Learning German is a valuable asset and interesting discipline. 200 million people speak German and 120 million do so as their native tongue. This makes German the second largest native language in Europe after Russian and the most spoken in the EU. German is an official language in Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg. Large populations of German speakers can be found all over Europe as well as in South America and the United States (particularly North and South Dakota).


The German language has a long lineage which is traced back to the 6th century to Old High German with a number of inscriptions which have been found in Elder Futhark. Elder Futhark is the oldest form of the runic alphabet and it was only in 1865 that it became translatable. It was during this time that Old High German differentiated itself from related languages by the High German consonant shift. While retaining a grammar very much like Old English and Old Saxon this would be the distinctive shift that propelled German into the language we know today.


Study German Abroad!During the period of Middle High German from 1050 to 1350, German still remained a very regional language with a number of different dialects. Despite this it was a time of substantial literary output with Epics, Chronicles, a body of Law (the Sachsenspiegel) and a troubadour tradition of songs called Minnesang. Following this, from 1350 to 1650, was the stage of Early New High German. This form of the German language grew in distinction and influence primarily from Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible into this well-known dialect. Even then, the distinct regionalism of German required extensive lists of translated words to different dialects. Only by the mid-18th century would the language unify enough to allow a standard translation of the Bible which lead to the development of Standard German which is spoken today.


Because the development of Standard German was spurred by the desire for a universally understood translation of the Bible, and for other writing in general, until the 19th century Standard German existed primarily as a written language. It was in this time that the people of Northern Germany who spoke Low Saxon had to begin adapting the way they spoke to the increasing developments of German as it was written. This would be the major change in unifying the many dialects of German. Schools began teaching Standard German with its basis in High German and, gradually, Low Saxon became a dialect only spoken mainly by the poor and uneducated classes in the household.


Studying German Abroad

The major difference between High German and Low Saxon was the consonant shift in which High German stopped using the stop consonants “p”, “t” and “k”. The loss of these consonants and dental fricatives, like the English “th” sounds, has lead to distinguish German as we know it now. Similarities can be found which show the common heritage of English and German with “Thank” becoming “Dank” in German and “this” and “that” becoming “dies” and “das”.


German is an inflected language meaning words can be built upon a smaller body of root words. As a result of this, German has been able to create many of its words from original Germanic roots leaving very few words derived from Latin, Greek and other various Romance-language loanwords. This method of inflection can also create very long, involved words. The largest German word to have been used, although very infrequently is “beef labelling supervision duty assignment law” or “ Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz.” Derived from “Rind” (cattle), “Fleisch” (meat), “Etikettierung(s)” (labelling), “Überwachung(s)” (supervision), “Aufgaben” (duties), “Übertragung(s)” (assignment), “Gesetz” (law). German is a rich and exciting language so satisfy your urge for “wanderlust” (pleasure in travel and walking) and load up your rucksack (from “ Rücken” for “back”) and learn German abroad!