GERMANNA_COLONIES-L Archives

From:
Subject: [GERMANNA] What Is High German (Hochdeutsch)
Date: Sat, 07 Sep 2002 04:00:40 -0400

Although High German (Hochdeutsch) has been discussed here, and
has been differentiated from "Low German" by virtue of where the
language was spoken (i.e. "In the Low Countries" or "In the High
Countries"), the reality is that "High German" relates to a "Standard"
of the German language.

In other words, "High German" does NOT mean that language/
dialect spoken in the"High Countries", but is the language that is
most commonly accepted as the "correct" form/dialect of the
language. Yes, I know, this goes against the present-day Liberal
acceptance of what is "High German" and what is "Low German"
(God forbid that we make distinctions between "Purists" and
"Non-Purists", and, thus, seem to be Non-Politically-Correct); but,
it DOES have to do with the purity of the language, NOT with the
"location" of the various dialects.

Here is an excerpt of one discourse of what "High German" means.

=========================
ABOUT DIALECTS AND HIGH GERMAN

Although the German-speaking areas of Europe--counting only Germany in
the borders of 1937 (470662 sq.km), Austria (83850 sq.km), Switzerland
(all; 41293 sq.km), Liechtenstein (157 sq.km)--are but a fraction of
the territory of the U.S. (9363353 sq.km), the linguistic diversity of
the German language is immensely greater than the variants of American
English. Dialects abound. When I entered the teachers' prep school at
Ochsenhausen in 1941, I noticed to my amazement that among my class of
25--all from Württemberg--there were 20 distinctly different
subdialects of Schwäbisch, Niederalemannisch and Fränkisch spoken! The
regional, and often even local, variants differ from each other and
from High German in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary to an extent
that can make communication increasingly difficult the farther the
dialect areas are apart.

That's when High German (Hochdeutsch) comes to the rescue, the
"standard language"--equivalent of the "Queen's English"--the principal
vehicle of the media, of literature, religion, education and commerce.
Most German-speakers grow up "bilingually" -- with the dialect of their
region and High German.

(With permission From the Newsletter of the Indiana German Heritage
Society.)
=========================

To read the complete article, go here:

<http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/dialects.htm>;

I just thought it time to quell the myth that "High German" means
the "dialect" spoken in the "High Countries", and that "Low German"
means the "dialect" spoken in the "Low Countries".

It now has nothing to do with "where" the language is spoken.
It has everything to do with what is accepted as "proper" German.
As the author of this piece says, "It would do the dialects a great
injustice to look at them as "bad" or "corrupted" German", but
"High German" is analogous to "The Queens English", and has
more to do with "proper" German, than it has to do with whether
it is spoken in the low-lying counties or the high-lying countries.

In other words, "High German" DOES connote a "superior"
form of the language. It's kind of like the difference between
someone speaking "Webster" English, and someone from a
hollow in NC speaking an academically-unrecognized
"bastardized" version of English.

We just can't continue to ignore what "High German" means.
It has to do with "form", not with "location".

Yours,
A Dissenter

This thread:

• [GERMANNA] What Is High German (Hochdeutsch) by