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74-559: The term is the standard translation of the German Frühneuhochdeutsch (Frnhd., Fnhd.), introduced by Scherer. The term Early Modern High German is also occasionally used for this period (but the abbreviation EMHG is generally used for Early Middle High German ). The start and end dates of ENHG are, like all linguistic periodisations , somewhat arbitrary. In spite of many alternative suggestions, Scherer's dates still command widespread acceptance. Linguistically,

148-582: A Dominican friar , was sent to Germany by the Roman Catholic Church to sell indulgences to raise money in order to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Then, on 31 October 1517, Luther wrote to his bishop, Albrecht von Brandenburg, protesting against the sale of indulgences. He enclosed in his letter a copy of his "Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences", which came to be known as

222-692: A Roman Catholic all his life, yet gradually inclining toward doctrines of the Reformation and supposedly converting on his deathbed . He is held in high regard by Protestants in church history , and is officially commemorated as an exemplary Christian ruler in the Calendar of Saints of the American Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod every 5 May. Born in Torgau , he succeeded his father as elector in 1486; in 1502, he founded

296-413: A diligent and pious person who rendered appropriate devotion to each of these relics at that time would be able to merit 1,902,202 years worth of penance (an earthly equivalent of time otherwise spent in purgatory, removed by indulgences). Two years later, the collection exceeded 19,000 pieces. About October 30, 1517, Frederic had a dream which made a deep impression upon his mind, and which foreshadowed

370-522: A revolt by the Augustinian friars against their prior, the smashing of statues and images in churches, and denunciations of the magistracy. After secretly visiting Wittenberg in early December 1521, Luther wrote A Sincere Admonition by Martin Luther to All Christians to Guard Against Insurrection and Rebellion . Wittenberg became even more volatile after Christmas when a band of visionary zealots,

444-487: Is a confessor." In November, Luther wrote The Judgement of Martin Luther on Monastic Vows . He assured monks and nuns that they could break their vows without sin, because vows were an illegitimate and vain attempt to win salvation. Despite actively protecting Luther from the hostile menaces against him, the elector had little personal contact with the reformer himself, but Frederick's treasurer Degenhart Pfaffinger spoke on his behalf to Luther, as Pfaffinger had supported

518-519: Is based on that of the Saxon Chancery, which is followed by all the princes and kings in Germany"). He also recognized the standardising force of the two chanceries: " Kaiser Maximilian und Kurf. Friedrich, H. zu Sachsen etc. haben im römischen Reich die deutschen Sprachen also in eine gewisse Sprache gezogen " ("The Emperor Maximilian and Duke Frederick, Elector of Saxony etc. , have drawn

592-471: Is no standard MHG, the prestige of the Hohenstaufen court gave rise in the late 12th century to a supra-regional literary language ( mittelhochdeutsche Dichtersprache ) based on Swabian , an Alemannic dialect. This historical interpretation is complicated by the tendency of modern editions of MHG texts to use normalised spellings based on this variety (usually called "Classical MHG"), which make

666-847: Is the opening strophe of the Nibelungenlied ( c.  1204 ). Middle High German Uns ist in alten mæren    wunders vil geseit von helden lobebæren,    von grôzer arebeit, von freuden, hôchgezîten,    von weinen und von klagen, von küener recken strîten    muget ir nu wunder hœren sagen. Modern German translation In alten Erzählungen wird uns viel Wunderbares berichtet von ruhmreichen Helden, von hartem Streit, von glücklichen Tagen und Festen, von Schmerz und Klage: vom Kampf tapferer Recken: Davon könnt auch Ihr nun Wunderbares berichten hören. Frederick III, Elector of Saxony Frederick III (17 January 1463 – 5 May 1525), also known as Frederick

740-539: Is the source of the Modern German spelling convention that a vowel ending a syllable is always long. Examples: 2. Shortening : MHG long vowels tend to be shortened in the ENHG period before certain consonants ( m , t and others) and before certain consonant combinations ( /xt/ , /ft/ , and /m/ , /n/ , /l/ , /r/ followed by another consonant). Examples: This shortening seems to have taken place later than

