The (Late Old High) German speaking area of the Holy Roman Empire around 950.

The term Old High German (OHG, German: Althochdeutsch, german abbr. Ahd.) refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of Old High German proper to 750 for this reason. There are, however, a number of Elder Futhark inscriptions dating to the 6th century (notably the Pforzen buckle), as well as single words and many names found in Latin texts predating the 8th century. is a Middle Latin adjective referring to the Germanic vernaculars of the Early Middle Ages, first attested in 786 as both in Latin and in the vernacular. The Old High German language in Latin sources of the time is referred to as . ... In German linguistics, the Benrath line (German: Benrather Linie), jokingly also called the Weißwurstäquator, is an isogloss, or bundle of isoglosses, marking the border between the Northern Low German dialects and the High and Central German dialects in the south. ... An extinct language is a language which no longer has any native speakers, in contrast to a dead language, which is is a language which has stopped changing in grammar, vocabulary, and the complete meaning of a sentence. ... Middle High German (MHG, German Mittelhochdeutsch) is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families A language family is a group of related languages said to have descended from a common proto-language. ... The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred related languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many spoken in the Indian subcontinent (South Asia), the Iranian plateau (Southwest Asia), and Central Asia. ... The Germanic languages in Europe are divided into North (blue) and West Germanic (green and orange) Languages  Low Saxon-Low Franconian (Dutch)  High German (standard German, Schwyzerdütsch)  Insular Anglo-Frisian (English, Scots)  Continental Anglo-Frisian (Frisian)  East North Germanic (Danish, BokmÃ¥l Norwegian, Swedish)  West North Germanic (Nynorsk Norwegian... 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. ... Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... Unicode is an industry standard allowing computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in any of the worlds writing systems. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 421 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1114 × 1585 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 421 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (1114 × 1585 pixel, file size: 2. ... 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. ... The extent of the Holy Roman Empire in c. ... Centuries: 9th century - 10th century - 11th century Decades: 900s - 910s - 920s - 930s - 940s - 950s - 960s - 970s - 980s - 990s - 1000s Years: 950 951 952 953 954 955 956 957 958 959 Events Category: ... 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. ... (7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. ... The 24 runes of the Elder Futhark The Elder Futhark (or Elder Fuþark, Older Futhark, Old Futhark) is the oldest form of the runic alphabet, used by Germanic tribes for Proto-Norse and other Migration period Germanic dialects of the 2nd to 8th centuries for inscriptions on artifacts (jewelery... The Pforzen buckle is a silver belt buckle found in Pforzen, Ostallgäu. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

Characteristics

The main difference between Old High German and the West Germanic dialects from which it developed is that it underwent the Second Sound Shift or High German consonant shift. This is generally dated very approximately to the late 5th and early 6th centuries - hence dating the start of OHG to around 500. The result of this sound change is that the consonant system of German remains different from all other West Germanic languages, including English and Low German. Grammatically, however, Old High German remained very similar to Old English, Old Dutch and Old Saxon. The Germanic languages in Europe are divided into North (blue) and West Germanic (green and orange) Languages  Low Saxon-Low Franconian (Dutch)  High German (standard German, Schwyzerdütsch)  Insular Anglo-Frisian (English, Scots)  Continental Anglo-Frisian (Frisian)  East North Germanic (Danish, BokmÃ¥l Norwegian, Swedish)  West North Germanic (Nynorsk Norwegian... High German subdivides into Upper German (green) and Central German (blue), and is distinguished from Low German (yellow). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... 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... Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon[1], Old English: ) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ... Old Dutch (Also Old West Low Franconian) is a branch of Old Low Franconian spoken and written during the early middle ages (c. ... Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, is a Germanic language. ...

