Central and southern Germany, Austria and parts of Switzerland
Era
High Middle Ages
Language family
Indo-European
Germanic
West Germanic
German
High German
Middle High German
Early form
Old High German
Language codes
ISO 639-2
gmh (c. 1050–1500)
ISO 639-3
gmh (c. 1050–1500)
ISO 639-6
mdgr
Glottolog
midd1343
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Middle High German (MHG; German: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhdt., Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High German is defined as those varieties of German which were affected by the Second Sound Shift; the Middle Low German and Middle Dutch languages spoken to the North and North West, which did not participate in this sound change, are not part of MHG.
While there is no standard MHG, the prestige of the Hohenstaufen court gave rise in the late 12th century to a supra-regional literary language (mittelhochdeutsche Dichtersprache) based on Swabian, an Alemannic dialect. This historical interpretation is complicated by the tendency of modern editions of MHG texts to use normalised spellings based on this variety (usually called "Classical MHG"), which make the written language appear more consistent than it actually is in the manuscripts. Scholars are uncertain as to whether the literary language reflected a supra-regional spoken language of the courts.
An important development in this period was the Ostsiedlung, the eastward expansion of German settlement beyond the Elbe-Saale line which marked the limit of Old High German. This process started in the 11th century, and all the East Central German dialects are a result of this expansion.
"Judeo-German", the precursor of the Yiddish language, is attested in the 12th–13th centuries, as a variety of Middle High German written in Hebrew characters.
and 28 Related for: Middle High German information
MiddleHighGerman (MHG; German: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhdt., Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the HighMiddle Ages. It is conventionally...
The HighGerman languages (German: hochdeutsche Mundarten, i.e. HighGerman dialects), or simply HighGerman (Hochdeutsch) – not to be confused with Standard...
Old HighGerman (OHG; German: Althochdeutsch (Ahdt., Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from...
German language begins in the Early Middle Ages with the HighGerman consonant shift. Old HighGerman, MiddleHighGerman, and Early New HighGerman span...
MiddleHighGerman literature refers to literature written in German between the middle of the 11th century and the middle of the 14th. In the second half...
Modern German gradually developed from the Old HighGerman which in turn developed from Proto-Germanic during the Early Middle Ages. German is the second-most...
vary. Old HighGerman scarph, MiddleHighGerman scharpf. Old HighGerman ezzen, daz, ūz; not geminated in any case in modern Standard German. Note that...
Early New HighGerman (ENHG) is a term for the period in the history of the German language generally defined, following Wilhelm Scherer, as the period...
short Old HighGerman Merseburg Incantations. However, pagan mythological elements were preserved in later literature, notably in MiddleHighGerman epic poetry...
forms of the MiddleHighGerman verb include the infinitive, the present participle, the past participle, and the gerund. In MiddleHighGerman the infinitive...
literature Old HighGerman literature (750–1050) MiddleHighGerman literature (1050–1350) Late medieval / Renaissance (1350–1500) Early Modern German literature...
Central German or MiddleGerman (German: mitteldeutsche Dialekte, mitteldeutsche Mundarten, Mitteldeutsch) is a group of HighGerman languages spoken from...
(Sprachraum). In the Old HighGerman time, only Alemannic and Bairisch are grouped as Upper German. In the MiddleHighGerman time, East Franconian and...
Germanic HighGerman languages Old HighGerman† & MiddleHighGerman† Upper GermanHigh Franconian East Franconian German South Franconian German Alemannic...
New HighGerman (NHG; German: Neuhochdeutsch (Nhdt., Nhd.)) is the term used for the most recent period in the history of the German language, starting...
HighMiddle Ages Europe and Mediterranean region The HighMiddle Ages, or high medieval period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD...
led-government in East Germany, German reunification saw the former East German states join the Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990. Germany has been described...
nature MiddleHighGerman literature (1050–1350) is the product of the noble courts and focuses on knightly exploits and courtly love History of German literature...
Standard HighGerman (SHG), less precisely Standard German or HighGerman (German: Standardhochdeutsch, Standarddeutsch, Hochdeutsch or, in Switzerland...
the case. Today, Standard HighGerman orthography is regulated by the Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung (Council for German Orthography), composed of representatives...
The Kingdom of Germany or German Kingdom (Latin: regnum Teutonicorum 'kingdom of the Germans', regnum Teutonicum 'German kingdom', regnum Alamanie "kingdom...
Mensch (Yiddish: מענטש, mentsh, from MiddleHighGerman Mensch, from Old HighGerman mennisco; akin to Old English human being, man) means "a person of...
MiddleHighGerman diphthongs [iə̯], [uə̯] and [yə̯] became the modern Standard German long vowels [iː], [uː] and [yː] after the MiddleHighGerman long...
Hovawart is a medium to large size German dog breed. The name means "yard-watcher" or "farm-watcher", from the MiddleHighGerman words hova ("court", "yard"...
Old HighGerman literature refers to literature written in Old HighGerman, from the earliest texts in the 8th century to the middle of the 11th century...
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