German language

German (German: Deutsch, pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )[10] is a West Germanic language in the Indo-
European language family, mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe. It is the most spoken
native language within the European Union. It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-
official) language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian autonomous
province of South Tyrol. It is also an official language of Luxembourg, Belgium and the Italian
autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as a recognized national language in
Namibia. There are also notable German-speaking communities in France (Alsace), the Czech
Republic (North Bohemia), Poland (Upper Silesia), Slovakia (Košice Region, Spiš, and Hauerland),
Denmark (North Schleswig), Romania and Hungary (Sopron). Overseas, sizeable communities of
German-speakers are found in Brazil (Blumenau and Pomerode), South Africa (Kroondal),
Namibia, among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German
characters (e.g. Pozuzo, Peru).

Map of the German diaspora by population:

Germany
+ 10,000,000
+ 1,000,000
+ 100,000
+ 10,000

Man speaking German

German is one of the major languages of the world. German is the second-most widely spoken
Germanic language, after English, both as a first and as a second language. German is also
widely taught as a foreign language, especially in continental Europe (where it is the third most
taught foreign language after English and French), and in the United States. Overall, German is
the fourth most commonly learned second language,[11] and the third most commonly learned
second language in the United States in K-12 education.[12] The language has been influential in
the fields of philosophy, theology, science, and
German
technology. It is the second most commonly
used language in science[13] and the third Deutsch
[13][14]
most widely used language on websites.
Pronunciation [dɔʏtʃ]
The German-speaking countries are ranked
fifth in terms of annual publication of new Native to Germany
books, with one-tenth of all books (including e- Austria
Switzerland
books) in the world being published in Liechtenstein
German. Luxembourg
Belgium
German is most closely related to other West Namibia
South Tyrol
Germanic languages, namely Afrikaans, Dutch, Alsace
English, the Frisian languages, and Scots. It
Speakers L1: 95 million[1]
also contains close similarities in vocabulary L2: 80–85 million
to some languages in the North Germanic (2014)[2]
group, such as Danish, Norwegian, and Indo-European
Language family
Swedish. Modern German gradually developed Germanic
West Germanic
from Old High German, which in turn Elbe Germanic
High German
developed from Proto-Germanic during the German

Early Middle Ages. Old High German

Early forms
Middle High
German is an inflected language, with four German
Early New High
cases for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives German

(nominative, accusative, genitive, dative); three Standard forms Standard German

genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and two (German, Swiss,
Austrian)
numbers (singular, plural). It has strong and
weak verbs. The majority of its vocabulary Writing system Since Old High
German: Latin script
derives from the ancient Germanic branch of (German alphabet)
the Indo-European language family, while a German Braille
Until the mid-20th
smaller share is partly derived from Latin and century: Hebrew
Greek, along with fewer words borrowed from Alphabet[3][4][5][6][7]
French and Modern English. English, however,
Signed forms Signed German
is the main source of more recent loan words.
Official status
German is a pluricentric language; the three
Official language in 7 countries [show]
standardized variants are German, Austrian,
and Swiss Standard German. Standard
1 subdivision [show]
German is sometimes called High German,
which refers to its regional origin. German is
Recognised minority 8 countries [show]
also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, language in
with many varieties existing in Europe and Language codes
other parts of the world. Some of these non-
ISO 639-1 de (https://ww
standard varieties have become recognized w.loc.gov/stand
and protected by regional or national ards/iso639-2/p
hp/langcodes_na
governments.[15]
me.php?iso_639_
1=de)
Since 2004, heads of state of the German-
speaking countries have met every year,[16] ISO 639-2 ger (https://ww
w.loc.gov/stand
and the Council for German Orthography has ards/iso639-2/p
been the main international body regulating hp/langcodes_na
me.php?code_ID=
German orthography. 160) (B)
deu (https://ww
Classification w.loc.gov/stand
ards/iso639-2/p
hp/langcodes_na
me.php?code_ID=
160) (T)

ISO 639-3 Variously:

deu – German
gmh – Middle High
German
goh – Old High
German
gct – Colonia
Tovar German
bar – Bavarian
cim – Cimbrian
Anglic languages geh – Hutterite
English German
Scots
ksh – Kölsch
nds – Low
Anglo-Frisian languages
German[note 1]
Anglic and
sli – Lower
Frisian (West, North, Saterland)
Silesian
North Sea Germanic languages
ltz –
Anglo-Frisian and
Luxembourgish[note 2]
Low German/Low Saxon
vmf –
West Germanic languages
Mainfränkisch
North Sea Germanic and mhn – Mòcheno
Dutch; in Africa: Afrikaans pfl – Palatinate
...... German (High): German
Central; in Lux.: Luxembourgish pdc – Pennsylvania
Upper Dutch
...... Yiddish pdt –
Plautdietsch[note 3]
swg – Swabian
German
gsw – Swiss
German
uln –
 Unserdeutsch
sxu – Upper Saxon
wae – Walser
German
wep – Westphalian
Maurer's classification of German hrx –
tribes (German) Riograndenser
Hunsrückisch
yec – Yenish
yid – Yiddish

Glottolog stan1295 (http

s://glottolog.o
rg/resource/lan
guoid/id/stan12
95)

Linguasphere 52-ACB–dl (Standard

The Germanic languages in
German)
52-AC (Continental
contemporary Europe
West Germanic)
German is an Indo-European language that 52-ACB (Deutsch &
Dutch)
belongs to the West Germanic group of the 52-ACB-d (Central
Germanic languages. The Germanic languages German)
52-ACB-e & -f (Upper
are traditionally subdivided into three
and Swiss German)
branches: North Germanic, East Germanic, and 52-ACB-h (émigré
West Germanic. The first of these branches German varieties,
including 52-ACB-hc
survives in modern Danish, Swedish, (Hutterite German) &
Norwegian, Faroese, and Icelandic, all of which 52-ACB-he
(Pennsylvania Dutch)
are descended from Old Norse. The East 52-ACB-i (Yenish)
Germanic languages are now extinct, and Totalling 285
Gothic is the only language in this branch varieties: 52-ACB-daa
to 52-ACB-i
which survives in written texts. The West
Germanic languages, however, have
undergone extensive dialectal subdivision and
are now represented in modern languages
such as English, German, Dutch, Yiddish,
Afrikaans, and others.[17]

Within the West Germanic language dialect

continuum, the Benrath and Uerdingen lines
(running through Düsseldorf-Benrath and
Krefeld-Uerdingen, respectively) serve to
Majority of German speakers in Central
distinguish the Germanic dialects that were Europe
affected by the High German consonant shift Minority of German speakers in Central
(south of Benrath) from those that were not Europe
(north of Uerdingen). The various regional
dialects spoken south of these lines are
grouped as High German dialects, while those
spoken to the north comprise the Low German
and Low Franconian dialects. As members of
the West Germanic language family, High Official language
German, Low German, and Low Franconian Co-official language
have been proposed to be further National language
distinguished historically as Irminonic, Minority language

Ingvaeonic, and Istvaeonic, respectively. This

classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by the Irminones (also
known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or
Weser–Rhine group).[17]

Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian-Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian

dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German
dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German
dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects) and Yiddish. Also
closely related to Standard German are the Upper German dialects spoken in the southern
German-speaking countries, such as Swiss German (Alemannic dialects) and the various
Germanic dialects spoken in the French region of Grand Est, such as Alsatian (mainly Alemannic,
but also Central–and Upper Franconian dialects) and Lorraine Franconian (Central Franconian).

After these High German dialects, standard German is less closely related to languages based on
Low Franconian dialects (e.g., Dutch and Afrikaans), Low German or Low Saxon dialects (spoken
in northern Germany and southern Denmark), neither of which underwent the High German
consonant shift. As has been noted, the former of these dialect types is Istvaeonic and the latter
Ingvaeonic, whereas the High German dialects are all Irminonic; the differences between these
languages and standard German are therefore considerable. Also related to German are the
Frisian languages—North Frisian (spoken in Nordfriesland), Saterland Frisian (spoken in
Saterland), and West Frisian (spoken in Friesland)—as well as the Anglic languages of English
and Scots. These Anglo-Frisian dialects did not take part in the High German consonant shift,
and the Anglic languages also adopted much vocabulary from both Old Norse and the Norman
language.
History

Old High German

The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the
Migration Period, which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon. This sound shift
involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants (b,
d, g, and p, t, k, respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below.

