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.

Periodisation

German territorial expansion in the Middle High German period (adapted from Walter Kuhn)

---

  Germanic peoples before AD 700

  Ostsiedlung, 8th–11th centuries

  Expansion in the 12th century

  Expansion in the 13th century

  Expansion in the 14th century

German territorial expansion before 1400 from F. W. Putzger

The Middle High German period is generally dated from 1050 to 1350.^[1][2][3][4] An older view puts the boundary with (Early) New High German around 1500.^{[4] [5]}

There are several phonological criteria which separate MHG from the preceding Old High German period:^[6]

• the weakening of unstressed vowels to ⟨e⟩: OHG taga, MHG tage ("days")^[7]
• the full development of Umlaut and its use to mark a number of morphological categories^[7]
• the devoicing of final stops: OHG tag > MHG tac ("day")^[8][9]

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.^[2][10] The rise of the Hohenstaufen dynasty in Swabia makes the South West the dominant region in both political and cultural terms.^[11]

Demographically, the MHG period is characterised by a massive rise in population,^[12] terminated by the demographic catastrophe of the Black Death (1348).^[13] Along with the rise in population comes a territorial expansion eastwards (Ostsiedlung), which saw German-speaking settlers colonise land previously under Slavic control.^[14][15]

Linguistically, the transition to Early New High German is marked by four vowel changes which together produce the phonemic system of modern German, though not all dialects participated equally in these changes:^[16]

• Diphthongisation of the long high vowels /iː yː uː/ > /aɪ̯ ɔʏ̯ aʊ̯/: MHG hût > NHG Haut ("skin")
• Monophthongisation of the high centering diphthongs /iə yə uə/ > /iː yː uː/: MHG huot > NHG Hut ("hat")
• lengthening of stressed short vowels in open syllables: MHG sagen /zaɡən/ > NHG sagen /zaːɡən/ ("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.^[17]

Dialects

Middle High German dialect boundaries

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:^[18][19]

Central German (Mitteldeutsch)^[20]

• West Central German (Westmitteldeutsch)
  • Central Franconian (Mittelfränkisch)
    • Ripuarian (Ripuarisch)
    • Moselle Franconian (Moselfränkisch)
  • Rhine Franconian (Rheinfränkisch)
  • Hessian (Hessisch)
• East Central German (Ostmitteldeutsch)
  • Thuringian (Thüringisch)
  • Upper Saxon (Obersächsisch)
  • Silesian (Schlesisch)
  • High Prussian (Hochpreußisch)

Upper German (Oberdeutsch)^[21]

• East Franconian (Ostfränkisch)
• South Rhine Franconian (Süd(rhein)fränkisch)
• Alemannic (Alemannisch)
  • North Alemannic (Nordalemannisch)
    • Swabian (Schwäbisch)
    • Low Alemannic (Niederalemannisch/Oberrheinisch)
  • High Alemannic/South Alemannic (Hochalemannisch/Südalemannisch) )
• Bavarian (Bairisch)
  • Northern Bavarian (Nordbairisch)
  • Central Bavarian (Mittelbairisch)
  • Southern Bavarian (Südbairisch)

With the exception of Thuringian, the East Central German dialects are new dialects resulting from the Ostsiedlung and arise towards the end of the period.^[18][22]

Writing system

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.^[23] There are several important features in this standardised orthography which are not characteristics of the original manuscripts:

• the marking of vowel length is almost entirely absent from MHG manuscripts.^[24]
• the marking of umlauted vowels is often absent or inconsistent in the manuscripts.^[25]
• a curly-tailed z (⟨ȥ⟩ or ⟨ʒ⟩) is used in modern handbooks and grammars to indicate the /s/ or /s/-like sound which arose from Germanic /t/ in the High German consonant shift. This character has no counterpart in the original manuscripts, which typically use ⟨s⟩ or ⟨z⟩ to indicate this sound.^[26]
• the original texts often use ⟨i⟩ and ⟨uu⟩ for the semi-vowels /j/ and /w/.^[27]

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.^[28] In addition, there is considerable regional variation in the spellings that appear in the original texts, which modern editions largely conceal.^[29]

Phonology

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.