814-718: Is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages . It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German . High German is defined as those varieties of German which were affected by the Second Sound Shift ; the Middle Low German and Middle Dutch languages spoken to the North and North West, which did not participate in this sound change , are not part of MHG. While there

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888-622: The Ninety-five Theses . In 1520, Pope Leo X demanded that Luther renounce all of his writings, and when Luther refused to do so, excommunicated him in January 1521. Then, to give him the right to a fair trial, Elector Frederick ensured that Martin Luther would be heard before the Diet of Worms in 1521; after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V condemned Luther as an outlaw at the Diet,

962-532: The ⟨s⟩ : ⟨z⟩ contrast are the only structural changes to the consonant system. As with phonology, the range of variation between dialects and time periods makes it impossible to cite a unified morphology for ENHG. The sound changes of the vowels had which brought consequent changes to Middle High German Middle High German ( MHG ; endonym : diutsch or tiutsch ; New High German : Mittelhochdeutsch [ˈmɪtl̩hoːxˌdɔʏtʃ] , shortened as Mhdt. or Mhd. )

1036-587: The Black Death , and the end of the Thirty Years' War . Arguably, the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, by ending religious wars and creating a Germany of many small sovereign states, brought about the essential political conditions for the final development of a universally acceptable standard language in the subsequent New High German period. Alternative periodisations take the period to begin later, such as

1110-644: The Messiah . "This one and firm rock, which we call the doctrine of justification", he writes, "is the chief article of the whole Christian doctrine, which comprehends the understanding of all godliness." After a while, Luther came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church ; in particular, he disputed the view on indulgences . Luther attempted to resolve these differences amicably, first proposing an academic discussion of its practice and efficacy. In 1516, Johann Tetzel ,

1184-572: The University of Wittenberg , where theologians Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon would teach a while later. Frederick was among the German princes who pressed the need of reform upon Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor , and in 1500, he became president of the newly formed council of regency ( Reichsregiment ). His court painter from 1504 on was the Renaissance master Lucas Cranach

1258-467: The power to grant the pardon of sin , and to remit its penalty , had never been committed to the Pope , or to any other man. The whole scheme was a farce, an artifice to extort money by playing upon the superstitions of the people, a device of Satan to destroy the souls of all who should trust to its lying pretensions. It was also clearly shown that the gospel of Christ was the most valuable treasure of

1332-587: The "Invocavit Sermons". In these sermons, he hammered home the primacy of core Christian values such as love, patience, charity, and freedom, and reminded the citizens to trust God's word rather than violence to bring about necessary change. The effect of Luther's intervention was immediate at the city. After the sixth sermon, the Wittenberg jurist Jerome Schurf wrote to the elector: "Oh, what joy has Dr. Martin's return spread among us! His words, through divine mercy, are bringing back every day misguided people into

1406-649: The 11th century, and all the East Central German dialects are a result of this expansion. "Judeo-German", the precursor of the Yiddish language, is attested in the 12th–13th centuries, as a variety of Middle High German written in Hebrew characters. The Middle High German period is generally dated from 1050 to 1350. An older view puts the boundary with (Early) New High German around 1500. There are several phonological criteria which separate MHG from

1480-554: The Catholic Church in new ways. He became convinced that the church was corrupt in its ways and had lost sight of what he saw as several of the central truths of Christianity. The most important for Luther was the doctrine of justification —God's act of declaring a sinner righteous—by faith alone through God's grace. He began to teach that salvation or redemption is a gift of God's grace , attainable only through faith in Jesus as

1554-567: The Church , and that the grace of God , therein revealed, was freely bestowed upon all who should seek it by repentance and faith . Martin Luther, an Augustinian friar , was ordained to the priesthood in 1507, and on the following year, in 1508, he began teaching theology at the University of Wittenberg , which was located in the Electorate of Saxony , i.e., inside the territory ruled by Prince-elector Frederick III. Therefore, Luther

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1628-597: The Elder (1472–1553). Frederick was Pope Leo X 's candidate for Holy Roman Emperor at the 1519 imperial election ; thus the Pope had awarded him the Golden Rose of virtue on 3 September 1518 in an effort to persuade him to accept the throne. However, Frederick helped secure the election of Charles V by agreeing to support Charles and to convince his fellow electors to do the same if Charles repaid an outstanding debt to

