High German (in German, Hochdeutsch) is any of several German dialects spoken in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Luxembourg (as well as in neighbouring portions of Belgium, France (Alsace), Italy, Poland, and Romania (Transylvania) and in some areas of former colonial settlement, e.g. in Namibia). "High" refers to the mountainous areas of southern Germany and the Alps, as opposed to "Low German" spoken along the flat sea coasts of the north.

The German term Hochdeutsch is also used loosely, but not by linguists, to mean standard written German as opposed to dialect, because the standard language developed out of High rather than Low German. This is based on a misunderstandng, and the attempt to rationalise it by suggesting that "high" means "official" doesn't solve the problem. Fortunately, in English, "High German" has never been used to mean "Standard German".

The historical forms of the language are Old High German and Middle High German. The term "High German" also sometimes includes Yiddish, which developed out of Middle High German, but today can no longer be seen as a German dialect.

High German (and Yiddish) are distinguished from other Western Germanic dialects in that they took part in the second (High German) consonant shift (c. 500 ad). To see this, compare German "Pfanne" with English "pan" (/pf/ to /p/), German "zwei" with English "two" (/ts/ to /t/), German "machen" with English "make" (/x/ to /k/). In the High Alemannic dialects of Swiss German, there is a further shift; "Kaffee" (like English "coffee") becomes "Kchafi" (/k/ to /kx/).

The name "High German" contrasts with "Low German", a term variously used to refer to the Low Saxon dialects originating from around the Baltic city of Lübeck; these dialects together with the Low Franconian languages (Dutch, West Flemish, and Afrikaans); or all of the Western Germanic languages other than High German (including English and Frisian).

Family tree

Note that divisions between subfamilies of Germanic are rarely precisely defined; most form continuous clines, with adjacent dialects being mutually intelligible and more separated ones not. In particular, there never has been an original "Proto-High German".

• Central German (German: Mitteldeutsch)
  • East Central German
    • Standard German
    • Berlin Brandenburgish (mostly in Berlin and Brandenburg)
    • Thuringian Upper Saxon (mostly in Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony)
    • German Lusatian (in Saxony and Brandenburg)
    • Lower Silesian (mostly in Lower Silesia, in Poland)
  • Transylvanian Saxon (in Transylvania)
  • West Central German
    • Middle Franconian
      • Ripuarian Franconian
      • Luxembourgish
    • Rhine Franconian
      • Moselle Franconian
      • Lorrainian German (France)
      • Westpalatine dialects
      • Forepalatine dialects
      • Hesse Nassauish
    • Lower Hesse dialects (Hesse)
  • Transition area between Central German and Upper German
    • East Franconian
      • Main Franconian , colloquially miscalled Franconian because dialects of this sub-family are spoken all over Franconia
    • Southern Franconian
  • Pennsylvania German (in the United States and Canada)
• Upper German
  • Alemannic
    • Swiss German (mostly in Switzerland)
    • Alsatian (in Alsace, in France)
    • Swabian (mostly in Schwaben, in Germany)
    • Alemán Coloneiro (in Venezuela)
    • Walser (originally in the Wallis Canton of Switzerland)
  • Austro-Bavarian (On the use of dialects and Standard German in Austria, see Austrian language)
    • Northern Austro-Bavarian (spoken in Upper Palatinate)
    • Central Austro-Bavarian (includes the dialects of Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria, Upper Austria, Lower Austria and Vienna -- see Viennese language)
    • Southern Austro-Bavarian (includes the dialects of Tyrol, Carinthia and Styria)
    • Cimbrian (northeastern Italy)
    • Mócheno (Trentino, in Italy)
    • Hutterite German (in Canada and the United States)

External links

• German dialects of today (in German)