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89-408: The Mendrisio District has an area, as of 1997, of 100.89 square kilometers (38.95 sq mi). Of this area, 25.79 km (9.96 sq mi) or 25.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 61.2 km (23.6 sq mi) or 60.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 18.88 km (7.29 sq mi) or 18.7% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.44 km (0.17 sq mi) or 0.4%

178-460: A de facto official language of Namibia after the end of German colonial rule alongside English and Afrikaans , and had de jure co-official status from 1984 until its independence from South Africa in 1990. However, the Namibian government perceived Afrikaans and German as symbols of apartheid and colonialism, and decided English would be the sole official language upon independence, stating that it

267-402: A second language , and 75–100   million as a foreign language . This would imply the existence of approximately 175–220   million German speakers worldwide. German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon estimated a number of 289 million German foreign language speakers without clarifying the criteria by which he classified a speaker. As of 2012 , about 90   million people, or 16% of

356-587: A "commonly used" language and the Pan South African Language Board is obligated to promote and ensure respect for it. Cameroon was also a colony of the German Empire from the same period (1884 to 1916). However, German was replaced by French and English, the languages of the two successor colonial powers, after its loss in World War I . Nevertheless, since the 21st century, German has become

445-768: A full-time student or one and a half to two years as a part-time student). There were 500 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 648 who attend part-time. The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields. There were 79 students in the professional program. The Mendrisio District has 13 municipalities divided in 5 circles ( circoli ): 17,769 17,456 5,289 6,829 2,626 Some municipalities were merged in recent years: 45°52′N 8°59′E  /  45.867°N 8.983°E  / 45.867; 8.983 German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )

534-556: A greater need for regularity in written conventions. While the major changes of the MHG period were socio-cultural, High German was still undergoing significant linguistic changes in syntax, phonetics, and morphology as well (e.g. diphthongization of certain vowel sounds: hus (OHG & MHG "house") → haus (regionally in later MHG)→ Haus (NHG), and weakening of unstressed short vowels to schwa [ə]: taga (OHG "days")→ tage (MHG)). A great wealth of texts survives from

623-513: A lean state with lower government spending, which offers only those services which citizens and the private sector cannot provide. The party, which calls for a competitive and sustainable market economy, wants to strengthen Switzerland as a financial and economic hub with as little government interference as possible. It also calls for the reduction of public debt and fiscal deficits. In general, it believes that tax incentives are better than subsidies in creating incentives. The party saw opportunity in

712-453: A native tongue today, mostly descendants of German colonial settlers . The period of German colonialism in Namibia also led to the evolution of a Standard German-based pidgin language called " Namibian Black German ", which became a second language for parts of the indigenous population. Although it is nearly extinct today, some older Namibians still have some knowledge of it. German remained

801-413: A peaceful foreign policy, which increases the security of Switzerland and prevents an increasing number of refugees. The party believes that an open society and economic freedom are more conducive to prosperity, and greater economic and social stability, rather than a redistributive and regulative state. The FDP promotes freedom of choice over restrictions in all areas of private life. According to

890-679: A popular foreign language among pupils and students, with 300,000 people learning or speaking German in Cameroon in 2010 and over 230,000 in 2020. Today Cameroon is one of the African countries outside Namibia with the highest number of people learning German. In the United States, German is the fifth most spoken language in terms of native and second language speakers after English, Spanish , French , and Chinese (with figures for Cantonese and Mandarin combined), with over 1 million total speakers. In

979-475: A result, the surviving texts are written in highly disparate regional dialects and exhibit significant Latin influence, particularly in vocabulary. At this point monasteries, where most written works were produced, were dominated by Latin, and German saw only occasional use in official and ecclesiastical writing. While there is no complete agreement over the dates of the Middle High German (MHG) period, it

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1068-442: A society offering genuine opportunities with flexible choices in education, work and family support. It is also aiming at more and better jobs, a sustainable social welfare system which will result in strong national cohesion that counteracts see the divergence of society. This includes stabilizing premium costs in the healthcare sector and combating the abuse of social welfare systems, but also intergenerational equity . The motto of

