Language

German

DOYCH

Also Known As Deutsch

Germanic Languages

German is a West Germanic language, the official language of Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein and one of the official languages of Switzerland and Belgium. It is written in the Latin alphabet, distinguished among major European languages by its retained grammatical case system, its practice of capitalizing all nouns, and its capacity for long compound words. Standard German descends from a chancery variety codified in the early modern period, and it remains one of the most widely studied second languages in Europe.

Facts

ISO 639-3 Code

deu 6

Speaker Count

135,000,000 6

Status

Living 6

Attested From (Year)

from 765 3

The Old High German period is conventionally dated from the Abrogans, a Latin-German glossary written c. 765-775, though isolated Elder Futhark runic evidence is older still.

Region

Majority and official language of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein; mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe 3

Browse and compare

Word Order

Other 3

Tone

Not Tonal 4

Difficulty for an English Speaker

Category II 5

Classification

Language Kind

Safe 1

Official Status

Official Language 2

German

1 entry

Script Type

Directionality

Origin Period Start Year

Script Family (Lineage)

Script Status

Unicode Status

Influenced

Latin Script

German

Connections

Ancestor Of

Austrian German

Source Wikipedia: Austrian German

Bavarian German

Source Wikipedia: Bavarian German

Swabian German

Source Wikipedia: Swabian German

Swiss German

Source Wikipedia: Swiss German

Upper Saxon German

Source Wikipedia: Upper Saxon German

Associated With

Edward Sapir

This source names German directly: "Edward Sapir was a German-born American linguist and anthropologist, trained under Franz Boas, who became one of the most influential figures in early American structural linguistics."

Source Encyclopaedia Britannica

Georg von der Gabelentz

Wrote Die Sprachwissenschaft (1891), a foundational general-linguistics text composed in German that anticipated later structuralist ideas.

Jacob Grimm

Source Deutsche GrammatikJacob Grimm

Karl Verner

Verner's Law explains exceptions to Grimm's Law in the Germanic consonant shift ancestral to German and the other Germanic languages.

Source Wikipedia: Karl Verner

Wilhelm Grimm

Source Deutsches WorterbuchJacob Grimm And Wilhelm Grimm

In Family

Germanic

Source Wikipedia: Germanic Languages

Indo-European

Source Ethnologue: Languages of the World

Written In

Latin Script

In the Other Atlases

Cases Where Used

Central Europe

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Mit Brennender Sorge

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Rhineland

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

The Reichskonkordat

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Anti-Comintern Pact

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Source Anti-Comintern Pact - WikipediaArticle text

Quote, Article text

The full text was considered in its original form in both the German and Japanese versions, and the date was specified in both countries' versions as 25 November 1936 as well as 25 November in the 11th year of the Shōwa period.

Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Source Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (Wikipedia)Lead

Quote, Lead

(German: Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany

Frankfurt Constitution

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Source Wikipedia: Frankfurt ConstitutionLead

Quote, Lead

The Frankfurt Constitution (German: Frankfurter Reichsverfassung)

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Prussian Constitution of 1848

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Source Wikipedia: Constitution of Prussia (1848)Lead

Quote, Lead

Text of the Constitution (in German)

Reichskonkordat

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Source Wikipedia: ReichskonkordatArticle text

Quote, Article text

Article 34 This Concordat, whose German and Italian texts shall have equal binding force, shall be ratified and the certificates of ratification shall be exchanged as soon as possible.

The Communist Manifesto

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Utrecht

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Weimar Constitution

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Source Weimar Constitution (Wikipedia)Lead

Quote, Lead

The Constitution of the German Reich (German: Die Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs)

Zimmermann Telegram

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Amish

Also in Society and Culture Atlas: used in this subject.

Hutterites

Also in Society and Culture Atlas: used in this subject.