german+(lindsey+ballantyne)

history of the German language

The history of the language begins with the high German consonant shift during the migration period, separating old high German dialects from Old Saxon The earliest testimonies of Old High German are from scattered Elder Futhark inscriptions, especially in Alemannic, from the 6th century AD; the earliest glosses date to the 8th; and the oldest coherent texts the to the 9th century. Old Saxon at this time belongs to the North Sea Germanic cultural sphere, and Low Saxon should fall under German rather than Anglo-Frisian influence during the Holy Roman Empire. As Germany was divided into many different states, the only force working for a unification or standardization of German during a period of several hundred years was the general preference of writers trying to write in a way that could be understood in the largest possible area. Web. 28 Oct 2009. .