1157-469: A standard school and a special school. In the district, 2,188 students attended the standard primary schools and 91 students attended the special school. In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two-year middle school followed by a two-year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four-year program to prepare for higher education. There were 1,913 students in the two-year middle school and 24 in their pre-apprenticeship, while 809 students were in

1246-609: A total of 32,293 registered voters in the district of Mendrisio, of which 21,842 or 67.6% voted. 401 blank ballots and 57 null ballots were cast, leaving 21,384 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 5,495 or 25.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PPD +GenGiova (with 4,812 or 22.5%), the PS (with 3,480 or 16.3%) and the SSI (with 3,362 or 15.7%). In

1335-409: Is 6,030 people or 12.3% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 4,470 people or 9.2% are between 70 and 79, there are 2,974 people or 6.1% who are over 80. In 2000 there were 12,652 single family homes (or 38.0% of the total) out of a total of 33,338 inhabited buildings. There were 5,081 two family buildings (15.2%) and 11,377 multi-family buildings (34.1%). There were also 4,228 buildings in

1424-688: Is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and

1513-565: Is a liberal political party in Switzerland . The party was formed on 1 January 2009, after two parties, the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) and the smaller Liberal Party (LPS/PLS), united. In Vaud and Valais , the parties retain separate organisations. Its youth organisation is Young Liberals . With 120,000 members as of 2015, the FDP has the most members of any party: 20% more than

1602-722: Is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE) and an observer member of the Liberal International . The party's president is Thierry Burkart . The current FDP representatives in the Federal Council are Ignazio Cassis and Karin Keller-Sutter . The party was formed in 2009 from the merger of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Liberal Party . The radical Free Democratic Party, also called

1691-580: Is a recognized minority language in the following countries: In France, the High German varieties of Alsatian and Moselle Franconian are identified as " regional languages ", but the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 1998 has not yet been ratified by the government. Namibia also was a colony of the German Empire, from 1884 to 1915. About 30,000 people still speak German as

1780-596: Is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects , with many varieties existing in Europe and other parts of the world. Some of these non-standard varieties have become recognized and protected by regional or national governments. Since 2004, heads of state of the German-speaking countries have met every year, and the Council for German Orthography has been the main international body regulating German orthography . German

1869-546: Is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages . The Germanic languages are traditionally subdivided into three branches: North Germanic , East Germanic , and West Germanic . The first of these branches survives in modern Danish , Swedish , Norwegian , Faroese , and Icelandic , all of which are descended from Old Norse . The East Germanic languages are now extinct, and Gothic

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1958-472: Is called the "German Sprachraum ". German is the official language of the following countries: German is a co-official language of the following countries: Although expulsions and (forced) assimilation after the two World wars greatly diminished them, minority communities of mostly bilingual German native speakers exist in areas both adjacent to and detached from the Sprachraum. Within Europe, German

2047-430: Is complicated by the existence of several varieties whose status as separate "languages" or "dialects" is disputed for political and linguistic reasons, including quantitatively strong varieties like certain forms of Alemannic and Low German . With the inclusion or exclusion of certain varieties, it is estimated that approximately 90–95 million people speak German as a first language , 10–25   million speak it as

2136-413: Is either rivers or lakes and 0.99 km (0.38 sq mi) or 1.0% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 9.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 5.3%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.1% of the area Out of the forested land, 57.0% of the total land area

2225-520: Is generally seen as ending when the 1346–53 Black Death decimated Europe's population. Modern High German begins with the Early New High German (ENHG) period, which Wilhelm Scherer dates 1350–1650, terminating with the end of the Thirty Years' War . This period saw the further displacement of Latin by German as the primary language of courtly proceedings and, increasingly, of literature in

2314-595: Is generally seen as lasting from 1050 to 1350. This was a period of significant expansion of the geographical territory occupied by Germanic tribes, and consequently of the number of German speakers. Whereas during the Old High German period the Germanic tribes extended only as far east as the Elbe and Saale rivers, the MHG period saw a number of these tribes expanding beyond this eastern boundary into Slavic territory (known as

