Franconian and (b) Rhenish Franconian.
The former of these,[1]
which
with its dat, wat, allet, &c. (cf. above)
and its retention of the voiced
spirant b (written v)
represents a kind of transition dialect to Low
German, is itself divided into (α) Ripuarian or Low Rhenish with
Cologne and Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) as centres, and (β) Moselle
Franconian[2]
with Trier (Treves) as principal town. The latter is
distinguished by the fact that in the Middle High German period
it shifts Germanic -rp- and -rd-, which are retained in
(a), to -rf- and
-rt- (cf. werfen, hirtin with werpen,
hirdin).[3]
The Rhenish Franconian
dialect is spoken in the Rhenish palatinate, in the northern part of
Baden (Heidelberg), Hesse[4]
and Nassau, and in the German-speaking
part of Lorraine. A line drawn from Falkenberg at the
French frontier to Siegen on the Lahn, touching the Rhine near
Boppard, roughly indicates the division between Middle and Rhenish
Franconian.
2. The Upper German Group.—The Upper German dialects, which played the most important part in the literature of the early periods, may be divided into (a) a Bavarian-Austrian group and (b) a High Franconian-Alemannic group. Of all the German dialects the Bavarian-Austrian has carried the soundshifting to its furthest extreme; here only do we find the labial voiced stop b written p in the middle of a word, viz. old Bavarian kāpamēs, old Alemannic kābamēs (“we gave”); here too, in the 12th century, we find the first traces of that broadening of ī, ū, iu (ü) to ei, au, eu, a change which, even at the present day, is still foreign to the greater part of the Alemannic dialects. Only in Bavarian do we still find the old pronominal dual forms es and enk (for ihr and euch). Finally, Bavarian forms diminutives in -el and -erl (Mädel, Mäderl), while the Franconian-Alemannic forms are -la and -le (Mädle). On the other hand, the pronunciation of -s as -sch, especially -st as -scht (cf. Last, Haspel, pronounced Lascht, Haschpel), may be mentioned as characteristic of the Alemannic, just as the fortis pronunciation of initial t is characteristic of High Franconian, while the other Franconian and Upper German dialects employ the lenis.
The Alemannic dialect which, roughly speaking, is separated from Bavarian by the Lech and borders on Italian territory in the south and on French in the west, is subdivided into: (a) Swabian, the dialect of the kingdom of Württemberg and the north-western part of Tirol (cf. H. Fischer, Geographie der schwäbischen Mundart, 1895); (b) High Alemannic (Swiss), including the German dialects of Switzerland, of the southern part of the Black Forest (the Basel-Breisgau dialect), and that of Vorarlberg; (c) Low Alemannic, comprising the dialects of Alsace and part of Baden (to the north of the Feldberg and south of Rastatt), also, at the present day, the town of Basel. Only Swabian has taken part in the change of i to ei, &c., mentioned above, while initial Germanic k has been shifted to ch (χ) only in High Alemannic (cf. chalt, chind, chorn, for kalt, kind, korn). The pronunciation of ū as ǖ, ü (Hüs for Haus) is peculiar to Alsatian.
The High Franconian dialects, that is to say, east and south (or south-Rhenish) Franconian, which are separated broadly speaking by the river Neckar, comprise the language spoken in a part of Baden, the dialects of the Main valley from Würzburg upwards to Bamberg, the dialect of Nuremberg and probably of the Vogtland (Plauen) and Egerland. During the older historical period the principal difference between East and South Franconian consisted in the fact that initial Germanic d was retained in the latter dialect, while East Franconian shifted it to t. Both, like Bavarian and Alemannic, shift initial German p to the affricate pf.
Finally, the Bavarian-Austrian dialect is spoken throughout the greater part of the kingdom of Bavaria (i.e. east of the Lech and a fine drawn from the point where the Lech joins the Danube to the sources of the rivers Elster and Mulde, this being the East Franconian border-line), in Austria, western Bohemia, and in the German linguistic “islands” embedded in Hungary, in Gottschee and the Sette and Tredici Communi (cf. above).[5]
The Old High German Period
The language spoken during the Old High German period, that is to say, down to about the year 1050, is remarkable for the fulness and richness of its vowel-sounds in word-stems as well as in inflections. Cf. elilenti, Elend; luginari, Lügner; karkari, Kerker; menniskono slahta, Menschengeschlecht; herzono, Herzen (gen. pl.); furisto, vorderste; hartost, (am) härtesten; sibunzug, siebzig; ziohemes, (wir) ziehen; salbota, (er) salbte; gaworahtos, (du) wirktest, &c. Of the consonantal changes which took place during this period that of the spirant th (preserved only in English) to d (werthan, werdan; theob, deob) deserves mention. It spread from Upper Germany, where it is noticeable as early as the 8th century to Middle and finally, in the 11th and 12th centuries, to Low Germany. Further, the initial h in hl, hn, hr, hw (cf. hwer, wer; hreini rein; hlahhan, lachen) and w in wr (wrecceo, Recke) disappeared, this change also starting in Upper Germany and spreading slowly north. The most important vowel-change is the so-called mutation (Umlaut),[6] that is to say, the qualitative change of a vowel (except i) in a stem-syllable, owing to the influence of an i or j in the following syllable. This process commenced