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The Oxford Guide to Middle High German
The Oxford Guide to
Middle High
German
Howard Jones & Martin H. Jones
1
1
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, ox2 6dp,
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OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 13/04/19, SPi
Contents
Preface and acknowledgements xi
List of maps, tables, and figures xiii
Abbreviations xvii
1. Introduction 1
Aims and scope of this book 2
How to use this book 2
● Readers new to MHG 2
● Readers familiar with MHG 2
● Readers interested in the language and linguistics of MHG 3
● Paragraph numbering and references to texts in Chapter 5 3
Definition of Middle High German 3
● Two senses of ‘Middle High German’ (I§1) 3
● High German within the Germanic language family (I§2) 4
● The Middle High German dialects (I§3) 7
● Classical Middle High German and the ‘Höfische Dichtersprache’ (I§4) 9
● Middle High German—Periodization (I§5) 11
The approach used in this book (I§6) 14
Further reading 17
2. Grammar and Lexis 19

Sounds and spelling 20
Main points 20
Introduction 23
● Phonological terms and symbols (G§§1–3) 23
Description of sounds and spelling 25
● Description of MHG vowels and diphthongs (G§§4–14) 25
● Description of MHG consonants and semivowels (G§§15–28) 30
● Suprasegmental effects (G§§29–31) 35
● Illustration of Cl-MHG sounds and spelling (G§32) 37
Sound change and variation 38
● Changes to vowels and diphthongs up to MHG (G§§33–56) 38
● Changes to vowels and diphthongs between MHG and NHG (G§§57–71) 48
● Changes to consonants and semivowels up to MHG (G§§72–91) 54
● Changes to consonants and semivowels during MHG (G§§92–6) 60
● Changes to consonants and semivowels between MHG and NHG (G§§97–103) 63
Sounds and spelling—Further reading 66
vi Contents
Inflectional morphology 66
Main points 66
Nouns 78
● Paradigms of main MHG noun classes (G§104) 78
● Historical background to MHG nouns (G§105) 80
● Details of the MHG noun declensions (G§§106–23) 81
● The development of nouns from MHG to NHG (G§§124–30) 87
Adjectives and adverbs 90
● Adjectives (G§§131–4) 90
● Adverbs (G§§135–8) 93
● Development of adjectives and adverbs between MHG and NHG (G§139) 95
Pronouns and determiners 95
● General remarks (G§140) 95
● Personal pronouns and possessives (G§§141–8) 96
● Articles and demonstratives (G§§149–59) 99
● Interrogatives (G§160) 102
● Relatives (G§161) 102
● Indefinites (G§§162–5) 103
Numbers 104
● Types of number words 104
● Cardinal numbers (G§§166–9) 104
● Ordinal numbers (G§170) 105
● Other number words (G§171) 105
Verbs 106
● Terminology—Roots and inflections (G§172) 106
● Paradigms of the strong and weak conjugations (G§173) 106
● General remarks on MHG verb forms (G§§174–82) 108
● Comparison between OHG and MHG verb forms (G§§183–5) 110
● Comparison between MHG and NHG verb forms (G§§186–7) 111
● Strong verb classes and ablaut (G§§188–98) 111
● Strong verbs—Grammatical Change (G§§199–201) 120
● Development of strong verbs from MHG to NHG (G§202) 125
● Weak verbs and ‘Rückumlaut’ (G§§203–8) 126
● Development of weak verbs from MHG to NHG (G§209) 129
● Irregular verbs—the mixed verbs bringen and beginnen (G§§210–12) 130
● Irregular verbs—the preterite-presents (G§§213–25) 130
● Other irregular verbs (G§§226–35) 135
Inflectional morphology—Further reading 143
Syntax 143
Main points 143
The functions of different word classes 150
● Verb forms—Definition of terms (G§§236–40) 150
● Verbal grammatical categories—Indicative (G§§241–8) 152
Contents vii
● Verbal grammatical categories—Subjunctive (G§§249–55) 155

● Verbal grammatical categories—Infinitive (G§256) 158
● Nominal grammatical categories—Use of cases (G§§257–65) 158
● Use of articles, adjectives, and compound adverbs (G§§266–8) 162
● Incongruence (G§§269–71) 164
● Negation (G§§272–4) 165
Word order 168
● Terminology: sentence constituents, phrases, and elements (G§275) 168
● Order of elements in the noun phrase (G§§276–9) 168
● Position and order of verbal elements (G§§280–95) 170
Types of clauses 176
● Terminology and definitions (G§§296–302) 177
● Relative (or ‘adjective’) clauses (G§§303–8) 180
● Adverb clauses (G§309–25) 183
● Noun clauses (G§326–30) 194
Sentence organization 197
● Resumptive constructions (G§332) 197
● Ellipsis (G§333) 198
Syntax—Further reading 199
Lexis 200
Main points 200
Word formation 202
● Terminology (G§§335–7) 202
● Main word formation processes in MHG (G§§338–40) 203
● Lexicalization, productivity, and transparency (G§§341–3) 205
● Word formation patterns in MHG (G§§344–60) 206
● Relationship between compounds and syntactic phrases in MHG
and NHG (G§361) 211
Borrowing 212
● Main types of borrowing in MHG (G§§363–7) 212
Special vocabulary (G§§368–411) 214
Lexis—Further reading 224
Dictionaries of Middle High German 224
3. Versification 227
Introduction (V§1) 228
Metre 228
● Basic principles (V§2–4) 228
● Scansion (V§5–13) 229
● Tips for scanning MHG verse 235
viii Contents
Rhyme 236
● General (V§14) 236
● Types of rhyme (V§15) 236
● Rhyme schemes (V§16) 238
Lines of verse in context 239
● Rhythmical continuity or discontinuity between lines of verse (V§17) 239
● Metrical and syntactical structures (V§18) 241
● Rhyming couplets and syntactical structures (V§19) 243
● Summary (V§20) 244
Verse forms 244
● Strophic and non-strophic verse forms (V§21) 244
● Heroic poetry: the ‘Nibelungenstrophe’ (V§22) 245
● Lyric poetry: the love lyric and the didactic lyric (V§§23–4) 247
Versification—Further reading and recordings 249
4. Historical, Cultural, and Literary Background 251

Introduction 252
Medieval Germany: the kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire 252
● The formation of the kingdom of Germany (H§§1–2) 252
● Germany and the Holy Roman Empire (H§§3–4) 253
Medieval Germany: the structure and organization of society (H§5) 255
● The church (H§6–28) 255
● Kingship and the secular nobility (H§§29–50) 269
● Peasants and the rural economy (H§§51–8) 286
● Towns and townspeople (H§§59–72) 290
Sources for the study of Middle High German (H§73) 297
● Religious literature (H§74–85) 298
● Courtly literature (H§86–95) 303
● Chronicles (H§96) 312
● Legal and administrative literature (H§97) 313
● Medical and other specialist literature (H§98) 314
Historical, cultural, and literary background—Further reading 315
5. Selection of Annotated Texts 317

List of selected texts 318
Introductory passages
T1 Berthold von Regensburg, ‘Von den siben planêten’ (extract) 319
T2 Konrad von Würzburg, Der Welt Lohn 325
Narrative poetry
T3 Das Nibelungenlied (strophes 814–55) 340
T4 Hartmann von Aue, Erec (ll. 624–1019) 354
T5 Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival (ll. 446,1–452,30) 373
Contents ix
T6 Gottfried von Straßburg, Tristan (ll. 681–956) 389

T7 Der Stricker, Der Rabe mit den Pfauenfedern; Der Hofhund; Der nackte Ritter 403
T8 Wernher der Gartenære, Helmbrecht (ll. 279–388, 697–804) 414
Lyric poetry
T9 ‘Minnesang’: Der von Kürenberg, Dietmar von Aist, Friedrich von Hausen,
Albrecht von Johansdorf, Heinrich von Morungen, Reinmar, Walther von der
Vogelweide, Wolfram von Eschenbach, Neidhart 426
T10 ‘Spruchdichtung’: Walther von der Vogelweide 473
Religious literature
T11 Das Arnsteiner Mariengebet (ll. 78–205) 486
T12 Mechthild von Magdeburg, Das fließende Licht der Gottheit (I, 2 and 4) 498
T13 Meister Eckhart, ‘Intravit Iesus in quoddam castellum’ (extract) 507
T14 Christine Ebner, Das Büchlein von der genaden uberlast (extract) 515
Natural history
T15 Der ältere Physiologus, The Elephant 525
T16 Der jüngere Physiologus, The Elephant 534
T17 Konrad von Megenberg, Das Buch der Natur, The Elephant 542
Chronicles
T18 Die Sächsische Weltchronik (extract) 553
T19 Die Livländische Reimchronik (ll. 127–200) 563
Legal documents
T20 The ‘Mainzer Landfrieden’ (extracts) 569
T21 Der Schwabenspiegel (extracts) 578
T22 Letters exchanged by the bishop of Brixen and the royal court about the
status of peasants (1282) 584
T23 Wage agreement between the clothmakers’ guild and journeymen weavers
in Speyer (1351) 593
Glossary of linguistic terms 603

Glossary of vocabulary 607
Appendix 1: IPA equivalents of symbols used in this book 653
Appendix 2: From manuscripts to modern editions 655
References 665
Index 681
Preface and acknowledgements
This Guide has a companion website (www.oup.co.uk/companion/middlehighgerman) which
provides access to various online resources. These include:
● Links to facsimiles of the manuscripts from which we have made transcriptions of some of
the texts in Chapter 5 (for details, see ‘References 3. Editions and manuscripts of Texts
T1–23’);
● Links to facsimiles of many of the other texts in Chapter 5 as they are transmitted in one or
more manuscripts;
● Links to useful digital resources that are referred to in the Guide;
● A diplomatic transcription of Wolfram von Eschenbach’s song Sîne klâwen (T9.xi).
In preparing this Guide we benefited greatly from the advice and constructive criticism of a
large number of colleagues and both former and present students. John Flood, Kurt Gärtner,
Shami Ghosh, and Carol Regulski deserve our special thanks for their detailed scrutiny of the
whole or very extensive parts of the text. Carol Regulski also proofread the entire work and
identified the links to facsimiles of manuscripts that are made available on the companion
website. For assistance with specific aspects and questions we gratefully acknowledge the
contributions of Elizabeth Andersen, Frances Avery, Sarah Bowden, Martin Durrell, John
Gillingham, Nelson Goering, Nigel Harris, Kerstin Hoge, Henrike Lähnemann, Alastair
Matthews, Brian Murdoch, Nigel Palmer, Karen Pratt, Friedel Roolfs, Gunhild Roth, Charles
Russ, Joseph Salmons, Jennifer Shaw, Anne Simon, Katerina Somers, Patrick Stiles, Markus
Stock, Almut Suerbaum, Victoria Thomas, Annette Volfing, Sheila Watts, Christopher Wells,
David Wells, Thomas Williams, Jürgen Wolf, David Yeandle, and Thomas Zotz. Sadly, Volker
Honemann and Bill (W. J.) Jones, who commented helpfully on parts of the text, did not live
to see the work in its final form. We apologize to anyone whose name we have inadvertently
omitted from this list. Any errors that remain in the work in spite of the guidance of so many
are our responsibility.
The staff of Oxford University Press dealt expertly with our text. We are grateful for the
encouragement of the late John Davey, who accepted our proposal in the first place, and sub-
sequently for the guidance of Julia Steer and in particular of Vicki Sunter, our commissioning
editor, who handled our sometimes complicated requirements with great sensitivity and
patience. The later stages of production were adeptly managed by Clare Jones, our production
editor. We are greatly indebted to Malcolm Todd for his knowledgeable copy-editing and to
Jillian Bowie, who brought incomparable expertise to the proofreading of our text.
Furthermore, we are grateful to Keble College, Oxford, for generous grants to facilitate the
progress of the work.
We wish to thank the following publishers for permission to reproduce copyright material
(details of the publications concerned are given in the relevant sections of Chapter 5, as indicated
by the T references below):
S. Hirzel Verlag: T9, Song XI;
Oxford University Press: T9, Songs i, ii, iv, v, vi, vii, ix, x, xii, xiii; T10, Songs i–iv and viii;
Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag: T2; T3; T4; T6; T7; T8; T9, Song viii; T10, Songs v–vii; T13;
WBG (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft): T9, Song iii.
xii Preface and acknowledgements
All reasonable effort has been made to contact the holders of copyright in materials repro-
duced in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in future printings if notice is given to the
publisher.
We dedicate this book to Helen and Mary Lynn for all their love and support.
List of maps, tables, and figures
Maps
1 The Holy Roman Empire c.1150 xx
2 Middle High German and Middle Low German dialect areas 6
Tables
1 Middle High German dialect areas 7
2 Linguistic periodization of German 14
3 Spelling of MHG vowels and diphthongs 28
4 Cl-MHG consonant and semivowel phonemes 31
5 Spelling of MHG consonant and semivowel phonemes 32
6 Illustration of Cl-MHG sounds and spelling 37
7 Development of the umlauted phonemes in Cl-MHG 45
8 Main changes to vowels and diphthongs from Cl-MHG to NHG 48
9 The ‘Tenuesverschiebung’ in Old Saxon, OHG, and Cl-MHG 55
10 Cl-MHG sitzen and schepfen and the Germanic forms from which they derive 56
11 The ‘Medienverschiebung’ in Old Saxon, OHG, and Cl-MHG 57
12 MHG strong nouns and their NHG equivalents 79
13 MHG weak nouns and their NHG equivalents 80
14 Strong masculine nouns—major declension types 82
15 Strong masculine nouns—minor declension types 83
16 Strong neuter nouns—declension types 83
17 Strong feminine nouns—major declension types 84
18 Strong feminine nouns—minor declension types 86
19 Weak nouns—declension types 86
20 Strong MHG and NHG adjective inflections 90
21 Weak MHG adjective inflections 92
22 Irregular comparative and superlative adjectives 93
23 First- and second-person MHG pronouns 96
24 Third-person MHG pronouns 97
25 Third-person MHG reflexive pronouns 98
26 Declension of MHG der, diu, daz 100
27 Declension of MHG diser, disiu, diz 101
28 Declension of MHG zwêne ‘two’ and drî ‘three’ 105
29 OHG, MHG, and NHG strong verb inflections—nemen ‘to take’ 106
30 OHG, MHG, and NHG weak verb inflections—teilen ‘to share’ 107
xiv List of maps, tables, and figures
31 Principal parts and other parts of rîten ‘to ride’ 112