1702-483: The MHG period is characterised by a massive rise in population, terminated by the demographic catastrophe of the Black Death (1348). Along with the rise in population comes a territorial expansion eastwards ( Ostsiedlung ), which saw German-speaking settlers colonise land previously under Slavic control. Linguistically, the transition to Early New High German is marked by four vowel changes which together produce

1776-584: The MHG spelling is retained and in Modern German ⟨ie⟩ indicates the long vowel. Examples: This change, sometimes called the Central German Monophthongisation, affects mainly the Central German dialects, along with South Franconian and East Franconian. The other Upper German dialects largely retain the original diphthongs. There are two changes in vowel quantity in ENHG, the lengthening of short vowels and

1850-568: The Saxons dating back to 1497. Frederick collected many relics in his Castle Church ; his inventory of 1518 listed 17,443 items, including a thumb from St. Anne , a twig from Moses' burning bush , hay of the holy manger , and milk from the Virgin Mary . Money was paid in order to venerate these relics and thus escape years in purgatory , according to the current belief in indulgence at that context. Thus, according to some calculations,

1924-548: The Wise (German: Friedrich der Weise ), was Prince-elector of Saxony from 1486 to 1525, who is mostly remembered for the protection given to his subject Martin Luther , the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation . Frederick was the son of Ernest, Elector of Saxony and his wife Elisabeth , daughter of Albert III, Duke of Bavaria . He was one of the most powerful early defenders of Martin Luther , as

1998-435: The approximate values of /ei/ , /iə/ , /ou/ , /øy/ , /eu/ , /yə/ , /uə/ , respectively. Middle High German pronouns of the first person refer to the speaker; those of the second person refer to an addressed person; and those of the third person refer to a person or thing of which one speaks. The pronouns of the third person may be used to replace nominal phrases . These have the same genders , numbers and cases as

2072-404: The distribution and chronology of this sound change. In Bavarian, the original diphthongs are monophthongized , avoiding a merger with the new diphthongs. The MHG falling diphthongs /iə/ , /uə/ and /yə/ (spelt ⟨ie⟩ , ⟨uo⟩ and ⟨üe⟩ ) are monophthongised , replacing the long high vowels lost in the diphthongisation. In the case of /iə/ > /iː/

2146-403: The door of the church, he proclaimed himself ready to defend them the next day at the university itself against all opposers. These propositions attracted universal attention. They were read and re-read and repeated in every direction. Great excitement was created in the university and in the whole city. By these theses the doctrine of indulgences was fearlessly opposed. Luther argued that

2220-419: The ears of a lion which was crouching there, and shook the triple crown on the pope's head. All the cardinals and princes ran to support it; and, as the dreamer himself joined in the effort to support the pope's crown, he awoke in great alarm, and angry with the monk who had used his pen so awkwardly. Presently he fell asleep again, and his strange dream continued; the disturbed lion began to roar, and Rome and all

2294-495: The elector also secured an exemption from the Edict of Worms for Saxony. The Elector then protected Luther from the Pope's enforcement of the edict by faking a highway attack on Luther's way back to Wittenberg, abducting and then hiding him for several years at Wartburg Castle after the Diet of Worms . Luther's disappearance during his return to Wittenberg was planned by Frederick III , who had him intercepted on his way home in

Early New High German - Misplaced Pages Continue

2368-570: The elector since their pilgrimage to the Holy Land together. The pronouncements by Luther from Wartburg Castle were made the context of rapid developments at Wittenberg, of which he was kept fully informed while residing at the fortress. Andreas Karlstadt , supported by the ex-Augustinian Gabriel Zwilling , embarked on a radical programme of reform there in June 1521, exceeding anything envisaged by Luther. The reforms provoked disturbances, including

2442-469: The elector successfully protected him from the Holy Roman Emperor , the Pope and others. He was ostensibly led, not by religious conviction about the possible truthness of Luther's propositions, but rather by personal belief in a fair trial for any of his subjects (a privilege guaranteed by the imperial statutory law) and the rule of law . The prince-elector is considered to have remained

