A Study of the development of the Early New High German literary language
Abstract
An examination of the development of the Early New High German literary language reveals that such development was significantly affected by the influence of areas lacking a previous written tradition in German. In order to form the German literary language, the unification of the various forms of dialectal language into one standard form which would be acceptable in all German-speaking regions was necessary. An examination of the language as it was used in the official correspondence of four influential German monarchs reveals that early progress towards the goal of unification took place in the chanceries. Here written German was used extensively, and the reciprocal influence of chanceries caused a levelling process whereby the language became standardized to a degree. The trend towards language unification was particularly evident in the chancery of the Saxon Electorate in Wittenberg, where the language used represented a combination of Middle German and Upper German features. An investigation of the relationship of both dialect and chancery languages to the origin and development of the literary language reveals that neither localized language forms nor official chancery languages may be singled out and designated as the source of the literary language. During the fourteenth century many localized but supradialectal languages developed. Such languages, which were called literary dialects, became increasingly similar through reciprocal influence, and so showed tendencies towards a unified literary language. Latin influence on the development of the German language occurred initially as a result of the expansion of the Roman Empire. Both during and following this period Latin was the dominant language of Europe o As the German language was beginning to emerge from this period of Latin domination, it was again subjected to the influence of the languages and literature of antiquity through the advent of the humanistic era. Although insistence on the use of Latin in academic, official and literary circles retarded the development of the German literary language, the effects of Latin influence on the clarity and regularity of German were advantageous to such developmenL Luther's effect upon language development was catalystic. The language which he used in his translation of the Bible was based on that used by the chancery of the Saxon Electorate. By modelling his language on one particular linguistic standard, Luther was able to exert a unifying influence upon the German language. His popularity and the wide adoption of his translation of the Bible enabled him to accelerate language development towards uniformity.
Description
Bibliography: p. 112-114.
Keywords
Citation
Wright, D. S. (1972). A Study of the development of the Early New High German literary language (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/10991