2403-595: Is given in the following table: In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 28.56% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (26.25%), the SP (17.98%) and the Ticino League (14.28%). In the federal election, a total of 17,043 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 52.7%. In the 2007 Ticino Gran Consiglio election, there were

2492-620: Is heavily forested and 3.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 11.9% is used for growing crops, while 4.0% is used for orchards or vine crops and 9.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the district is flowing water. The Mendrisio District has a population (as of December 2020) of 49,969. Of the Swiss national languages (as of 2000), 2,083 speak German , 534 people speak French , 41,239 people speak Italian , and 37 people speak Romansh . The remainder (1,831 people) speak another language. As of 2008,

2581-559: Is less closely related to languages based on Low Franconian dialects (e.g., Dutch and Afrikaans), Low German or Low Saxon dialects (spoken in northern Germany and southern Denmark ), neither of which underwent the High German consonant shift. As has been noted, the former of these dialect types is Istvaeonic and the latter Ingvaeonic, whereas the High German dialects are all Irminonic; the differences between these languages and standard German are therefore considerable. Also related to German are

2670-435: Is one of the major languages of the world . German is the second-most widely spoken Germanic language , after English, both as a first and as a second language . German is also widely taught as a foreign language , especially in continental Europe (where it is the third most taught foreign language after English and French), and in the United States. Overall, German is the fourth most commonly learned second language, and

2759-587: Is one of the three biggest newspapers in Namibia and the only German-language daily in Africa. An estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in South Africa, mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the largest communities consists of the speakers of "Nataler Deutsch", a variety of Low German concentrated in and around Wartburg . The South African constitution identifies German as

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2848-401: Is partly derived from Latin and Greek , along with fewer words borrowed from French and Modern English . English, however, is the main source of more recent loanwords . German is a pluricentric language ; the three standardized variants are German , Austrian , and Swiss Standard German . Standard German is sometimes called High German , which refers to its regional origin. German

2937-510: Is the Sachsenspiegel , the first book of laws written in Middle Low German ( c.  1220 ). The abundance and especially the secular character of the literature of the MHG period demonstrate the beginnings of a standardized written form of German, as well as the desire of poets and authors to be understood by individuals on supra-dialectal terms. The Middle High German period

3026-566: Is the only language in this branch which survives in written texts. The West Germanic languages, however, have undergone extensive dialectal subdivision and are now represented in modern languages such as English, German, Dutch , Yiddish , Afrikaans , and others. Within the West Germanic language dialect continuum, the Benrath and Uerdingen lines (running through Düsseldorf - Benrath and Krefeld - Uerdingen , respectively) serve to distinguish

3115-481: Is understood in all areas where German is spoken. Approximate distribution of native German speakers (assuming a rounded total of 95 million) worldwide: As a result of the German diaspora , as well as the popularity of German taught as a foreign language , the geographical distribution of German speakers (or "Germanophones") spans all inhabited continents. However, an exact, global number of native German speakers

3204-673: The Ostsiedlung ). With the increasing wealth and geographic spread of the Germanic groups came greater use of German in the courts of nobles as the standard language of official proceedings and literature. A clear example of this is the mittelhochdeutsche Dichtersprache employed in the Hohenstaufen court in Swabia as a standardized supra-dialectal written language. While these efforts were still regionally bound, German began to be used in place of Latin for certain official purposes, leading to

3293-492: The 2007-2010 financial crisis and to carry out financial and tax reforms quickly to improve the situation of companies in Switzerland, and to create 40,000 new jobs by 2015. The main objectives of energy policy are security of energy supply and increasing energy efficiency. The party wants to support the research of alternative sources of energy for electricity production which generate no carbon dioxide. The FDP works toward

3382-627: The Alamanni , Bavarian, and Thuringian groups, all belonging to the Elbe Germanic group ( Irminones ), which had settled in what is now southern-central Germany and Austria between the second and sixth centuries, during the great migration. In general, the surviving texts of Old High German (OHG) show a wide range of dialectal diversity with very little written uniformity. The early written tradition of OHG survived mostly through monasteries and scriptoria as local translations of Latin originals; as