Voiceless stops became long (geminated) voiceless fricatives following a vowel;

Voiceless stops became affricates in word-initial position, or following certain consonants;

Voiced stops became voiceless in certain phonetic settings.[18]

Voiceless stop Word-initial

Voiced stop
following a vowel voiceless stop

/p/→/ff/ /p/→/pf/ /b/→/p/

/t/→/ss/ /t/→/ts/ /d/→/t/

/k/→/xx/ /k/→/kx/ /g/→/k/

The approximate extent of Germanic

languages in the early 10th century:
Old West Norse
Old East Norse
Old Gutnish
Old English (West Germanic)
Continental West Germanic
languages (Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Old
Dutch, Old High German).
Crimean Gothic (East Germanic)

While there is written evidence of the Old High German language in several Elder Futhark
inscriptions from as early as the sixth century AD (such as the Pforzen buckle), the Old High
German period is generally seen as beginning with the Abrogans (written c. 765–775), a Latin-
German glossary supplying over 3,000 Old High German words with their Latin equivalents. After
the Abrogans, the first coherent works written in Old High German appear in the ninth century,
chief among them being the Muspilli, Merseburg charms, and Hildebrandslied, and other religious
texts (the Georgslied, Ludwigslied, Evangelienbuch, and translated hymns and prayers).[19] The
Muspilli is a Christian poem written in a Bavarian dialect offering an account of the soul after the
Last Judgment, and the Merseburg charms are transcriptions of spells and charms from the
pagan Germanic tradition. Of particular interest to scholars, however, has been the
Hildebrandslied, a secular epic poem telling the tale of an estranged father and son unknowingly
meeting each other in battle. Linguistically, this text is highly interesting due to the mixed use of
Old Saxon and Old High German dialects in its composition. The written works of this period
stem mainly from the Alamanni, Bavarian, and Thuringian groups, all belonging to the Elbe
Germanic group (Irminones), which had settled in what is now southern-central Germany and
Austria between the second and sixth centuries, during the great migration.[18]

In general, the surviving texts of Old High German (OHG) show a wide range of dialectal diversity
with very little written uniformity. The early written tradition of OHG survived mostly through
monasteries and scriptoria as local translations of Latin originals; as a result, the surviving texts
are written in highly disparate regional dialects and exhibit significant Latin influence, particularly
in vocabulary.[18] At this point monasteries, where most written works were produced, were
dominated by Latin, and German saw only occasional use in official and ecclesiastical writing.

Middle High German

While there is no complete agreement over the dates of the Middle High German (MHG) period, it
is generally seen as lasting from 1050 to 1350.[20] This was a period of significant expansion of
the geographical territory occupied by Germanic tribes, and consequently of the number of
German speakers. Whereas during the Old High German period the Germanic tribes extended
only as far east as the Elbe and Saale rivers, the MHG period saw a number of these tribes
expanding beyond this eastern boundary into Slavic territory (known as the Ostsiedlung). With the
increasing wealth and geographic spread of the Germanic groups came greater use of German in
the courts of nobles as the standard language of official proceedings and literature.[20] A clear
example of this is the mittelhochdeutsche Dichtersprache employed in the Hohenstaufen court in
Swabia as a standardized supra-dialectal written language. While these efforts were still
regionally bound, German began to be used in place of Latin for certain official purposes, leading
to a greater need for regularity in written conventions.

While the major changes of the MHG period were socio-cultural, High German was still
undergoing significant linguistic changes in syntax, phonetics, and morphology as well (e.g.
diphthongization of certain vowel sounds: hus (OHG & MHG "house")→haus (regionally in later
MHG)→Haus (NHG), and weakening of unstressed short vowels to schwa [ə]: taga (OHG
"days")→tage (MHG)).[21]
A great wealth of texts survives from the MHG period. Significantly, these texts include a number
of impressive secular works, such as the Nibelungenlied, an epic poem telling the story of the
dragon-slayer Siegfried (c. thirteenth century), and the Iwein, an Arthurian verse poem by
Hartmann von Aue (c. 1203), lyric poems, and courtly romances such as Parzival and Tristan.
Also noteworthy is the Sachsenspiegel, the first book of laws written in Middle Low German
(c. 1220). The abundance and especially the secular character of the literature of the MHG period
demonstrate the beginnings of a standardized written form of German, as well as the desire of
poets and authors to be understood by individuals on supra-dialectal terms.

The Middle High German period is generally seen as ending when the 1346–53 Black Death
decimated Europe's population.[22]

Early New High German

German language area and major dialectal divisions

around 1900[23]

Modern High German begins with the Early New High German (ENHG) period, which Wilhelm
Scherer dates 1350–1650, terminating with the end of the Thirty Years' War.[22] This period saw
the further displacement of Latin by German as the primary language of courtly proceedings and,
increasingly, of literature in the German states. While these states were still part of the Holy
Roman Empire, and far from any form of unification, the desire for a cohesive written language
that would be understandable across the many German-speaking principalities and kingdoms
was stronger than ever. As a spoken language German remained highly fractured throughout this
period, with a vast number of often mutually incomprehensible regional dialects being spoken
throughout the German states; the invention of the printing press c. 1440 and the publication of
Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on
standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language.
The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German,
one being gemeine tiutsch, used in the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and the
other being Meißner Deutsch, used in the Electorate of Saxony in the Duchy of Saxe-
Wittenberg.[24]

Alongside these courtly written standards, the invention of the printing press led to the
development of a number of printers' languages (Druckersprachen) aimed at making printed
material readable and understandable across as many diverse dialects of German as
possible.[25] The greater ease of production and increased availability of written texts brought
about increased standardisation in the written form of German.

Modern High German translation of

the Christian Bible by the Protestant
reformer Martin Luther (1534).[26] The
widespread popularity of the Bible
translated into High German by Luther
helped establish modern Standard
German.[26]

One of the central events in the development of ENHG was the publication of Luther's translation
of the Bible into High German (the New Testament was published in 1522; the Old Testament
was published in parts and completed in 1534).[26] Luther based his translation primarily on the
Meißner Deutsch of Saxony, spending much time among the population of Saxony researching
the dialect so as to make the work as natural and accessible to German speakers as possible.
Copies of Luther's Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region, translating words which
were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Luther said the following concerning his
translation method:

One who would talk German does not ask the Latin how he shall do it; he must
ask the mother in the home, the children on the streets, the common man in the
market-place and note carefully how they talk, then translate accordingly. They
will then understand what is said to them because it is German. When Christ
says 'ex abundantia cordis os loquitur,' I would translate, if I followed the
papists, aus dem Überflusz des Herzens redet der Mund. But tell me is this talking
German? What German understands such stuff? No, the mother in the home and
the plain man would say, Wesz das Herz voll ist, des gehet der Mund über.[27]
Luther's translation of the Bible into High German was also decisive for the German language
and its evolution from Early New High German to modern Standard German.[26] The publication
of Luther's Bible was a decisive moment in the spread of literacy in early modern Germany,[26]
and promoted the development of non-local forms of language and exposed all speakers to
forms of German from outside their own area.[28] With Luther's rendering of the Bible in the
vernacular, German asserted itself against the dominance of Latin as a legitimate language for
courtly, literary, and now ecclesiastical subject-matter. His Bible was ubiquitous in the German
states: nearly every household possessed a copy.[29] Nevertheless, even with the influence of
Luther's Bible as an unofficial written standard, a widely accepted standard for written German
did not appear until the middle of the eighteenth century.[30]

Habsburg Empire

Map of Central Europe in 1648:

Territories under the Holy Roman Empire,
comprising the Alpine heartland (Erblande) of the
Habsburg monarchy.

Ethnolinguistic map comprising the territories of

Austria-Hungary (1910), with German-speaking areas
shown in red
German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which
encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was
essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire. Its use indicated that
the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality.

Prague (German: Prag) and Budapest (Buda, German: Ofen), to name two examples, were
gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain; others, like
Pressburg (Pozsony, now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were
primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and cities like Zagreb (German:
Agram) or Ljubljana (German: Laibach), contained significant German minorities.

