German language
German (German: Deutsch) is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the main language of Germany and Austria and is also used in Switzerland, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and neighbouring parts of Europe.
German is written with the Latin alphabet. Its ISO 639-1 code is de. Its ISO 639-2 codes are deu and ger, with deu used as the terminological code and ger as the bibliographic code.
History
[edit | edit source]German developed from the West Germanic dialects spoken in central Europe during the early medieval period. The High German consonant shift separated the High German dialects from Low German and other western Germanic varieties. Old High German was used from about the eighth century until the eleventh century and survives in religious texts, glosses, legal records, and poetry.
Middle High German developed during the eleventh century. It was used in court literature, religious writing, administration, and regional records. Written forms differed between territories because the German-speaking area remained divided among kingdoms, duchies, principalities, bishoprics, and free cities.
Early New High German developed from the fourteenth century onward. Printing and the growth of territorial administration increased contact between regional written forms. Martin Luther's German translation of the New Testament was published in 1522, followed by a complete Bible in 1534. Its wide circulation influenced spelling, vocabulary, and written usage, although regional forms remained common.
A more uniform standard developed through schools, publishing, government administration, and dictionaries. The first edition of the Duden spelling dictionary was published in 1880. Standard German later developed separate national forms in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland while remaining mutually intelligible.
Geographic distribution
[edit | edit source]German is the official language of Germany and Austria. It is used in government, education, courts, publishing, broadcasting, and public administration.
In Switzerland, German is one of the four official languages alongside French, Italian, and Romansh. German is used across much of northern, central, and eastern Switzerland. Swiss Standard German is used in formal writing and public administration, while Swiss German dialects are common in daily speech.
German is one of the three official languages of Belgium, together with Dutch and French. It is concentrated in the German-speaking area of eastern Belgium near the German border.
German is the official language of Liechtenstein. It is also used in Luxembourgish administration, education, publishing, and media. In northern Italy, German has official status in South Tyrol together with Italian.
German-speaking communities also exist in parts of eastern France, Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and several countries outside Europe.
Writing system
[edit | edit source]German uses the Latin script. The modern alphabet contains 26 basic letters. Written German also uses the letters ä, ö, and ü. The letter ß, known as the Eszett or sharp S, represents a voiceless S sound after certain long vowels and diphthongs.
Swiss Standard German normally uses ss instead of ß. German spelling distinguishes between long and short vowel environments and uses capital letters for all nouns.
Compound words are normally written as single words. Hyphens may be used in long compounds, combinations containing abbreviations, and constructions where separation improves readability.
Grammar
[edit | edit source]German nouns have three grammatical genders, masculine, feminine, and neuter. Nouns, articles, adjectives, and pronouns can change according to four grammatical cases, nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive.
German verbs change according to person, number, tense, and mood. Main clauses normally place the finite verb in second position. In subordinate clauses, the finite verb is usually placed near the end of the clause.
German distinguishes between strong, weak, and mixed verbs. Strong verbs often form past-tense forms by changing the stem vowel, while weak verbs normally use a dental ending.
Word formation commonly uses prefixes, suffixes, and compound nouns. German compounds can combine several existing words into a single term, particularly in legal, administrative, scientific, and technical writing.