Grammar

Vocabulary

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.^[30] Since 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:^[31]

• MHG âventiure < OF aventure (NHG Abenteuer, "adventure")
• MHG prîs < OF pris (NHG Preis, "prize, reward")
• MHG lanze < OF lance (NHG Lanze, "lance")
• MHG palas < OF palais (NHG Palast, "palace")
• MHG fest, veste < OF feste (NHG Fest, "festival, feast")
• MHG pinsel < OF pincel (NHG Pinsel, "paint brush")
• MHG samît < OF samit (NHG Samt, "velvet")
• MHG rosîn < OF raisin (NHG Rosine, "raisin")

Two highly productive suffixes were borrowed from French in this period:

• The noun suffix -îe is seen initially in borrowings from French such as massenîe ("retinue, household") and then starts to be combined with German nouns to produce, for example, jegerîe ("hunting") from jeger ("huntsman"), or arzatîe, arzenîe ("medicine ") from arzat ("doctor"). With the Early New High German diphthongization the suffix became /ai/ (spelling <ei>) giving NHG Jägerei, Arznei.^[32]

• The verb suffix -îeren resulted from adding the German infinitive suffix -en to the Old French infinitive endings -er/ir/ier. Initially, this was just a way of integrating French verbs into German syntax, but the suffix became productive in its own right and was added to non-French roots: MHG turnîeren is based on OF tourner ("to ride a horse"), but halbieren ("to cut in half") has no French source.^[33][34]

Sample texts

Iwein

Manuscript B of Hartmann von Aue's Iwein (Gießen, UB, Hs. 97), folio 1r

The text is the opening of Hartmann von Aue's Iwein (c. 1200)

Middle High German[35]		English translation
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 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 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.^[36]

Nibelungenlied

Manuscript C of the Nibelungenlied, fol. 1r

The text is the opening strophe of the Nibelungenlied (c. 1204).

Middle High German^[37]

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^[38]

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.

English translation^[39]

In ancient tales many marvels are told us
of renowned heroes, of great hardship
of joys, festivities, of weeping and lamenting
of bold warriors' battles — now you may hear such marvels told!

Commentary: All the MHG words are recognizable from Modern German, though mære ("tale") and recke ("warrior") are archaic and lobebære ("praiseworthy") has given way to lobenswert. Words which have changed in meaning include arebeit, which means "strife" or "hardship" in MHG, but now means "work", and hôchgezît ("festivity") which now, as Hochzeit, has the narrower meaning of "wedding".^[36]

Literature

The following are some of the main authors and works of MHG literature:

See also

Notes

References

• Brockhaus, Wiebke (1995). Final Devoicing in the Phonology of German. Tübingen: De Gruyter. ISBN 9783484303362.

• Freytag, Hartmut (1959). "Frühmittelhochdeutsch 1065–1170". In Maurer, Friedrich; Rupp, Heinz (eds.). Deutsche Wortgeschichte. Vol. 1 (3rd ed.). Berlin, New York: de Gruyter. pp. 165–188. doi:10.1515/9783110841916.165. ISBN 3-11-003627-4.
• Keller, R.E. (1978). The German Language. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-11159-9.

• Kunisch, Hermann (1959). "Spätes Mittelalter 1250–1500". In Maurer, Friedrich; Rupp, Heinz (eds.). Deutsche Wortgeschichte. Vol. 1 (3rd ed.). Berlin, New York: de Gruyter. pp. 255–322. doi:10.1515/9783110841916.255. ISBN 3-11-003627-4.

• Lexer, Matthias (1999). Mittelhochdeutsches Taschenwörterbuch (38 ed.). Stuttgart: S. Hirzel Verlag. ISBN 978-3777604930. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
• Lindgren KB (1980). "Mittelhochdeutsch". In Althaus HP, Henne H, Wiegand HE (eds.). Lexikon der Germanistischen Linguistik. Vol. III (2 ed.). Tübingen: Niemeyer. pp. 580–584. ISBN 3-484-10391-4.