In the eastern provinces of Banat, Bukovina, and Transylvania (German: Banat, Buchenland,
Siebenbürgen), German was the predominant language not only in the larger towns—like
Temeschburg (Timișoara), Hermannstadt (Sibiu), and Kronstadt (Brașov)—but also in many
smaller localities in the surrounding areas.[31]

Standardization

In 1901, the Second Orthographic Conference ended with a (nearly) complete standardization of
the Standard German language in its written form, and the Duden Handbook was declared its
standard definition.[32] Punctuation and compound spelling (joined or isolated compounds) were
not standardized in the process.

Participants of Meetings of German-

speaking countries (2004-present)

The Deutsche Bühnensprache (lit. 'German stage language') by Theodor Siebs had established
conventions for German pronunciation in theatres,[33] three years earlier; however, this was an
artificial standard that did not correspond to any traditional spoken dialect. Rather, it was based
on the pronunciation of German in Northern Germany, although it was subsequently regarded
often as a general prescriptive norm, despite differing pronunciation traditions especially in the
Upper-German-speaking regions that still characterise the dialect of the area today – especially
the pronunciation of the ending -ig as [ɪk] instead of [ɪç]. In Northern Germany, High German was
a foreign language to most inhabitants, whose native dialects were subsets of Low German. It
was usually encountered only in writing or formal speech; in fact, most of High German was a
written language, not identical to any spoken dialect, throughout the German-speaking area until
well into the 19th century. However, wider standardization of pronunciation was established on
the basis of public speaking in theatres and the media during the 20th century and documented
in pronouncing dictionaries.

Official revisions of some of the rules from 1901 were not issued until the controversial German
orthography reform of 1996 was made the official standard by governments of all German-
speaking countries.[34] Media and written works are now almost all produced in Standard
German which is understood in all areas where German is spoken.

Geographical distribution

Approximate distribution of
native German speakers
(assuming a rounded total
of 95 million) worldwide:
Germany (78.3%)
Austria (8.4%)
Switzerland (5.6%)
Brazil (3.2%)
Italy (South Tyrol) (0.4%)
Other (4.1%)

As a result of the German diaspora, as well as the popularity of German taught as a foreign
language,[35][36] the geographical distribution of German speakers (or "Germanophones") spans
all inhabited continents.

However, an exact, global number of native German speakers is complicated by the existence of
several varieties whose status as separate "languages" or "dialects" is disputed for political and
linguistic reasons, including quantitatively strong varieties like certain forms of Alemannic and
Low German.[9] With the inclusion or exclusion of certain varieties, it is estimated that
approximately 90–95 million people speak German as a first language,[37][38] 10–25 million
speak it as a second language,[37] and 75–100 million as a foreign language.[2] This would imply
the existence of approximately 175–220 million German speakers worldwide.[39]

German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon estimated a number of 289 million German foreign
language speakers without clarifying the criteria by which he classified a speaker.[40]

Europe

The German language in Europe:

German Sprachraum: German is the
official language (de jure or de facto) and first
language of the majority of the population
German is a co-official language but not
the first language of the majority of the
population
German (or a German dialect) is a legally
recognized minority language (squares:
geographic distribution too dispersed/small
for map scale)
German (or a variety of German) is
spoken by a sizeable minority but has no
legal recognition

Most of Austria lies in the

Bavarian dialect area; only the very
west of the country is
Alemannic-speaking.
Map shows Austria and South Tyrol,
Italy.
 (Swiss) German is one of the four
national languages of Switzerland.

Luxembourg lies in the Moselle

Franconian dialect area.

In Belgium, German is spoken in

the country's German-speaking
Community, in the very east of the
country.

As of 2012, about 90 million people, or 16% of the European Union's population, spoke German
as their mother tongue, making it the second most widely spoken language on the continent
after Russian and the second biggest language in terms of overall speakers (after English), as
well as the most spoken native language.[2]

German Sprachraum

The area in central Europe where the majority of the population speaks German as a first
language and has German as a (co-)official language is called the "German Sprachraum". German
is the official language of the following countries:
 Germany

Austria

17 cantons of Switzerland

Liechtenstein

German is a co-official language of the following countries:

Belgium (as majority language only in the German-speaking Community, which represents
0.7% of the Belgian population)

Luxembourg, along with French and Luxembourgish

Switzerland, co-official at the federal level with French, Italian, and Romansh, and at the local
level in four cantons: Bern (with French), Fribourg (with French), Grisons (with Italian and
Romansh) and Valais (with French)

Italy, (as majority language only in the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol, which represents
0.6% of the Italian population)
Outside the German Sprachraum

Although expulsions and (forced) assimilation after the two World wars greatly diminished them,
minority communities of mostly bilingual German native speakers exist in areas both adjacent to
and detached from the Sprachraum.

Within Europe, German is a recognized minority language in the following countries:[41]

Czech Republic (see also: Germans in the Czech Republic)

Denmark (see also: North Schleswig Germans)

Hungary (see also: Germans of Hungary)

Poland (see also German minority in Poland; German is an auxiliary and co-official language in
31 communes)[42]

Romania (see also: Germans of Romania)

Russia[43] (see also: Germans in Russia)

Slovakia (see also: Carpathian Germans)

In France, the High German varieties of Alsatian and Moselle Franconian are identified as
"regional languages", but the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 1998 has
not yet been ratified by the government.[44]
Africa

Namibia

Bilingual German-English sign at a

bakery in Namibia, where German is a
national language

Namibia also was a colony of the German Empire, from 1884 to 1915. About 30,000 people still
speak German as a native tongue today, mostly descendants of German colonial settlers.[45] The
period of German colonialism in Namibia also led to the evolution of a Standard German-based
pidgin language called "Namibian Black German", which became a second language for parts of
the indigenous population. Although it is nearly extinct today, some older Namibians still have
some knowledge of it.[46]

German remained a de facto official language of Namibia after the end of German colonial rule
alongside English and Afrikaans, and had de jure co-official status from 1984 until its
independence from South Africa in 1990. However, the Namibian government perceived
Afrikaans and German as symbols of apartheid and colonialism, and decided English would be
the sole official language upon independence, stating that it was a "neutral" language as there
were virtually no English native speakers in Namibia at that time.[45] German, Afrikaans, and
several indigenous languages thus became "national languages" by law, identifying them as
elements of the cultural heritage of the nation and ensuring that the state acknowledged and
supported their presence in the country.

Today, Namibia is considered to be the only German-speaking country outside of the Sprachraum
in Europe.[45] German is used in a wide variety of spheres throughout the country, especially in
business, tourism, and public signage, as well as in education, churches (most notably the
German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK)), other cultural spheres such
as music, and media (such as German language radio programs by the Namibian Broadcasting
Corporation). The Allgemeine Zeitung is one of the three biggest newspapers in Namibia and the
only German-language daily in Africa.[45]
Rest of Africa

An estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in South
Africa, mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th
centuries.[47] One of the largest communities consists of the speakers of "Nataler Deutsch",[48] a
variety of Low German concentrated in and around Wartburg. The South African constitution
identifies German as a "commonly used" language and the Pan South African Language Board is
obligated to promote and ensure respect for it.[49]

Cameroon was also a colony of the German Empire from the same period (1884 to 1916).
However, German was replaced by French and English, the languages of the two successor
colonial powers, after its loss in World War I. Nevertheless, since the 21st century, German has
become a popular foreign language among pupils and students, with 300,000 people learning or
speaking German in Cameroon in 2010 and over 230,000 in 2020.[50] Today Cameroon is one of
the African countries outside Namibia with the highest number of people learning German.[51]

North America

In the United States, German is the fifth most spoken language in terms of native and second
language speakers after English, Spanish, French, and Chinese (with figures for Cantonese and
Mandarin combined), with over 1 million total speakers.[52] In the states of North Dakota and
South Dakota, German is the most common language spoken at home after English.[53] As a
legacy of significant German immigration to the country, German geographical names can be
found throughout the Midwest region, such as New Ulm and Bismarck (North Dakota's state
capital), plus many other regions.[54]

A number of German varieties have developed in the country and are still spoken today, such as
Pennsylvania Dutch and Texas German.