3471-522: The Early Middle Ages . German is an inflected language , with four cases for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative); three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and two numbers (singular, plural). It has strong and weak verbs . The majority of its vocabulary derives from the ancient Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, while a smaller share

3560-417: The European Union 's population, spoke German as their mother tongue, making it the second most widely spoken language on the continent after Russian and the second biggest language in terms of overall speakers (after English), as well as the most spoken native language. The area in central Europe where the majority of the population speaks German as a first language and has German as a (co-)official language

3649-514: The German states . While these states were still part of the Holy Roman Empire , and far from any form of unification, the desire for a cohesive written language that would be understandable across the many German-speaking principalities and kingdoms was stronger than ever. As a spoken language German remained highly fractured throughout this period, with a vast number of often mutually incomprehensible regional dialects being spoken throughout

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3738-724: The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I , and the other being Meißner Deutsch , used in the Electorate of Saxony in the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg . Alongside these courtly written standards, the invention of the printing press led to the development of a number of printers' languages ( Druckersprachen ) aimed at making printed material readable and understandable across as many diverse dialects of German as possible. The greater ease of production and increased availability of written texts brought about increased standardisation in

3827-644: The Old High German language in several Elder Futhark inscriptions from as early as the sixth century AD (such as the Pforzen buckle ), the Old High German period is generally seen as beginning with the Abrogans (written c.  765–775 ), a Latin-German glossary supplying over 3,000 Old High German words with their Latin equivalents. After the Abrogans , the first coherent works written in Old High German appear in

3916-640: The Sprachraum in Europe. German is used in a wide variety of spheres throughout the country, especially in business, tourism, and public signage, as well as in education, churches (most notably the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK) ), other cultural spheres such as music, and media (such as German language radio programs by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation ). The Allgemeine Zeitung

4005-536: The Standard German language in its written form, and the Duden Handbook was declared its standard definition. Punctuation and compound spelling (joined or isolated compounds) were not standardized in the process. The Deutsche Bühnensprache ( lit.   ' German stage language ' ) by Theodor Siebs had established conventions for German pronunciation in theatres , three years earlier; however, this

4094-660: The Swiss Reformed Church . There are 3,943 individuals (or about 8.62% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 1,685 individuals (or about 3.69% of the population) did not answer the question. In the Mendrisio District there was a total of 7,465 students (as of 2009). The Ticino education system provides up to three years of non-mandatory kindergarten and in Mendrisio District there were 1,213 children in kindergarten. The primary school program lasts for five years and includes both

4183-461: The U.S. state of Colorado , but just decriminalisation such as the approach in Portugal . The FDP supported making same-sex marriage legal in Switzerland . They are also in favour of instituting civil unions as an alternative option to marriage for all couples (whether same-sex or opposite-sex). The FDP opposes Swiss membership in the European Union , saying that Switzerland can only remain

4272-503: The Upper German dialects spoken in the southern German-speaking countries , such as Swiss German ( Alemannic dialects ) and the various Germanic dialects spoken in the French region of Grand Est , such as Alsatian (mainly Alemannic, but also Central–and   Upper Franconian dialects) and Lorraine Franconian (Central Franconian). After these High German dialects, standard German

4361-462: The pagan Germanic tradition. Of particular interest to scholars, however, has been the Hildebrandslied , a secular epic poem telling the tale of an estranged father and son unknowingly meeting each other in battle. Linguistically, this text is highly interesting due to the mixed use of Old Saxon and Old High German dialects in its composition. The written works of this period stem mainly from

4450-408: The rule of law , and participatory democracy . The party supports neutrality , federalism, direct democracy, and the tax sovereignty of each canton . It believes that national security should be credibly guaranteed by a skilled and strong militia. The party is for a "cosmopolitan Switzerland", which benefits from the opportunities that globalization provides. The FDP supports close cooperation with

