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Middle High German , abbreviated MHG (Mhd.), is the term used for the period in the history of the German language
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
 between 1050 and 1350. It is preceded by Old High German
Old High German

The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of Old High German proper to 750 for this reason...
 and followed by Early New High German
Early New High German

Early New High German is a term for the period in the history of the German language, generally defined, following Wilhelm Scherer, as the period 1350 to 1650....
. In some uses, the term covers a longer period, going up to 1500.


While there is no standard MHG, the prestige of the Hohenstaufen
Hohenstaufen

The House of Hohenstaufen was a dynasty of List of German Kings and Emperors , many of whom were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor and Duke of Swabia....
 court gave rise in the late 12th century to a supra-regional literary language (mittelhochdeutsche Dichtersprache) based on Swabian, an Alemannic
Alemannic German

Alemannic German is a group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language. It is spoken by approximately ten million people in six countries, including southern Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria, Liechtenstein, and Italy....
 dialect.






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Encyclopedia


Middle High German , abbreviated MHG (Mhd.), is the term used for the period in the history of the German language
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
 between 1050 and 1350. It is preceded by Old High German
Old High German

The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of Old High German proper to 750 for this reason...
 and followed by Early New High German
Early New High German

Early New High German is a term for the period in the history of the German language, generally defined, following Wilhelm Scherer, as the period 1350 to 1650....
. In some uses, the term covers a longer period, going up to 1500.

Varieties


Middle High German is not a unified written language and the term covers two main dialect areas:
  • Upper German
    Upper German

    Upper German is a family of High German languages dialects spoken primarily in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Northern Italy....
     (Oberdeutsch)
    • Alemannic
      Alemannic German

      Alemannic German is a group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language. It is spoken by approximately ten million people in six countries, including southern Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria, Liechtenstein, and Italy....
       (Alemannisch = Westoberdeutsch)
    • Bavarian (Bairisch = Ostoberdeutsch)
    • East Franconian (Ostfränkisch = Nordoberdeutsch)
    • South Franconian (Südfränkisch = Nordoberdeutsch)
  • Central German
    Central German

    Central German is a group of High German languages dialects spread from the Rhineland to Thuringia, south of Low German and Low Franconian and north of Upper German....
     or Middle German (Mitteldeutsch)
    • Franconian
      West Central German

      West Central German belongs to the Central German, High German languages dialect family in the German language. Its dialects are thoroughly Franconian languages including the following sub-families:...
       (Westmitteldeutsch)
      • Rhine Franconian
        Rhine Franconian

        Rhine Franconian , or Rhenish Franconian, is a dialect family of West Central German. It comprises the German dialects spoken across the western regions of the states of Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Hesse in Germany....
         (Rheinfränkisch)
      • Middle Franconian (Mittelfränkisch)
      • Hessian
        Hessian language

        Hessian is the name of a group of dialects of German language. Hessian dialects are spoken in the state of Hesse, which is located in central Germany....
         (Hessisch)
    • East Central German
      East Central German

      East Central German is the non-Franconian languages sub-group of Central German dialects, themselves part of High Germanic languages:*Thuringian...
       (Ostmitteldeutsch)
      • Thuringian (Thüringisch)
      • Upper Saxon (Obersächsisch)
      • Silesian
        Silesian German

        Lower Silesian language or simply Silesian , is a German language dialect/language spoken in Lower Silesia. Today, the area is mainly in southwestern Poland, but as well as in northeastern Czech Republic and in eastern Germany....
         (Schlesisch)
      • High Prussian
        High Prussian

        High Prussian is a dialect of East Central German that developed in the region of East Prussia. The dialect developed from High German, brought in by Silesian Germans settlers in the 13th—15th centuries, and was influenced by the Baltic languages Old Prussian language....
         (Hochpreußisch)


While there is no standard MHG, the prestige of the Hohenstaufen
Hohenstaufen

The House of Hohenstaufen was a dynasty of List of German Kings and Emperors , many of whom were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor and Duke of Swabia....
 court gave rise in the late 12th century to a supra-regional literary language (mittelhochdeutsche Dichtersprache) based on Swabian, an Alemannic
Alemannic German

Alemannic German is a group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language. It is spoken by approximately ten million people in six countries, including southern Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria, Liechtenstein, and Italy....
 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
Elbe

The River Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It originates in the Krkonose Mountains of northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Germany and flowing into the North Sea....
-Saale
Saale

The Saale, also known as the Saxon Saale and Thuringian Saale , is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fr?nkische Saale, a right-bank tributary of the Main, or the Saale in Lower Saxony, a tributary of the Leine....
 line which marked the limit of Old High German
Old High German

The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of Old High German proper to 750 for this reason...
. This process started in the 11th century, and all the East Central German
East Central German

East Central German is the non-Franconian languages sub-group of Central German dialects, themselves part of High Germanic languages:*Thuringian...
 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
Latin alphabet

The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. It evolved from the western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumae alphabet, and was initially developed by the Ancient Romes to write the Latin....
, in Gothic minuscules that evolved into the Fraktur typefaces of the Early Modern period.

