2, MILAN 2T, MILAN 3, MILAN... Location of Zagreb within Croatia Coordinates: , Country RC diocese 1094 Free royal city 1242 Unified 1850 Government  - Mayor Milan Bandić Area [1]  - Total 641. ... Location in Slovenia Coordinates: , Country Founded AD 15 (as Colonia Iulia Aemona) Government  - Mayor and governor Zoran Janković (Lista Zorana Jankovića) Area  - Total 275. ...

Until about 1800, standard German was almost only a written language. At this time, people in urban northern Germany, who spoke dialects very different from Standard German, learned it almost like a foreign language and tried to pronounce it as close to the spelling as possible. Prescriptive pronunciation guides used to consider northern German pronunciation to be the standard. However, the actual pronunciation of standard German varies from region to region. Northern Germany is the the geographic area of the five German states Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen and Schleswig-Holstein in the German Lowlands known as the Northern German Plain with Low German as the historic language (see: Benrath line). ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

Media and written works are almost all produced in standard German (often called Hochdeutsch in German) which is understood in all areas where German is spoken, except by pre-school children in areas which speak only dialect, for example Switzerland and Austria. However, in this age of television, even they now usually learn to understand Standard German before school age. Child picking up book. ...

The first dictionary of the Brothers Grimm, the 16 parts of which were issued between 1852 and 1860, remains the most comprehensive guide to the words of the German language. In 1860, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, this was declared the standard definition of the German language. Official revisions of some of these rules were not issued until 1998, when the German spelling reform of 1996 was officially promulgated by governmental representatives of all German-speaking countries. Since the reform, German spelling has been in an eight-year transitional period where the reformed spelling is taught in most schools, while traditional and reformed spellings co-exist in the media. See German spelling reform of 1996 for an overview of the public debate concerning the reform with some major newspapers and magazines and several known writers refusing to adopt it. For other uses, see Brothers Grimm (disambiguation). ... Duden is a German dictionary, first published by Konrad Duden in 1880, currently in its 23rd edition. ... The German spelling reform of 1996 (Rechtschreibreform) is based on an international agreement signed in Vienna in July 1996 by the governments of the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, a quadrilingual country. ... The German spelling reform of 1996 (Rechtschreibreform) is based on an international agreement signed in Vienna in July 1996 by the governments of the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, a quadrilingual country. ...

The spread of the German language until around 1945 in Central Europe. Orange marks Lower German, blue Middle German and green Upper German dialects.

The German spelling reform of 1996 led to public controversy indeed to considerable dispute. Some state parliaments (Bundesländer) would not accept it (North Rhine Westphalia and Bavaria). The dispute landed at one point in the highest court which made a short issue of it, claiming that the states had to decide for themselves and that only in schools could the reform be made the official rule - everybody else could continue writing as they had learned it. After 10 years, without any intervention by the federal parliament, a major yet incomplete revision was installed in 2006, just in time for the new school year of 2006. In 2007, some venerable spellings will be finally invalidated even though they caused little or no trouble. The only sure and easily recognizable symptom of a text's being in compliance with the reform is the -ss at the end of words, like in dass and muss. Classic spelling forbade this ending, instead using daß and muß. The cause of the controversy evolved around the question whether a language is part of the culture which must be preserved or a means of communicating information which has to allow for growth. (The reformers seemed to be unimpressed by the fact that a considerable part of that culture - namely the entire German literature of the 20th century - is in the old spelling.) Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1031x651, 81 KB) new version File links The following pages link to this file: German language ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1031x651, 81 KB) new version File links The following pages link to this file: German language ... Coat of arms Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DEA Capital Düsseldorf Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) Governing parties CDU / FDP Votes in Bundesrat 6 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  34,084 km² (13,160 sq mi) Population 18,033,000...

The increasing use of English in Germany's higher education system, as well as in business and in popular culture, has led various German academics to state, not necessarily from an entirely negative perspective, that German is a language in decline in its native country. For example, Ursula Kimpel, of the University of Tübingen, said in 2005 that “German universities are offering more courses in English because of the large number of students coming from abroad. German is unfortunately a language in decline. We need and want our professors to be able to teach effectively in English.”^[17] Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen (German: Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen) is a state-supported university located on the Neckar river, in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. ...

Standard German

Main article: Standard German

Standard German originated not as a traditional dialect of a specific region, but as a written language. However, there are places where the traditional regional dialects have been replaced by standard German; this is the case in vast stretches of Northern Germany, but also in major cities in other parts of the country. Standard German is the prescriptive norm variant of the German language used as a written language, in formal contexts, and for communication between different dialect areas. ... A Specimen of typeset fonts and languages, by William Caslon, letter founder; from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. ...

Standard German differs regionally, especially between German-speaking countries, especially in vocabulary, but also in some instances of pronunciation and even grammar and orthography. This variation must not be confused with the variation of local dialects. Even though the regional varieties of standard German are only to a certain degree influenced by the local dialects, they are very distinct. German is thus considered a pluricentric language. A vocabulary is a set of words known to a person or other entity, or that are part of a specific language. ... Look up pronunciation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For the rules of English grammar, see English grammar and Disputes in English grammar. ... The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific writing system to write the language. ...

In most regions, the speakers use a continuum of mixtures from more dialectal varieties to more standard varieties according to situation.

In the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, mixtures of dialect and standard are very seldom used, and the use of standard German is largely restricted to the written language. Therefore, this situation has been called a medial diglossia. Standard Swiss German is used in the Swiss education system. Look up Diglossia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Official status

D-A-CH-flag, an unofficial flag comprising flags of the three dominant states in the German Sprachraum.

Standard German is the only official language in Liechtenstein and Austria; it shares official status in Germany (with Danish, Frisian and Sorbian as minority languages), Switzerland (with French, Italian and Romansch), Belgium (with Dutch and French) and Luxembourg (with French and Luxembourgish). It is used as a local official language in Italy (Province of Bolzano-Bozen), as well as in the cities of Sopron (Hungary), Krahule (Slovakia) and several cities in Romania. It is the official language (with Italian) of the Vatican Swiss Guard. Image File history File links D-A-CH_Flag. ... Image File history File links D-A-CH_Flag. ... German language skills of European Union citizens. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in the countries, states, and other territories. ... This article is about the Frisian languages, as spoken in the north of the Netherlands and Germany. ... The Sorbian languages are classified under the West Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. ... Romansh (also spelled Rumantsch, Romansch or Romanche) is any of the various Rhaetian languages spoken in Switzerland. ... The Province of Bolzano-Bozen[1][2][3] (Italian: ; German: ; Ladin: Provinzia autonoma de Bulsan), also referred to in English as Alto Adige (from the Italian name) or South Tyrol (from the German name Südtirol) is an autonomous province of Italy. ... For the historical county in the Kingdom of Hungary named Sopron / Ödenburg, Sopron (county). ... Papal Swiss Guards in traditional uniforms Swiss Guards are Swiss mercenary soldiers who have served as bodyguards, ceremonial guards, and palace guards at foreign European courts from the late 15th century until the present day (in the form of the Papal Swiss Guard). ...

German has an officially recognized status as regional or auxiliary language in Denmark (