By the mid 11th century the many different vowels found in unstressed syllables had all been reduced to 'e'. Since these vowels were part of the grammatical endings in the nouns and verbs, their loss led to radical simplification of the inflectional grammar of German. For these reasons, 1050 is seen as the start of the Middle High German period, though in fact there are almost no texts in German for the next hundred years. Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... A noun, or noun substantive, is a word or phrase that refers to a person, place, thing, event, substance or quality. ... A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes action (bring, read), occurrence (to decompose (itself), to glitter), or a state of being (exist, live, soak, stand). Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense, aspect, mood and voice. ... Inflection of the Spanish lexeme for cat, with blue representing the masculine gender, pink representing the feminine gender, grey representing the form used for mixed-gender, and green representing the plural number. ... Middle High German (MHG, German Mittelhochdeutsch) is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. ...

Examples of vowel reduction in unstressed syllables: Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

(The Modern German forms of these words are broadly the same as in Middle High German.)

Dialects

There was no standard or supra-regional variety of Old High German - every text is written in a particular dialect, or in some cases a mixture of dialects. Broadly speaking, the main dialect divisions of Old High German seem to have been similar to those of later periods - they are based on established territorial groupings and the effects of the Second Sound Shift, which have remained influential until the present day. But because the direct evidence for Old High German consists solely of manuscripts produced in a few major ecclesiastical centres, there is no isogloss information of the sort on which modern dialect maps are based. For this reason the OHG dialects may be termed monastery dialects. A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ... Isoglosses on the Faroe Islands An isogloss is the geographical boundary of a certain linguistic feature, e. ...

The main OHG dialects, with their bishoprics and monasteries: In some Christian churches, the diocese is an administrative territorial unit governed by a bishop, sometimes also referred to as a bishopric or episcopal see, though more often the term episcopal see means the office held by the bishop. ... Buddhist monastery near Tibet A monastery is the habitation of monks. ...

• Central German
  • Middle Franconian: Trier, Echternach, Cologne
  • Rhine Franconian: Lorsch, Speyer, Worms, Mainz, Frankfurt
  • South Rhine Franconian: Weissenburg im Elsaß
  • East Franconian: Fulda, Bamberg, Würzburg
  • Thuringian: (no texts)
  • West Franconian: conjectural dialect of the Franks in Northern Gaul

• Upper German
  • Alemannic: Murbach, Reichenau, Sankt Gallen. Strasbourg
  • Bavarian: Freising, Passau, Regensburg, Augsburg, Ebersberg, Wessobrunn, Tegernsee, Salzburg, Mondsee
  • Langobardic: (fragmentary, classification as OHG uncertain)

