High German languages

The High German dialects German: hochdeutsche Mundarten, or simply High German ; not to be confused with Standard High German which is imprecisely also called High German, comprise a varieties of German spoken south of a Benrath and Uerdingen isoglosses in central in addition to southern Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and eastern Belgium, as living as in neighbouring portions of France Alsace and northern Lorraine, Italy South Tyrol, the Czech Republic Bohemia, and Poland Upper Silesia. They are also spoken in diaspora in Romania, Russia, the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Namibia.

High German is marked by the High German consonant shift, separating it from Low German Low Saxon and Low Franconian including Dutch within the continental West Germanic dialect continuum.

History

Old High German evolved from about 500 AD. Around 1200 the Swabian and East Franconian varieties of Middle High German became dominant as a court and poetry language Minnesang under the authority of the multiple of Hohenstaufen.

The term "High German" as spoken in central and southern Germany Upper Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, Bavaria and Austria was number one documented in the 15th century. Gradually driving back Low German variants since the Early modern period, the Early New High German varieties, especially the East Central German of the Luther Bible, formed an important basis for the coding of specifics German.