32 Principal parts of the seven strong verb classes 113
33 Common verbs showing Grammatical Change in MHG 121
34 The First Consonant Shift 122
35 Grammatical Change in snîden ‘to cut’ 123
36 Grammatical Change in OHG and MHG 124
37 Patterns of root vowels/diphthongs in MHG and NHG strong verbs 125
38 Overview of conjugation of kunnen/künnen ‘to be able to’ 131
39 Principal parts of the MHG preterite-present verbs 132
40 Summary of conjugation of tuon 136
41 Summary of conjugation of gân/gên 137
42 Summary of conjugation of stân/stên 138
43 Summary of conjugation of wellen 139
44 Summary of conjugation of sîn 140
45 Main contracted forms of haben/hân 141
46 Main contracted forms of lâzen/lân 142
47 Main MHG conjunctions 148
48 Minor uses of the genitive in MHG 161
49 Principal MHG temporal conjunctions 184
50 Principal MHG causal conjunctions 185
51 MHG noun derivations in -e 208
52 German kings and emperors from Otto I to Charles IV 269
53 Main divergences between vowels/diphthongs of T11 and those of Cl-MHG 488
54 Main divergences between consonants of T11 and those of Cl-MHG 489
55 Main divergences between inflectional morphology of T11 and that of Cl-MHG 490
List of maps, tables, and figures xv
68 Examples of unshifted consonants in T18 557

75 Syntactic analysis of the first sentence of T23 599
Figures
1 Middle High German and the Germanic language family (I§2) 5
2 Effects of umlaut on short and long vowels (G§47) 44
3 The four main changes to stressed vowels and diphthongs from Cl-MHG
to NHG (G§64) 51
4 Development of sibilants since MHG (G§99) 64
5 Analysis of MHG compounds into immediate constituents (G§338) 204
6 Loan processes in MHG (G§363) 212
Abbreviations
Grammatical and general terms
abl ablaut m/masc masculine
acc accusative MS manuscript
adj adjective n/neut neuter
adv adverb(ial) neg part negative particle
art article nom nominative
c. circa NT New Testament
cf. compare num numeral
Cl Class obj object
cl clause OT Old Testament
comp comparative p./pp. page/pages
conj conjunction perf perfect
dat dative pers person, personal
pl plural
decl declension
pluperf pluperfect
def definite
poss possessive
dem demonstrative
pple participle
det determiner
prep preposition
dimin diminutive
pres present
et al. and others
pret preterite
f/fem feminine
pret-pres preterite-present
fn footnote
pron pronoun
fut future
ref reference
gen genitive
refl reflexive
imper imperative
rel relative
impers impersonal resp. respectively
incl. including sb somebody
indec indeclinable sg singular
indef indefinite sth something
indic indicative str strong
infin infinitive sub subordinate
instr instrumental subj subjunctive
interj interjection superl superlative
interr interrogative trans transitive
intrans intransitive vb verb
irreg irregular vs versus
l./ll. line/lines wk weak
lit. literal(ly)
xviii Abbreviations
Languages and dialects

Alem Alemannic MDu Middle Dutch
Bav Bavarian Med Lat Medieval Latin
CFr Central Franconian MHG Middle High German
CG Central German MLG Middle Low German
Cl-MHG Classical Middle High NHG New High German
German OF Old French
ECG East Central German OHG Old High German
EFr East Franconian OS Old Saxon
EMHG Early Middle High German PGmc Proto-Germanic
Engl English PIE Proto-Indo-European
ENHG Early New High German RhFr Rhenish Franconian
Gmc Germanic SRhFr South Rhenish Franconian
HG High German Swab Swabian
IE Indo-European Thur Thuringian
Ital Italian UG Upper German
Lat Latin WCG West Central German
LG Low German WGmc West Germanic
LMHG Late Middle High German
Linguistic symbols and abbreviations

[] phonetic symbol, e.g. [a]; see G§1
// phonemic symbol, e.g. /a/; see G§1
‹› spelling symbol, e.g. ‹a›; see G§2
* unattested form/sound, e.g. *b; see G§3
> ‘becomes’, e.g. p > f; see G§3
< ‘is derived from’, e.g. f < p; see G§3
Ø indicates the absence of a sound
→ indicates a cross reference within G§§368–411 (‘Special vocabulary’)
SCS Second Consonant Shift; see G§§73–83
WGCG West Germanic consonant gemination; see G§72
Bible abbreviations
Where the Latin Vulgate (V), the Authorized Version (AV), and the King James Version (KJV)
all agree in their numbering of chapters and verses, only one reference is given. Where V differs
from AV/KJV, we give both references, with the AV/KJV reference in parentheses, e.g. Psalm
103: 24 (AV/KJV 104: 24).
Map 1 The Holy Roman Empire c.1150
KINGDO M O F
DENMARK Livonia
Baltic Sea
Schleswig Danzig
North Sea
County of Holstein Prussia
Lübeck Mecklenburg
R. El
Hamburg be
Duchy of R. V
ist
Pomerania ul a
Bremen
Br
Frisia
Ma denburg
an
rch
Utrecht Braunschweig KI NG DO M O F
R. Rh Duchy of
of
in
March R. P O L AND
Saxony Magdeburg Od
e of
er
Bruges Cologne Landgr. of Lausitz
Thuringia Breslau
Liège
March of
Aachen Meissen Silesia
Duchy of Frankfurt
Cambrai Lower Lorraine Franconia Prague Krakow
Trier Mainz KING DO M
Reims Worms OF March of
Metz Duchy of Speyer Nuremberg BO HEMIA Moravia
Paris Regensburg
Toul Upper Hohenstaufen
Lorraine
KI NGDOM OF Strasbourg KINGDOM O F G E RMANY Duchy of Vienna
F RANCE Augsburg Austria
Salzburg
County of Constance
Burgundy Pest
Duchy of Duchy of
Besançon Duchy of Bavaria Styria
Swabia KI NG DO M O F
Duchy of Graz
DY
HUNG ARY
R. Danube
Carinthia
N
U
a
RG
Lyons
ron March of
Ve Carniola
BU
Tarentaise o f Aquileia
Milan
Vienne ch R.
S av
ar
OF
a
Savoy Lombardy Venice
M
OM
Emilia Bologna
GD
Embrun Genoa
Ravenna
KINGDO M
KIN
Arles Romagna Zara

Provence OF ITAL Y
Montpellier
Aix Pisa Florence
Marseilles Duchy March of
Tuscany of Ancona
Spoleto
Adriatic
Corsica Papal Sea
State Rome
KI NG DO M O F Bari
S I CI LY
The Holy Roman Empire Naples
Brindisi
Holy Roman Empire c.1150 Salerno
Borders of the kingdoms Sardinia
of the Holy Roman Empire
Borders of the duchies,
landgraviates, and marches
of the Holy Roman Empire
Boundaries of the Messina
Holy Roman Empire in 1212 Palermo
Reggio
Territorial gains 1150–1212 Monreale
Sicily
Archbishoprics
Kilometres
0 200
Hohenstaufen demesne lands Ragusa
Tunis
0 Miles 100
Malta
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
The Oxford Guide to Middle High German. First edition. Howard Jones and Martin H. Jones
© Howard Jones and Martin H. Jones 2019. First published 2019 by Oxford University Press
2 1. Introduction
Aims and scope of this book

This book offers a guide to the language and literature of Middle High German (MHG). We are
aware that readers may come to the study of this period (c.1050 to c.1350) with different objectives:
to be able to read the literary masterpieces of the time, to gain insight into medieval life through
original documents, or to acquire an understanding of the language, its diversity, and its develop-
ment during this period. We have written the book with such a varied readership in mind, seek-
ing to provide a core of knowledge of MHG from which readers can follow different pathways in
pursuit of particular interests. The book is designed for taught courses, for self-study, and for
reference. The only prior knowledge that we take for granted is an understanding of present-day
German.
The scope of this book is wider than that of previous English-language accounts of MHG in
two main ways. First, we provide more help for the reader in the form of grammatical explanation,
background material, notes, and an extensive glossary. With regard to grammar, we adopt a two-
level approach, catering for those whose priority is a reading knowledge of MHG and those
whose interests require more detailed analysis of the language. Secondly, in the selection of texts
for study, we focus not only on the great poetic works written around the year 1200, but also on
prose and verse texts from throughout the MHG period. These span a range of writers and genres
and include extracts from religious, historical, natural-historical, and legal texts. They also repre-
sent most of the main MHG dialect areas and, in contrast to the normalized MHG in which the
works of the great poets are usually read, they demonstrate the linguistic variety, irregularity, and
even messiness of the writing of the period. To give our readers an insight into the way in which
MHG texts are transmitted, we present some texts as nearly as possible in their manuscript form,
provide links to on-line reproductions of manuscripts, and explain the procedures followed by
the editors of MHG texts. We provide extensive additional supporting material to help with the
understanding of the non-normalized texts.
We give more details of our approach later in I§6 below.
How to use this book

Please refer to the detailed Table of Contents to see how this book is organized.
The Glossaries and Index are for reference. We suggest below how different types of reader
might use the rest of the book—while recognizing that many readers may belong to more than
one category.
Readers new to MHG

● Chapter 2 ‘Grammar and Lexis’ (read ‘Main points’);
● Chapter 5 ‘Texts’ (read the two introductory passages).
Readers familiar with MHG

● Chapter 5 ‘Texts’ (read non-introductory texts, including dialect texts);
● Chapter 3 ‘Versification’ and Chapter 4 ‘Background’ (consult as needed);
● Chapter 2 ‘Grammar and Lexis’ (read detailed explanations for reference).
Readers interested in the language and linguistics of MHG

● Chapter 2 ‘Grammar and Lexis’ (read detailed explanations on areas of interest);
● Chapter 5 ‘Texts’ (read dialect texts and accompanying linguistic headnotes; see list of texts
at the beginning of Chapter 5 for details).
Paragraph numbering and references to texts in Chapter 5

● We use separate series of paragraph numbers for the Introduction (e.g. I§3), Grammar and
Lexis (e.g. G§4), Versification chapter (e.g. V§7), and Background chapter (e.g. H§3). Note
that the numbering in many cases refers to more than one paragraph of text (see, for
example, I§1, which covers four paragraphs).
● For the selection of texts in Chapter 5, the references consist of ‘T’ followed by the number
of the text in the order in which it appears and, where appropriate, the line number(s)
referred to; for example, T5, l. 120 refers to Text no. 5, line 120 and T9.viii, l. 14 refers to Text
no. 9, Song viii, line 14.
● The headnotes to the texts in Chapter 5 have their own paragraph numbering; for example,
T19§2.1.1 refers to Text no. 19, paragraph §2.1.1. See list of texts at the beginning of
Chapter 5.
Definition of Middle High German

Two senses of ‘Middle High German’ I§1
The term ‘Middle High German’ (MHG) can be understood in two senses. First, it serves as a
label for the period in the history of the language traditionally dated between 1050 and 1350.
MHG so defined is evidenced by any writings whose original composition can be traced to this
period. MHG in this sense exhibits a high degree of diversity in the manuscripts through which
it is known to us. This diversity reflects both changes in the language over the three hundred
years of the period and differences at any given point in time between spoken dialects (to which
we do not have direct access), written forms of the language, and types of text. Secondly, MHG
refers to the normalized form of the language used in editions of many MHG texts and in gram-
mars and dictionaries of MHG. This form of the language was devised in the early nineteenth
century. It is derived from the works of major poets writing between c.1170 and c.1230, the period
known in literary history as the MHG Classical period. In order that the specific source of this
normalized variety of the language should be kept in mind, we refer to it in this book as ‘Classical
Middle High German’ (Cl-MHG).
Although Cl-MHG is an artificial variety of the language, it forms an important part of this
book for two reasons. First, the great works of MHG literature are for the most part studied in
editions which adhere, at least to some extent, to the norms of Cl-MHG, and this book is, among
other things, intended as a guide to such works. Secondly, Cl-MHG provides a reference point in
our description of the language of the period in the wider sense.
While our account of the language is centred around Cl-MHG, we also describe the linguistic
features which vary by dialect areas, by text type, and by the date of composition within the
period. And while we illustrate the language of the period with texts in Cl-MHG, we balance
4 1. Introduction
these with a wide range of material in prose and verse, representing different dialects, genres, and
dates during the period.
In the following we expand on the two senses in which the term MHG is used.
I§2 High German within the Germanic language family

The term ‘Middle High German’ denotes a group of dialects within the Germanic language fam-
ily. The ‘Middle’ part of its name refers to a period in the history of these dialects and is discussed
in I§5; we focus here on ‘High German’.
The Germanic language family

The Germanic (Gmc) language family is itself a branch of the Indo-European (IE) language fam-
ily. The other surviving subdivisions of IE are as follows, with some present-day languages noted
in parentheses: Albanian, Armenian, Balto-Slavic (Russian), Italic (the Romance languages via
Latin), Celtic (Irish and Welsh), Greek, and Indo-Iranian (Hindi and Farsi).
Modern languages in the Gmc language family include German, English, Frisian, Dutch, and
the Scandinavian languages including Icelandic. Language families are considered to have a par-
ent and, where the parent is not attested, a proto-language may be reconstructed to represent it.
This is done by taking forms attested in the daughter languages and using well-established pat-
terns of linguistic change to recreate forms which could plausibly have existed in the parent lan-
guage. The reconstructed parent of the Gmc language family is called Proto-Germanic (PGmc)
and the reconstructed parent of the whole IE language family is called Proto-Indo-European
(PIE); see Figure 1. Reconstructed forms are traditionally marked with an asterisk; for example,
the genitive singular of the Gmc word for ‘day’, the ancestor of modern German Tages, is recon-
structed as *dagas.
The period during which IE was spoken has been dated to several millennia bc. Gmc can be
identified as a separate branch of IE from the first millennium bc. Gmc is distinguished from
other IE languages principally by the First Consonant Shift (or ‘Grimm’s Law’), a change
which affected certain consonants; this shift is behind the following consonant alternations
between Latin and English (as examples of the non-Gmc and Gmc languages, respectively):
pater/father, tres/three, cornu/horn. This relationship between PIE and PGmc is shown at the
top of Figure 1.1
The Gmc language family is itself traditionally divided into the following three groups; the
separation is considered to have taken place between the first and fifth centuries ad.
● North Germanic, represented by the Scandinavian languages including Icelandic and
Faroese;
● East Germanic, represented by Gothic, which has died out but is attested;
● West Germanic, represented by German, English, Frisian, Dutch (and Afrikaans).
West Germanic (WGmc) is distinguished from the rest of Gmc by a number of linguistic fea-
tures (for example, West Germanic consonant gemination; see Index for details).
We use the term ‘Germanic’ (‘Gmc’) in this book to refer to the period between the First
Consonant Shift and the first written documents in Old High German in the eighth century (see
I§5); in Figure 1, ‘Germanic’ therefore includes the nodes labelled ‘Proto-Germanic’, ‘Proto-
North-West Germanic’, ‘Proto-West Germanic’, and ‘Proto-German’.
1 For more details of the First Consonant Shift, see G§200.

