rate of language change

X99Lynx at aol.com X99Lynx at aol.com
Fri Apr 23 03:54:44 UTC 1999


In a message dated 4/22/99 9:37:53 PM, edsel at glo.be wrote:

<<Aren't you speaking about a relatively late period, when High German had
already spread to more northern regions, maybe, inter alia,  under the
centralizing (but generally opposed) influence of the Holy Roman Empire e.g.
?  Do you - or anybody else - have any data about the 'advancement' of HG,
let's say from the large-scale migrations onward?>>

The early fragmentation of German dialects has been divided into Low, Central
and Upper, but obviously a larger number of dialects were involved.  Before
the 1400's and the beginning of modern standardization (coeval with the use
of German instead of Latin in legal records, the printing press, and Luther's
Bible), there were apparently prior tendencies towards standardizing.  John
Hawkins mentions that "in the north, Low German enjoyed a privileged status
until the seventeenth century as the commercial language of the Hanseatic
League and was even used as a lingua franca throughout northern Europe." TWML
p. 114.  (He also mentions "das gemeyne Deutsch" and states that "the basis
for the emerging standard language, however, was East Central German.")  As a
lingua franca (again shared with Franks, Danes, Wends, English, etc.)
existing pre-Hanseatic but already with strong foreign exposure, Low German
may faced similar conditions to those described in English.  This could
accomodate the early dates you find for inflection loss.

The term High German apparently is used to distinguish upper and central
German (both having undergone to some extent the Second Sound Shift) from Low
German.  Hawkins suggests that High German was in fact a second language to
outlying Low German speakers in for example Prussia.  This might also suggest
some earlier need for inflectional simplification in Low regional dialects
before New High German provided an alternative approach to standardization.

Regards,
Steve Long



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