South America

In Brazil, the largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul
(where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina, and Espírito Santo.[55]

German dialects (namely Hunsrik and East Pomeranian) are recognized languages in the
following municipalities in Brazil:

Espírito Santo (statewide cultural language): Domingos Martins, Laranja da Terra, Pancas,
Santa Maria de Jetibá, Vila Pavão[56]
 Rio Grande do Sul (Riograndenser Hunsrückisch German is a designated cultural language in
the state): Santa Maria do Herval, Canguçu[57]

Santa Catarina: Antônio Carlos, Pomerode (standard German recognized)[55]

In Chile, during the 19th and 20th centuries, there was a massive immigration of Germans, Swiss
and Austrians. Because of that, two dialects of German emerged, Lagunen-Deutsch and Chiloten-
Deutsch.[58] Immigrants even founded prosperous cities and towns. The impact of nineteenth
century German immigration to southern Chile was such that Valdivia was for a while a Spanish-
German bilingual city with "German signboards and placards alongside the Spanish".[59] Currently,
German and its dialects are spoken in many cities, towns and rural areas of southern Chile, such
as Valdivia, Osorno, Puerto Montt, Puerto Varas, Frutillar, Nueva Braunau, Castro, Ancud, among
many others.

Small concentrations of German-speakers and their descendants are also found in Argentina,
Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela, and Bolivia.[47]

Oceania

In Australia, the state of South Australia experienced a pronounced wave of Prussian

immigration in the 1840s (particularly from Silesia region). With the prolonged isolation from
other German speakers and contact with Australian English, a unique dialect known as Barossa
German developed, spoken predominantly in the Barossa Valley near Adelaide. Usage of German
sharply declined with the advent of World War I, due to the prevailing anti-German sentiment in
the population and related government action. It continued to be used as a first language into the
20th century, but its use is now limited to a few older speakers.[60]

As of the 2013 census, 36,642 people in New Zealand spoke German, mostly descendants of a
small wave of 19th century German immigrants, making it the third most spoken European
language after English and French and overall the ninth most spoken language.[61]

A German creole named Unserdeutsch was historically spoken in the former German colony of
German New Guinea, modern day Papua New Guinea. It is at a high risk of extinction, with only
about 100 speakers remaining, and a topic of interest among linguists seeking to revive interest
in the language.[62]
As a foreign language

Self-reported knowledge of German

as a foreign language in the EU
member states (+Turkey and UK), in
per cent of the adult population (+15),
2005

Like English, French, and Spanish, German has become a standard foreign language throughout
the world, especially in the Western World.[2][63] German ranks second on par with French among
the best known foreign languages in the European Union (EU) after English,[2] as well as in
Russia,[64] and Turkey.[2] In terms of student numbers across all levels of education, German
ranks third in the EU (after English and French)[36] and in the United States (after Spanish and
French).[35][65] In British schools, where learning a foreign language is not mandatory, a dramatic
decline in entries for German A-Level has been observed.[66] In 2020, approximately 15.4 million
people were enrolled in learning German across all levels of education worldwide. This number
has decreased from a peak of 20.1 million in 2000.[67] Within the EU, not counting countries
where it is an official language, German as a foreign language is most popular in Eastern and
Northern Europe, namely the Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Slovakia,
Hungary, Slovenia, Sweden, Poland, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.[2][68] German was once, and to
some extent still is, a lingua franca in those parts of Europe.[69]

German-language media worldwide

A visible sign of the geographical extension of the German language is the German-language
media outside the German-speaking countries. German is the second most commonly used
scientific language[70] as well as the third most widely used language on websites after English
and Russian.[71]

Deutsche Welle (German pronunciation: [ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈvɛlə]; "German Wave" in German), or DW, is
Germany's public international broadcaster. The service is available in 30 languages. DW's
satellite television service consists of channels in German, English, Spanish, and Arabic.

See also:

List of newspapers in Germany and List of German-language newspapers published in the

United States

List of magazines in Germany

 List of television stations in Germany and List of German-language television channels

List of radio stations in Germany and List of German-language radio stations

Goethe-Institut [ˈɡøːtə ʔɪnstiˌtuːt] (a non-profit German cultural association operational

worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and
encouraging international cultural exchange and relations.)

Standard German

Self-reported knowledge of German

within the nations of the European
Union

The basis of Standard German developed with the Luther Bible and the chancery language
spoken by the Saxon court, part of the regional High German group.[72] However, there are places
where the traditional regional dialects have been replaced by new vernaculars based on Standard
German; that is the case in large stretches of Northern Germany but also in major cities in other
parts of the country. It is important to note, however, that the colloquial Standard German differs
from the formal written language, especially in grammar and syntax, in which it has been
influenced by dialectal speech.

Standard German differs regionally among German-speaking countries in vocabulary and some
instances of pronunciation and even grammar and orthography. This variation must not be
confused with the variation of local dialects. Even though the national varieties of Standard
German are only somewhat influenced by the local dialects, they are very distinct. German is thus
considered a pluricentric language, with currently three national standard varieties of German:
Standard German German, Standard Austrian German and Standard Swiss German. In
comparison to other European languages (e.g. Portuguese, English), the multi-standard character
of German is still not widely acknowledged.[73] However, 90% of Austrian secondary school
teachers of German consider German as having "more than one" standard variety.[74] In this
context, some scholars speak of a One Standard German Axiom that has been maintained as a
core assumption of German dialectology.[75]
In most regions, the speakers use a continuum, e.g. "Umgangssprache" (colloquial standards)
from more dialectal varieties to more standard varieties depending on the circumstances.

Varieties

The national and regional

standard varieties of
German[76]

In German linguistics, German dialects are distinguished from varieties of Standard German. The
varieties of Standard German refer to the different local varieties of the pluricentric German. They
differ mainly in lexicon and phonology, but also smaller grammatical differences. In certain
regions, they have replaced the traditional German dialects, especially in Northern Germany.

German Standard German

Austrian Standard German

Swiss Standard German

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. About 11% of
the Swiss residents speak Standard German at home, but this is mainly due to German
immigrants.[77] This situation has been called a medial diglossia. Swiss Standard German is used
in the Swiss education system, while Austrian German is officially used in the Austrian education
system.

Dialects

The German dialects are the traditional local varieties of the language; many of them are not
mutually intelligible with standard German, and they have great differences in lexicon, phonology,
and syntax. If a narrow definition of language based on mutual intelligibility is used, many
German dialects are considered to be separate languages (for instance by ISO 639-3). However,
such a point of view is unusual in German linguistics.
The German dialect continuum is traditionally divided most broadly into High German and Low
German, also called Low Saxon. However, historically, High German dialects and Low Saxon/Low
German dialects do not belong to the same language. Nevertheless, in today's Germany, Low
Saxon/Low German is often perceived as a dialectal variation of Standard German on a
functional level even by many native speakers.

The variation among the German dialects is considerable, with often only neighbouring dialects
being mutually intelligible. Some dialects are not intelligible to people who know only Standard
German. However, all German dialects belong to the dialect continuum of High German and Low
Saxon.

Low German

The Low German dialects

Middle Low German was the lingua franca of the Hanseatic League. It was the predominant
language in Northern Germany until the 16th century. In 1534, the Luther Bible was published. It
aimed to be understandable to a broad audience and was based mainly on Central and Upper
German varieties. The Early New High German language gained more prestige than Low German
and became the language of science and literature. Around the same time, the Hanseatic
League, a confederation of northern ports, lost its importance as new trade routes to Asia and
the Americas were established, and the most powerful German states of that period were
located in Middle and Southern Germany.

The 18th and 19th centuries were marked by mass education in Standard German in schools.
Gradually, Low German came to be politically viewed as a mere dialect spoken by the
uneducated. The proportion of the population who can understand and speak it has decreased
continuously since World War II.

Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants in the area: most of the Ruhr (Dortmund, Essen,
Bochum, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Herne, Bottrop, Recklinghausen), Hamburg, Bremen, Hanover,
Bielefeld, Münster, Braunschweig, Kiel, Groningen, Lübeck, Rostock, Hamm, Oldenburg,
Osnabrück, Enschede, Paderborn, Wolfsburg, Göttingen, Bremerhaven, Salzgitter, Gütersloh,
Hildesheim, and historically also Berlin, Halle (Saale), Magdeburg and Potsdam.
Low Franconian

The Low Franconian dialects fall within a linguistic category used to classify a number of
historical and contemporary West Germanic varieties most closely related to, and including, the
Dutch language. Consequently, the vast majority of the Low Franconian dialects are spoken
outside of the German language area. Low Franconian dialects are spoken in the Netherlands,
Belgium, South Africa, Suriname and Namibia, and along the Lower Rhine in Germany, in North
Rhine-Westphalia. The region in Germany encompasses parts of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan
region and of the Ruhr.

The Low Franconian dialects have three different standard varieties: In the Netherlands, Belgium
and Suriname, it is Dutch, which is itself a Low Franconian language. In South Africa, it is
Afrikaans, which is also categorized as Low Franconian. During the Middle Ages and Early
Modern Period, the Low Franconian dialects now spoken in Germany, used Middle Dutch or Early
Modern Dutch as their literary language and Dachsprache. Following a 19th-century change in
Prussian language policy, use of Dutch as an official and public language was forbidden;
resulting in Standard German taking its place as the region's official language.[78][79] As a result,
these dialects are now considered German dialects from a socio-linguistic point of view.[80]

The Low Franconian dialects in Germany are divided by the Uerdingen line (north of which "i" is
pronounced as "ik" and south of which as "ich") into northern and southern Low Franconian. The
northern variants comprise Kleverlandish, which is most similar to Standard Dutch. The other
ones are transitional between Low Franconian and Ripuarian, but closer to Low Franconian.

Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants in the area: Cape Town, Pretoria, Brussels,[a]
Gqeberha, Amsterdam, Düsseldorf*, Rotterdam, The Hague, Antwerp, Duisburg*, Utrecht,
Wuppertal*, Mönchengladbach*, Ghent, Bloemfontein, Eindhoven, Paramaribo, Krefeld*,
Almere, Oberhausen*, Tilburg, Nijmegen, Mülheim an der Ruhr*, Arnhem, Haarlem, Amersfoort,
Solingen*, Neuss*, Breda, Apeldoorn, Zwolle, Zoetermeer, Leiden, Maastricht, Dordrecht,
Bruges, Remscheid*, 's-Hertogenbosch, Delft, Moers*, Leuven, Willemstad, and the south of
Essen*.

* city with German as standard language

High German

The Central German dialects

The Franconian dialects

(The Rhenish fan)
1. Low Franconian
Northern Low Franconian
ik–ich line
Southern Low Franconian
maken–machen line
2. Middle Franconian
Ripuarian
Dorp–Dorf line
Moselle Franconian*
Moselle: Luxembourgish*
dat–das line
Rhenish: Hessian
Rhenish: Palatine*
Appel–Apfel line
3. High Franconian
East Franconian
South Franconian**
*Lorraine Franconian in France
**Alsatian in France

The High German dialects consist of the Central German, High Franconian and Upper German
dialects. The High Franconian dialects are transitional dialects between Central and Upper
German. The High German varieties spoken by the Ashkenazi Jews have several unique features
and are considered as a separate language, Yiddish, written with the Hebrew alphabet.

Central German

The Central German dialects are spoken in Central Germany, from Aachen in the west to Görlitz
in the east. Modern Standard German is mostly based on Central German dialects.

West Central German

The West Central German dialects are the Central Franconian dialects (Ripuarian and Moselle
Franconian) and the Rhenish Franconian dialects (Hessian and Palatine). These dialects are
considered as

German in Germany and Belgium

Luxembourgish in Luxembourg

Lorraine Franconian in Moselle, France

Alsatian (in a Rhenish Franconian variant) in Alsace bossue, France

Limburgish or Kerkrade dialect in the Netherlands.

Transylvanian Saxon in Transylvania, Romania (considered a variant of German)

Banat Swabian in Banat, Romania (considered a variant of German)

Luxembourgish as well as Transylvanian Saxon and Banat Swabian are based on Moselle
Franconian dialects.

Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants in the area: Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, Bonn,
Mannheim, Wiesbaden, Aachen, Mainz, Kassel, Saarbrücken, Ludwigshafen am Rhein,
Leverkusen, Heidelberg, Darmstadt, Offenbach am Main, Luxembourg City, Koblenz, Bergisch
Gladbach, Trier, Siegen, Hanau, Kaiserslautern, the south of Düsseldorf, and in Romania: Cluj-
Napoca (German: Klausenburg),[b] Timișoara (Temeschburg),[c] Brașov (Kronstadt),[d] Oradea
(Großwardein),[e] Arad,[f] Sibiu (Hermannstadt)[g] and Târgu Mureș (Neumarkt am Mieresch).[h]

East Central German

Further east, the non-Franconian, East Central German dialects are spoken (Thuringian, Upper
Saxon, Erzgebirgisch (dialect of the Ore Mountains) and North Upper Saxon–South Markish, and
earlier, in the then German-speaking parts of Silesia also Silesian, and in then German southern
East Prussia also High Prussian).

Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants in the area: Berlin,[i] Leipzig, Dresden, Halle (Saale),[j]
Magdeburg,[k] Erfurt, Potsdam,[l] Chemnitz and Jena.
High Franconian

The Upper German and High

Franconian (transitional
between Central and Upper
German)

The High Franconian dialects are transitional dialects between Central and Upper German. They
consist of the East and South Franconian dialects.

East Franconian

The East Franconian dialects are spoken in the region of Franconia. Franconia consists of the
Bavarian districts of Upper, Middle, and Lower Franconia, the region of South Thuringia (those
parts of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest), and the eastern parts of the region of
Heilbronn-Franken (Tauber Franconia and Hohenlohe) in northeastern Baden-Württemberg. East
Franconian is also spoken in most parts of Saxon Vogtland (in the Vogtland District around
Plauen, Reichenbach im Vogtland, Auerbach/Vogtl., Oelsnitz/Vogtl. and Klingenthal). East
Franconian is colloquially referred to as "Fränkisch" (Franconian) in Franconia (including Bavarian
Vogtland), and as "Vogtländisch" (Vogtlandian) in Saxon Vogtland.

Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants in the area: Nuremberg, Fürth, Würzburg and
Erlangen.

South Franconian

South Franconian is spoken in northern Baden-Württemberg and in the northeasternmost tip of

Alsace (around Wissembourg) in France. In Baden-Württemberg, they are considered dialects of
German, and in Alsace a South Franconian variant of Alsatian.

Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants in the area: Karlsruhe and Heilbronn.
Upper German

The Upper German dialects are the Alemannic and Swabian dialects in the west and the Austro-
Bavarian dialects in the east.
Alemannic and Swabian

Swiss German restaurant sign

in Andermatt:
"Chuchichäschtli", in Standard
German "Küchenkästlein"

Alemannic dialects are spoken in Switzerland (High Alemannic in the densely populated Swiss
Plateau including Zürich and Bern, in the south also Highest Alemannic, and Low Alemannic in
Basel), Baden-Württemberg (Swabian and Low Alemannic, in the southwest also High
Alemannic), Bavarian Swabia (Swabian, in the southwesternmost part also Low Alemannic),
Vorarlberg/Austria (Low, High, and Highest Alemannic), Alsace/France (Low Alemannic, in the
southernmost part also High Alemannic), Liechtenstein (High and Highest Alemannic), and in the
district of Reutte in Tyrol, Austria (Swabian). The Alemannic dialects are considered

German in Baden-Württemberg and Bavarian Swabia, Germany

Vorarlbergerisch in Vorarlberg, Austria (considered dialects of German)

Swiss German in Switzerland and Liechtenstein

Alsatian in Alsace, France

In Germany, the Alemannic dialects are often referred to as Swabian in Bavarian Swabia and in
the historical region of Württemberg, and as Badian in the historical region of Baden.

The southernmost German-speaking municipality is in the Alemannic region: Zermatt in the

Canton of Valais, Switzerland, as is the capital of Liechtenstein: Vaduz.

Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants in the area: Stuttgart, Zürich, Augsburg, Strasbourg
(Alsatian: Strossburi),[m] Freiburg im Breisgau, Basel, Bern, Ulm, Pforzheim, Reutlingen,
Winterthur and Mulhouse (Alsatian: Mìlhüsa).[n]
Austro-Bavarian

The Austro-Bavarian dialects

The Austro-Bavarian dialects are spoken in Austria (Vienna, Lower and Upper Austria, Styria,
Carinthia, Salzburg, Burgenland, and in most parts of Tyrol), southern and eastern Bavaria (Upper
and Lower Bavaria as well as Upper Palatinate), and South Tyrol. Austro-Bavarian is also spoken
in southwesternmost Saxony: in the southernmost tip of Vogtland (in the Vogtland District
around Adorf, Bad Brambach, Bad Elster and Markneukirchen), where it is referred to as
Vogtländisch (Vogtlandian), just like the East Franconian variant that dominates in Vogtland.
There is also one single Austro-Bavarian village in Switzerland: Samnaun in the Canton of the
Grisons.

The northernmost Austro-Bavarian village is Breitenfeld (municipality of Markneukirchen,

Saxony), the southernmost village is Salorno sulla Strada del Vino (German: Salurn an der
Weinstraße), South Tyrol.

Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants in the area: Vienna, Munich, Graz, Linz, Regensburg,
Salzburg, Ingolstadt, Innsbruck, Bolzano (German: Bozen) and Klagenfurt am Wörthersee.

Regiolects

Berlinian, the High German regiolect or dialect of Berlin with Low German substrate

Missingsch, a Low-German-coloured variety of High German.

Ruhrdeutsch (Ruhr German), the High German regiolect of the Ruhr area.

Grammar

German is a fusional language with a moderate degree of inflection, with three grammatical
genders; as such, there can be a large number of words derived from the same root.

Noun inflection

German nouns inflect by case, gender, and number:

 four cases: nominative, accusative, genitive, and dative.
Declension of the Standard German
three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Word endings definite article

sometimes reveal grammatical gender: for instance, nouns Case Masc. Neu. Fem. Plural
ending in -ung (-ing), -schaft (-ship), -keit or heit (-hood, -ness) Nominative der das die die
are feminine, nouns ending in -chen or -lein (diminutive forms) Dative dem dem der den
are neuter and nouns ending in -ismus (-ism) are masculine.
Genitive des des der der
Others are more variable, sometimes depending on the region
Accusative den das die die
in which the language is spoken. And some endings are not
restricted to one gender, for example: -er (-er), such as Feier
(feminine), celebration, party; Arbeiter (masculine), labourer; and Gewitter (neuter),
thunderstorm.

two numbers: singular and plural.

This degree of inflection is considerably less than in Old High German and other old Indo-
European languages such as Latin, Ancient Greek, and Sanskrit, and it is also somewhat less
than, for instance, Old English, modern Icelandic, or Russian. The three genders have collapsed in
the plural. With four cases and three genders plus plural, there are 16 permutations of case and
gender/number of the article (not the nouns), but there are only six forms of the definite article,
which together cover all 16 permutations. In nouns, inflection for case is required in the singular
for strong masculine and neuter nouns only in the genitive and in the dative (only in fixed or
archaic expressions), and even this is losing ground to substitutes in informal speech.[81] Weak
masculine nouns share a common case ending for genitive, dative, and accusative in the
singular. Feminine nouns are not declined in the singular. The plural has an inflection for the
dative. In total, seven inflectional endings (not counting plural markers) exist in German: -s, -es, -n,
-ns, -en, -ens, -e.

Compounding

Like the other Germanic languages, German forms noun compounds in which the first noun
modifies the category given by the second: Hundehütte ("dog hut"; specifically: "dog kennel").
Unlike English, whose newer compounds or combinations of longer nouns are often written
"open" with separating spaces, German (like some other Germanic languages) nearly always
uses the "closed" form without spaces, for example: Baumhaus ("tree house"). Like English,
German allows arbitrarily long compounds in theory (see also English compounds). The longest
German word verified to be actually in (albeit very limited) use is
Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz, which, literally translated, is
"beef labelling supervision duties assignment law" [from Rind (cattle), Fleisch (meat),
Etikettierung(s) (labelling), Überwachung(s) (supervision), Aufgaben (duties), Übertragung(s)
(assignment), Gesetz (law)]. However, examples like this are perceived by native speakers as
excessively bureaucratic, stylistically awkward, or even satirical. On the other hand, even this
compound could be expanded by any native speaker.

Verb inflection

The inflection of standard German verbs includes:

Two main conjugation classes: weak and strong (as in English). Additionally, there is a third
class, known as mixed verbs, whose conjugation combines features of both the strong and
weak patterns.

Three persons: first, second and third.

Two numbers: singular and plural.

Three moods: indicative, imperative and subjunctive (in addition to infinitive).

Two voices: active and passive. The passive voice uses auxiliary verbs and is divisible into
static and dynamic. Static forms show a constant state and use the verb to be (sein). Dynamic
forms show an action and use the verb to become (werden).

Two tenses without auxiliary verbs (present and preterite) and four tenses constructed with
auxiliary verbs (perfect, pluperfect, future and future perfect).

The distinction between grammatical aspects is rendered by combined use of the subjunctive
or preterite marking so the plain indicative voice uses neither of those two markers; the
subjunctive by itself often conveys reported speech; subjunctive plus preterite marks the
conditional state; and the preterite alone shows either plain indicative (in the past), or
functions as a (literal) alternative for either reported speech or the conditional state of the
verb, when necessary for clarity.

The distinction between perfect and progressive aspect is and has, at every stage of
development, been a productive category of the older language and in nearly all documented
dialects, but strangely enough it is now rigorously excluded from written usage in its present
normalised form.

Disambiguation of completed vs. uncompleted forms is widely observed and regularly

generated by common prefixes (blicken [to look], erblicken [to see – unrelated form: sehen]).

Verb prefixes

The meaning of basic verbs can be expanded and sometimes radically changed through the use
of a number of prefixes. Some prefixes have a specific meaning; the prefix zer- refers to
destruction, as in zerreißen (to tear apart), zerbrechen (to break apart), zerschneiden (to cut
apart). Other prefixes have only the vaguest meaning in themselves; ver- is found in a number of
verbs with a large variety of meanings, as in versuchen (to try) from suchen (to seek), vernehmen
(to interrogate) from nehmen (to take), verteilen (to distribute) from teilen (to share), verstehen (to
understand) from stehen (to stand).

Other examples include the following: haften (to stick), verhaften (to detain); kaufen (to buy),
verkaufen (to sell); hören (to hear), aufhören (to cease); fahren (to drive), erfahren (to experience).

Many German verbs have a separable prefix, often with an adverbial function. In finite verb forms,
it is split off and moved to the end of the clause and is hence considered by some to be a
"resultative particle". For example, mitgehen, meaning "to go along", would be split, giving Gehen
Sie mit? (Literal: "Go you with?"; Idiomatic: "Are you going along?").

Indeed, several parenthetical clauses may occur between the prefix of a finite verb and its
complement (ankommen = to arrive, er kam an = he arrived, er ist angekommen = he has
arrived):

Er kam am Freitagabend nach einem harten Arbeitstag und dem üblichen Ärger, der ihn schon
seit Jahren immer wieder an seinem Arbeitsplatz plagt, mit fraglicher Freude auf ein Mahl, das
seine Frau ihm, wie er hoffte, bereits aufgetischt hatte, endlich zu Hause an.

A selectively literal translation of this example to illustrate the point might look like this:

He "came" on Friday evening, after a hard day at work and the usual annoyances that had time
and again been troubling him for years now at his workplace, with questionable joy, to a meal
which, as he hoped, his wife had already put on the table, finally home "to".

Word order

German word order is generally with the V2 word order restriction and also with the SOV word
order restriction for main clauses. For yes–no questions, exclamations, and wishes, the finite
verb always has the first position. In subordinate clauses, all verb forms occur at the very end.