Middle High German had no standardised spelling. Modern edition
Edition

In printmaking, an edition is a number of prints struck from one plate, usually at the same point in time. This is the meaning covered by this article....
s, however, generally standardise according to a set of conventions established by Karl Lachman in the 19th century. There are several important features in this standardised orthography which are not characteristics of the original manuscript
Manuscript

A manuscript is any document that is written by hand, as opposed to being printed or reproduced in some other way. The term may also be used for information that is hand-recorded in other ways than writing, for example inscriptions that are chiselled upon a hard material or scratched as with a knife point in plaster or with a stylus on a wa...
s:

  • the marking of vowel length is almost entirely absent from MHG manuscripts.
  • the marking of umlaut
    Umlaut

    Umlaut may refer to:*I-mutation or umlaut, historic vowel fronting in any language**Germanic umlaut, the historic fronting of vowels in Germanic languages...
    ed vowels is often absent or inconsistent in the manuscripts.
  • a curly-tailed z (<?
    ?

    or is a letter derived from the Latin alphabet. Both glyphs of the majuscule and Lower case forms of this letter are based on the rotated form of a minuscule e; a similar letter with identical minuscule is used in the Pan-Nigerian Alphabet, but has the capital form majuscule , based on a horizontally flipped majuscule E....
    > or ) is used in modern handbooks and grammars to indicate the /s/ or /s/-like sound which arose from Germanic
    Germanic

    Germanic may refer to* The Germanic languages, descended from Proto-Germanic.* The Germanic peoples**List of Germanic peoples**Confederations of Germanic tribes...
     /t/ in the High German consonant shift
    High German consonant shift

    In historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift was a phonological development which took place in the southern parts of the West Germanic dialect continuum in several phases, probably beginning between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD, and was almost complete before the earliest written recor...
    . This character has no counterpart in the original manuscripts which typically use <s> or <sz> to indicate this sound
  • the original texts often use <i> and <u> for the semi-vowels /j/ and /w/.


A particular issue is that many manuscripts are of much later date than the works they contain, with signs of later scribes modifying the spellings, with greater or lesser consistency, in accordance with he conventions of their own time. There is also considerable regional variation in the spellings of the original texts, which modern editions largely conceal.

Vowels

The standardised orthography of MHG editions uses the following vowel spellings:
  • Short vowels: <a e i o u> and the umlauted vowels <ä ö ü>
  • Long vowels: <â ê î ô û> and the umlauted vowels <æ œ iu>
  • Diphthongs: <ei ou ie uo> and the umlauted diphthongs <öu/eu/oi> and <üe>


Grammars (as opposed to textual editions) often distinguish between <ë> and <e>, the former indicating the mid-open /e/ which derived from Germanic /e/, the latter (often with a dot beneath it) indicating the mid-close /e/ which results from primary umlaut. No such orthographic distinction is made in MHG manuscripts.

The etymological distinction made in the standardised spelling between <e> and <ä>, with <ä> representing a lower vowel arising from the secondary umlaut of /a/, may well be valid for the earlier texts, but the distinction between these two front vowels was lost by the end of the period (as in Modern German).

Consonants

The standardised orthography of MHG editions uses the following consonant spellings:
  • Stops: <p t k/c b d g q>
  • Affricates: <pf/ph tz/z>
  • Fricatives: <v f s ? sch ch h>
  • Nasals: <m n>
  • Liquids: <l r>
  • Semivowels: <w j>


Grammar


Pronouns


Middle High German pronouns of the first person refer to the speaker; those of the second person refer to an addressed person. The pronoun
Pronoun

In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun with or without a Determiner , such as Wiktionary:you and Wiktionary:they in English language....
s of the third person may be used to replace nominal phrases. These have the same gender
Gender

Gender comprises a range of differences between man and woman, extending from the biological to the social. Biologically, the male gender is defined by the presence of a Y-chromosome, and its absence in the female gender....
, number
Grammatical number

In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
 and case as the original nominal phrase. This goes for other pronouns, too.