2516-688: The example of Good King Arthur who with knightly spirit knew how to strive for praise. In his day He lived so well That he wore the crown of honour And his name still does so. The truth of this is known To his countrymen: They affirm that he still lives today: He won such fame that Although his body died His name lives on. Of sinful shame He will forever be free Who follows his example. Commentary: This text shows many typical features of Middle High German poetic language. Most Middle High German words survive into modern German in some form or other: this passage contains only one word ( jehen 'say' 14) which has since disappeared from

2590-670: The exception of Thuringian, the East Central German dialects are new dialects resulting from the Ostsiedlung and arise towards the end of the period. Middle High German texts are written in the Latin alphabet . There was no standardised spelling, but modern editions generally standardise according to a set of conventions established by Karl Lachmann in the 19th century. There are several important features in this standardised orthography which are not characteristics of

2664-456: The following consonant spellings: The charts show the vowel and consonant systems of classical MHG. The spellings indicated are the standard spellings used in modern editions; there is much more variation in the manuscripts. Notes: MHG diphthongs are indicated by the spellings ⟨ei⟩ , ⟨ie⟩ , ⟨ou⟩ , ⟨öu⟩ and ⟨eu⟩ , ⟨üe⟩ , ⟨uo⟩ , and they have

2738-458: The following vowel spellings: Grammars (as opposed to textual editions) often distinguish between ⟨ë⟩ and ⟨e⟩ , the former indicating the mid-open /ɛ/ which derived from Germanic /e/ , the latter (often with a dot beneath it) indicating the mid-close /e/ which results from primary umlaut of short /a/ . No such orthographic distinction is made in MHG manuscripts. The standardised orthography of MHG editions uses

2812-635: The forest near Wittenberg by masked horsemen impersonating highway robbers. They escorted Luther to the security of the Wartburg Castle at Eisenach , where he remained desguised as " Junker Jörg". During his stay at Wartburg, which he referred to as "my Patmos ", Luther translated the New Testament from Greek into German and poured out doctrinal and polemical writings. In the summer of 1521, Luther widened his target from individual pieties like indulgences and pilgrimages to doctrines at

2886-422: The geographical spread and the dialect map of German in the ENHG period remained the same as at the close of the MHG period. Ripuarian Moselle Franconian Rhine Franconian Hessian Thuringian Upper Saxon Silesian Bohemian High Prussian South Franconian Swabian Low Alemannic High Alemannic East Franconian North Bavarian Middle Bavarian South Bavarian Since

2960-539: The heart of Church practice. In On the Abrogation of the Private Mass , he condemned as idolatry the idea that the mass is a sacrifice, asserting instead that it is a gift, to be received with thanksgiving by the whole congregation. His essay On Confession, Whether the Pope has the Power to Require It rejected compulsory confession and encouraged private confession and absolution , since "every Christian

3034-1113: The impetus for this set of social changes came largely from France, many of the new words were either loans from French or influenced by French terms. The French loans mainly cover the areas of chivalry, warfare and equipment, entertainment, and luxury goods: Two highly productive suffixes were borrowed from French in this period: The text is the opening of Hartmann von Aue 's Iwein ( c.  1200 ) Swer an rehte güete wendet sîn gemüete, dem volget sælde und êre. des gît gewisse lêre künec Artûs der guote, der mit rîters muote nâch lobe kunde strîten. er hât bî sînen zîten gelebet alsô schône daz er der êren krône dô truoc und noch sîn name treit. des habent die wârheit sîne lantliute: sî jehent er lebe noch hiute: er hât den lop erworben, ist im der lîp erstorben, sô lebet doch iemer sîn name. er ist lasterlîcher schame iemer vil gar erwert, der noch nâch sînem site vert. [1] [5] [10] [15] [20] Whoever to true goodness Turns his mind He will meet with fortune and honour. We are taught this by

Early New High German - Misplaced Pages Continue

3108-470: The invention of printing with moveable type in the 1450s. There was no standard Early New High German, and all forms of language display some local or regional characteristics. However, there was increasing harmonisation in the written and printed word, the start of developments towards the unified standard which was codified in the New High German period. With the end of eastward expansion ,