Figure 1 Middle High German and the Germanic language family
p→ f
First Consonant Shift:
t → th
Proto-Indo-European
k → ch/h
etc.
Balto-Slavic, Italic, Greek,
Proto-Germanic
Celtic, Indo-Iranian, etc.
Proto-North-West Germanic
North Germanic
Proto-West Germanic East Germanic
Proto-German
Second
p → pf
Consonant Shift:
t → ts
k → ch Old High
etc. Old Saxon/
German Old Dutch
Middle High Middle Low Middle

German German Dutch
(present-day) (present-day) (present-day) (present-day) English,

High German Low German Dutch (present-day) Frisian
Key. : direct line of descent; : simplified line of descent.
Old High German and Middle High German

The High German dialects are those WGmc dialects which have, at least to some extent, under-
gone the Second (or ‘High German’) Consonant Shift (SCS). This is a series of changes affecting
the Gmc consonants *p, *t, *k (and to a lesser extent *b, *d, *g), which occurred between the fifth
and eighth centuries, and which is already reflected in the earliest Old High German texts (note
that we use an asterisk here, as we are citing reconstructed sounds). The effects of the SCS were
maintained in Middle High German and are reflected in present-day standard German (see I§5 for
the periodization of Middle High German). We can see the effects of these changes if we compare
certain present-day German and English words, e.g. Pfund/pound, Herz/heart, machen/make. In
each pair the German word shows the shifted consonant, while the English word preserves the
Gmc consonant in its unshifted form. The SCS did not affect all German dialect areas equally: it
started in the south and lost force as it progressed northwards. Beyond a line which runs roughly
from west to east, the SCS did not take effect. The dialect areas to the north of this line are, in the
6 1. Introduction
Map 2 Middle High German and Middle Low German dialect areas
DANISH
Baltic Sea
North Sea
Kiel
Hamburg
EAST LOW GERMAN

GRONINGS- NORTH LOW SAXON R.
E lb
EAST FRISIAN Bremen e
R.
Od
er
IJsselland Berlin
dialect
R. Braunschweig South
R.
Osnabrück Brandenburgish
W
Rh Münster Magdeburg
ese
Kleve EASTPHALIAN
WESTPHALIAN Frankfurt
ine
MIDDLE Elbian an der Oder

DUTCH Essen Eastphalian
m
ak Nordhausen
en
m
ac Leipzig Silesian
Cologne he ken Kassel Thuringian
n ma en
Ripuarian ch Upper Saxon Dresden
pfunt
ma Erfurt
punt
Aachen
appel EAST CENTRAL GERMAN
Central Franconian Hessian
p apfel
dor Limburg
f
dor Koblenz
Moselle appel
Franconian Frankfurt
EAST apfel
Mainz
FRANCONIAN
Trier Prague
Würzburg North
appel
apfel
Bavarian
t
da z Rhenish CZECH
da Franconian Nuremberg
Speyer
l Regensburg
pe
ap fel
ap Swabian
Strasbourg
be
nu
Da
Upper R.
Ulm BAVARIAN
Rhenish Augsburg
Central R. Dan
ube
R. Rhi n e
Munich
Bavarian
ALEMANNIC
Vienna
Salzburg
Basle Lake
Constance
Zurich
Bern Innsbruck South Graz
High Alemannic Bavarian
Brixen
Major dialect boundary

Boundary with (predominantly)
Minor dialect boundary non-German-speaking areas 0 Miles 100
Boundary between Middle High Boundary less certain
German and Middle Low German/ 0 150
Middle Dutch dialect areas Kilometres
earliest attested period, Old Saxon and Old Dutch, and, in the period corresponding to the Middle
High German period, they are Middle Low German and Middle Dutch; see Figure 1 and Map 2.2
2 For more details of the SCS, see G§§73–5. For other distinctive phonological features of OHG among the WGmc dialects,
see G§§37–40 and 80–4.
The ‘High’ in Middle High German is a topographical term, referring to altitude: Middle High
German dialects are those spoken to the south, where the land is higher, while Middle Low
German dialects are spoken in the north, where the land is lower.3
The Middle High German dialects I§3
Middle High German is traditionally divided into dialects, that is, varieties of the language
spoken in different areas. Most MHG dialects are defined according to the extent to which
they exhibit features of the SCS (see I§2). In such cases the dividing line between dialect
areas takes the form of an ‘isogloss’ (linguistic boundary), on one side of which the dialect
shows a feature of the SCS, while the dialect area on the other side does not. Each feature of
the SCS is exemplified by a word which was spelt (and pronounced) differently either side of
the isogloss; see Map 2. Even when the isoglosses are accurately drawn, two caveats are in
order. First, most of the isoglosses used to demarcate the HG dialect areas are based on the
SCS; this relates to one aspect of phonology, which is itself only one area of language. If we
were to define isoglosses according to other phonological features, or to features outside
phonology, such as morphology or syntax, the divisions might look different. Secondly, any
isogloss is a simplification of what is almost always a fuzzy boundary between actual speakers
of these dialects.
The Middle High German dialect areas are traditionally divided into two broad groups:
Central German and Upper German. Central German is divided into West Central German and
East Central German, and each of these has its own subdivisions. Upper German is divided into
East Franconian, Alemannic, and Bavarian, the last two of which are also subdivided; these dia-
lect areas are shown in Map 2 and are also set out in Table 1, in which the position of the dialect
areas schematically matches their position in Map 2.
Where the dialect boundaries take the form of isoglosses based on the SCS, there is a shifted
and unshifted word on either side, as shown in Map 2. Note that some dialect areas are not
Table 1 Middle High German dialect areas
CENTRAL GERMAN (CG)

West Central German (WCG) East Central German (ECG)
Central Franconian (CFr) Hessian Thuringian Upper Saxon Silesian
Rhenish Franconian (RhFr)
UPPER GERMAN (UG)
East Franconian (EFr)
Alemannic (Alem) Bavarian (Bav)
Upper Rhenish Swabian North Bavarian
High Alemannic Central Bavarian
South Bavarian
3 Note that this sense is different from ‘hoch’ in ‘Hochdeutsch’, which is an alternative to ‘Standarddeutsch’ and refers to
standard modern German.
8 1. Introduction
separated in this way, and here the dialect boundaries are based on criteria other than the SCS.
Other dialect divisions are sometimes used in addition to those in Table 1. In this book we also
refer to South Rhenish Franconian (SRhFr), which straddles the boundary between Rhenish
Franconian and Alemannic.
To the north of the machen-maken isogloss are the Middle Low German (MLG) and Middle
Dutch (MDu) dialect areas. The machen-maken isogloss is today referred to as the ‘Benrath Line’
because it runs through Benrath, a suburb of Düsseldorf, but in the MHG period this isogloss is
likely to have lain somewhat further south (note that Map 2 shows where the isoglosses are esti-
mated to have been during MHG as opposed to today). The dialects to the north of the machen-
maken line are generally considered not to have undergone the SCS, although there is an ich-ik
isogloss running east–west within this area (not shown on the map), in which the ich variant
does reflect an effect of the SCS at the end of words. The isoglosses which divide the WCG dia-
lect group are known as the ‘Rhenish Fan’, as they are said to resemble the slats of a hand-held fan
turning round a pivot which lies somewhere between the Hessian and Thuringian dialect areas.
The isogloss separating the CG from the UG dialect areas on the map, the appel-apfel isogloss, is
referred to today as the ‘Speyer Line’, as it runs through Speyer; in MHG this line is again likely
to have been a little further south. In keeping with most modern treatments we count East
Franconian, which lies to the south of the appel-apfel line, as an UG dialect. However, in other
respects East Franconian shares many features with CG dialects, and some scholars consider it to
hold a unique position between CG and UG.
The division of the ECG dialect areas in Map 2 is not made on the basis of the SCS: the areas
east of Thuringia were colonized by German-speakers well after the SCS (see H§32), and all
ECG areas tend to show the SCS to a similar extent. Linguistic differences between Thuringia
and the newly colonized lands are minor, and reflect the fact that some of the settlers came from
outside Thuringia.4 In WCG, the separation between Hessian and Rhenish Franconian is not
based on the SCS either. The subdivisions of Alemannic and Bavarian shown in Map 2 and
Table 1 are approximate and are not traditionally given precise borders.
The MHG dialect areas have not been identified solely on the basis of MHG evidence, which
is unreliable in a number of respects. First, it is the written evidence generated by a small literate
minority, and therefore an imperfect indication of general patterns of speech. Secondly, the geo-
graphical origin of the authors is not always certain and, in any case, some authors did not write
in their own dialects. Thirdly, the manuscripts of MHG writings were often themselves written
long after the original composition, making it difficult to date the linguistic evidence (see
Appendix 2). For these reasons, historical dialectologists also use evidence from after MHG to
infer the dialect patterns during the MHG period itself. Given the linguistic conservatism of the
German dialects, even present-day dialect features can be revealing about the MHG dialects,
although, as we mentioned above with respect to the machen-maken and appel-apfel isoglosses,
MHG and present-day dialect boundaries may not coincide exactly.
Our account of MHG does not include Yiddish, the historical language of Ashkenazi Jews in
Europe, in which the first extant documents date from the late thirteenth century. Although it is
to a large extent derived from German dialects, medieval Yiddish draws considerably from other
sources, notably Hebrew (and it is written in Hebrew script), but also Slavic and Romance lan-
guages, and is generally not considered to be a dialect of MHG.
4 Note that the MHG dialect area Upper Saxon is not a continuation of Old Saxon in Figure 1. Old Saxon is the predecessor
of the group of dialects comprising North Low Saxon, East Low German, Westphalian, and Eastphalian, in Map 2.
Middle Low German dialects

