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High German (in German, Hochdeutsch; please note that Hochdeutsch is also used to refered to today's standard German) is any of several West Germanic languages spoken in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Luxembourg (as well as in neighbouring portions of Belgium, France ( Alsace), Italy, Poland, and Romania ( Transylvania) and in some areas of former colonial settlement, i.e. in NamibiaThe Republic of Namibia is a country in southwest Africa, on the Atlantic coast. It is bordered by Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east, and South Africa to the south. It gained independence in 1990, and as such it is one of the youngest n).Alternatively, and especially in Switzerland and Luxembourg, the term "High German" may refer to one High German dialect to the exclusion of all others, standard written German.
In the first context, the "high" refers to the mountainThis article is about the landform. For other meanings, see Mountain (disambiguation). Mount Cook, a mountain in New Zealand A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. A mountain is generally much higher and steous areas of southern Germany and the Alps; in the second context, the "high" means "official".
The term also sometimes includes YiddishYiddish (, Jiddisch is a Germanic language spoken by about four million Jews throughout the world. The name Yiddish itself means "Jewish" ( German: Judisch and is originally short for yidish daytsh , or "Jewish German"; an older term in English is Judaeo-.
The use of High German to refer only to the official German language is not linguistic use, and tends to lead to confusion when discussing the German language: many High German dialects are called Low German, a term properly used for a different (but related) language family. See below.
High German (and Yiddish) are distinguished from other Western Germanic dialects in that they took part in the second (High German) sound shifting of the 8th century7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. Sometime this century, Beowulf is proba and 9th century8th century 9th century 10th century other centuries) Events Beowulf might have been written down in this century, though it could also have been in the 8th century Viking attacks on Europe begin Oseberg ship burial around 813-around 915 period of serious.
To see this, compare German "Pfanne" with English "pan" (/pf/ to /p/), German "zwei" with English "two" (/ts/ to /t/), German "machen" with English "make" (/x/ to /k/).
In the High Alemannic dialects of Swiss German, there is a further shift; "Kaffee" (like English "coffee") becomes "Kchafi" (/k/ to /kx/).
The name "High German" contrasts with "Low German", a term variously used to refer to the Low Saxon dialects originating from around the Baltic city of Lübeck; these dialects together with the Low Franconian languages ( Dutch, West Flemish, and Afrikaans); or all of the Western Germanic languages other than High German (including English and Frisian).
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Note that divisions between subfamilies of Germanic are rarely precisely defined; most form continuous clines, with adjacent dialects being mutually intelligible and more separated ones not. In particular, there never has been an original " Proto-High German".
