German

Abstract

German, together with English, Dutch and Frisian, is a member or the West Germanic group within the Germanic branch of Indo-European. The emerging standard gradually permeated both the northern Low German-speaking regions and the south, and during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries slowly penetrated into Austria and Switzerland as well. The Old High German texts are primarily religious writings and translations produced in the monasteries of Central and Upper Germany. Middle High German is the language of the great German poets of the late Middle Ages. The Early New High German period saw numerous important changes throughout the grammar. Despite the morphological syncretism of the Early New High German period, the inflectional morphology of Modern German is very rich and preserves major features of the Old High German system. One of the most interesting features of Modern German syntax, in comparison with other languages, is its word order.