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Re: Reinventing NATLANGs

From:Christian Köttl <christian.koettl@...>
Date:Monday, July 10, 2006, 19:52
Some of the confusion results from very similar
expression used for very different things. E.g.
the term "Hochdeutsch" (High German) can mean
Standard German as it is spoken today or as a
distinction between "Niederdeutsch" (Lower
German) in Northern Germany, and all the Middle
and Upper German dialects in Southern Germany and
the Alps that share many common features.

>Mittelhochdeutsch was the language I was taught in High School. 
Mittelhochdeutsch is an expression for Middle and Upper German dialects in the Middle Ages. There also exists "Mittelniederdeutsch", the form of Low German during the Middle Ages. IIRC, there are the following distinctions Low German - Niederdeutsch German dialects that did not participate in the Second Sound Shift; Dutch is a descendant of this group. (see the resemblance "Dutch" -> "Deutsch"; and, as a tidbit, the Dutch anthem starts with "Wilhelmus van Nassoew ben ick van Duytschen bloet" or, in modern orthography, "Wilhelmus van Nassouwe ben ik van Duitsen bloed") High German - Hochdeutsch with the subgroups Middle or Central German (Mitteldeutsch) - dialects in the Palatinate, Thuringia etc. Upper German (Oberdeutsch) - dialects like Bavarian, Alemannic etc. For Low and High German, three stages are discerned: Old, Middle and New High/Low German. There is a reason, however, why Standard German is called High German, because its features derive mainly from the High German dialects. Hope that helps. Christian

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Paul Joseph Schleitwiler, FCM <pjschleitwilerfcm@...>