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| New High German | |
|---|---|
| Name | New High German |
| Nativename | Neuhochdeutsch (not linked) |
| Region | Central Europe, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, Poland |
| Familycolor | Indo-European |
| Fam2 | Germanic languages |
| Fam3 | West Germanic languages |
| Fam4 | High German |
| Script | Latin alphabet |
| Iso2 | ger |
New High German
New High German is the modern stage of the German language used in contemporary Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and by diaspora communities in United States, Brazil, and Argentina. It follows earlier stages such as Old High German and Middle High German and underpins the official language policies of states like Germany and Austria. As the vehicle of major literary works and legal instruments, it appears in institutions such as the European Union, the United Nations, and the Council of Europe.
Scholars typically date the onset of New High German to the early modern period around the time of the Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years' War, and the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg, connecting linguistic change to texts like Martin Luther's translation of the Bible. The timeframe intersects with events such as the Peace of Westphalia and the rise of states including the Holy Roman Empire's successor states, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Chronological markers include the influence of authors like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, and Thomas Mann, and codification efforts linked to figures such as Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm.
The sound system of New High German reflects outcomes of the High German consonant shift and later vowel developments documented in works by Otto Jespersen and described in surveys like those from the Institut für Deutsche Sprache. Standard orthography was shaped by reforms culminating in the German orthography reform of 1996 and administrations such as the Kultusministerkonferenz and institutions like the Duden editorial board. Phonological variation relates to regions covered by the Benrath line and the Uerdingen line and to dialect continua stretching from the Rhine to the Elbe.
New High German grammar exhibits retention and simplification compared with earlier stages; morphological changes are evident in paradigms addressed by grammarians including Ludwig Erich Schmitt and described in textbooks from the Universität Heidelberg and the Universität Leipzig. The language employs inflectional categories preserved in legal texts from the Reichstag and literary corpora like the works of Günter Grass and Heinrich Böll. Syntax and word order norms appear in prescriptive guides issued by the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache and academically analyzed at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and the Leibniz Institute for the German Language.
Lexical growth in New High German reflects borrowings from Latin, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, and, increasingly, English. Loanwords entered during contacts tied to the Renaissance, the Napoleonic Wars, industrialization centered in Ruhr, and transatlantic migration to Ellis Island. Notable lexical expansion is visible in technical terminology produced by institutions such as Siemens, BASF, Robert Bosch GmbH, and academic outputs from Technische Universität München and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
Regional variants include the standardized forms promoted in Berlin, Vienna, and Bern, and dialects such as Bavarian German, Swabian German, Saxon German, Franconian, Alemannic German, and Low Saxon that coexist with urban koine forms in cities like Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, and Frankfurt am Main. Social varieties manifest in registers associated with institutions such as the Deutsche Bahn, the Bundeswehr, and media outlets like Deutsche Welle, ARD, and ZDF, as well as in youth varieties visible on platforms linked to Facebook and Twitter.
Codification efforts were influenced by the work of lexicographers such as Konrad Duden and by educational reforms in states like Prussia and the Weimar Republic, with curricular standards set by bodies including the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany and vocational frameworks tied to the European Qualifications Framework. Standard teaching and assessment occur at universities such as Freie Universität Berlin, Universität zu Köln, and Universität Wien, and through exams like those administered by the Goethe-Institut, the Österreichisches Sprachdiplom Deutsch, and the TestDaF Institute.
New High German evolved under influences from the Hanoverian Crown, the literary salons of Weimar Classicism, and intellectual movements associated with figures like Immanuel Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Nietzsche. Its spread accompanied political developments such as the formation of the German Empire (1871–1918), the policies of the Weimar Republic, and the postwar period shaped by occupation zones administered by United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and France. The language exerts cultural influence through publishers like Suhrkamp Verlag, Penguin Random House, and institutions such as the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach and is represented in international diplomacy via the European Central Bank and the International Court of Justice.