There are some important differences between the geographical spread of the Old High German dialects and that of Modern German: Central German (in German: Mitteldeutsch) is a group of German dialects spread from the Rhineland to Thuringia, south of Low German and north of Upper German. ... Trier (French: ; Luxembourgish Tréier) is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle River. ... District Grevenmacher Canton Echternach LAU 2 LU00006005 Geography Area Area rank 20. ... For other uses, see Cologne (disambiguation). ... Rhenish Franconian (in German: Rheinfränkisch) is a dialect family of West Central German. ... Lorsch is a small town in southwest Germany (60 kilometers south of Frankfurt) in the Kreis Bergstraße district of Hessen. ... Speyer (English formerly Spires) is a city in Germany (Rhineland-Palatinate) with approx. ... Wormser Dom Worms (pronounced ) is a city in the southwest of Germany. ... Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ... For other uses, see Frankfurt (disambiguation). ... Wissembourg (German: Weißenburg) is a small town and commune situated on the border between France and Germany, in the Alsace région, approximately 60 km north of Strasbourg. ... East Franconian (Mainfränkisch) is a dialect which is spoken in Bavaria and other areas in Germany around Bamberg, Würzburg and Bayreuth. ... Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the Fulda River and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (Kreis). ... Bamberg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. ... Würzburg Residenz. ... The Free State of Thuringia (German Freistaat Thüringen) lies in central Germany and is among the smaller of the countrys sixteen Bundesländer (federal states), with an area of 16,200 sq. ... West Middle German is a High German dialect family in the German language. ... Gaul (Latin: ) was the name given,in ancient times, to the region of Western Europe comprising present-day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... Some basics of Germanic linguistics : in linguistics, German and Germanic do not have the same meaning: see Germanic. ... The term Alemannic can have several meanings. ... Murbach Abbey (Kloster Murbach) was a once famous Benedictine monastery in southern Alsace, in a valley at the foot of the Grand Ballon in the Vosges. ... 15th-century towers on the Romanesque church of Sts Peter and Paul in Reichenau-Niederzell Reichenau Island lies in Lake Constance in southern Germany, at approximately . ... Abbey of St. ... City flag City coat of arms Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country Region Alsace Department Bas-Rhin (67) Intercommunality Urban Community of Strasbourg Mayor Fabienne Keller  (UMP) City Statistics Land area¹ 78. ... Austro-Bavarian or Bavarian is a major group of Upper German varieties. ... Freising is a city in Bavaria, Germany, capital of the district Freising. ... Passau (Latin: Batavis or Batavia, also Passavium; Italian: Passavia; Czech: Pasov) is a town in Niederbayern, Eastern Bavaria, Germany, known also as the Dreiflüssestadt (City of Three Rivers), because the Danube River is joined there by the Inn River from the South, and the Ilz River coming out of... Regensburg (also Ratisbon, Latin Ratisbona) is a city (population 151. ... Augsburg is a city in south-central Germany. ... Ebersberg is a town in Bavaria, Germany, capital of the district Ebersberg. ... Wessobrunn Monastery or Wessobrunn Abbey (Kloster Wessobrunn) was a Benedictine house situated at Wessobrunn in Bavaria. ... The former Tegernsee Abbey and basilica Tegernsee Abbey or the Imperial Abbey of Tegernsee (Kloster Tegernsee, Abtei or Reichsabtei Tegernsee) is a former Benedictine monastery located on the shores of the Tegernsee (from the Old High German tegarin seo, meaning great lake) in the town and district of the same...   (Austro-Bavarian: SÃ¥izburg) is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. ... Mondsee Abbey (Kloster Mondsee) was a Benedictine monastery in Mondsee in Upper Austria. ... The Lombards (Latin Langobardi, from which the alternative name Longobards found in older English texts), were a Germanic people originally from Scandinavia that entered the late Roman Empire. ...

• no German dialects were spoken east of the Rivers Elbe and Saale - in the OHG period this area was occupied by Slavic peoples since the Völkerwanderung and was not settled by German speakers until the late 10th and the early 11th century
• the Langobardic dialect of the Lombards who invaded Northern Italy in the 6th century is assumed to have been an Upper German dialect, though little evidence of it remains apart from names and individual words in Latin texts, and a few inscriptions

This article is about a river in Central Europe. ... Length 413 km Elevation of the source 728  m Average discharge  ?  m³/s Area watershed  ?  km² Origin  Germany Mouth  Elbe Basin countries Germany Saale is the name of two rivers in Germany: the Saxonian Saale (German: Sächsische Saale) and the Franconian Saale (German: Fränkische Saale). ... Distribution of Slavic people by language The Slavic peoples are a linguistic and ethnic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in Europe, where they constitute roughly a third of the population. ... The German term Völkerwanderung (the migration of peoples), is used in historiography as an alternate label for the Migration Period, of Germanic, Slavic and other tribes on the European continent during the period AD 300–900. ... The Lombards (Latin Langobardi, from which the alternative name Longobards found in older English texts), were a Germanic people originally from Scandinavia that entered the late Roman Empire. ... The Lombards (Latin Langobardi, whence comes the alternative name Longobards found in older English texts), were a Germanic people originally from Northern Europe that entered the late Roman Empire. ... Northern Italy encompasses nine of the countrys 20 autonomous regions: Emilia-Romagna Friuli-Venezia Giulia Liguria Lombardia Piemonte Toscana Trentino-Alto Adige Valle dAosta Veneto Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige and Valle dAosta are regions with a special statute. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Inscriptions are words or letters written, engraved, painted, or otherwise traced on a surface and can appear in contexts both small and monumental. ...