Personal pronouns
Personal Pronouns
1st sg 2nd sg 3rd sg 1st pl 2nd pl 3rd pl
Nominative ich du ër sie ëz wir ir sie
Accusative mich dich in sie ëz uns iuch sie
Dative mir dir im ir im uns iu in
Genitive* mîn dîn sîn ir sîn unser iuwer ir
  • Note: the genitive form is used as an adjective and hence takes on adjective endings following the normal rules. This includes 'unser' and 'iuwer', despite the fact that they already end in -er.


Nouns


Middle High German nouns were declined according to four cases (Nominative, genitive, dative
Dative

Dative has several meanings.*In grammar, the dative case is used to indicate the noun to whom something is given.*In chemistry, a dative bond is a chemical bond in which the shared electrons come from one atom only....
, accusative), two numbers (singular
Singular

Singular may refer to:* A grammatical number denoting a unit quantity * SINGULAR, a computer algebra system* gravitational singularity* technological singularity...
 and plural
Plural

Plural is a grammatical number, typically referring to more than one of the referent in the real world. In the English language, singular and plural are the only grammatical numbers....
) and three genders
Grammatical gender

In linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called noun classes, are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words; every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be very few which belong to several classes at once....
 (masculine, feminine and neuter), much like Modern High German, though there are several important differences.

Strong nouns

dër tac
day m.		 diu zît
time f.		 da? wort
word n.
Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nominative dër tac die tage diu zît die zîte da? wort diu wort
Genitive dës tages dër tage dër zît dër zîte dës wortes dër worte
Dative dëm tage dën tagen dër zît dën zîten dëm worte dën worten
Accusative dën tac die tage die zît die zîten da? wort diu wort


Weak nouns

dër veter
(male) cousin m.		 diu zunge
tongue f.		 da? herze
heart n.
Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nominative dër veter die veteren diu zunge die zungen da? herze diu herzen
Genitive dës veteren dër veteren dër zungen dër zungen dës herzen dër herzen
Dative dëm veteren dën veteren dër zungen dën zungen dëm herzen dën herzen
Accusative dën veteren die veteren die zungen die zungen da? herze diu herzen


Note that ë is a short, open /e/, so so MHG dër /d?r/ as opposed to modern /de:r/.

Articles


Middle High German articles have a feature called "strength", which influences the declension of the adjectives. There are strong articles, weak articles, and articles that have strong and weak cases. Sometimes this feature is not constant in literature.

The inflected forms depend on the number, the case and the gender of the corresponding noun. Articles have the same plural forms for all three genders.

Definite article (strong)
MasculineNeuterFemininePlural
Nominativedërda?diudie/diu
Genitivedësdësdërdër
Dativedëmdëmdërdën
Accusativedënda?diedie/diu
Instrumental diu  


The instrumental case
Instrumental case

The instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action....
, only existing in 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.

Verbs

Verbs were conjugated according to three moods (indicative, subjunctive and imperative
Imperative

Imperative can mean:*Imperative mood, a grammatical mood expressing commands, direct requests, and prohibitions*Imperative programming, a programming paradigm in computer science...
), three persons, two numbers (singular
Singular

Singular may refer to:* A grammatical number denoting a unit quantity * SINGULAR, a computer algebra system* gravitational singularity* technological singularity...
 and plural
Plural

Plural is a grammatical number, typically referring to more than one of the referent in the real world. In the English language, singular and plural are the only grammatical numbers....
) and two tenses (present tense
Present tense

The present tense is the Grammatical tense that may be used to express:* action at the present* a state of being;* a habitual action;* an occurrence in the near future; or...
 and preterite tense) There was a present participle, a past participle and a verbal noun that somewhat resembles the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 gerund
Gerund

In linguistics, ?gerund? is a term used to refer to various non-finite verb in various languages:* As applied to English language, it refers to what might be called a verb's action noun, which is one of the uses of the -ing form....
, but that only existed in the genitive and dative
Dative

Dative has several meanings.*In grammar, the dative case is used to indicate the noun to whom something is given.*In chemistry, a dative bond is a chemical bond in which the shared electrons come from one atom only....
 cases.

