Middle High German

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Middle High German (MHG, German Mittelhochdeutsch) is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. It is preceded by Old High German and followed by Early New High German. In some older scholarship, the term covers a longer period, going up to 1500.

Contents 1 Varieties 2 Writing System 3 Periodisation 3.1 Phonology[1] 4 Sources

Varieties

Middle High German is not a unified written language and the term covers two main dialect areas:[1]

• Upper German (Oberdeutsch)
  • Alemannic (Alemannisch)
  • Bavarian (Bayrisch)
  • East Franconian (Ostfränkisch)
  • South Franconian (Südfränkisch)
• Central German or Middle German (Mitteldeutsch)
  • Franconian (Westmitteldeutsch)
    • Rhine Franconian (Rheinfränkisch)
    • Middle Franconian (Mittelfränkisch)
  • East Central German (Ostmitteldeutsch)
    • Thuringian (Thüringisch)
    • Upper Saxon (Obersächsisch)
    • Silesian (Schlesisch)
    • High Prussian (Hochpreußisch)

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. However, the picture is complicated by the fact that modern editions of MHG texts have a tendency to use normalised spellings based on this variety (usually called "Classical MHG"), which make the written language appear more consistent than is actually the case in the manuscripts. It is uncertain whether the literary language reflected a supra-regional spoken language of the courts.

An important development in this period was 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" is the precursor of the Yiddish language which is attested in the 13th-14th centuries as a variety of Middle High German written in Hebrew characters.

Writing System

Middle High German texts are written in the Latin alphabet, in Gothic minuscules that evolved into the Fraktur typefaces of the Early Modern period. Vowel length may be marked diacritically, with a circumflex.

a, â (æ), b, d, e, ê, f, g, h, i, î (y), k (c, ch), l, m, n, o, ô, p, qu (=kw), r, s, t, u, û, v (f), w, z (c, cz, ʒ)

z also appears as c before e and i. After vowels it is weakened to ʒ ("weak z", or "sharp s", written as geschwänztes z "tailed z"; also transcribed as ȥ "z with hook"), after short vowels geminating to ʒʒ (haʒ, genitive haʒʒes "hate"). This group from early times begins merging with ss, ultimately the origin of the ß of Modern German orthography.

There is also emerging use of j, in Nuremberg often in place of g.

The full development of German Umlaut was only completed in the course of the MHG period, and notation of umlauted vowels (Modern German ä, ö, ü) and their notation emerges in the period after 1300, e.g. uohse "armpit" vs. üehse (Wolkenstein 49.1.11). Note that the umlaut diacritic (the two dots) appear only in Early Modern German (around 1500). What in standard transliteration appears as üe in the manuscripts is usually written with a diacritic e, viz. the transliteration güete ("goodness") renders guͤte.

Periodisation

There are several criteria which separate MHG from the preceding Old High German period:

• the weakening of unstressed vowels to /e/ - OHG taga > MHG tage ("days")
• the full development of Umlaut and its use to mark a number of morphological categories
• the devoicing of final stops - OHG tag > MHG tac ("day")

Culturally, the two periods are distinguished by the transition from a predominantly clerical written culture to one centred on the courts of the great nobles. The imperial court in Vienna and the rise of the Swabian Hohenstaufen and then the Habsburg dynasties make South Germany the dominant region in both political and cultural terms.

Linguistically, the transition to Early New High German is marked by four vowel changes which together produce the phonemic system of modern German:

• Monophthongisation of some of the MHG diphthongs: MHG huot> NHG Hut ('guardianship')
• Diphthongisation of long vowels MHG hût > NHG Haut ("skin"); these two phenomena may be seen together as a chain shift.
• lengthening of short vowels MHG sagen /zagən/ > NHG sagen /zaːgən/ ("say")
• The loss of unstressed vowels in many circumstances - MHG vrouwe > NHG Frau ("lady")

The centres of culture in the ENHG period are no longer the courts but the towns.

Phonology[1]

Sources

• Hermann Paul, Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik, 23rd edn, edited by Peter Wiehl and Sigfried Grosse (Niemeyer, 1989) ISBN 3-484-10233-0
• M.O'C. Walshe, A Middle High German Reader: With Grammar, Notes and Glossary (Oxford University Press, 1974) ISBN 0-19-872082-3
• Joseph Wright, Middle High German Primer, 5th edn revised by M.O'C. Walshe (Oxford University Press, 1955)