Frankish

The Franks conquered Northern Gaul as far south as the Loire; the linguistic boundary later stabilised approximately along the course of the Maas and Moselle, with Frankish speakers further west being romanised. However Frankish is a special case among the old West Germanic languages, the Frankish tribes build their empire at the same time as the High German consonant shift took place. This meant that the dialects of Frankish in the North of their Empire, the Low Countries, did not shift while the dialects in the South did. The dialects in the south are part of Old High German, the ones in the North are part of Old Dutch. This article is about the Frankish people and society. ... Gaul (Latin: ) was the name given,in ancient times, to the region of Western Europe comprising present-day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... This article is about the French department. ... The Meuse(Maas) at Maastricht Length 925 km Elevation of the source 409 m Average discharge 230 m³/s Area watershed 36 000 km² Origin France Mouth Hollands Diep Basin countries France - Belgium - Netherlands The Meuse (Dutch Maas) is a large European river rising in France, flowing through Belgium and... Moselle is a département in the northeast of France named after the Moselle River. ... Old Frankish was the language of the Franks. ... High German subdivides into Upper German (green) and Central German (blue), and is distinguished from Low German (yellow). ... The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries (see Country) on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse (Maas) rivers. ... Old Dutch (Also Old West Low Franconian) is a branch of Old Low Franconian spoken and written during the early middle ages (c. ...

With Charlemagne's defeat of the Lombards in 776, nearly all continental Germanic speaking peoples had been incorporated into the Frankish Empire. Thus also bringing all continental West Germanic speakers under Frankish rule. However, since the language of both the administration and the Church was Latin, this unification did not lead to any development of a supra-regional variety of Frankish. A portrait of Charlemagne by Albrecht Dürer that was painted several centuries after Charlemagnes death. ... The Lombards (Latin Langobardi, whence comes the alternative name Longobards found in older English texts), were a Germanic people originally from Northern Europe that entered the late Roman Empire. ... The Frankish Empire was the territory of the Franks, from the 5th to the 10th centuries, from 481 ruled by Clovis I of the Merovingian Dynasty, the first king of all the Franks. ... West Germanic is the largest branch of the Germanic family of languages, including such languages as English, Dutch, and German. ...

Phonology

The charts show the vowel and consonant systems of the East Franconian dialect in the 9th century. This is the dialect of the monastery of Fulda, and specifically of the Old High German Tatian. Dictionaries and grammars of OHG often use the spellings of the Tatian as a substitute for genuine standardised spellings, and these have the advantage of being recognizably close to the Middle High German forms of words, particularly with respect to the consonants. Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the Fulda River and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (Kreis). ... Tatian was an early Assyrian[1] Christian writer and theologian of the second century. ... Middle High German (MHG, German Mittelhochdeutsch) is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. ...

Vowels

Notes: Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... In linguistics, vowel length is the duration of a vowel sound. ... In linguistics, vowel length is the duration of a vowel sound. ... A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. ... A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... An open vowel is a vowel sound of a type used in most spoken languages. ...

1. It seems likely that all back vowels had front allophones as a result of Umlaut, which were then phonemicized in MHG. There was also a mid-close [e] resulting from the Umlaut of /a/ and /e/.
2. It is probable that the short high and mid vowels are lower than their long equivalents, as in Modern German, but this is impossible to establish from the written sources.
3. Towards the end of the period, short vowels and then long vowels tended to be replaced, when in unstressed syllables, by <e> spellings, which may have represented [ɛ] or schwa [ə].