In keeping with convention, we define Middle Low German (MLG) as the dialect area to the
north of the machen/maken line but to the east of the Middle Dutch (MDu) area, which is treated
as a separate group of dialects. In some linguistic histories, Low German (LG) includes any
Germanic language variety unaffected by the SCS, which would make Dutch, English, and the
Scandinavian languages part of the LG dialect area. We do not use this wider definition.5
Classical Middle High German and the ‘Höfische Dichtersprache’ I§4
Classical Middle High German (Cl-MHG) is a normalized form of MHG elaborated in the early
nineteenth century for editions of the poetic works of the MHG Classical period of literature
from c.1170 to c.1230 (sometimes called the ‘Blütezeit’). Modern editors do not share the belief of
their nineteenth-century predecessors that Cl-MHG represents the language actually used by
either poets or others in the MHG period. However, they continue to employ Cl-MHG, or at
least a partly normalized form of the language, in editions which are aimed at readers without
specialist linguistic knowledge; we follow this practice in that a number of texts selected for
study are taken from editions in Cl-MHG.
Nineteenth-century editors, notably Karl Lachmann, had two reasons for presenting the
works of the Classical period poets in Cl-MHG. First, although these works survive only in cop-
ies which were made (sometimes a long time) after they were composed and which show great
linguistic diversity, Lachmann and others believed that behind the heterogeneity of the manu-
scripts lay a standard language which had been used by the poets of the period. Cl-MHG was
their attempt to reconstruct this standard language.6 The second reason for presenting editions
in Cl-MHG was to make the great works of the MHG period accessible to members of the read-
ing public who were not specialists in language or textual history. The most striking—but not the
only—difference between the manuscripts from which Lachmann worked and the editions he
produced is in spelling. In the manuscripts this is often erratic, with the same words spelt differ-
ently within a single document, and in general there is only an imperfect relationship between
sounds and letters. To replace such variability and enhance the readability of the texts, Lachmann
devised an orthography in which distinct sounds are for the most part consistently symbolized
by distinct letters. This orthography was based on his close study of selected manuscripts and of
the rhymes that poets used.
Modern scholars are sceptical about the idea that there was a MHG standard language. While
they can no more disprove the existence of a standard than Lachmann and other early editors
could prove it, their judgement is that the manuscript evidence does not justify the inference that
a standard had once existed. There were some tendencies towards standardization in the lan-
guage of courtly poetry which we discuss below, but the overriding picture presented by the
manuscript corpus of MHG that is now available to scholarship and much expanded since
Lachmann’s time is one of diversity and variability. This reflects the lack of institutional arrange-
ments which would have been necessary to underpin a standard for all forms of written German
across different dialect areas in the MHG period. Modern scholarship also views the work of the
scribes, on which our knowledge of MHG depends, in a different light than the early editors did.
5 The dialect boundaries in MLG/MDu (see Map 2) are especially difficult to draw. Thus the IJsselland dialect area is,
strictly speaking, a dialect continuum, while in the dialect area called ‘Gronings-East Frisian’ MLG was used in writing but
the (non-German) dialect of Frisian was widely spoken.
6 The works chosen by Lachmann as the basis for Cl-MHG are all in verse and written by poets who were natives of and
active in the UG area. This explains why Cl-MHG has more in common with UG than CG dialects.
10 1. Introduction
Lachmann held ‘uneducated scribes’ (‘ungebildete Schreiber’) responsible for having obscured
the standard language that the poets had used.7 By contrast, modern scholars see the scribes’
work as a function not only of diversity in their own time, but also of variation at the time of
original composition. This is evident not just in spelling, but in other aspects of the language as well,
particularly phonology and morphology. Nonetheless, editions of works by the authors of the
MHG Classical period, those by later authors who employed the same literary idiom, and even
some prose texts still tend to be presented in a form of the language which is close to Cl-MHG,
at least in spelling; this makes such texts more readily accessible for today’s non-specialist readers
no less than for their nineteenth-century forerunners. Moreover, the fact that Cl-MHG was for
so long held to be the quintessential language of the MHG period has meant that reference
works, such as Paul’s Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik (1st edition 1881, 25th edition 2007), have
been based on it. A change in the approach to the writing of MHG grammar is only now in pros-
pect, with the preparation of a four-part description of MHG based on the analysis of a repre-
sentative sample of texts in their manuscript state.8
Although the belief of Lachmann and other nineteenth-century editors in the real exist-
ence of a standard form of MHG is no longer held, there is no doubt that ‘die höfische
Dichtersprache’, that is, the language of the poets of the MHG Classical period, does exhibit
some tendencies in that direction. It has, for example, a largely uniform vocabulary that
includes newly defined ethical terms and, in narrative works, many borrowings from Old
French.9 The poets shared stylistic conventions which reflected the manners of the courtly
and chivalric society for which they wrote and whose cultural horizons were not regionally
restricted. Later generations of poets in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries who con-
tinued to cultivate the courtly literary genres perpetuated use of the poetic language of the
MHG Classical period, and writers in other genres (e.g. religious, mystical, and historical
writing) also show its influence. There is evidence that the poets sought to avoid distinctly
regional language and to favour rhymes that worked in different dialects.10 However, in the
basic elements of spelling, phonology, and grammar ‘die höfische Dichtersprache’ falls short
of being a standard language. In their unedited, manuscript state, the works of the courtly
poets are, with few exceptions, as diverse in these respects as any other set of texts produced
in the period. ‘Die höfische Dichtersprache’ may occupy a special place among the varieties
of MHG that we can distinguish in the period and it may be the variety that comes closest to
the status of a standard, but it did not achieve that status. Rather, it was a specialized literary
idiom with limited tendencies toward uniformity that enjoyed prestige within, and to some
extent beyond, its native UG area in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. After that time
it went into decline along with the courtly and chivalric culture in which it had arisen. It was
in no sense a foundation of standard New High German (NHG).
For a more detailed discussion of Cl-MHG, the ‘Höfische Dichtersprache’, and editorial prac-
tices, see Appendix 2.
7 For the source of the quotation from Lachmann, see Appendix 2, p. 659.
8 To date (2019) Parts ii and iii of this grammar have been published: Thomas Klein, Hans-Joachim Solms, Klaus-Peter
Wegera, Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik, Teil ii: Flexionsmorphologie (2018) and Teil iii: Wortbildung (2009) (Tübingen:
Niemeyer).
9 For some of the key ethical terms widely used in courtly literature, see G§§368–411.
10 For a discussion of rhyming practices in the MHG Classical period and the expectation that rhymes should be perfect,
see V§§14–16.
Middle High German—Periodization I§5
We define the MHG period as lying between 1050 and 1350, in line with most modern reference
works and histories of the language.
Periods of linguistic history can be defined by ‘internal’ and/or ‘external’ factors. Internal fac-
tors relate to changes to the structure of the language, notably its phonology and morphology.
External factors are influences outside the language which affect its evolution, such as the pur-
poses for which, and the media in which, it is used. The periodization of linguistic history is an
inexact science, and linguistic periods of German tend to be rounded to the half century to
reflect this.
The MHG period follows the Old High German (OHG) period. The traditional separation at
1050 reflects the fact that there are relatively few extant works from the eleventh century, and that
texts from the centuries either side of it differ enough to justify separating MHG and OHG in the
middle. The differences between texts before and after the eleventh century are both internal and
external. The most striking internal difference has to do with the weakening or loss of unstressed
vowels, notably at the end of words. In the earlier period there were a large number of such
vowels, which allowed for a wide range of distinct inflectional endings. For example, unstressed
vowels found in personal verb or noun endings in the earlier period included a, e, i, o, u (both
long and short), but in the later period most of these endings had merged into an unstressed e or
been lost altogether. This process coincided with changes elsewhere in the language whereby
grammatical information came to be conveyed more systematically by other means, notably by
the greater use of personal pronouns and articles, and by a more fixed word order.
Turning to external factors, the bulk of vernacular texts up to the tenth century were prose
works written by and for the professional clergy, often as aids to the understanding of Latin texts,
and intended for private reading. From the second half of the eleventh century the focus shifted
towards the spiritual and moral instruction of the laity, and lay people figure among the authors.
Verse compositions suitable for oral delivery to illiterate audiences, rather than prose writings for
private study, dominated this new body of religious literature. From the second half of the twelfth
century a literature developed to suit the tastes of the secular nobility and later the urban elites.
Both at secular courts and in towns, chanceries were established to conduct administrative busi-
ness, increasingly in German.
Setting an end-date for the MHG period is less straightforward. MHG shows clear internal
differences from modern German, notably in the vowel system. For example, the Cl-MHG long
monophthongs in mîn hûs become diphthongs in NHG mein Haus (diphthongization), and the
Cl-MHG diphthongs in müeder bruoder become long monophthongs in NHG müder Bruder
(monophthongization). However, there are a number of problems in using examples like this as
the basis for establishing the end of the MHG period. The two forms of the language used for this
comparison are to some extent artificial: Cl-MHG is a normalized form of the language based on
works of courtly literature written around 1200 (see I§4), while NHG as defined in this book is a
modern standard which is only one variety of the present-day language. Even if we ignore the
artificial nature of Cl-MHG and NHG, there is no continuous development between them, and
it is not certain where we should draw the line to separate them. If we work at the level of dialects,
for which we do have (written) evidence of continuous change, we find that monophthongiza-
tion and diphthongization are still of little use in marking the end of the MHG period: diph-
thongization began in Bavarian in the twelfth century and spread north and west, reaching WCG
only in the sixteenth century, leaving certain dialect areas, including parts of Alemannic,
untouched even today. As for monophthongization, it is first attested in WCG in the eleventh
12 1. Introduction
and twelfth centuries, and spread to ECG and some UG areas, but certain parts of Alemannic
and Bavarian still remain unaffected. Since these two processes do not match up geographically
or chronologically, they would lead us to different conclusions about when the MHG period
ended, according to which of the two processes and which dialect areas we chose.
We have illustrated this problem with only two linguistic processes, but it is compounded
when we add other internal changes which have occurred since MHG, such as the lengthening of
vowels in open syllables, or the loss of vowels which are unstressed, not to mention changes out-
side phonology. If, in order to achieve a neater division between linguistic periods, we assign
different weightings to particular linguistic changes, it is unclear how to do this without making
arbitrary choices. It would, for example, be difficult to justify giving a greater weighting to either
diphthongization or monophthongization. Even if we did, we should still be forced to conclude
that, in certain parts of the Alemannic dialect area that remain unaffected by either process, the
MHG period has not yet ended.11
The difficulties we face when using internal factors to establish the end of the MHG period are,
in fact, typical of any attempt to divide a well-attested language into different periods. Changes
tend not to occur in neat bundles, but start and end at different times; and, across dialect areas,
individual changes may spread at different rates, or not occur at all. Moreover, language change is
often so gradual that, even if a bundle of changes did occur together, we should be forced to choose
a cut-off point on the continuum. The ease with which scholars separate OHG from MHG at 1050
on internal grounds is, in fact, unusual, and partly reflects the scarcity of surviving texts, making
the linguistic changes appear more abrupt than they no doubt were. For the end of the MHG
period, by contrast, there is no such convenient discontinuity in the evidence.
While internal criteria fail to provide support for an end to the MHG period, there are extra-
linguistic factors that point to the middle of the fourteenth century as a watershed in ways that
had an impact on the evolution of the language. Prominent among them are the following devel-
opments. First, the use of German for official documents issued by princely and town chanceries,
a practice that had gradually spread since its beginnings in the twelfth century, reached a notable
landmark with the adoption of German as the language of the royal and imperial chancery for all
its secular business during the reign of Louis IV, the Bavarian (1314–47). Secondly, the centre of
political power in the Empire was relocated from the south-west, which had been dominant for
much of the MHG period, to the eastern regions as the result of policies pursued by several lead-
ing families. These included the house of Luxembourg, to which belonged Charles IV, king of
Bohemia, who was crowned emperor in 1354/5 and under whom Prague became for a time the
cultural capital of the Empire and, in 1348, the site of the first university founded in Central
Europe. This shift in the centre of gravity of rulership in the Empire was to regions that were to
play a decisive role in the formation of NHG. Thirdly, the middle of the fourteenth century rep-
resents a turning point in the history of secular literature written in German. Some of the most
characteristic genres of the MHG period went into decline or were substantially transformed,
including the love song (‘Minnesang’), the didactic lyric (‘Spruchdichtung’), and the courtly
and chivalric verse romance. In place of this literature, whose roots lay in aristocratic, courtly
society, a diverse range of new types of verse and also prose writings came to the fore. While
townspeople had previously been among the sponsors of the traditional genres, they now also
emerged as authors, developing over time a body of literature that reflected the interests and
tastes of urban society. This was an important sociological development in the profile of German
literature and of the language in which it was expressed.
11 For more details on diphthongization and monophthongization, see G§§59–62.

The chief alternatives that have been proposed to 1350 as the end-date for the MHG period are
1450 and 1500. The earlier of these two dates takes account of the first use in the West of printing
with movable type a decade or so earlier, heralding the end of the manuscript age. The later date
includes this innovation, but also carries the period to the start of the century that saw the wide-
ranging changes brought about by the Reformation and Martin Luther. These dates undoubtedly
mark external factors that had a profound impact on the future development of the language. In
an overall scheme of the language’s history such as that proposed by Jacob Grimm in 1854—he
posited three main periods: Old High German, Middle High German, and New High German,
with MHG ending in the middle of the fifteenth century—either of these dates serves to fix a
point of significant change between the last two periods. They also chime with the general per-
ception that the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern era occurred at this time.
However, we do not believe that the arguments in favour of 1450 or 1500 as end-dates of the
MHG period are enough to tip the balance away from 1350. As well as the extralinguistic argu-
ments outlined above, the advantage of 1350 is that it has, since the late nineteenth century,
become the established end-date for MHG in language histories and historical grammars.12 We
do not, therefore, see that there is a compelling reason to diverge from the periodization that our
readers will meet with in the majority of existing reference works by adopting an alternative ter-
minal date for our account of MHG.
The MHG period is conventionally subdivided into Early MHG (EMHG), the MHG
Classical period, and Late MHG (LMHG). Again the criteria are external, this time taken over
from literary history. The end of EMHG at around 1170 reflects a significant change when German
literature ceased to be almost exclusively religious in character and focused increasingly on secu-
lar themes as aristocratic society undertook the patronage of literature. This initiated the MHG
Classical period, when the great works of courtly literature were created. Literary historians put
forward various dates for the end of this middle period. We favour 1230, since by that date the
leading poets were no longer active and had already begun to acquire the status of literary models
for later generations of poets. Accordingly, we define LMHG as extending from 1230 to 1350.
(Note: we refer to ‘the MHG Classical period’ to distinguish it from the form of language called
‘Cl-MHG’, which is an artificial standard created later and projected back onto works of this
period; see I§4.)
As for later periods in the history of German, we use the term ‘Early New High German’
(ENHG) for the period immediately following MHG and, in line with many treatments of the
history of German, we set the end date for ENHG at 1650. We do not use further subdivisions
of the period between 1650 and the present day, as these are not necessary for an account of
MHG. However, we do refer to ‘New High German’ (NHG), which we define as the standard
form of present-day German as found, for example, in the latest versions of Hammer’s German
Grammar and Usage and of the Oxford-Duden German Dictionary or, among monolingual
resources, in the latest versions of the Duden Grammatik and Duden Universalwörterbuch. We
do not, in general, refer to German dialects after the MHG period, except to the extent that they
shed light on MHG.
Table 2 summarizes the periods in the history of German and the subdivisions of Middle High
German as we define them in this book.
12 For example, Reichmann and Wegera (1993). The date of 1350 was proposed by Wilhelm Scherer in 1878 as the beginning
of a transitional period called ‘Early New High German’ (ENHG), which he inserted between MHG and NHG.
14 1. Introduction
Table 2 Linguistic periodization of German
Linguistic periods in the history of German

Period Abbreviation Dates
Germanic Gmc From c.1000 bc
West Germanic WGmc From before 500 ad
Old High German OHG 750–1050
Middle High German MHG 1050–1350
Early New High German ENHG 1350–1650
New High German NHG Present day
Linguistic subdivisions of Middle High German
Subdivision Abbreviation Dates
Early Middle High German EMHG 1050–1170
Middle High German Classical period — 1170–1230
Late Middle High German LMHG 1230–1350
Note: the linguistic subdivisions of MHG are borrowed from literary history; see I§5.
The periodization of Middle Low German and Middle Dutch

The histories of Low German and Dutch (see I§§2–3) are traditionally divided into different
periods from those used for High German. The MLG period is commonly defined as the period
between 1200 and 1600/1650, and the MDu period as the period between 1200 and 1500.
I§6 The approach used in this book

