Middle High German ( MHG ; endonym : diutsch or tiutsch ; New High German : Mittelhochdeutsch [ˈmɪtl̩hoːxˌdɔʏtʃ] , shortened as Mhdt. or 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.
24-590: Garel von dem blühenden Tal (English: Garel of the Flowering Valley ) is a Middle High German Arthurian romance composed by Der Pleier around 1230-40. It appears to have been written in contradiction to Der Stricker 's Daniel von Blumenthal . It consists of 21,310 lines in rhyming couplets; the beginning is missing. The story is illustrated in frescoes to be found at Runkelstein Castle in South Tyrol . After
48-403: A journey, King Arthur receives a declaration of war from King Ekunaver. Garel von Blumenthal leaves Arthur's court in order to raise troops for the war. On the way various adventures befall him, amongst which he lays siege to the castle of Sir Eskilabon, who had taken several knights prisoner, and frees many prisoners from the power of two giants. By killing the gruesome monster Vulganus he wins
72-505: 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. The Middle High German period is generally dated from 1050 to 1350. An older view puts the boundary with (Early) New High German around 1500. There are several phonological criteria which separate MHG from
96-571: Is a group of High German languages spoken from the Rhineland in the west to the former eastern territories of Germany . Central German divides into two subgroups, West Central German and East Central German . Central German is distinguished by having experienced the High German consonant shift to a lesser degree than Upper German . It is spoken in the linguistic transition region separated from Northern Germany ( Low German / Low Franconian ) by
120-866: Is the opening strophe of the Nibelungenlied ( c. 1204 ). Middle High German Uns ist in alten mæren wunders vil geseit von helden lobebæren, von grôzer arebeit, von freuden, hôchgezîten, von weinen und von klagen, von küener recken strîten muget ir nu wunder hœren sagen. Modern German translation In alten Erzählungen wird uns viel Wunderbares berichtet von ruhmreichen Helden, von hartem Streit, von glücklichen Tagen und Festen, von Schmerz und Klage: vom Kampf tapferer Recken: Davon könnt auch Ihr nun Wunderbares berichten hören. Central German Central German or Middle German ( German : mitteldeutsche Dialekte, mitteldeutsche Mundarten, Mitteldeutsch )
144-573: The Benrath line isogloss and separated from Southern Germany ( Upper German ) by the Speyer line . Central German is spoken in large and influential German cities such as Berlin , the former West German capital Bonn , Cologne , Düsseldorf , the main German financial center Frankfurt , Leipzig , and Dresden . The area corresponds to the geological region of the hilly Central Uplands that stretches from
168-533: The MHG period is characterised by a massive rise in population, terminated by the demographic catastrophe of the Black Death (1348). Along with the rise in population comes a territorial expansion eastwards ( Ostsiedlung ), which saw German-speaking settlers colonise land previously under Slavic control. Linguistically, the transition to Early New High German is marked by four vowel changes which together produce
192-435: The approximate values of /ei/ , /iə/ , /ou/ , /øy/ , /eu/ , /yə/ , /uə/ , respectively. Middle High German pronouns of the first person refer to the speaker; those of the second person refer to an addressed person; and those of the third person refer to a person or thing of which one speaks. The pronouns of the third person may be used to replace nominal phrases . These have the same genders , numbers and cases as
216-688: The example of Good King Arthur who with knightly spirit knew how to strive for praise. In his day He lived so well That he wore the crown of honour And his name still does so. The truth of this is known To his countrymen: They affirm that he still lives today: He won such fame that Although his body died His name lives on. Of sinful shame He will forever be free Who follows his example. Commentary: This text shows many typical features of Middle High German poetic language. Most Middle High German words survive into modern German in some form or other: this passage contains only one word ( jehen 'say' 14) which has since disappeared from
240-651: The exception of Thuringian, the East Central German dialects are new dialects resulting from the Ostsiedlung and arise towards the end of the period. Middle High German texts are written in the Latin alphabet . There was no standardised spelling, but modern editions generally standardise according to a set of conventions established by Karl Lachmann in the 19th century. There are several important features in this standardised orthography which are not characteristics of
264-456: The following consonant spellings: The charts show the vowel and consonant systems of classical MHG. The spellings indicated are the standard spellings used in modern editions; there is much more variation in the manuscripts. Notes: MHG diphthongs are indicated by the spellings ⟨ei⟩ , ⟨ie⟩ , ⟨ou⟩ , ⟨öu⟩ and ⟨eu⟩ , ⟨üe⟩ , ⟨uo⟩ , and they have
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#1733085667784288-458: The following vowel spellings: Grammars (as opposed to textual editions) often distinguish between ⟨ë⟩ and ⟨e⟩ , the former indicating the mid-open /ɛ/ which derived from Germanic /e/ , the latter (often with a dot beneath it) indicating the mid-close /e/ which results from primary umlaut of short /a/ . No such orthographic distinction is made in MHG manuscripts. The standardised orthography of MHG editions uses