In linguistics, umlaut (from German um- around/the other way + Laut sound) is a process whereby a vowel is pronounced more like a vowel or semivowel in a following syllable. ... The IPA symbol for the Schwa In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean: An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in any language, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel. ...

Diphthongs

OHG diphthongs are indicated by the spellings: <ei>, <ie>, <io>, <iu>, <ou>, <uo>.

Consonants

1. There is wide variation in the consonant systems of the OHG dialects arising mainly from the differing extent to which they are affected by the High German Sound Shift. Precise information about the articulation of consonants is impossible to establish.
2. In the plosive and fricative series, where there are two consonants in a cell, the first is fortis the second lenis. The voicing of lenis consonants varied between dialects.
3. OHG has long consonants, and the following double consonant spellings indicate not vowel length as in Modern German orthography, but rather genuine double consonants: pp, bb, tt, dd, ck (for /kk/), gg, ff, ss, hh, zz, mm, nn, ll, rr.
4. /θ/ changes to /d/ in all dialects during the 9th century. The status in the OHG Tatian (c. 830), reflected in modern OHG dictionaries and glossaries, is that <th> is found in initial position, <d> in other positions.
5. It is not clear whether the distribution of palatal and velar allophones /c ~ k/ and /ç ~ x/(before front and back vowels, respectively) found in Modern German was already present in OHG.

In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lips and the upper teeth, or viceversa. ... Dentals are consonants such as t, d, n, and l articulated with either the lower or the upper teeth, or both, rather than with the gum ridge as in English. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Glottal consonants are consonants articulated with the glottis. ... A stop or plosive or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... Affricate consonants begin as stops (most often an alveolar, such as or ) but release as a fricative (such as or or, in a couple of languages, into a fricative trill) rather than directly into the following vowel. ... A nasal consonant is produced when the velum—that fleshy part of the palate near the back—is lowered, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. ... Fricatives (or spirants) are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ... Liquid consonants, or liquids, are approximant consonants that are not classified as semivowels (glides) because they do not correspond phonetically to specific vowels (in the way that, for example, the initial in English yes corresponds to ). The class of liquids can be divided into lateral liquids and rhotics. ... High German subdivides into Upper German (green) and Central German (blue), and is distinguished from Low German (yellow). ... Fortis may refer to Fortis (phonetics), a linguistic term Fortis (finance), a financial services company, based in Belgium and the Netherlands Fortis Inc. ... Fortis (from Latin fortis strong) and lenis (from Latin lenis weak) are linguistics terms. ...

Texts

Further information: Medieval German literature

The early part of the period saw considerable missionary activity, and by 800 the whole of the Frankish Empire had, in principle, been Christianised. All the manuscripts which contain Old High German texts were written in ecclesiastical scriptoria by scribes whose main task was writing in Latin rather than German. Consequently, the majority of Old High German texts are religious in nature and show strong influence of ecclesiastical Latin on the vocabulary. In fact, most surviving prose texts are translations of Latin originals. Even secular works such as the Hildebrandslied are often preserved only because they were written on spare sheets in religious codices. German literature begins in the Carolingian period, first in Latin and then in Old High German. ... The Frankish Empire was the territory of the Franks, from the 5th to the 10th centuries, from 481 ruled by Clovis I of the Merovingian Dynasty, the first king of all the Franks. ... A Scriptorium was a room or building, usually within a Christian monastery where, during medieval times, manuscripts were written. ... This is about scribe, the profession. ... The term Ecclesiastical Latin (sometimes called Church Latin) refers to the Latin language as used in documents of the Roman Catholic Church and in its Latin liturgies. ... 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. ... First page of the Codex Argenteus A codex (Latin for block of wood, book; plural codices) is a handwritten book, in general, one produced from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages. ...