Chapter 2 Grammar and Lexis
The variety of MHG that forms the backbone of this chapter is Cl-MHG. Using this as a refer-
ence point, we also describe features of MHG in the wider sense, showing its variety by dialect
area, date, and text type.
At the beginning of each section of Grammar and Lexis we provide a summary of the main
points. The summaries are designed to help readers gain a working knowledge of MHG as
quickly as possible, which they can try out on the two introductory texts in Chapter 5. After each
summary the reader will find detailed descriptions which can be used for reference or for an
overview of particular areas of the language. These detailed descriptions include extensive cross
references to the corpus of texts in Chapter 5.
In the sections ‘Sounds and spelling’ and ‘Inflectional morphology’ (notably in the treatment
of nouns and verbs) our broad approach is to begin with a synchronic description of MHG, that
is, a description of the language without reference to its historical evolution (although we some-
times make comparisons with NHG as a familiar reference point for readers). We then provide a
diachronic account of MHG, that is, one which places MHG in the history of German. The most
obvious benefit of a diachronic approach is that it helps to explain features of Early and Late
MHG which are shared with the preceding and following periods, respectively. More generally, an
account of the earlier stages of the language forms part of the explanation of linguistic variation
The approach used in this book 15
within MHG. For example, alternations between vowels with and without umlaut in MHG can-
not be explained by an analysis of MHG in isolation, but can be understood only by reference to
OHG, in which the linguistic features that triggered umlaut are still in evidence.13 Moreover, a
diachronic analysis often sheds light on dialectal patterns within MHG. In some instances we
refer to Germanic and even to Proto-Indo-European to explain variation in MHG (see I§2). The
diachronic accounts also discuss the evolution of MHG to NHG, which is often more complex
than a straight comparison between MHG and NHG would suggest.
The approach in the sections ‘Syntax’ and ‘Lexis’ is similar, except that the emphasis there is
on synchronic description. A diachronic account, notably one that takes in the periods before
MHG, sheds less light on syntactic and lexical patterns during the MHG period than is the case
with phonology and inflectional morphology. Semantic change is, however, addressed in the
subsection of ‘Lexis’ called ‘Special vocabulary’.
The Grammar and Lexis chapter concludes with an overview of the MHG dictionaries that
are available on the Internet, in print, and on CD-ROM.
We have presented the linguistic account of MHG as far as possible using terms and categories
familiar to readers who have studied present-day German. When we introduce concepts likely to
be new or more difficult to grasp, we have provided explanations (which can be found via the
‘Glossary of linguistic terms’) that the more experienced reader may wish to pass over. We have
not sought to explain the linguistic phenomena we document within any particular theoretical
framework, but have drawn elements from whatever approach we believe will help make our
descriptive account clearer.
Chapter 3 Versification
Verse texts make up a substantial proportion of the literature of the MHG period and figure
prominently in the selection of texts in Chapter 5. In Chapter 3 we describe the chief features of
versification in poetry written in the MHG Classical period (c.1170–c.1230) and later. Our account
is divided into four parts, treating metre, rhyme, lines of verse in context, and verse forms. For the
analysis of metre we use a system of notation that is simpler than, but compatible with, that
found in most German handbooks. Tips for the scansion of verse are included. Technical
terminology in English and German is explained throughout. Examples are in the main drawn
from the selection of texts. In the case of lyric verse, the general account in Chapter 3 is supple-
mented by metrical analyses in the headnotes to each song included in the selection (see T9–10).
Chapter 4 Historical, Cultural, and Literary Background

The objective of this chapter is to describe the broad context in which the texts chosen for study
(Chapter 5) originated and in which the use of German as a written language developed during
the MHG period. No prior knowledge of the period is presupposed and key concepts are
explained as they arise. A map of the Holy Roman Empire c.1150 supports this chapter (Map 1).
The chapter is divided into three sections. The first is an account of the formation of the king-
dom of Germany and of the Holy Roman Empire and examines the relationship between them.
The second section provides an overview of the structure and working of German society under
the following headings: the church; kingship and the secular nobility; peasants and the rural
economy; towns and townspeople. Changes in each sector of society during the MHG period
are discussed. (Detailed reference to events in political and dynastic history is made in the head-
13 When we cite OHG forms there are often many variants to choose from. We tend to cite the forms which typically appear in
the standard reference works on OHG, notably Braune (2004), and which are broadly in line with East Franconian (see I§3).
16 1. Introduction
notes to individual texts in Chapter 5 when this is essential for their understanding.) The third
section surveys the principal types of texts that originated in the MHG period and provide the
basis for the study of MHG.
Chapter 5 Selection of Annotated Texts
Our choice of texts is governed by a number of considerations. First of all, there are a substantial
number of texts in Cl-MHG to provide practice in reading this variety of the language and to
represent major authors and works from the MHG Classical period. The two introductory texts
chosen are a short extract from a sermon by Berthold von Regensburg, which is a straightfor-
ward piece of prose on an accessible topic, and the whole text of Konrad von Würzburg’s Der
Welt Lohn, an example of well-crafted verse that contains much typical courtly vocabulary. To
represent the poetry of the Classical period, examples of the leading authors’ work are included:
in narrative verse, the poet of the Nibelungenlied, Hartmann von Aue, Wolfram von Eschenbach,
and Gottfried von Straßburg, and in the lyric, Walther von der Vogelweide. These are supple-
mented by examples of shorter narrative works and songs by other poets of the ‘Minnesang’
(see T7–9).
In order to create a more diversified and representative picture of MHG in use, the selection
reaches beyond the canon of Classical period poetry in Cl-MHG and from the period around
1200 in several ways. It includes prose and verse texts from throughout the MHG period, ranging
from Der ältere Physiologus of the late eleventh century to Konrad von Megenberg’s Buch der
Natur written in the middle of the fourteenth century. In addition, most of the major MHG dia-
lect areas are represented by at least one text (for details, see the ‘List of selected texts’ at the
beginning of Chapter 5). In all, ten texts in the selection exemplify varieties of MHG other than
Cl-MHG. An example of MLG is also included for comparative purposes (Die Sächsische
Weltchronik). To bring our readers closer to the form in which the texts are transmitted, we have
transcribed four of them from digital facsimiles of the manuscripts (Mechthild von Magdeburg,
Der ältere Physiologus, Der jüngere Physiologus, Konrad von Megenberg). Going further in this
direction, the companion website contains links to digital facsimiles of many of the texts in one
or more of the manuscripts in which they are preserved.14 Finally, the selection contains a variety
of types of text. We have included several types of religious writing, prominent among them
being extracts from the mystics Mechthild von Magdeburg and Meister Eckhart, as well as
extracts from works of ‘natural history’ and chronicles; pragmatic literature is represented by dif-
ferent kinds of legal documents.
Each item in the selection is introduced by a general headnote (§1) which gives background
information on the author and the text; where the text is an extract, its place in the work as a
whole is described. Attention is drawn to salient features of content and style and, where appro-
priate, comments are made on versification. Suggestions for further reading are given for all texts.
In the case of texts that are not in Cl-MHG, a linguistic headnote is added (§2). These second
headnotes give a detailed description of the text’s linguistic features, using Cl-MHG as a refer-
ence point. This provides help (supplemented by the notes) with the understanding of the non-
normalized texts. The features of the texts are evaluated for the information they provide on the
dating and dialect of the texts or the versions in which they are presented.
14 In addition to the edited version of Wolfram’s song in Chapter 5 (T9.xi), a diplomatic transcription of the text (i.e. an
exact copy in modern print) is available on the companion website. On diplomatic transcriptions, see Appendix 2.
Further reading 17
The notes accompanying each text deal with all matters of grammar, vocabulary, and general
content that are likely to pose difficulties. For the two introductory texts, which we expect
readers new to MHG to tackle first, the annotation is very extensive and designed to highlight
essential points of MHG grammar and usage, as well as to elucidate these texts in particular.
(In order to reinforce key points we have not been afraid to repeat ourselves!) Limited use of the
‘Glossary of vocabulary’ is required for the introductory texts. Cross references to Grammar and
Lexis (and to other parts of the book where appropriate) are provided throughout. The non-
introductory texts are generally less heavily annotated, though we have taken care to ensure that
all necessary help is provided for the reading of the non-normalized texts. Close study of the
introductory texts is presupposed as preparation for the reading of the non-introductory texts,
and readers are required here to make more extensive use of the ‘Glossary of vocabulary’. Again
cross references to Grammar and Lexis are made throughout. With the exception of Der ältere
Physiologus, we do not provide translations of whole texts, but the notes include suggested trans-
lations of many words, phrases, and sentences that might otherwise be misleading or create dif-
ficulties of understanding.
Appendix 2, entitled ‘From manuscripts to modern editions’, explains editorial practices and
conventions, so that readers may know what to expect from modern editions and how to make
the best use of them.
Glossaries
There are two glossaries: a ‘Glossary of linguistic terms’ and a ‘Glossary of vocabulary’.
The ‘Glossary of linguistic terms’ lists terms which occur frequently in the book and which it
would be repetitive to explain every time in context. Some of these, such as ‘auxiliary verb’, will
be familiar to many readers, others, such as ‘correlative’, less so. The entries are there not only to
help fill gaps in knowledge, but also to make clear how we define terms which are not always
defined in the same way. A number of terms not included in the Glossary are defined in context,
and these can be found via the Index.
The ‘Glossary of vocabulary’ includes the citation forms of almost all words which appear in
the book, notably those in the selection of texts in Chapter 5; it also includes word forms which
cannot be easily deduced from the citation form. The main exceptions, which are not listed, are
MHG words which are identical to their NHG counterparts, e.g. the personal pronouns ich, dû,
er. For more details, see the headnote to the Glossary.
Further reading
High German within the Germanic language family. On the early Germanic languages, see Keller
(1978), Robinson (1992), Salmons (2018), Schmidt (2013), Wells (1985), and Young and Gloning
(2004). For detailed accounts of Indo-European, see Clackson (2007) and Meier-Brügger
(2010). For both Indo-European and early Germanic, see Ringe (2017) and Voyles and Barrack
(2014).
The Middle High German dialects. Characteristic features of MHG dialects are noted in Chapter 2
(Grammar and Lexis) and in the headnotes to the non-Cl-MHG texts in Chapter 5 (see ‘List of
selected texts’ at the beginning of that chapter). Use the Index to search for the features of
individual MHG dialects (‘Bavarian’, etc.). For a detailed comparison of MHG dialect features,
see Paul (2007), and for an overview, see de Boor and Wisniewski (1998).
18 1. Introduction
Classical Middle High German and the ‘Höfische Dichtersprache’. For a fuller discussion of these
topics, see Appendix 2. Representative of modern views of Classical MHG and the courtly poets’
language are Keller (1978), Wells (1985), Young and Gloning (2004), Paul (2007), Salmons
(2018).
Middle High German—periodization. For an introduction to the periodization of the German
language in general, see Wells (1985); for more details, see Roelcke (1998). For a discussion
of the end of the MHG period and the beginning of the ENHG period, see Hartweg and Wegera
(2005).
CHAPTER 2
Grammar and Lexis
The Oxford Guide to Middle High German. First edition. Howard Jones and Martin H. Jones
© Howard Jones and Martin H. Jones 2019. First published 2019 by Oxford University Press
20 2. Grammar and Lexis
Sounds and spelling

Main points
We summarize below those aspects of MHG sounds and spelling which are essential for the
reading of Cl-MHG texts. More detailed explanations are to be found in the numbered para-
graphs indicated in parentheses after the headings. Note that although many editions of MHG
works are presented in Cl-MHG, this is an artificial, normalized form of the language (see I§4).
Vowels/diphthongs (G§§4–14)
Vowel length and umlaut
In contrast to NHG, vowels in Cl-MHG are consistently marked as either long or short. The non-
umlauted vowels have a circumflex accent if they are long (e.g. â) and no special marking if they
are short (e.g. a). The umlauted vowels have their own symbols if they are long (e.g. æ) and the
familiar NHG marking if they are short (e.g. ä). Note that accents on long vowels and the mark-
ing of umlaut in Cl-MHG are largely the work of modern editors and are rarely found in manu-
scripts.
● Long non-umlauted vowels have a circumflex: â, ê, î, ô, û,
e.g. dâhte, mêr, stîgen, hôch, hûs.
● Short non-umlauted vowels have no special marking,
e.g. tac, nemen, ligen, loben, jugent.
● Long umlauted vowels have their own spelling: æ, œ, iu,
e.g. wære, hœren, hiute.
NB: MHG iu is a long ü sound (as in NHG früh) and not a diphthong.
● Short umlauted vowels have the familiar NHG marking,
e.g. mähtig, möhte, künic.
● MHG often has a short vowel where NHG has a long one, e.g. (square brackets show
pronunciation and a colon shows that the vowel is long):
MHG Vowel NHG Vowel

tac [a] Tag [a:]
nemen [ɛ] nehmen [e:]
wider [i] wieder [i:]
loben [o] loben [o:]
jugent [u] Jugend [u:]
● The pronunciation of the short underlined MHG vowels here is the same as in the following
NHG words, respectively: Sack, hemmen, Widder, jobben, schmuggeln.
● MHG sometimes uses e for the NHG ä sound: MHG veter/NHG Väter.
Sounds and spelling: Main points 21
Diphthongs
These are combinations of two vowels pronounced together, with the stress on the first. MHG
has six diphthongs, none of which survives in spoken NHG.
● MHG diphthongs: ie, üe, uo, ei, öü, ou.
● ie spells the diphthong i-e, and not a long i as in NHG,
e.g. ie in MHG lieben sounds like iehe in NHG fliehen.
● ei sounds like ai in standard British English bait, and not like NHG ei:
– thus MHG beit in arbeit is like Engl bait;
– but NHG beit in Arbeit is like Engl bite.
● öü sounds like ö and ü pronounced in quick succession, not oi as in NHG; it is spelt öu, eu,
or öi, e.g. vröude, vreude, vröide.
Changes to vowels/diphthongs between MHG and NHG (G§§57–71)

A series of systematic changes to vowels and diphthongs occurs between MHG and NHG. The
most important are diphthongization and monophthongization: with knowledge of these
changes it is often possible to infer the NHG form from the MHG form.
Diphthongization
● MHG long vowels î, iu, û > NHG diphthongs ei, eu, au,
e.g. MHG mîn niuwez hûs > NHG mein neues Haus.
Monophthongization
● MHG diphthongs ie, üe, uo > NHG long vowels i:, ü:, u:,
e.g. MHG lieber müeder bruoder > NHG lieber müder Bruder.
Vowel lengthening in open syllables

● MHG short vowels in open syllables (i.e. syllables ending in a vowel/diphthong) become
long in NHG,
e.g. ne-men > neh-men, lo-ben > lo:ben.
Vowel lengthening in closed syllables

● Short vowels in closed syllables (i.e. syllables ending in a consonant) are also sometimes
lengthened, especially:
– in uninflected forms by analogy with inflected forms,
e.g. tac > Ta:g following the pattern of ta-ges > Ta:-ges;
– before m, n, l, or r,
e.g. wem > we:m, in > ihn, wol > wohl, vür > fü:r, vart > Fahrt.
Vowel shortening in closed syllables