An important distinction was made between strong verb
Strong verb

*for the strong inflection in various languages, see strong inflection*for irregular verbs, see irregular verb*for the strong verbs in Germanic languages, see Germanic strong verb...
s (that exhibited ablaut
Indo-European ablaut

In linguistics, the term ablaut designates a system of vowel gradation in Proto-Indo-European language and its far-reaching consequences in all of the modern Indo-European languages....
) and weak verb
Weak verb

Weak verb may refer to:*light verb, or "semantically weak verb", verb participating in complex predication that has little semantic content of its own, but provides through inflection some details on the event semantics, such as aspect, mood, or tense...
s (that didn't).

Furthermore, there were also some irregular verbs.

Strong verbs

The present tense
Present tense

The present tense is the Grammatical tense that may be used to express:* action at the present* a state of being;* a habitual action;* an occurrence in the near future; or...
 conjugation went as follows:

nëmen
to take
Indicative Subjunctive
1. sg. ich nime ich nëme
2. sg. du nim(e)st du nëmest
3. sg. ër nim(e)t er nëme
1. pl. wir nëmen wir nëmen
2. pl. ir nëm(e)t ir nëmet
3. pl. sie nëment sie nëmen


Imperative: 2.sg: nim, 2.pl: nëmet Present participle: nëmente Infinitive: nëmen Verbal noun: Genitive: nëmennes, dative: ze nëmenne

The bold vowels demonstrate ablaut
Indo-European ablaut

In linguistics, the term ablaut designates a system of vowel gradation in Proto-Indo-European language and its far-reaching consequences in all of the modern Indo-European languages....
; the vowels in brackets were dropped in rapid speech.

The preterite tense conjugation went as follows:

genomen haben
to have taken
Indicative Subjunctive
1. sg. ich nam ich næme
2. sg. du næme du næmest
3. sg. ër nam er næme
1. pl. wir namen wir næmen
2. pl. ir namet ir næmet
3. pl. sie namen sie næmen


Past participle: genomen

Weak verbs

The present tense
Present tense

The present tense is the Grammatical tense that may be used to express:* action at the present* a state of being;* a habitual action;* an occurrence in the near future; or...
 conjugation went as follows:

suochen
to seek
Indicative Subjunctive
1. sg. ich suoche ich suoche
2. sg. du suoch(e)st du suochest
3. sg. ër suoch(e)t er suoche
1. pl. wir suochen wir suochen
2. pl. ir suoch(e)t ir suochet
3. pl. sie suochent sie suochen


Imperative: 2.sg: suoche, 2.pl: suochet Present participle: suochente Infinitive: suochen Verbal noun: Genitive: suochennes, dative: ze suochenne

The vowels in brackets were dropped in rapid speech.

The preterite tense conjugation went as follows:

gesuocht haben
to have sought
Indicative Subjunctive
1. sg. ich suochete ich suochete
2. sg. du suochetest du suochetest
3. sg. ër suochete er suochete
1. pl. wir suocheten wir suocheten
2. pl. ir suochetet ir suochetet
3. pl. sie suochetent sie suocheten


Past participle: gesuochet

Periodisation

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

The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of Old High German proper to 750 for this reason...
 period:
  • the weakening of unstressed vowels to /e/ - OHG taga > MHG tage ("days")
  • the full development of Umlaut
    Germanic umlaut

    In linguistics, umlaut is a process whereby a vowel is pronounced more like a vowel or semivowel in a following syllable.The term umlaut was originally coined and is principally used in connection with the study of the Germanic languages....
     and its use to mark a number of morphological categories
    Morphology (linguistics)

    Morphology is the identification, analysis and description of structure of words . While words are generally accepted as being the smallest units of syntax, it is clear that in most languages, words can be related to other words by rules....
  • 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
Holy Roman Emperor

Image:HRR 14Jh.jpgThe Roman of the Emperor's title was a reflection of the translatio imperii principle that regarded the Holy Roman Emperors as the inheritors of the title of Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, a title left unclaimed in the West after the death of Julius Nepos in 480....
 court in Vienna
Vienna

Vienna is the Capital of Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million...
 and the rise of the Swabia
Swabia

Swabia, Suabia, or Svebia is both a historic and linguistics region in Germany. Swabia consists of much of the present-day state of Baden-W?rttemberg , as well as the Bavarian Swabia ....
n Hohenstaufen
Hohenstaufen

The House of Hohenstaufen was a dynasty of List of German Kings and Emperors , many of whom were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor and Duke of Swabia....
 and then the Habsburg
Habsburg

The House of Habsburg was an important royal house of Europe and is best known as supplying all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1452 and 1740, as well as rulers of Spanish Empire and the Austrian Empire....
 dynasties make South Germany the dominant region in both political and cultural terms.