The earliest OHG text is generally taken to be the Abrogans, a Latin-Old High German glossary variously dated between 750 and 780, probably from Reichenau. The 8th century Merseburg Incantations are the only remnant of pre-Christian German literature. The earliest texts not dependent on Latin originals would seem to be the Hildebrandslied and the Wessobrunn Prayer, both recorded in manuscripts of the early 9th Century, though the texts are assumed to derive from earlier copies. First page of Codex Abrogans The Abrogans, or Codex Abrogans, is probably the oldest book in the German language. ... 15th-century towers on the Romanesque church of Sts Peter and Paul in Reichenau-Niederzell Reichenau Island lies in Lake Constance in southern Germany, at approximately . ... The Merseburg Incantations The Merseburg Incantations (German: die Merseburger Zaubersprüche) are two medieval magic spells, charms or incantations, written in Old High German. ... ROSIE IS A GERMN LADYGermanic paganism refers to the religion of the Germanic nations preceding Christianization. ... 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 Wessobrunn Prayer (or Wessobrunner Gebet in German), sometimes called the Wessobrunn Creation Poem (Wessobrunner Schöpfungsgedicht), believed to date from c790, is among the earliest known poetic works in Old High German. ... As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was the century that lasted from 801 to 900. ...

The Bavarian Muspilli is the sole survivor of what must have been a vast oral tradition. Other important works are the Evangelienbuch (Gospel harmony) of Otfried von Weissenburg, the short but splendid Ludwigslied and the 9th century Georgslied. The boundary to Early Middle High German (from ca. 1050) is not clear-cut. The most impressive example of EMHG literature is the Annolied. 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. ... Tatians Diatessaron was one of a number of harmonies of the four Gospels, that is, the material of the four distinct Gospels rewritten as a continuous narrative resolving all conflicting statements. ... Otfrid memorial in Wissembourg Otfrid of Weissenburg (German: Otfrid von Weißenburg) (c. ... The Ludwigslied (in English, Lay or Song of Ludwig) is an Old High German short poem written within a year of the Battle of Saucourt of 881, which its celebrates. ... Georgslied () ca. ... The Annolied (Song of Anno) was composed in about 1100 in Early Middle High German rhyming couplets by a monk of Siegburg Abbey. ...

Samples

The Lord's Prayer in three OHG dialects. Because these are translations of a liturgical text, they are best not regarded as examples of idiomatic language, but they do show dialect variation very clearly. Representation of the Sermon on the Mount The Lords Prayer in Swahili. ...

Source: Braune/Ebbinghaus, Althochdeutsches Lesebuch, 17th edn (Niemeyer, 1994)

See also

Look up Old High German in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Middle High German
• Medieval German Literature

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 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. ... German literature begins in the Carolingian period, first in Latin and then in Old High German. ...

External links

• Chronological list of the main Old High German texts
• Joseph Wright, An Old High German Primer - complete text of 1906 work
• A Brief Collection of Old High German
• Althochdeutsche Texte im Internet (8.–10. Jahrhundert) - links to a range of online texts
• Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch des 8. Jh. - OHG dictionary, based on 8th century texts.
• LiTLiNks: althochdeutsche Texte - comprehensive listing of OHG texts with links to online versions.

Sources

• Althochdeutches Lesebuch, ed. W.Braune, K.Helm, E.A.Ebbinghaus, 17th edn, Tübingen 1994. ISBN 3-484-10707-3
• J. Knight Bostock, A Handbook on Old High German Literature, 2nd edn, revised by K.C.King and D.R.McLintock, Oxford 1976. ISBN 0-19-815392-9
• R.E.Keller, The German Language, London 1978. ISBN 0-571-11159-9
• Lexikon der Germanistischen Linguistik, ed. Hans Peter Althaus, Helmut Henne, Herbert Ernst Weigand, 2nd revised edition, Tübingen 1980. ISBN 3-484-10396-5
• S.Sonderegger, Althochdeutsche Sprache und Literatur, de Gruyter 1974 ISBN 3-11-004559-1
• C.J.Wells, German. A Linguistic History to 1945, Oxford 1987. ISBN 0-19-815809-2