● MHG long vowels in closed syllables become short in NHG, especially before ht or before
r + consonant,
e.g. dâh-te > dach-te, lêr-che > Ler-che.
Vowel loss
● Unstressed e is often lost,
e.g. MHG saget > NHG sagt.
Consonants (G§§15–28)
Voiceless/strongly articulated consonants at the end of words
In MHG a voiced/weakly articulated consonant in the middle of a word is often voiceless/
strongly articulated at the end.
● In MHG, alternations occur between:
– b and p, e.g. lîbes vs lîp,
– d and t, e.g. nîdes vs nît, hordes vs hort,
– g and c, e.g. êwiges vs êwic, singen vs sanc,
– v and f, e.g. hoves vs hof,
– h and ch, e.g. sâhen vs sach.
● In MHG ng, the g must be pronounced; it becomes c at the end of a word, e.g. MHG singen
is pronounced sing-gen, and MHG sanc sounds like English sank.
Other differences between MHG and NHG consonants
These differences relate mainly to the pronunciation of MHG, and are unlikely to present prob-
lems in understanding MHG texts.
● The letter ‘z’. This can stand for NHG z or s.
– z sounds like ts word-initially or after a consonant, as in NHG,
e.g. MHG zehen/NHG zehn, MHG herze/NHG Herz.
– Otherwise z and zz sound like a hard NHG ss,
e.g. z/zz in MHG waz/ezzen sounds like a s/ss in NHG was/essen.
– The NHG spelling usually provides the clue to the MHG pronunciation.
● The letter ‘s’. This can be pronounced like NHG s.
– s in sp and st at the beginning of a word is not a sch- sound as in NHG,
e.g. sp in MHG spot is close to the sp in English spot.
● The letters ‘v’ and ‘f’
– v in the middle of a word sounds like the English v,
e.g. v in MHG wolves sounds like the v in English wolves.
– v and f at the beginning of a word are often interchangeable,
e.g. vriunt/friunt.
– Although both v and f were probably pronounced more like English v in initial position,
it is conventional to pronounce them like English f.
● The letter ‘h’. This is always pronounced in MHG.
– h word-initially and between vowels sounds like English h,
e.g. it is pronounced alike in MHG herre and in MHG sehen.
– h in lh, rh, ht, hs, and at the end of a word sounds like NHG ch,
e.g. h in MHG naht sounds like ch in NHG Nacht, as does h in MHG sah.
Sounds and spelling: Introduction 23
– h is never a silent marker of a syllable break in MHG, as it can be in NHG,

e.g. MHG sehen (h pronounced) vs NHG sehen (h silent).
● Miscellaneous
– qu is pronounced like English kw, and not kv as in NHG.
– ph stands for pf in MHG, e.g. phlegen = pflegen.
– w sounds like English w and not NHG w,
e.g. w in MHG wenden sounds as in English went, and not as in NHG wenden.
Contractions (G§§31, 93)

In MHG texts, individual words and pairs of words are sometimes spelt in a compressed form,
with letters altered or missing. These spellings probably reflect spoken MHG or, in verse, the
requirements of metre.
Contractions within words
This results in the loss of the following consonants:
● b as in hân for haben,
● d as in reit for redet,
● g as in seit for saget,
● h as in sên for sehen,
● z as in lân for lâzen.
Contractions between words

Typical examples include:
● diech for die ich,
● derst for der ist,
● hâstu for hâst du,
● vragetse for vraget sie,
● entriuwen for in triuwen.
The negative particle ‘n(e)’
● This may be attached to the end of a word or (as en) to the beginning,
e.g. ern(e) for er ne, enhât for ne hât.
Introduction
Phonological terms and symbols
Spoken language relies on distinctions between sounds to convey meaning, and written language
relies on differences between characters. However, some distinctions are more important than
others in this respect. In G§§1–3 we explain how sounds and spellings are classified according to
the contribution they make to meaning and we define some of the most important symbols we
use in our phonological account of MHG.
G§1 Phones, phonemes, and allophones. A ‘phone’ is a discrete speech sound, and a perceptible difference
between speech sounds is ‘phonetic’. For example, d and t are phones, and the difference between
them is phonetic, as we can hear in the pronunciation of NHG Rades (gen sg of Rad) vs Rates (gen
sg of Rat). We symbolize distinct phones using square brackets, as in [d] and [t]. A less obvious
example of a phonetic difference is that between ch in NHG Dach and dich. In Dach, ch is pro-
nounced with the tongue against the back of the mouth, while in the pronunciation of dich the tongue
is further forward, against the palate. We symbolise these two phones as [x] and [ç], respectively.
There is an important difference between the pairs [d]/[t] and [x]/[ç], which is illustrated by
the examples just used. In Rades vs Rates, the phonetic distinction between [d] and [t] serves, on
its own, to mark a difference in meaning between these two forms, which are (phonetically)
otherwise identical. However, in Dach vs dich, the difference between [x] and [ç] is not the only
phonetic distinction between the words, for they also have different vowels. In fact, ch is system-
atically pronounced [x] after a and [ç] after i, so that we can say that the pronunciation of ch as
[x] or [ç] is phonetically conditioned, that is, these phones are distributed in such a way that they
occur only in different, mutually exclusive phonetic environments. Another way of putting it is
to say that [x] and [ç] are in ‘complementary distribution’.1
If the alternation between two sounds is capable, on its own, of marking a grammatical or seman-
tic distinction between two words, these sounds are called ‘phonemes’, and the difference between
them ‘phonemic’; this is indicated by showing the sounds between oblique lines. The existence of
the pair Rades and Rates allows us therefore to designate d and t as phonemes and to write them as
/d/ and /t/. On the other hand, if the alternation between two sounds cannot, on its own, mark a
grammatical or semantic distinction between words, but is always a function of different phonetic
environments, these sounds are called ‘allophones’ (i.e. distinct phonetic realizations) of the same
phoneme. Thus [x] (as in Dach) and [ç] (as in dich) are allophones of the phoneme /x/.2
The phonemes of a language are established by using minimal pairs of words, like Rades and
Rates, which are identical except for the sounds being contrasted. In the absence of minimal
pairs, similar words with differences which are irrelevant to the contrast being made, called ‘near-
minimal pairs’, may also be used. For example, to show the contrast between /d/ and /t/ at the
beginning of a word we may use the near-minimal pair drehen and treten, in which the difference
after the first syllable is irrelevant to the contrast.
It is important to note that, even though two sounds may be separate phonemes, the allo-
phones by which they are realized may be the same in some positions. For example, in phonemic
notation the last sounds in Rad and Rat are /d/ and /t/, respectively, but in phonetic notation
they are both [t], because in NHG [d] becomes [t] at the end of a word; thus the phonemes /d/
and /t/ both have [t] as an allophone.3
The phonetic symbols used in this book are for the most part drawn from the alphabet of the
International Phonetic Association (IPA), although in some cases we replace these with symbols
more familiar to students of German. For details of the differences between the symbols used
here and those of the IPA, see G§14 and Appendix 1.4
1 These remarks relate to the standard language of NHG. In some German dialect areas there is not a phonetic contrast
between the pronunciation of ch in these two words.
2 Since a phoneme is a set of allophones, the question arises which symbol we use to represent it. The choice of symbol
can be motivated by theoretical considerations or by convention. In practice, the symbol used for a phoneme tends to be the
same as the symbol used for whichever of its allophones occurs in the greatest number of phonetic environments.
3 When a phoneme is defined in articulatory terms, its articulation is described as that of the allophone with which it
shares a symbol. Thus the articulation of /d/ is described as that of its allophone [d], not that of its allophone [t].
4 For details on the IPA alphabet see https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/
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"Forgive him," she said. "You always make it up with us when we are
naughty. Perhaps you was naughty, or said something he didn't understand."
"It's him says things we don't understand," declared Peter, "and mother's
never naughty, and you ought to be ashamed to say it, Auna."
"We're often naughty without knowing it, Peter," explained Auna.
"Well, and if we are, how can we know we're naughty when nobody
tells us?" asked Avis. "Father won't speak to mother, and how can you make
it up if a person won't speak to you?"
"You can speak to them," said Auna.
Her mother was in the broken-spirited state when an adult will talk with
children as equals.
"I did speak to him, Auna," she said. "I prayed him to listen and tell me
what I'd done. But I'm never to hear him speak again."
"Then more won't I," declared Peter. "God's my judge, mother, if father
don't say he's sorry for being such a beast, I'll run away from him."
"And so will I," added Avis. "And if I was you, I'd run away too,
mother. Then where would he be?"
Auna, terrified at these words, crept out of the room and ran away to
hide her own tears. Then Margery dried her eyes and controlled herself.
"Don't you pay no heed to the silly things I've said—either of you. It'll
come right. And I won't have no hard words against father. A better father
and a kinder and more generous, no children ever had. So never let me hear
you say one word against him, for that I couldn't bear. He'll come home all
right I expect; and don't let him see nothing but smiles when he does. And
both forget I was such a silly mother as to cry about nothing. Where's
Auna? I've frightened the child. Now you be off to the kennels, both of you,
and sweep the snow away, and let's all be ashamed of ourselves."
Thus she sought to undo the mischief of her weakness, and partially
succeeded; but her own moods swept her like a cross-sea, and when the
interminable hours of the morning had passed, when noon came, and dinner
time, and still Jacob did not return, she began to lose her nerve again.
She yearned for her mother, and the longing grew until at last, unable to
endure more, she dressed for walking and slipped out of Red House
unknown to the children. At every turn of the way to Brent she expected to
meet Jacob; but he did not appear. He was coming back by Lydia Bridge
and reached his home an hour after Margery had left it. He guessed that she
had gone not to return, and was glad. He had spent the morning with his
lawyer, a man older than himself, who expressed deep concern at hearing
his opinions and prayed for patience and delay. Mr. Dawes had worked for
Jacob's father before him and felt staggered by this most unexpected
disaster. He read the record while Jacob sat and waited; then he argued for
time, for reconsideration and explanations—at worst a separation for the
family's sake. But he spoke to deaf ears and Jacob presently explained that
he was there to direct and not receive advice. The lawyer's talk appeared
worse than vain from his standpoint, for all was already accomplished and
only the details remained. His evidence assured the sequel. The incredulity
of Mr. Dawes made Bullstone impatient and the lawyer's lamentations he
nipped in the bud. He left explicit directions to institute proceedings for
divorce against his wife and cited Adam Winter as co-respondent. Once
more Mr. Dawes protested at the absurdity of the situation. Against Adam
no whisper had ever been heard. He enjoyed a reputation for plain-dealing
and stood well among the Chosen Few.
But Jacob declined argument.
"I'm here to issue orders," he said, "and you're here to carry them out. If
you won't, I can put my business into other hands."
Thus it was left and the solicitor, deeply concerned for both parties, read
and re-read Jacob's statement, yet felt the issue to be in the highest degree
doubtful. He could barely believe the truth of Bullstone's claims and he
suspected that the other parties might well deny them and fight him. He
perceived the horror of such a situation, and determined at any cost to
change his client's mind, if it were possible to do so. He decided for the
moment to brave Bullstone's anger and do nothing at all. He would at least
give the man time to grow calm and consider the gravity of his intentions.
As yet Jacob was far from calm; he stood too near the evidence of his own
senses, and Mr. Dawes perceived that he was beyond reason for the
moment. He left it and only hoped that Bullstone would not throw down his
challenge, and so drive his wife from him for ever.
But this climax was reached before the end of that day.
At dusk Mr. and Mrs. Huxam drove up to Red House in a cab, asked to
see Jacob and were shown into the parlour. They did not bring Margery, but
came for an explanation of her husband's conduct.
Jacob was in the kennels when they arrived and quickly joined them. He
brought in a lamp with him and set it on the table.
Barlow Huxam spoke as soon as the door was shut.
"Our daughter came to us this afternoon in a very poor way," he said. "It
seems that last night you swore before her face never to let her hear your
voice again. You kept your word to-day and went to Brent this morning and
didn't return. She waited until far beyond forenoon and then came to us. If
you can explain this in a manner to satisfy me and my wife, I'll be glad,
because on the face of it, it looks as if you'd took leave of your senses,
Jacob."
"I've taken leave of my honour, that's all," answered Bullstone. "Or it

would be truer to say that my honour has been stolen from me by my wife.
You understand what I mean no doubt. I've got proof positive and shall act
accordingly. I'm sorry for you too."
"Good God! You stand there and dare to say and think that Margery's
not faithful to you?"
"Saying and thinking matter nothing now. I've said too little, Barlow
Huxam, and I've thought too much. Now I know—I know. It's in my
lawyer's hands—Mr. Dawes—and you'll hear from him, if you're going to
stand for your daughter."
"Let's be clear," answered Huxam, who was now very angry. "Let's get
to the bottom of this, before we see you for the last time I hope. What shall
we hear from Mr. Dawes?"
"You'll hear that I'm going to divorce my wife for her adulteries—that's
what you'll hear."
"You dare to stand there before me and tell that damnable lie. Margery!
Margery! And you've lived with her for near twenty years and can think it!
What filth are you made of? What poisonous, beastly stuff has got into you?
Her—the clean, pure thing—with nought but honest blood in her veins and
honest thoughts in her mind! Her—adultery—you're a madman!"
"You'd better go," answered Bullstone quietly. "If she doesn't own it, so
much the worse. There's no defence for either of them. I'm not mad, though
my Maker knows I've endured enough to make me. I want to hear nothing
about her—or him. I want to be free, and I mean to be free."
Then Judith Huxam spoke. She had been sitting motionless while her
husband walked up and down the room. She had turned very pale, when
Jacob stated his determination, and she had put her hand up to her breast
and kept it there. She was quite collected and showed no emotion.
"And who is the man, Jacob Bullstone?" she asked.
"Adam Winter is her paramour."
"That godly, steadfast creature!"
Barlow spoke and bade his wife rise and accompany him.
"We'll be gone. This must be answered by others than us," he said.
But Mrs. Huxam did not move. A strange expression was in her face.
She looked coldly and curiously at Jacob. Then a faint flush lightened her
pallor.
"The mills of God grind slow but exceeding sure," she said. "I
understand; I know what's happened now, and you'll know presently.
Eighteen and more years ago I came into this room for the first time, and I
saw a sight that shook me to the roots of my being. I saw that you'd flung
another book to lie on the Bible. Looking back, I've often wondered why I
didn't stop your marriage with our daughter on that. But the Lord chose that
things should go on; and they went on. And He was looking ahead to this;
and, in His mercy, He showed me yesterday that nothing better than this
could have happened. He showed me yesterday, when you spoke
blasphemies in my ears, that it was time Margery left you if she was to save
her soul. So I'm not surprised at what you've told me to-night. This is all
God's plan. He chooses strange tools to do His work, as you said yesterday,
and He's chose you yourself and no other, to part you from your wife. You
understand that, don't you? It ain't Adam Winter, or any other man, that's
come between you and the mother of your children. It's yourself—led to it
by an outraged God. You are one of the doomed and always was, as I've
known too well these many days, though, Christian like, I hoped and prayed
for you. But the Lord knew, and He's took our child from the evil to come
and—hear this—He'll take your children from the evil to come also. There
must be offences, Jacob Bullstone, but woe—woe to them that bring them!
Our child shall hear your voice no more as you have sworn; and neither
shall you hear her voice, nor see her again, nor yet her shadow. If you'd
been a saint till now, this piece of work would have damned you, and
henceforth you'll go the scorn of every self-respecting woman and the hate
of every man. And you'll call on the hills to cover you, but they won't."
She got up and looked at her husband.
"Now we can go," she said.
"And understand this," added Barlow, whose voice, even in passion,

sounded genial and mellow contrasted with his wife's—"Mind this, you
dirty dog, if I spend every farthing I have on earth, and have got to borrow
more on my knees from my neighbours, I'll fight you to the end, till my
daughter's righted in the face of the nation. And when that's done, may God
help you, for there won't be any other party to do it. And Winter will say the
same."
Jacob was unshaken.