Linguistically, the transition to Early New High German
Early New High German

Early New High German is a term for the period in the history of the German language, generally defined, following Wilhelm Scherer, as the period 1350 to 1650....
 is marked by four vowel changes which together produce the phonemic system of modern German:
  • Monophthong
    Monophthong

    A monophthong is a "pure" vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not semivowel towards a new position of articulation; compare diphthong....
    isation of some of the MHG diphthong
    Diphthong

    In phonetics, a diphthong, or , is a contour vowel?that is, a unitary vowel that changes vowel quality during its pronunciation, or "glides", with a glissando of the tongue from one articulation to another, as in the English words eye, boy, and cow. This contrasts with "pure" vowels, or monophthongs, where the tongue is held s...
    s: MHG     huot> NHG Hut ("hat")
  • Diphthongisation of long vowels MHG hût > NHG Haut ("skin").
  • lengthening of short vowels MHG sagen // > NHG sagen // ("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

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.

Vowels


Notes:
  1. Not all dialects distinguish the three unrounded mid front vowels.
  2. It is probable that the short high and mid vowels are lower than their long equivalents, as in Modern German, but this is impossible to establish from the written sources.
  3. The found in unstressed syllables may indicate [] or schwa
    Schwa

    In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean the following:*An stress and tone neutral vowel sound in any language, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel....
     [].


Diphthongs

MHG diphthongs are indicated by the spellings: , , , <öu> and , <üe>, , having the approximate values of /ei/, /i?/, /ou/, /øy/, /eu/, /y?/, and /uo/, respectively.

Consonants


  1. Precise information about the articulation of consonants is impossible to establish, and will have varied between dialects.
  2. In the plosive and fricative series, where there are two consonants in a cell, the first is fortis
    Fortis

    Fortis may refer to:*Fortis , a linguistic term*Fortis , a financial services company, based in Belgium and the Netherlands*Fortis Healthcare Limited, a chain of hospitals based in India...
     the second lenis. The voicing of lenis consonants varied between dialects.
  3. MHG has long consonants, and the following double consonant spellings indicate not vowel length as in Modern German orthography, but rather genuine double consonants: pp, bb, tt, dd, ck (for /kk/), gg, ff, ss, zz, mm, nn, ll, rr.
  4. It is reasonable to assume that /x/ had an allophone [] after back vowels, as in Modern German.


Sample text

From the prologue of Hartmann von Aue
Hartmann von Aue

Hartmann von Aue was a leading poet of the Middle High German period.He belonged to the lower nobility of Swabia, where he was born. After receiving a monastic education, he became retainer of a nobleman whose domain, Aue, has been identified with Obernau on the Neckar....
's Iwein (circa 1200; c.f. , mid 13th c.)








5


10


15


20

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.

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.

He will forever be free

Of sinful shame

Who follows his example.


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', 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 focusses on reputation and the respect accorded to status in society.

Literature


  • Minnesang
    Minnesang

    Minnesang was the tradition of lyric and song writing in Germany which flourished in the 12th century and continued into the 14th century. People who wrote and performed Minnesang are known as Minnesingers ....
    • Codex Manesse
      Codex Manesse

      The Codex Manesse, Manesse Codex, or Gro?e Heidelberger Liederhandschrift is an illuminated manuscript in codex form copied and illustrated between ca....
    • Walther von der Vogelweide
      Walther von der Vogelweide

      Walther von der Vogelweide is the most celebrated of the Middle High German lyric poets....
    • Heinrich Frauenlob
      Heinrich Frauenlob

      Heinrich Frauenlob , sometimes known as Henry of Meissen , was a Middle High German poet. The nickname Frauenlob means "praise of women" or "praise of Our Lady", came from Meissen....
    • Oswald von Wolkenstein
      Oswald von Wolkenstein

      File:Oswald von Wolkenstein.jpgFile:Stevia Gr?den Langental.jpgFile:Neustift001.jpgFile:Oswald von Wolkenstein's memorial stone.jpgOswald von Wolkenstein was a poetry, composer and diplomacy....