German requires a verbal element (main verb, modal verb or auxiliary verb as finite verb) to
appear second in the sentence. The verb is preceded by the topic of the sentence. The element in
focus appears at the end of the sentence. For a sentence without an auxiliary, these are several
possibilities:

Der alte Mann gab mir gestern das Buch. (The old man gave me yesterday the book; normal
order)
Das Buch gab mir gestern der alte Mann. (The book gave [to] me yesterday the old man)
Das Buch gab der alte Mann mir gestern. (The book gave the old man [to] me yesterday)
Das Buch gab mir der alte Mann gestern. (The book gave [to] me the old man yesterday)
Gestern gab mir der alte Mann das Buch. (Yesterday gave [to] me the old man the book, normal
order)
 Mir gab der alte Mann das Buch gestern. ([To] me gave the old man the book yesterday
(entailing: as for someone else, it was another date))

The position of a noun in a German sentence has no bearing on its being a subject, an object or
another argument. In a declarative sentence in English, if the subject does not occur before the
predicate, the sentence could well be misunderstood.

However, German's flexible word order allows one to emphasise specific words:

Normal word order:

Der Direktor betrat gestern um 10 Uhr mit einem Schirm in der Hand sein Büro.
The manager entered yesterday at 10 o'clock with an umbrella in the hand his office.

Second variant in normal word order:

Der Direktor betrat sein Büro gestern um 10 Uhr mit einem Schirm in der Hand.
The manager entered his office yesterday at 10 o'clock with an umbrella in the hand.

This variant accentuates the time specification and that he carried an umbrella.

Object in front:

Sein Büro betrat der Direktor gestern um 10 Uhr mit einem Schirm in der Hand.
His office entered the manager yesterday at 10 o'clock with an umbrella in the hand.

The object Sein Büro (his office) is thus highlighted; it could be the topic of the next sentence.

Adverb of time in front:

Gestern betrat der Direktor um 10 Uhr mit einem Schirm in der Hand sein Büro. (aber heute
ohne Schirm)
Yesterday entered the manager at 10 o'clock with an umbrella in the hand his office. (but
today without umbrella)

Both time expressions in front:

Gestern um 10 Uhr betrat der Direktor mit einem Schirm in der Hand sein Büro.
Yesterday at 10 o'clock entered the manager with an umbrella in the hand his office.

The full-time specification Gestern um 10 Uhr is highlighted.

Another possibility:

Gestern um 10 Uhr betrat der Direktor sein Büro mit einem Schirm in der Hand.
Yesterday at 10 o'clock entered the manager his office with an umbrella in the hand.

Both the time specification and the fact he carried an umbrella are accentuated.

Swapped adverbs:

Der Direktor betrat mit einem Schirm in der Hand gestern um 10 Uhr sein Büro.
 The manager entered with an umbrella in the hand yesterday at 10 o'clock his office.
The phrase mit einem Schirm in der Hand is highlighted.

Swapped object:

Der Direktor betrat gestern um 10 Uhr sein Büro mit einem Schirm in der Hand.
The manager entered yesterday at 10 o'clock his office with an umbrella in the hand.

The time specification and the object sein Büro (his office) are lightly accentuated.

The flexible word order also allows one to use language "tools" (such as poetic meter and figures
of speech) more freely.

Auxiliary verbs

When an auxiliary verb is present, it appears in second position, and the main verb appears at the
end. This occurs notably in the creation of the perfect tense. Many word orders are still possible:

Der alte Mann hat mir heute das Buch gegeben. (The old man has me today the book given.)
Das Buch hat der alte Mann mir heute gegeben. (The book has the old man me today given.)
Heute hat der alte Mann mir das Buch gegeben. (Today has the old man me the book given.)

The main verb may appear in first position to put stress on the action itself. The auxiliary verb is
still in second position.

Gegeben hat mir der alte Mann das Buch heute. (Given has me the old man the book today.) The
bare fact that the book has been given is emphasized, as well as 'today'.

Modal verbs

Sentences using modal verbs as finite verbs place the infinitive at the end. For example, the
English sentence "Should he go home?" would be rearranged in German to say "Should he (to)
home go?" (Soll er nach Hause gehen?). Thus, in sentences with several subordinate or relative
clauses, the infinitives are clustered at the end. Compare the similar clustering of prepositions in
the following (highly contrived) English sentence: "What did you bring that book that I do not like
to be read to out of up for?"

Multiple infinitives

German subordinate clauses have all verbs clustered at the end, with the finite verb normally in
the final position of the cluster. Given that auxiliaries encode future, passive, modality, and the
perfect, very long chains of verbs at the end of the sentence can occur. In these constructions,
the past participle formed with ge- is often replaced by the infinitive.

Man nimmt an, dass der Deserteur wohl erschossenV wordenpsv seinperf sollmod
One suspects that the deserter probably shot become be should.
("It is suspected that the deserter probably had been shot")
 Er wusste nicht, dass der Agent einen Nachschlüssel hatte machen lassen
He knew not that the agent a picklock had make let
Er wusste nicht, dass der Agent einen Nachschlüssel machen lassen hatte
He knew not that the agent a picklock make let had
("He did not know that the agent had had a picklock made")

The order at the end of such strings is subject to variation, but the second one in the last
example is unusual.

Vocabulary

Most German vocabulary is derived from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language
family.[82] However, there is a significant amount of loanwords from other languages, in particular
Latin, Greek, Italian, French, and most recently English.[83] In the early 19th century, Joachim
Heinrich Campe estimated that one fifth of the total German vocabulary was of French or Latin
origin.[84]

Latin words were already imported into the predecessor of the German language during the
Roman Empire and underwent all the characteristic phonetic changes in German. Their origin is
thus no longer recognizable for most speakers (e.g. Pforte, Tafel, Mauer, Käse, Köln from Latin
porta, tabula, murus, caseus, Colonia). Borrowing from Latin continued after the fall of the Roman
Empire during Christianisation, mediated by the church and monasteries. Another important
influx of Latin words can be observed during Renaissance humanism. In a scholarly context, the
borrowings from Latin have continued until today, in the last few decades often indirectly through
borrowings from English. During the 15th to 17th centuries, the influence of Italian was great,
leading to many Italian loanwords in the fields of architecture, finance and music. The influence
of the French language in the 17th to 19th centuries resulted in an even greater import of French
words. The English influence was already present in the 19th century, but it did not become
dominant until the second half of the 20th century.

Thus, Notker Labeo translated the Aristotelian treatises into pure (Old High) German in the
decades after the year 1000.[85] The tradition of loan translation revitalized in the 17th and 18th
century with poets like Philipp von Zesen or linguists like Joachim Heinrich Campe, who
introduced close to 300 words, which are still used in modern German. Even today, there are
movements that promote the substitution of foreign words that are deemed unnecessary with
German alternatives.[86]

As in English, there are many pairs of synonyms due to the enrichment of the Germanic
vocabulary with loanwords from Latin and Latinized Greek. These words often have different
connotations from their Germanic counterparts and are usually perceived as more scholarly.

Historie, historisch – "history, historical", (Geschichte, geschichtlich)

 Humanität, human – "humaneness, humane", (Menschlichkeit, menschlich)[note 4]

Millennium – "millennium", (Jahrtausend)

Perzeption – "perception", (Wahrnehmung)

Vokabular – "vocabulary", (Wortschatz)

Diktionär – "dictionary, wordbook", (Wörterbuch)[note 5]

probieren – "to try", (versuchen)

proponieren – "to propose", (vorschlagen)

The Deutsches Wörterbuch (1st vol.,

1854) by the Brothers Grimm

The size of the vocabulary of German is difficult to estimate. The Deutsches Wörterbuch (German
Dictionary), initiated by the Brothers Grimm (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm) and the most
comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language, already contained over 330,000
headwords in its first edition. The modern German scientific vocabulary is estimated at nine
million words and word groups (based on the analysis of 35 million sentences of a corpus in
Leipzig, which as of July 2003 included 500 million words in total).[87]
Orthography

Austria's standardized cursive

Germany's standardized cursive

Written texts in German are easily recognisable as such by distinguishing features such as
umlauts and certain orthographical features, such as the capitalization of all nouns, and the
frequent occurrence of long compounds. Because legibility and convenience set certain
boundaries, compounds consisting of more than three or four nouns are almost exclusively
found in humorous contexts. (English also can string nouns together, though it usually separates
the nouns with spaces: as, for example, "toilet bowl cleaner".)

In German orthography, nouns are capitalized, which makes it easier for readers to determine the
function of a word within a sentence. This convention is almost unique to German today (shared
perhaps only by the closely related Luxembourgish language and several insular dialects of the
North Frisian language), but it was historically common in Northern Europe in the early modern
era, including in languages such as Danish which abolished the capitalization of nouns in 1948,
and English for a while, into the 1700s.