"The spoken word remains," he answered, "and the long story remains
—every item—stamped in my brain for eternity. They may lie; but justice is
justice. No power on earth can undo what's done, or leave it doubtful."
"You speak true," said Mrs. Huxam. "God Almighty will see to that.
There'll be no shadow of doubt on earth, or in hell, or heaven, when this is
blazed to the light."
They went out to drive away. Snow had begun to fall again and the full
force of a blizzard was reserved for this night.
"Best tell your driver to go by the lower road," said Jacob calmly, as he
stood and saw them depart. "There'll be drifts already on the other way."
BOOK II
CHAPTER I
CHORUS
Within a month of his wife's departure, Jacob Bullstone began to

perceive the full significance of the thing that he had done.
He learned that his petition would be opposed and he received from

Barlow Huxam a cheque, being the present market value of the land on
which the postmaster's house was in course of erection. And time had
opened his eyes to other issues, for he found that the sympathy he
anticipated was not forthcoming. Acquaintances evaded him, and when he
expected his few friends to express regret at his misfortunes, they did not.
Indeed all were anxious to avoid the subject on such occasions as they were
unable to avoid him. From a brief, unnatural quest of fellow-creatures,
therefore, and an inner impulse, to seek a spirit of support, Jacob soon
turned back into himself, since no such spirit appeared. Time dragged and
he grew more and more restless on discovering the body of public opinion
ranged against him.
One thing he had done, two days after the outrage that demanded it. He
had first written to Adam Winter expressing his regret for his violence; and
he had then torn up the letter and gone to see the master of Shipley in
person.
He learned that Samuel Winter was ill and Adam on the land. Their aunt
spoke to him, and if looks could have done him evil, Jacob must have
suffered. She answered his questions with the fewest words possible, then
shut the door in his face.
Jacob sought Winter, found him presently, walked up to him and spoke.
"I only want to say this: that I'm sorry I struck you. I was three parts
mad at the time. But I did a wrong thing to assault you and I'm prepared to
suffer my penalty in that matter."
Adam was not at work. He walked on the sheltered side of a hedge, with
his hands in his pockets, and now he looked curiously at the other.
"Do such a trifle as that trouble you?" he asked. "Well, I've heard you.
Now you'd better go. There's nothing to be said between us till I answer you
afore the law."
"Are you wise to deny it and bring me to the proofs?"
The other cut him short.
"Go," he said, and Jacob turned away.

He puzzled not a little to understand why his wife's family were
prepared to defend the case, and supposed that they must honestly believe
their daughter to be wronged. He explained this on the assumption that
appearances set against the likelihood of such an offence, and they knew
not that the final evidence was in his own possession. He had conversations
with his lawyer and found Mr. Dawes not in the least helpful. The old man
had obeyed him with extreme reluctance; but he did not pretend to be in
sympathy with his client, and the fact that both Jacob's wife and Adam
Winter were prepared to oppose the appeal and deny the offence went far to
make Mr. Dawes still less sanguine. He tried again and again to change
Bullstone's mind and failed; but his attitude served to create increased
bewilderment in the other. Indeed Jacob puzzled to see how isolated he had
become. The fact made him still more determined and still more distrustful
of everybody but himself. He resented such lack of understanding and was
impelled by it to trumpery emotions, ridiculous in the light of his present
huge affliction. They persisted, however, and his wounded pride drove him
forward with increasing obstinacy to fight to the end, that his wrongs might
be proved and his justification appear. There awoke a desire to confound
those who now set flowing the tides of criticism against him. They came as
a new thing, contrary to experience, for he had always understood that the
betrayed husband might count upon the support of most serious-minded
people. At home there was no pity for him save in one quarter. The children
came and went from their grandparents, and he had expected that they
might bring messages; but they never did. Not a syllable ever reached him
from his wife, or from the Huxams. Indeed his own boy and elder girl were
restive and taciturn under this terrible situation. Once Avis reported that
Margery was ill, and Peter openly corrected her for mentioning her mother
at Red House. Only Auna continued trustful, but she missed her mother and
was very downcast and silent. She, too, went to see Margery; but even she
had nothing to say on returning home.
Once Jacob asked Auna if her mother were at the post-office; but the
girl only looked frightened and shook her head. Whereupon he soothed her.
"Don't take on, Auna. Trust me. The others can't, but you understand me
best. You must trust me as much as you love me. Mother and I have got to
part, because she has done what I can't forgive. Indeed she wouldn't come
back any more if she could. She won't want to do that. But I hope you'll
stop with me, because I don't see how we could ever live without each
other. But you must all decide that for yourselves when I've been to
London."
It was a strange speech to Auna's ear, yet she felt no doubt. To live away
from her mother seemed a terrible thought, but life away from her father
must be impossible. She told herself that she would sooner be dead than
live without him, and she assured him of the fact; whereupon he warned
her.
"Always think that whatever may happen," he said. "There will be

people who will tell you that I am the wicked one; but everybody will know
differently before very long. For God forbid that I should tell anything but
the truth, Auna; and the truth is enough. And many hate me and speak evil
against me, and I know Avis and Peter believe it, and John Henry believes
it, else he'd have been over to see me before now. But you mustn't believe
it. You mustn't let anything come between us, Auna."
Already with proleptic instinct he sought to tighten the bonds between

the child and himself; already he felt that a time might quickly come when,
of all his family, she alone would be left. But only a passing mood
prompted him to this scene with the girl. Again and again, while time
dragged intolerably and he smarted under consciousness of the people's
aversion, he calmed himself with assurance that time would soon vindicate
and justify. Then those who now lacked pity for his plight, or anger against
his wrongs, would be the first to come forward and acknowledge their
errors.
One supporter he had—of a sort who rather embarrassed him than not.
Yet the new kennel-man, George Middleweek, was staunch enough, and
having gleaned particulars of the situation, though not from Bullstone,
resolutely upheld Jacob.
Middleweek succeeded Barton Gill, who had now finally withdrawn

from Red House to live in a cottage half a mile distant, and since the new-
comer's character was clouded by past intemperance, he entertained a lively
regard for Jacob, when he took him on trial against so grave a fault. But Mr.
Middleweek understood dogs and promised to be valuable. He swore by his
new master from the first and also won Peter's regard.
He was a widower of fifty, and he had the wit to take something of

Jacob's measure after a month at Red House. Then he ventured on a friendly
word or two and feared that he had been unwise, since Jacob took no notice
at the time; but, later on, George perceived that his goodwill had been
acceptable.
A week before all interested parties would be called to London,

Bullstone visited William Marydrew, though a shadow now existed between
them. For even William proved no whole-hearted friend in Jacob's opinion,
and he had been astonished to find that the old man terribly doubted.
William declared the tragedy a personal one; he felt for both parties and
was aged by a misfortune so unexpected.
"I thought nobody would question that I was right," said Jacob, "and yet
such is the regard in most people for the woman over the man that even you
——"
"But you can't well understand, from your own-self point, how this
looks to the world at large, including me," explained William. "It's come on
all the nation like a bolt from the blue, because no thought of such a fatal
thing ever fouled the air. The dirtiest tongue would not have dared to
whisper it. 'Tis beyond belief and experience of the parties; and what seems
the gathered knowledge of many days to you, falls on our ears like a clap of
thunder. And so you can't expect folk to side with you as a matter of course,
Jacob. On the contrary, 'tis the last thing you might have expected with such
a record for fine living and clean behaviour as your wife has. And the last
straw was when we heard that she and Adam Winter deny and defy you and
he going to stand up for their good names. The common people don't know
much, but where human nature's the matter, they be quite as clever as the
scholars, and often a damn sight cleverer; because the poor are up against
human nature all the time and life teaches them the truth about it; whereas
the other kind miss it, owing to book larning being so mighty different. And
hearing that Adam and Mrs. Bullstone are going to fight you, the people
take their side; because well they know they wouldn't stand up before a
judge and jury if their cause weren't good. No—they'd cut and run, as you
expected to see 'em."
"The people argue without knowledge of the facts," answered Jacob;

"but you, who have heard the facts from me in secret and know whereon
my case stands—how you can still hold the balance against me, for all our
long friendship—that puzzles me, William."
"I'm a truthful man where my memory will let me be," answered Mr.
Marydrew, "and so I won't pretend anything. Words have as many meanings
as a songbird have notes, Jacob, and the ear be often bluffed into believing
things by the mind that is hungry to believe 'em. Against the words, which
sounded to your ear as if them two was in each other's arms, you've got to
balance what's mightier than words. That's deeds and the conduct of a
lifetime, and principles that have never been doubted. Winter's life all men
know. He's religious in a true sense, and though I've got no use for the
Chosen Few, no more than you have, yet you can't deny that there's never
been one of 'em catched out in a crooked deed."
"It's that canting, stiff-necked sort who always are caught soon or late,"
answered Jacob, "and I'll say this, William: I believe that if my late wife had
had her way, she'd have been much too clever to take this line. She knows
the damnable truth in her heart, and she's been driven into denying it by her
parents—not for her own sake, but their credit. She never told them the
truth of course. And if she had, seeing there are no witnesses that I can call,
they'd deny it."
But Billy shook his head.
"Mrs. Huxam wouldn't have made her husband fight for a lie. She
believes that her daughter is a wronged woman, and she'll be true to her
rooted faith, that this has happened for good by the will of God. Of course I
don't believe that everything that happens is to the good myself, but Judith
Huxam holds to that opinion, and she's saying that what you've done puts
you down and out for eternity, while it opens the door to your wife's
salvation, which you were making doubtful. You'll find that this dreadful
job won't shake her in her opinion, that God's behind all; and the upshot
won't shake you in your opinion, that God have nothing to do with our
disasters—beyond building us in a pattern that's bound to breed 'em.
"You and me agree that the evil that matters to us comes from within—
so there you are. And the pity is that the evil we breed can't stop with us,
but must pour over for other people; and that again shows it isn't only the
evil we breed from within matters, because we be all called upon to suffer,
more or less, from the evil that others breed. In fact 'tis a very pitiful come-
along-of-it every way and I wish to God I'd gone to my rest afore it
happened."
Thus William discoursed; but he did not depress his hearer. Jacob
Bullstone could only wonder at the blindness of his neighbours. He wasted
no more time in resenting it. He only pressed forward to the hour when all
would justify him and grant that he was not deceived.
Billy changed the subject, though that was difficult to do. During these
tumultuous days he dreaded the appearance of Bullstone and sometimes
even made shift to avoid him. For, like many others, he was deeply sensible
of his friend's approaching downfall and, unlike many others, who now
hated Jacob, he—a lifelong friend—mourned for the future and feared the
shape that it must take with such a man.
"How's your new hand, George Middleweek?" he asked. "He's a chap as

knows his own mind—faulty though it is."
"A success. I like him, because he is sane and understanding. After