  • Epics
    • Hartmann von Aue
      Hartmann von Aue

      Hartmann von Aue was a leading poet of the Middle High German period.He belonged to the lower nobility of Swabia, where he was born. After receiving a monastic education, he became retainer of a nobleman whose domain, Aue, has been identified with Obernau on the Neckar....
      's       Erec and Iwein
    • Wolfram von Eschenbach
      Wolfram von Eschenbach

      Wolfram von Eschenbach was a Germany knight and poet, regarded as one of the greatest epic poetry poets of his time. As a Minnesang, he also wrote lyric poetry....
      's       Parzival
      Parzival

      Parzival is a major medieval Germany epic poem attributed to the poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, written in the Middle High German language. The poem is commonly dated circa the first quarter of the 13th century....
    • Gottfried von Strassburg
      Gottfried von Strassburg

      Gottfried von Strassburg is the author of the Middle High German courtly romance Tristan and Iseult, which is regarded, alongside Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival and the Nibelungenlied, as one of the great narrative masterpieces of the German Middle Ages....
      's       Tristan
      Tristan

      Sir Tristan is one of the main characters of the Tristan and Iseult story, a Cornwall hero and one of the Knights of the Round Table featuring in the Matter of Britain....
    • Nibelungenlied
      Nibelungenlied

      The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poetry in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Sigurd at the court of the Burgundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Gudrun's revenge....
    • Kudrun
      Kudrun

      Kudrun , is a Middle High German Epic poetry, written probably in the early years of the 13th century, not long after the Nibelungenlied, the influence of which may be traced upon it....
    • Ulrich von Türheim
      Ulrich von Türheim

      Ulrich von T?rheim was a Germany writer from the Augsburg area writing during the first half of the 13th century. Three of his works have survived: a conclusion to the version of the Tristan legend left unfinished work by Gottfried von Strassburg; Rennewart, a continuation of Willehalm, left unfinished by Wolfram von Eschenbach; and...
      's       Rennewart and Willehalm
    • Rudolf von Ems
      Rudolf von Ems

      Rudolf von Ems was a mediaeval German epic poetry poet....
      's works
    • Konrad von Würzburg
      Konrad von Würzburg

      Konrad von W?rzburg was the chief Germany poet of the second half of the 13th century.As little is known of his life as that of any other epic poet of the age....
      's works
    • Eilhart von Oberge
      Eilhart von Oberge

      Eilhart von Oberge was a Germany poet of the late 12th century. He is known exclusively through his Middle High German romance Tristrant, the oldest surviving complete version of the Tristan and Iseult story in any language....
      '       Tristrant


  • Chronicles
    • Annolied
      Annolied

      The Annolied was composed in about 1100 in Early Middle High German rhyming couplets by a monk of Siegburg Abbey....
       (Early Middle High German)
    • Jans der Enikel
      Jans der Enikel

      Jans der Enikel, i.e. "Jans the Grandson" was a Vienna poet and historian of the late 13th century. He wrote a Weltchronik and a F?rstenbuch , both in Middle High German verse....
      's       Weltchronik and Fürstenbuch
    • Kaiserchronik
      Kaiserchronik

      The Kaiserchronik is a 12th century Germany epic poem. It is at once a kind of "Legend of all the Saints" and a confused but remarkable account of the Roman emperors and also of the German emperors and List of German Kings and Emperors up to the crusade of King Conrad III ....


  • Law
    • Sachsenspiegel
      Sachsenspiegel

      The Sachsenspiegel is the most important law book and legal code of the Holy Roman Empire. Written ca. 1220 as a record of existing law, it was used in parts of Germany until as late as 1900, and is important not only for its lasting effect on German law, but also as an early example of written German language prose, being the first larg...


See also

  • High German consonant shift
    High German consonant shift

    In historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift was a phonological development which took place in the southern parts of the West Germanic dialect continuum in several phases, probably beginning between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD, and was almost complete before the earliest written recor...
  • Matthias von Lexer
    Matthias von Lexer

    Matthias Lexer , later Matthias von Lexer , was a German lexicographer, author of the principal dictionary of the Middle High German language, which is generally known simply as "the Lexer"....


External links

  • Mediaevum.de's MHG Texts:


Sources

  • Hermann Paul
    Hermann Paul

    Hermann Otto Theodor Paul was a Germany linguistics and Lexicography. He was professor for German language and literature in Freiburg in the Breisgau as well as Munich, and he was a prominent Neogrammarian....
    ,     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
    Joseph Wright (linguist)

    Joseph Wright British Academy rose from humble origins to become Professor of Comparative linguistics at Oxford University.Born in Thackley, near Bradford in Yorkshire, the seventh son of a navvy, he started work as a "donkey-boy" at the age of six, became a "doffer" in a Yorkshire mill, and never had any formal schooling....
    ,     Middle High German Primer, 5th edn revised by M.O'C. Walshe (Oxford University Press, 1955)