4539-465: The 'Radicals', was Switzerland's major establishment party. Founded in 1894, the party's classical liberal predecessors had governed Switzerland outright for most of the 19th century, and had been the guiding force behind the creation of modern Switzerland. The Liberal Party, known as the 'Old Liberals', represented the French-speaking establishment: again rooted in the conservative liberalism of

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4628-641: The 2007 Ticino Consiglio di Stato election, 301 blank ballots and 103 null ballots were cast, leaving 21,441 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 5,175 or 24.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PPD (with 4,764 or 22.2%), the PS (with 3,962 or 18.5%) and the LEGA (with 3,667 or 17.1%). From the 2000 census, 38,182 or 83.5% were Roman Catholic , while 1,914 or 4.2% belonged to

4717-464: The EU through bilateral treaties, but rejects accession to the EU. The immigration policy of the party is based on the integration of immigrants, requiring clear and effective rules by means of an "integration law". The FDP calls for consistent action against abuse of laws in Switzerland by immigrants, and in repeated cases calls for deporting foreign criminals in accordance with international law. The FDP supports

4806-714: The Empire. Its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Prague (German: Prag ) and Budapest ( Buda , German: Ofen ), to name two examples, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain; others, like Pressburg ( Pozsony , now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and cities like Zagreb (German: Agram ) or Ljubljana (German: Laibach ), contained significant German minorities. In

4895-718: The Frisian languages— North Frisian (spoken in Nordfriesland ), Saterland Frisian (spoken in Saterland ), and West Frisian (spoken in Friesland )—as well as the Anglic languages of English and Scots. These Anglo-Frisian dialects did not take part in the High German consonant shift, and the Anglic languages also adopted much vocabulary from both Old Norse and the Norman language . The history of

4984-524: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of

5073-447: The German states; the invention of the printing press c.  1440 and the publication of Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language. The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German, one being gemeine tiutsch , used in the court of

5162-675: The Germanic dialects that were affected by the High German consonant shift (south of Benrath) from those that were not (north of Uerdingen). The various regional dialects spoken south of these lines are grouped as High German dialects, while those spoken to the north comprise the Low German and Low Franconian dialects. As members of the West Germanic language family, High German, Low German, and Low Franconian have been proposed to be further distinguished historically as Irminonic , Ingvaeonic , and Istvaeonic , respectively. This classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by

5251-646: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are

5340-644: The Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German

5429-408: The MHG period. Significantly, these texts include a number of impressive secular works, such as the Nibelungenlied , an epic poem telling the story of the dragon -slayer Siegfried ( c.  thirteenth century ), and the Iwein , an Arthurian verse poem by Hartmann von Aue ( c.  1203 ), lyric poems , and courtly romances such as Parzival and Tristan . Also noteworthy

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5518-430: The development of non-local forms of language and exposed all speakers to forms of German from outside their own area. With Luther's rendering of the Bible in the vernacular, German asserted itself against the dominance of Latin as a legitimate language for courtly, literary, and now ecclesiastical subject-matter. His Bible was ubiquitous in the German states: nearly every household possessed a copy. Nevertheless, even with

5607-404: The dialect so as to make the work as natural and accessible to German speakers as possible. Copies of Luther's Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region, translating words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Luther said the following concerning his translation method: One who would talk German does not ask the Latin how he shall do it; he must ask the mother in

5696-548: The district that were multipurpose buildings (used for both housing and commercial or another purpose). In 2000 there were 22,972 apartments in the district. The most common apartment size was the 4 room apartment of which there were 6,999. There were 970 single room apartments and 5,308 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 19,597 apartments (85.3% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 2,003 apartments (8.7%) were seasonally occupied and 1,372 apartments (6.0%) were empty. The historical population

5785-435: The eastern provinces of Banat , Bukovina , and Transylvania (German: Banat, Buchenland, Siebenbürgen ), German was the predominant language not only in the larger towns—like Temeschburg ( Timișoara ), Hermannstadt ( Sibiu ), and Kronstadt ( Brașov )—but also in many smaller localities in the surrounding areas. In 1901, the Second Orthographic Conference ended with a (nearly) complete standardization of