Present

Before the German orthography reform of 1996, ß replaced ss after long vowels and diphthongs
and before consonants, word-, or partial-word endings. In reformed spelling, ß replaces ss only
after long vowels and diphthongs.

Since there is no traditional capital form of ß, it was replaced by SS (or SZ) when capitalization
was required. For example, Maßband (tape measure) became MASSBAND in capitals. An
exception was the use of ß in legal documents and forms when capitalizing names. To avoid
confusion with similar names, lower case ß was sometimes maintained (thus "KREßLEIN"
instead of "KRESSLEIN"). Capital ß (ẞ) was ultimately adopted into German orthography in 2017,
ending a long orthographic debate (thus "KREẞLEIN and KRESSLEIN").[88]

Umlaut vowels (ä, ö, ü) are commonly transcribed with ae, oe, and ue if the umlauts are not
available on the keyboard or other medium used. In the same manner, ß can be transcribed as
ss. Some operating systems use key sequences to extend the set of possible characters to
include, amongst other things, umlauts; in Microsoft Windows this is done using Alt codes.
German readers understand these transcriptions (although they appear unusual), but they are
avoided if the regular umlauts are available, because they are a makeshift and not proper
spelling. (In Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein, city and family names exist where the extra e
has a vowel lengthening effect, e.g. Raesfeld [ˈraːsfɛlt], Coesfeld [ˈkoːsfɛlt] and Itzehoe [ɪtsəˈhoː],
but this use of the letter e after a/o/u does not occur in the present-day spelling of words other
than proper nouns.)

German alphabet
0:28

(Listen to a German speaker recite the alphabet in German)

Problems playing this file? See media help.

There is no general agreement on where letters with umlauts occur in the sorting sequence.
Telephone directories treat them by replacing them with the base vowel followed by an e. Some
dictionaries sort each umlauted vowel as a separate letter after the base vowel, but more
commonly words with umlauts are ordered immediately after the same word without umlauts.
As an example in a telephone book Ärzte occurs after Adressenverlage but before Anlagenbauer
(because Ä is replaced by Ae). In a dictionary Ärzte comes after Arzt, but in some dictionaries
Ärzte and all other words starting with Ä may occur after all words starting with A. In some older
dictionaries or indexes, initial Sch and St are treated as separate letters and are listed as
separate entries after S, but they are usually treated as S+C+H and S+T.

Written German also typically uses an alternative opening inverted comma (quotation mark) as in
„Guten Morgen!“.
Past

A Russian dictionary from 1931,

showing the "German alphabet" – the
3rd and 4th columns of each half are
Fraktur and Kurrent respectively, with
the footnote explaining ligatures used
in Fraktur

Until the early 20th century, German was printed in blackletter typefaces (in Fraktur, and in
Schwabacher), and written in corresponding handwriting (for example Kurrent and Sütterlin).
These variants of the Latin alphabet are very different from the serif or sans-serif Antiqua
typefaces used today, and the handwritten forms in particular are difficult for the untrained to
read. The printed forms, however, were claimed by some to be more readable when used for
Germanic languages.[89] The Nazis initially promoted Fraktur and Schwabacher because they
were considered Aryan, but they abolished them in 1941, claiming that these letters were
Jewish.[90] It is believed that this script was banned during the Nazi régime, as they realized that
Fraktur would inhibit communication in the territories occupied during World War II.[91]

The Fraktur script however remains present in everyday life in pub signs, beer brands and other
forms of advertisement, where it is used to convey a certain rusticality and antiquity.

A proper use of the long s (langes s), ſ, is essential for writing German text in Fraktur typefaces.
Many Antiqua typefaces also include the long s. A specific set of rules applies for the use of long
s in German text, but nowadays it is rarely used in Antiqua typesetting. Any lower case "s" at the
beginning of a syllable would be a long s, as opposed to a terminal s or short s (the more
common variation of the letter s), which marks the end of a syllable; for example, in
differentiating between the words Wachſtube (guard-house) and Wachstube (tube of polish/wax).
One can easily decide which "s" to use by appropriate hyphenation, (Wach-ſtube vs. Wachs-tube).
The long s only appears in lower case.
Consonant shifts

German does not have any dental fricatives (the category containing English ⟨th⟩). All of the ⟨th⟩
sounds, which the English language still has, disappeared on the continent in German with the
consonant shifts between the 8th and 10th centuries.[92] It is sometimes possible to find
parallels between English and German by replacing the English ⟨th⟩ with ⟨d⟩ in German, e.g.
"thank" → Dank, "this" and "that" → dies and das, "thou" (old 2nd person singular pronoun) → du,
"think" → denken, "thirsty" → durstig, etc.

Likewise, the ⟨gh⟩ in Germanic English words, pronounced in several different ways in modern
English (as an ⟨f⟩ or not at all), can often be linked to German ⟨ch⟩, e.g. "to laugh" → lachen,
"through" → durch, "high" → hoch, "naught" → nichts, "light" → leicht or Licht, "sight" → Sicht,
"daughter" → Tochter, "neighbour" → Nachbar. This is due to the fact that English ⟨gh⟩ was
historically pronounced in the same way as German ⟨ch⟩ (as /x/ and /ç/ in an allophonic
relationship, or potentially as /x/ in all circumstances as in modern Dutch) with these word pairs
originally (up until around the mid to late 16th century) sounding far more similar than they do
today.

Literature

The German language is used in German literature and can be traced back to the Middle Ages,
with the most notable authors of the period being Walther von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von
Eschenbach. The Nibelungenlied, whose author remains unknown, is also an important work of
the epoch. The fairy tales collected and published by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the 19th
century became famous throughout the world.

Reformer and theologian Martin Luther, who translated the Bible into High German (a regional
group or German varieties at southern and therefore higher regions), is widely credited for
attibuted to the basis for the modern Standard German language. Among the best-known poets
and authors in German are Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, Hoffmann, Brecht, Heine and Kafka.
Fourteen German-speaking people have won the Nobel Prize in literature: Theodor Mommsen,
Rudolf Christoph Eucken, Paul von Heyse, Gerhart Hauptmann, Carl Spitteler, Thomas Mann,
Nelly Sachs, Hermann Hesse, Heinrich Böll, Elias Canetti, Günter Grass, Elfriede Jelinek, Herta
Müller and Peter Handke, making it the second most awarded linguistic region (together with
French) after English.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Friedrich Schiller Brothers Grimm Thomas Mann Hermann Hesse
(1749–1832) (1759–1805) (1785–1863) (1875–1955) (1877–1962)

See also

Language portal

Germany portal

Switzerland portal

Austria portal

Luxembourg portal

Belgium portal

Outline of German language

Denglisch

Deutsch (disambiguation)

German family name etymology

German toponymy

Germanism (linguistics)

German exonyms

List of German expressions in English

List of German words of French origin

List of pseudo-German words in English

List of terms used for Germans

List of countries and territories where German is an official language

Names of Germany

DDR German
Notes

1. The status of Low German as a German variety or separate language is subject to

discussion.[9]

2. The status of Luxembourgish as a German variety or separate language is subject to

discussion.

3. The status of Plautdietsch as a German variety or separate language is subject to

discussion.[9]

4. menschlich, and occasionally human, may also mean "human, pertaining to humans",
whereas Menschlichkeit and Humanität never mean "humanity, human race", which
translates to Menschheit.

5. In modern German, Diktionär is mostly considered archaic.

a. in danger of extinction due to the Francization of Brussels

b. moribund

c. moribund

d. moribund

e. moribund

f. moribund

g. moribund

h. moribund

i. historically Low German

j. historically Low German

k. historically Low German

l. historically Low German

m. in danger of extinction due to the Francization of Alsace

n. in danger of extinction due to the Francization of Alsace

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External links

Texts on Wikisource:
"German Language". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.

Mark Twain, The Awful German Language, 1880

Carl Schurz, The German Mothertongue, 1897

"Germany, Language and Literature of". The American Cyclopædia. 1879.

Dissemination of the German language in Europe around 1913 (map, 300 dpi) (https://archive.
org/details/VerbreitungDerDeutschenSprache)