in the north where it seems to have been already fully developed in Low German as early as the 8th century. It is to be found, it may be noted, in Anglo-Saxon, as early as the 6th century. It gradually worked its way southwards to Middle and Upper Germany where, however, certain consonants seem to have protected the stem syllable from the influence of i in a following syllable. Cf., for instance, Modern High German drucken and drücken; glauben, kaufen, Haupt, words which in Middle German dialects show mutation. Orthographically, however, this process is, during the first period, only to be seen in the change of ă to e; from the 10th century onwards there are, it is true, some traces of other changes, and vowels like ŭ̄, ō, ou must have already been affected, otherwise we could not account for the mutation of these vowels at a period when the cause of it, the i or j, no longer existed. A no less important change, for it helped to differentiate High from Low German, was that of Germanic ē2 (a closed ē-sound) and ō diphthongs in Old High German, while they were retained in Old Low German. Cf. O.H.G. hēr, hear, hiar, O.L.G. hēr; O.H.G. fuoz, O.L.G. fōt. The final result was that in the 10th century ie (older forms, ia, ea) and uo (older ua, oa in Alemannic, ua in South Franconian) had asserted themselves throughout all the High German dialects. Again while in Old High German the older diphthongs ai and au were preserved as ei and ou, unless they happened to stand at the end of a word or were followed by certain consonants (h, w, r in the one case, and h, r, l, n, th, d, t, z, s in the other; cf. zēh from zīhan, zōh from ziohan, verlôs, &c.), the Old Low German shows throughout the monophthongs ē (in Middle Low German a closed sound) and ō (cf. O.L.G. stēn, ōga). These monophthongs are also to be heard in Rhenish Franconian, the greater part of East Franconian and the Upper Saxon and Silesian dialects of modern times (cf. Stein: Steen or Stan; laufen: lofen or lopen).
Of the dialects enumerated above, Bavarian and Alemannic, High and Rhenish Franconian as well as Old Saxon are more or less represented in the literature of the first period. But this literature, the chief monuments of which are Otfrid’s Evangelienbuch (in South Franconian), the Old Saxon Heliand (a life of Christ in alliterative verse), the translation of Tatian’s Gospel Harmony (East Franconian) and that of a theological tract by Bishop Isidore of Seville and of parts of the Bible (Rhenish Franconian), is almost exclusively theological and didactic in character. One is consequently inclined to attach more value to the scanty remains of the Hildebrandslied and some interesting and ancient charms. The didactic spirit again pervades the translations and commentaries of Notker of St Gall in the early part of the 11th century, as well as a paraphrase of the Song of Songs by an abbot Williram of Ebersberg a little later. Latin, however, reigned supreme throughout this period, it being the language of the charters, the lawbooks (there is nothing in Germany to compare with the laws of the Anglo-Saxons), of science, medicine, and even poetry. It is thus needless to say that there was no recognized literary language (Schriftsprache) during this period, nor even any attempt to form one; at most, we might speak of schools in the large monasteries, such as Reichenau, St Gall, Fulda, which contributed to the spread and acceptance of certain orthographical rules.
The Middle High German Period
The following are the chief changes in sounds and forms which mark the development of the language in the Middle High German period. The orthography of the MSS. reveals a much more extensive employment of mutation (Umlaut) than was the case in the first period; we find, for instance, as the mutation of o, ö, of ō, œ, of ū, iu (ü), of uo, üe, of ou, öu, and eu (cf. höler, bœse, hiuser, güete, böume), although many scribes, and more especially those of Middle and Low German districts, have no special signs for the mutation of ŭ, ū, and o. Of special interest is the so-called “later (or weaker)
- ↑ Cf. C. Nörrenberg, “Lautverschiebungsstufe des Mittelfränkischen” (Beiträge, ix. 371 ff.); R. Heinzel, Geschichte der niederfränkischen Geschäftssprache (Paderborn, 1874).
- ↑ This is also the dialect of the so-called Siebenbürger Sachsen.
- ↑ Cf. E. Sievers, Oxforder Benediktinerregel (Halle, 1887), p. xvi.; J. Meier, Jolande (1887), pp. vii. ff.; O. Böhme, l.c. p. 60.
- ↑ Lower Hesse (the northern and eastern parts) goes, however, in many respects its own way.
- ↑ On the High German dialects cf. K. Weinhold, Alemannische Grammatik (Berlin, 1863); F. Kauffmann, Geschichte der schwäbischen Mundart (Strassburg, 1870); E. Haendcke, Die mundartlichen Elemente in den elsässischen Urkunden (Strassburg, 1894); K. Weinhold, Bairische Grammatik (1867); J. A. Schmeller, Die Mundarten Baierns (Munich, 1821); J. N. Schwäbl, Die altbairischen Mundarten (München, 1903); O. Brenner, Mundarten und Schriftsprache in Bayern (Bamberg, 1890); J. Schatz, Die Mundart von Imst (Strassburg, 1897); J. W. Nagl, Der Vocalismus der bairisch-österreichischen Mundarten (1890–1891); W. Gradl, Die Mundarten Westböhmens (Munich, 1896); P. Lessiak, “Die Mundart von Pernegg in Kärnten” (Paul and Braune, Beiträge, vol. xxviii.).
- ↑ Cf., for a hypothesis of two Umlautsperioden during the Old High German time, F. Kauffmann, Geschichte der schwäbischen Mundart (Strassburg, 1890), S. 152.