5874-455: The four-year advanced program. The upper secondary school includes several options, but at the end of the upper secondary program, a student will be prepared to enter a trade or to continue on to a university or college. In Ticino, vocational students may either attend school while working on their internship or apprenticeship (which takes three or four years) or may attend school followed by an internship or apprenticeship (which takes one year as

5963-479: The gender distribution of the population was 48.0% male and 52.0% female. The population was made up of 17,942 Swiss men (36.7% of the population), and 5,508 (11.3%) non-Swiss men. There were 20,501 Swiss women (42.0%), and 4,900 (10.0%) non-Swiss women. In 2008 there were 351 live births to Swiss citizens and 80 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 352 deaths of Swiss citizens and 82 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration,

6052-435: The home, the children on the streets, the common man in the market-place and note carefully how they talk, then translate accordingly. They will then understand what is said to them because it is German. When Christ says ' ex abundantia cordis os loquitur ,' I would translate, if I followed the papists, aus dem Überflusz des Herzens redet der Mund . But tell me is this talking German? What German understands such stuff? No,

6141-417: The influence of Luther's Bible as an unofficial written standard, a widely accepted standard for written German did not appear until the middle of the eighteenth century. German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire , which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe . Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of

6230-429: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . FDP.The Liberals FDP. The Liberals ( German : FDP. Die Liberalen , French : PLR. Les Libéraux-Radicaux , lit.   'LRP. The Liberal-Radicals', Italian : PLR. I Liberali Radicali , Romansh : PLD. Ils Liberals )

6319-402: The mother in the home and the plain man would say, Wesz das Herz voll ist, des gehet der Mund über . Luther's translation of the Bible into High German was also decisive for the German language and its evolution from Early New High German to modern Standard German. The publication of Luther's Bible was a decisive moment in the spread of literacy in early modern Germany , and promoted

6408-630: The nineteenth century. It also had a distinctly liberal Protestant outlook. In the 2003 federal election , the two parties formed an electoral alliance . In the election, the Liberals were reduced to four seats, below the five required to form an official grouping in the Federal Assembly , so the two formed a joint caucus. In June 2005, the two founded the Radical and Liberal Union , which aimed to promote liberal goals through deeper cooperation. In 2007,

6497-630: The ninth century, chief among them being the Muspilli , Merseburg charms , and Hildebrandslied , and other religious texts (the Georgslied , Ludwigslied , Evangelienbuch , and translated hymns and prayers). The Muspilli is a Christian poem written in a Bavarian dialect offering an account of the soul after the Last Judgment , and the Merseburg charms are transcriptions of spells and charms from

6586-401: The party in matters of social security is: "Solidarity where it is necessary" and "self-reliance where it is possible". As a profitable investment for the future of society, the FDP wants to promote the highest quality education at all levels, since it considers human capital the most important resource of Switzerland. It considers innovation as a crucial asset for prosperity and wants to improve

6675-482: The party's stance, self-responsibility and competition should dictate the actions of individuals, rather than bans. The FDP wants to ensure that personal initiative is rewarded and not restricted by paternalism. Start-ups, particularly by young people, are to be encouraged. The party stands for a simple tax code, low taxes, and for tax competition among the cantons . It calls for a more citizen-friendly state without excessive bureaucracy and excessive regulation, and for

6764-550: The party's two Geneva branches – Liberal Party of Geneva and Radical Party of Geneva – merged to form a single FDP.The Liberals cantonal branch. In the 2015 federal election , the FDP increased its share of the popular vote by 1.3%, the first time it had increased since the 1979 federal election . As a classically liberal party, the FDP wants to protect civil liberties and individual responsibility. The FDP calls for mutual tolerance of people with different opinions and self-identities, entrepreneurship , social responsibility ,

6853-412: The population of Swiss citizens decreased by 1 while the foreign population decreased by 2. There were 4 Swiss men and 8 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 300 non-Swiss men and 265 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources) was an increase of 193 and the non-Swiss population change