Barton Gill he's a comfort. He has character and a pretty good knowledge of
life. And he won't fall over the drink again. I've let him into my feelings a
bit—not about my troubles, but my opinions in general. He's a widower and
doesn't trust religious people, nor yet women."
William laughed at this description.
"So much the more time to give to the dogs. I've often known them as
was devoted to dogs didn't like women. Yet, though they be oftener
compared to cats, I've known a good few dog-like women also. Not so
much dog-like towards men, but dog-like to duty and religion and children
and so on. My daughter, Mercy, was such a woman. Duty and religion were
one with her. In fact duty was her religion and she made it a very good
working faith. For what more can you ask of religion than to keep you out
of mischief and to make you live in honesty and charity with your
neighbours? That's reality; but a lot of religion is not. I knew a saint of God
once, and she was on all accounts the most objectionable woman I ever did
know—made the very thought of Heaven chilly. A bleak, holy woman, as
never did a wrong thing, or thought a wrong thought, and yet left the bulk
of her neighbours in a beastly temper after she'd been along with them five
minutes. How she did it nobody could understand. The very parson she sat
under gave her a miss when he could."
"Women have wronged men far oftener than men have wronged them,"
said Bullstone and William sighed doubtfully.
"There's less understanding between the men and women than there
was," he answered. "Education drives 'em apart instead of draws 'em
together. The women be getting so famous clever that they see a lot about
us that used to be hidden from 'em, and we don't bulk so grand in their eyes
as we did. They have a deal hidden in 'em that's been waiting to come out;
and now it's beginning to do so. It was always there, mind you, but hid
under ignorance, and I say us men haven't half known our luck all these
years."
Jacob listened.
"They're changing for the worse," he said.
"They are trying out the stuff hid in 'em," repeated William. "Woman be
God A'mighty's last creation, Jacob, and no doubt He worked into 'em
pretty near everything He'd got left over. Us never will understand all there
is to 'em, and only a fool thinks he can."
"I was such a fool."
"Don't drag yourself in. Keep your mind open. That's what I pray you to
do. You've appealed to the Law and you must abide by the Law. And if it
holds that you are mistook; then——" He broke off and took the younger
man's hand.
"I'm your friend, be it as it may," he said.
Jacob nodded, shook the ancient hand and went his way without words.
For a moment he considered William's broken sentence, but could not

see what might have finished it.
Indeed Mr. Marydrew himself felt the fatuity of any ultimate thought or
hope at this crisis.
With very genuine grief in his eyes he watched Bullstone depart.
"Broke on the wheel of the world, because he weren't turned true," he

said to himself. "But which of us be? Which of us be? Not one."
CHAPTER II
VERDICT
Spring had conquered the river valleys and was climbing to hilltop
again. Those old pack-horse tracks, where bygone generations of beast and
man have gradually beaten the ways down and down, until they run lower
than the fields and the woods about them—those deep, heat-holding
Devonshire lanes were dowered with green once more and lush with young
leaves and fronds. At their feet opened wood sanicle and dewy moschatel;
crowning them the bluebells wove their purple and scattered their
fragrance; beside rill and water-trough golden saxifrages shone, and the
wood strawberry was in blossom with the violet.
Amelia, after noon on the day that followed Adam Winter's return from
London, put on her sunbonnet and taking a man's walking-stick, which she
had always used since her illness, crossed Shipley Bridge, passed over the
green space beyond and presently reached the home of Mr. Marydrew. She
knocked and he came to the door.
"Morning, Billy," she said. "I thought you'd like to know how it went.
Adam got back last night and just catched a train after the verdict was
given. T 'others come home to-day—so he believes."
"I needn't ax you for the verdict. I see it in your face," he answered.
"But come in and tell me, what you've heard."
She sat by his kitchen fire presently and tapped the ground with her
stick to drive home the points. He listened without comment.
"'Tis a triumph for the Chosen Few against the ways of darkness,"
declared Amelia, "and it went very much indeed as you said it would; and
we won't talk about him, nor yet the proper wreck and ruin he's made of
himself, because we shan't agree about that. But this is what happened. He
said what his beastly thoughts made him believe was the truth; and his wife
and my nephew told what was the real truth; and then his great weapon
against them broke his own head. He gave out certain words, that he swore
he'd heard Margery and Adam use in Adam's own bedroom by night. He'd
heard Margery say, 'Quick, quick—there's a dear'; and he'd heard Adam say,
'Come, then—come.' And Margery had laughed."
Mr. Marydrew nodded.
"That was his tower of strength; but I always warned him he might have
heard wrong, and that if they denied it there was only his word against
theirs."
"They didn't deny it," answered Miss Winter. "Like the truthful
creatures that they are, they admitted every syllable—and why not? For
how were them words said do you suppose? The truth was this. Poor
Samuel had been struck down by the illness just after Adam recovered.
Margery had brought some nice food for me, and Adam had axed her to
come upstairs and coax Samuel to take his medicine, which he refused to
do. It was in Samuel's room and to Sammy himself, while she offered him
his physic in a wine-glass, that Margery said, 'Quick, quick—there's a dear';
and it was to Samuel that Adam said, 'Come, then—come.' And then
Samuel had bolted his physic and Margery had laughed at the face he
pulled. And when they heard that explanation, the jurymen believed it. They
had long got restive and weary of the whole piece of nonsense, and now
they said they were satisfied, and Adam says that anybody could have seen,
even before the jury spoke, that the judge was also terrible tired of it. The
great judge summed up on the evidence that Bullstone brought forward, and
that his wife and Adam explained, and he talked mighty straight to the
petitioner—that's Jacob Bullstone—and told him that he'd let vain
imaginings get hold on his mind and allowed his jealousy to poison his
vision and his sense of justice and honour to his wife and to the co-
respondent—that's my nephew. He said that in his opinion it was a dreadful
thing that good money and good time should have been wasted over an
obstinate and mistaken man's error. Then he talked to the jury, and presently
the jury went out. But in three minutes by the clock they was back in court
and dismissed the petition with costs, and all his fabric of lies and flimsy
fancies was down in the dust. And that means Bullstone can't get no
divorce, and Margery and Adam come out of it without a shadow upon 'em,
and her hateful husband have got to pay the lawyers every penny and all the
expenses. Because the judge agreed with the verdict, and went so far as to
say that there were no grounds whatever for the suit, and that it should
never have been brought. In a word right has triumphed, and I shall always
think a lot more respectful of the Law than I have in the past."
"Costs follow the verdict, of course," answered Billy, after considering

this matter in silence. "And what else follows it? We shall see as to that.
Time must pass. A good flight of time be the only thing for all parties,
Amelia."
"Time can do a lot," she said, "but it can't undo what's done; and if you
think——"
"Let time pass," he repeated. "Only time will heal the sores."
"You needn't talk like that," said the old woman. "Adam haven't got no
sores, except natural sorrow for an ill-used woman. For himself, nought can
gall one like him. He's above the people's blame or praise, for when a man
goes into a law court, and gets mauled by a paid lawyer, whose business be
to show him in the wrong; and when he comes out of it with only the
respect of his fellow-creatures, and never a stain on his life and history—
then you may reckon he's a bit out of the common. And she was white as
death in court and fainted once. And my nephew's terrible sorry for the
woman, and sorry for himself, too, because he says he can never have any
more to do with her. It's a natural instinct in him that they must be nought to
each other after this; and I doubt not Margery will feel the same. Their lives
can never touch in friendship no more, William."
"Very like they would both feel so," admitted Billy. "And what does
Adam say about Jacob Bullstone?"
"He won't name him, and when Samuel cursed him and threatened great
blows against him, Adam bade his brother be careful to do no evil. All he
said was that Bullstone would suffer last and suffer longest."
"A very true saying, and your nephew be the wisest of all concerned,"
declared the old man. "For Adam this came as the greatest shock, because it
burst upon him more unexpected and terrible than on the woman even. She
knew her husband's weakness and, for brave pride, hid it from all eyes,
including Adam's. And he will agree with me that 'time' is the only word."
"In your opinion it may be," answered Amelia; "but in the opinion of
the Chosen Few, I reckon 'eternity' will be the only word. And don't you
think, or dream, or tell Adam, or this fool, Bullstone, or anybody else, that
time be going to soften it, because there's plenty of righteous people about
as will take very good care that time does no such thing."
"That's what I'm afraid of," admitted Billy; "but don't you be one of
them, my dear. If us would only let time, like patience, do her perfect work,
wounds might often heal that never do; but no doubt a lot of godly folk
won't be content to stand by and leave this pair in the hands of God."
"What God wills must happen," answered Amelia, "but you may bet
your life, William, He won't will to bring them two together again; and
nobody but a vain thinker and a man weak in faith would hope such a
horror. However, you can very well leave Margery to her Maker and her
mother; and as to her husband, if he was a man, he'd hang himself."
"Don't you be angry," urged Mr. Marydrew. "Your nephew have come
out as he went in, without a shadow upon him. For the rest, don't you cast a
stone. That ain't like you. Let charity conquer."
"You're his side we all know," answered Miss Winter; "and I'll give you
a warning for yours. Don't let your sense of justice go down afore the
wicked man. He'll gnash his teeth no doubt and wring his hands; but don't
you try to come between him and his punishment, Billy, because you can't."
"True. I can't," he replied. "If you knew Bullstone like what I do, you'd
have no fear he was going to escape anything."
Then Amelia astonished him by a penetration for which he had not

given her credit. Her intuition may have sprung from anger—a fruitful
source of bitter truth—but it threw a light upon what might presently
happen, and William was not prepared, though much inclined, to contradict.
"You say that. But a woman always knows one side of men better than
any man can, and old maid though I may be, I'll tell you this. Bullstone ain't
the sort to lie in the dirt for his sins and scrape himself with potsherds.
Don't you think that. He'll snatch at hope, like the drowning at a straw. He'll
look at it all from his own point of view, as usual, and fifty to one he'll fool
himself there's a way out. Yes—he won't see himself as all clean and honest
men see him, William. He'll only see that his wife's a pure woman and that
he was mistook to think her a whore. And what then? Have he got the
decency to pour ashes on his head for shame, and slink away from the sight
and sound of men? Not him! He'll say Margery's worthy of him, after all,
and that he must have her home again. He'll expect presently to find her
forgive him like the Christian she is, and it will be his fixed dream and hope
to win her back at any cost—till he wakes from the dream and the hope
dies. And not till then will his true punishment begin. That's Jacob
Bullstone, and that's the man his wife knows, and we know, and you'll live
to know. Far ways off what you pictured—eh?"
The ancient doubted.
"What you say about a woman knowing a side of man's mind that other
men do not, be very likely true," he answered. "But I trust you will live to
see yourself mistook in this matter. It's a great thought and you may be
right; but if that happened, along with it would go a lot more that's in the
man, which I know and no woman does. I can only say again, let time take
charge, and I wish nobody else but time was going to have a hand in it."
While they talked, Adam Winter wandered, unseeing, among his sheep
on the hill with his hands in his pockets and a sense of anticlimax in his
soul. The excitement was ended. He had seen himself justified and cleared;
he had seen an innocent woman pitied; and he had seen Bullstone
confounded. Now he was in the midst of sweet things and breathing fresh
air with the heights rolling before his eyes and the larks aloft. But no
exhilaration, only a sense of sickness and misery hung over him. He, too,
longed for the time to pass, that the sordid memories of the trial might grow
fainter.
Elsewhere Jacob Bullstone travelled from London and sat wrapped in
his thoughts. But they were no covering for him. They fled past in wild rags
and tatters, as the steam across the train window; and he could not frame a
consistent argument, or follow any line of reasoning. All was chaotic,
confused, hurtling, and every thought lashed like a whip. He struggled
against the rush of ideas as a man against a blinding storm. He could clutch
at nothing for support; or perceive any steadfast glimpse through this welter
of what the future held in store. He was too astonished to suffer much as
yet, save unconsciously, as an animal suffers. The reality, as it had
developed in a law court, took a form so utterly unlike that which he had
accepted as reality, that simple amazement reigned in him for a long time. It
supported him in a sense through the trial and, now, as he came home, it
gradually gave place to bewilderment, which, in its turn, quieted down until
the stormy waters of his mind grew sufficiently smooth to offer a reflection
of the situation newly created, and he began to trace the picture of the
future.
He was trying to appreciate this evasive vision and find some firm,
mental rock for his own feet when he got home again. But as yet nothing
clearly emerged, and as often as he clutched at a steadfast-seeming point
from which to start thinking, the image broke up under the storm swell
which still swept through his mind. He felt as one in the presence of death.
He desired to know, now that this earthquake had fallen upon him and his,
who were left alive. He felt himself to be first among the dead, and
believed, until much later, that existence could only be a living death
henceforward.
Then he tramped after noon through the lanes, carrying his bag and
sweating under the black clothes he wore. He pursued the familiar way,
walked, ridden, driven a thousand times from boyhood to manhood, and he
found an empty, peaceful spot in his brain that could see the bluebells and
mark the breaking riot of the green. This consciousness of spring served to
revive an element which had persisted with him during the past destruction
and denunciation of the Divorce Court. He had listened humbly to the
appalling errors the Law declared him to have committed, and he had
viewed without passion the naked picture of his mistaken suspicions—each
displayed and each destroyed by truth in turn. He felt no rage at this

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The Oxford Guide to Middle High

German Howard Jones

2. Grammar and Lexis 19

● Verbal grammatical categories—Subjunctive (G§§249–55) 155

4. Historical, Cultural, and Literary Background 251

5. Selection of Annotated Texts 317

T6 Gottfried von Straßburg, Tristan (ll. 681–956) 389

Glossary of linguistic terms 603

31 Principal parts and other parts of rîten ‘to ride’ 112

68 Examples of unshifted consonants in T18 557

Languages and dialects

Linguistic symbols and abbreviations

Arles Romagna Zara

Aims and scope of this book

How to use this book

Readers new to MHG

Readers familiar with MHG

Readers interested in the language and linguistics of MHG

Paragraph numbering and references to texts in Chapter 5

Definition of Middle High German

I§2 High German within the Germanic language family

The Germanic language family

1 For more details of the First Consonant Shift, see G§200.

Figure 1 Middle High German and the Germanic language family

Middle High Middle Low Middle

(present-day) (present-day) (present-day) (present-day) English,

Key. : direct line of descent; : simplified line of descent.

Old High German and Middle High German

EAST LOW GERMAN

MIDDLE Elbian an der Oder

Major dialect boundary

The Middle High German dialects I§3

Table 1 Middle High German dialect areas

CENTRAL GERMAN (CG)

Middle Low German dialects

Classical Middle High German and the ‘Höfische Dichtersprache’ I§4

Middle High German—Periodization I§5

11 For more details on diphthongization and monophthongization, see G§§59–62.

Table 2 Linguistic periodization of German

Linguistic periods in the history of German

The periodization of Middle Low German and Middle Dutch

I§6 The approach used in this book

Chapter 4 Historical, Cultural, and Literary Background

Grammar and Lexis

Sounds and spelling

MHG Vowel NHG Vowel

Changes to vowels/diphthongs between MHG and NHG (G§§57–71)

Vowel lengthening in open syllables

Vowel lengthening in closed syllables

Vowel shortening in closed syllables

– h is never a silent marker of a syllable break in MHG, as it can be in NHG,

Contractions (G§§31, 93)

Contractions between words

"We're often naughty without knowing it, Peter," explained Auna.

"You can speak to them," said Auna.

But Jacob declined argument.

Barlow Huxam spoke as soon as the door was shut.

"I've taken leave of my honour, that's all," answered Bullstone. "Or it

"And who is the man, Jacob Bullstone?" she asked.

"Adam Winter is her paramour."

"That godly, steadfast creature!"

"We'll be gone. This must be answered by others than us," he said.

She got up and looked at her husband.