• Öhmann, Emil (1959). "Der romanische Einfluß auf das Deutsche bis zum Ausgang des Mittelalters". In Maurer, Friedrich; Rupp, Heinz (eds.). Deutsche Wortgeschichte. Vol. 1 (3rd ed.). Berlin, New York: de Gruyter. pp. 321–396. doi:10.1515/9783110841916.323. ISBN 3-11-003627-4.

• Paul, Hermann (1989). Wiehl, Peter; Grosse, Sigfried (eds.). Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik (23rd ed.). Tübingen: Niemeyer. ISBN 3484102330.
• Paul, Hermann (2007). Thomas Klein; Hans-Joachim Solms; Klaus-Peter Wegera (eds.). Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik (25th ed.). Tübingen: Niemeyer. ISBN 978-3484640344.
• Rautenberg U (1985). "Soziokulturelle Voraussetzung und Sprachraum des Mittelhochdeutschen". In Besch W, Reichmann O, Sonderegger S (eds.). Sprachgeschichte. Vol. 2. Berlin, New York: Walter De Gruyter. pp. 1120–29. ISBN 3-11-009590-4.

• Roelcke T (1998). "Die Periodisierung der deutschen Sprachgeschichte". In Besch W, Betten A, Reichmann O, Sonderegger S (eds.). Sprachgeschichte. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). Berlin, New York: Walter De Gruyter. pp. 798–815. ISBN 3-11-011257-4.

• Schmidt, Wilhelm (2013). Geschichte Der Deutschen Sprache : Ein Lehrbuch Fur Das Germanistische Studium. Stuttgart: Hirzel. ISBN 9783777622729.

• Tschirch, Fritz (1975). Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache (2nd ed.). Berlin: Erich Schmidt. ISBN 3503007857.<

• Waterman, John T. (1976). A History of the German Language (Revised ed.). University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-73807-3.
• Wells, C. J. (1987). German: A Linguistic History to 1945. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-815809-2.

• Wießner, Edmund (1959). "Höfisches Rittertum 1200–1300". In Maurer, Friedrich; Rupp, Heinz (eds.). Deutsche Wortgeschichte. Vol. 1 (3rd ed.). Berlin, New York: de Gruyter. pp. 187–243. doi:10.1515/9783110841916.189. ISBN 3-11-003627-4.

Sources

• Bartsch, Karl; De Boor, Helmut, eds. (1988). Das Nibelungenlied (22 ed.). Mannheim: F.A. Brockhaus. ISBN 3-7653-0373-9.
• Brackert, Helmut, ed. (1970). Das Nibelungenlied. Mittelhochdeutscher Text und Übertragung. Frankfurt-am-Main: Fischer. ISBN 3436013137.
• Edrich, Brigitte, ed. (2014). "Hartmann von Aue: Erec, Handschrift A" (PDF). Hartmann von Aue Portal. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
• Edwards, Cyril, ed. (2014). Hartmann von Aue. Erec. Arthurian Archives. German Romance. Vol. V. Cambridge: D.S.Brewer. ISBN 978-1-84384-378-8.
• Edwards, Cyril, ed. (2007). Hartmann von Aue. Iwein or the Knight with the Lion. Arthurian Romances. Vol. III. Cambridge: D.S.Brewer. ISBN 978-0-19-923854-5.
• Edwards, Cyril, ed. (2010). The Nibelungenlied. Oxford World's Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1-84384-084-8.
• Leitzmann, Albert, ed. (1985). Erec. Altdeutsche Textbibliothek. Vol. 19 (6th ed.). Tübingen: Niemeyer. ISBN 3-484-20139-8.

Further reading

• Jones, Howard; Jones, Martin H. (2019). The Oxford Guide to Middle High German, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199654611.
• Walshe, M.O'C. (1974). A Middle High German Reader: With Grammar, Notes and Glossary, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198720823.
• Wright, Joseph & Walshe, M.O'C. (1955). Middle High German Primer, 5th edn., Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. The foregoing link is to a TIFF and PNG format. See also the Germanic Lexicon Project's edition, which is in HTML as well as the preceding formats.

External links

For a list of words relating to Middle High German, see the Middle High German language category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Middle High German conceptual database
• Online versions of the two main MHG dictionaries
• Middle High German audio literature