6942-426: The position of Switzerland as one of the leaders of innovation. The party is, in principle, in favour of ending marijuana prohibition to encourage safe and legal free enterprise as opposed to a costly war on drugs; instead, it emphasizes personal and family responsibility over life choices, as opposed to making such choices a state power. However, many in the party may not be in favour of full legalization, such as in

7031-462: The pronunciation of the ending -ig as [ɪk] instead of [ɪç]. In Northern Germany, High German was a foreign language to most inhabitants, whose native dialects were subsets of Low German. It was usually encountered only in writing or formal speech; in fact, most of High German was a written language, not identical to any spoken dialect, throughout the German-speaking area until well into the 19th century. However, wider standardization of pronunciation

7120-468: The second-placed Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland (CVP/PDC). The Liberals (through its FDP predecessor) are the only party that has participated in every federal government since 1848 and since 2003 have been represented in the Federal Council by two members. They are the third-largest party in the National Council and is the second-largest in the Council of States . The party

7209-541: The states of North Dakota and South Dakota , German is the most common language spoken at home after English. As a legacy of significant German immigration to the country , German geographical names can be found throughout the Midwest region , such as New Ulm and Bismarck (North Dakota's state capital), plus many other regions. A number of German varieties have developed in the country and are still spoken today, such as Pennsylvania Dutch and Texas German . In Brazil,

7298-496: The third most commonly learned second language in the United States in K-12 education. The language has been influential in the fields of philosophy, theology, science, and technology. It is the second most commonly used language in science and the third most widely used language on websites . The German-speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of annual publication of new books, with one-tenth of all books (including e-books) in

7387-724: The women's arms of the parties merged, while the youth wings merged the following year to form the Young Liberals . Agreement on the merger of the federal parties was agreed in October 2008. The agreement was adopted on 28 February 2009, applying retroactively to 1 January 2009. FDP President Fulvio Pelli of Ticino became the party's first leader, while Liberal President Pierre Weiss was named one of four Vice-Presidents. Separate Free Democrat and Liberal branches remained in competition with each other in Geneva , Valais , and Vaud . In May 2011,

7476-543: The world being published in German. German is most closely related to other West Germanic languages, namely Afrikaans , Dutch , English , the Frisian languages , and Scots . It also contains close similarities in vocabulary to some languages in the North Germanic group , such as Danish , Norwegian , and Swedish . Modern German gradually developed from Old High German , which in turn developed from Proto-Germanic during

7565-579: The written form of German. One of the central events in the development of ENHG was the publication of Luther's translation of the Bible into High German (the New Testament was published in 1522; the Old Testament was published in parts and completed in 1534). Luther based his translation primarily on the Meißner Deutsch of Saxony , spending much time among the population of Saxony researching

7654-429: Was a "neutral" language as there were virtually no English native speakers in Namibia at that time. German, Afrikaans, and several indigenous languages thus became "national languages" by law, identifying them as elements of the cultural heritage of the nation and ensuring that the state acknowledged and supported their presence in the country. Today, Namibia is considered to be the only German-speaking country outside of

7743-530: Was an artificial standard that did not correspond to any traditional spoken dialect. Rather, it was based on the pronunciation of German in Northern Germany, although it was subsequently regarded often as a general prescriptive norm, despite differing pronunciation traditions especially in the Upper-German-speaking regions that still characterise the dialect of the area today – especially

7832-546: Was an increase of 291 people. This represents a population growth rate of 1.0%. The age distribution, as of 2009, in the district of Mendrisio is: 4,222 children or 8.6% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 4,878 teenagers or 10.0% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 4,961 people or 10.2% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 6,695 people or 13.7% are between 30 and 39, 8,314 people or 17.0% are between 40 and 49, and 6,307 people or 12.9% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution

7921-485: Was established on the basis of public speaking in theatres and the media during the 20th century and documented in pronouncing dictionaries. Official revisions of some of the rules from 1901 were not issued until the controversial German orthography reform of 1996 was made the official standard by governments of all German-speaking countries. Media and written works are now almost all produced in Standard German which

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