312-532: The hand of the beautiful Laudamie. Garel then gains a victory over Ekunaver before Arthur even arrives with his army. His success is celebrated in a banquet at the Round Table , before which he marries Laudamie. This poetry -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Middle High German While there is no standard MHG, the prestige of the Hohenstaufen court gave rise in
336-1113: The impetus for this set of social changes came largely from France, many of the new words were either loans from French or influenced by French terms. The French loans mainly cover the areas of chivalry, warfare and equipment, entertainment, and luxury goods: Two highly productive suffixes were borrowed from French in this period: The text is the opening of Hartmann von Aue 's Iwein ( c. 1200 ) Swer an rehte güete wendet sîn gemüete, dem volget sælde und êre. des gît gewisse lêre künec Artûs der guote, der mit rîters muote nâch lobe kunde strîten. er hât bî sînen zîten gelebet alsô schône daz er der êren krône dô truoc und noch sîn name treit. des habent die wârheit sîne lantliute: sî jehent er lebe noch hiute: er hât den lop erworben, ist im der lîp erstorben, sô lebet doch iemer sîn name. er ist lasterlîcher schame iemer vil gar erwert, der noch nâch sînem site vert. [1] [5] [10] [15] [20] Whoever to true goodness Turns his mind He will meet with fortune and honour. We are taught this by
360-401: The language. But many words have changed their meaning substantially. Muot (6) means 'state of mind' (cognates with mood ), where modern German Mut means courage. Êre (3) can be translated with 'honour', but is quite a different concept of honour from modern German Ehre ; the medieval term focuses on reputation and the respect accorded to status in society. The text
384-402: 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
408-573: 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
432-726: The neuter singular, is used only with prepositions : von diu , ze diu , etc. In all the other genders and in the plural it is substituted with the dative: von dëm , von dër , von dën . Middle High German nouns were declined according to four cases ( nominative , genitive , dative , accusative ), two numbers (singular and plural ) and three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter), much like Modern High German, though there are several important differences. Verbs were conjugated according to three moods ( indicative , subjunctive (conjunctive) and imperative ), three persons, two numbers (singular and plural ) and two tenses ( present tense and preterite ) There
456-485: The original manuscripts : A particular problem is that many manuscripts are of much later date than the works they contain; as a result, they bear the signs of later scribes having modified the spellings, with greater or lesser consistency, in accord with conventions of their time. In addition, there is considerable regional variation in the spellings that appear in the original texts, which modern editions largely conceal. The standardised orthography of MHG editions uses
480-435: The original nominal phrase. The possessive pronouns mîn, dîn, sîn, ir, unser, iuwer are used like adjectives and hence take on adjective endings following the normal rules. The inflected forms of the article depend on the number, the case and the gender of the corresponding noun. The definite article has the same plural forms for all three genders. Definite article (strong) The instrumental case , only existing in
504-584: The phonemic system of modern German, though not all dialects participated equally in these changes: The centres of culture in the ENHG period are no longer the courts but the towns. The dialect map of Germany by the end of the Middle High German period was much the same as that at the start of the 20th century, though the boundary with Low German was further south than it now is: Central German ( Mitteldeutsch ) Upper German ( Oberdeutsch ) With
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#1733085667784528-550: The preceding Old High German period: Culturally, the two periods are distinguished by the transition from a predominantly clerical written culture, in which the dominant language was Latin , to one centred on the courts of the great nobles, with German gradually expanding its range of use. The rise of the Hohenstaufen dynasty in Swabia makes the South West the dominant region in both political and cultural terms. Demographically,
552-407: The vowels in brackets were dropped in rapid speech. The preterite conjugation went as follows: The present tense conjugation went as follows: The vowels in brackets were dropped in rapid speech. The preterite conjugation went as follows: In the Middle High German period, the rise of a courtly culture and the changing nature of knighthood was reflected in changes to the vocabulary. Since
576-427: Was a present participle, a past participle and a verbal noun that somewhat resembles the Latin gerund , but that only existed in the genitive and dative cases. An important distinction is made between strong verbs (that exhibited ablaut ) and weak verbs (that didn't). Furthermore, there were also some irregular verbs. The present tense conjugation went as follows: The bold vowels demonstrate umlaut ;
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