High German languages

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This article is about the family of regional language varieties. For the standard language
("Hochdeutsch"), see Standard German.

High German dialects

Hochdeutsche Mundarten

Geographic predominantly central and

distribution southern Germany, Austria, South

Tyrol, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, northern and

central Switzerland, Poland, Czech

Republic and Alsace

Linguistic Indo-European

classification
Germanic

West Germanic

High German dialects

Subdivisions
Yiddish

Central German

High Franconian German

Upper German

Glottolog high1286[1]

The High German languages or High German dialects (German: Hochdeutsche

Mundarten) comprise the varieties of German spoken south of
the Benrath and Uerdingen isoglosses in central and
southern Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Luxembourg as well as in
neighboring portions of France (Alsace and northern Lorraine), Italy (South Tyrol),
the Czech Republic (Bohemia), and Poland (Upper Silesia). They are also spoken in
diaspora in Romania, Russia, the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile,
and Namibia.
The High German languages are marked by the High German consonant shift, separating
them from Low German and Low Franconian (Dutch) within the continental West
Germanic dialect continuum.
 Contents
[hide]

1Classification

2History

3Family tree

4References

5Further reading

Classification[edit]

The present-day distribution of continental High German languages:

Central German dialects
Upper German dialects

As a technical term, the "high" in High German is a geographical reference to the group of
dialects that forms "High German" (i.e. "Highland" German), out of which
developed Standard German, Yiddish and Luxembourgish. It refers to the Central
Uplands (Mittelgebirge) and Alpine areas of central and southern Germany, it also includes
Luxembourg, Austria, Liechtenstein and most of Switzerland. This is opposed to Low
German, which is spoken in the lowlands and along the flat sea coasts of the North
German Plain.[2]
High German in this broader sense can be subdivided into Upper German (Oberdeutsch,
this includes the Austrian and Swiss German dialects), Central German (Mitteldeutsch, this
includes Luxembourgish, which itself is now a standard language), and High
Franconian which is a transitional dialect between the two.[3]
High German (in the broader sense) is distinguished from other West Germanic varieties in
that it took part in the High German consonant shift (c. AD 500). To see this,
compare English/Low German (Low Saxon) pan/Pann with Standard
German Pfanne ([p] to [ppf]), English/Low German two/twee with Standard
German zwei ([t] to [tps]), English/Low German make/maken with Standard
German machen ([k] to [x]).[4] In the southernmost High Alemannic dialects, there is a
further shift; Sack (like English/Low German "sack/Sack") is pronounced [zzakpx] ([k] to [kpx]).