3182-501: The language of the printers remained regional, the period saw the gradual development of two forms of German (one Upper German, one Central German), which were supra-regional: the Schriftsprachen ("written languages", "documentary languages") of the chanceries of the two main political centres. The language of these centres had influence well beyond their own territorial and dialect boundaries. Emperor Maximilian's chancery

3256-401: The language. But many words have changed their meaning substantially. Muot (6) means 'state of mind' (cognates with mood ), where modern German Mut means courage. Êre (3) can be translated with 'honour', but is quite a different concept of honour from modern German Ehre ; the medieval term focuses on reputation and the respect accorded to status in society. The text

3330-612: The languages of Germany together"). Middle Low German , spoken across the whole of Northern Germany north of the Benrath Line in the Middle Ages , was a distinct West Germanic language. From the start of the 16th century, however, High German came increasingly to be used in this area not only in writing but also in the pulpit and in schools. By the end of the ENHG period, Low German had almost completely ceased to be used in writing or in formal and public speech and had become

3404-559: The linguistic admixture in the course of eastward German settlement. In addition, many Bohemians had fled to Saxony during the Hussite Wars, reinforcing the similarities between the dialects. The influence of the Saxon Chancery was due in part to its adoption for his own published works by Martin Luther, who stated, " Ich rede nach der sächsischen Canzley, welcher nachfolgen alle Fürsten und Könige in Deutschland " ("My language

3478-442: The low-status variant in a diglossic situation, with High German as the high-status variant. For a number of reasons it is not possible to give a single phonological system for ENHG: Also, the difficulty of deriving phonological information from the complexity of ENHG orthography means that many reference works do not treat orthography and phonology separately for this period. The MHG vowel system undergoes significant changes in

3552-421: The mid-14th century is marked by the phonological changes to the vowel system that characterise the modern standard language; the mid-17th sees the loss of status for regional forms of language, and the triumph of German over Latin as the dominant, and then sole, language for public discourse. Scherer's dates also have the merit of coinciding with two major demographic catastrophes with linguistic consequences:

3626-488: The monophthongisation, since the long vowels which result from that change are often shortened. Examples: The overall consonant system of German remains largely unchanged in the transition from MHG to Modern German. However, in many cases sounds changed in particular environments and therefore changed in distribution. Some of the more significant are the following. (In addition, there are many other changes in particular dialects or in particular words.) The loss of /w/ and

3700-475: The mysterious pen. Yet the more they endeavored to break it, the stiffer it became; and when they asked the monk where he found it, and why it was so strong, he replied that he secured it from one of his old schoolmasters; that it belonged to a Bohemian goose ( John Huss , who proclaimed the truth a century before Luther and whose surname in the Bohemian language signifies 'goose') a hundred years old; and that it

3774-726: The neuter singular, is used only with prepositions : von diu , ze diu , etc. In all the other genders and in the plural it is substituted with the dative: von dëm , von dër , von dën . Middle High German nouns were declined according to four cases ( nominative , genitive , dative , accusative ), two numbers (singular and plural ) and three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter), much like Modern High German, though there are several important differences. Verbs were conjugated according to three moods ( indicative , subjunctive (conjunctive) and imperative ), three persons, two numbers (singular and plural ) and two tenses ( present tense and preterite ) There

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3848-485: The original manuscripts : A particular problem is that many manuscripts are of much later date than the works they contain; as a result, they bear the signs of later scribes having modified the spellings, with greater or lesser consistency, in accord with conventions of their time. In addition, there is considerable regional variation in the spellings that appear in the original texts, which modern editions largely conceal. The standardised orthography of MHG editions uses

3922-465: The original MHG diphthongs ⟨ei⟩ , ⟨ou⟩ and ⟨öu⟩ /øy/ , which are all lowered . Examples: This change started as early as the 12th century in Upper Bavarian, and only reached Moselle Franconian in the 16th century. It does not affect Alemannic (apart from Swabian ) or Ripuarian dialects, which still retain the original long vowels. The map shows

3996-435: The original nominal phrase. The possessive pronouns mîn, dîn, sîn, ir, unser, iuwer are used like adjectives and hence take on adjective endings following the normal rules. The inflected forms of the article depend on the number, the case and the gender of the corresponding noun. The definite article has the same plural forms for all three genders. Definite article (strong) The instrumental case , only existing in

4070-413: The people in great numbers flocked to Wittenberg in pilgrimage . On the 31st of October, the day preceding the festival, the monk Martin Luther went boldly to the church, to which a crowd of worshipers was already repairing, and affixed to the door ninety-five propositions against the doctrine of indulgences . He went alone; his closest friends did not know his plan. As he fastened his theses upon

4144-545: The phonemic system of modern German, though not all dialects participated equally in these changes: The centres of culture in the ENHG period are no longer the courts but the towns. The dialect map of Germany by the end of the Middle High German period was much the same as that at the start of the 20th century, though the boundary with Low German was further south than it now is: Central German ( Mitteldeutsch ) Upper German ( Oberdeutsch ) With

4218-560: The preceding Old High German period: Culturally, the two periods are distinguished by the transition from a predominantly clerical written culture, in which the dominant language was Latin , to one centred on the courts of the great nobles, with German gradually expanding its range of use. The rise of the Hohenstaufen dynasty in Swabia makes the South West the dominant region in both political and cultural terms. Demographically,

4292-419: The printers had a commercial interest in making their texts acceptable to a wide readership, they often strove to avoid purely local forms of language. This gave rise to so-called Druckersprachen ("printers' languages"), which are not necessarily identical to the spoken dialect of the town where the press was located. The most important centres of printing, with their regional Druckersprachen are: While

4366-465: The radical reformers who threatened the new order by fomenting social unrest and violence. Frederick III was a lifelong Roman Catholic , but he might have converted to Lutheranism on his deathbed in 1525 depending on how his receiving of a Protestant communion is viewed. The elector leaned heavily towards Lutheranism throughout his later years, guaranteeing safety for his subject and Protestant reformer Martin Luther , so that he would not receive

4440-603: The rest of his career in this position at the University of Wittenberg. In 1515, he was made provincial vicar of Saxony and Thuringia , which required him to visit and oversee eleven monasteries in his province. From 1510 to 1520, Luther lectured on the Psalms, and on the books of Hebrews, Romans, and Galatians. As he studied these portions of the Bible, he came to view the use of terms such as penance and righteousness by

4514-409: The saints accompanied him, for the purpose of testifying that he was divinely commissioned. They asked of the elector, that the monk might be allowed to write something on the church door at Wittenberg . The monk began to write, and the characters were so large and brilliant that they could be read at a great distance; and the pen he used was so long that its extremity reached even to Rome , and wounded

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4588-538: The same fate as of Jan Huss and other pre-reformers , after he was tried for heresy and excommunicated by the Pope. Frederick died unmarried in 1525, aged 62 years old, at Lochau, a hunting castle near Annaburg (30 km southeast of Wittenberg), and was buried in the Castle Church at Wittenberg , with a grave tomb sculpted by Peter Vischer the Younger . As he was unmarried and had no offspring, he

4662-442: The shortening of long vowels. Both show wide variation between dialects but appear earlier and more completely in Central German dialects. Many individual words form exceptions to these changes, though the lengthening is carried out more consistently. 1. Lengthening : MHG short vowels in open syllables (that is, syllables that end in a vowel) tend to be lengthened in the ENHG period. This is not reflected directly in spelling, but it

4736-657: The so-called Zwickau prophets , arrived, preaching revolutionary doctrines such as the absolute equality of man, adult baptism , and Christ's imminent return. When the town council asked Luther to return, he decided it was his duty to act. Luther secretly returned to Wittenberg on 6 March 1522. He wrote to the elector: "During my absence, Satan has entered my sheepfold, and committed ravages which I cannot repair by writing, but only by my personal presence and living word." For eight days in Lent , beginning on Invocavit Sunday, 9 March, Luther preached eight sermons, which became known as

4810-413: The surrounding States ran to make inquiry; and the pope demanded that the monk be restrained, and demanded this especially of the elector, as the monk dwelt in his dominions. Once more the elector awoke from his dream, besought God to preserve the holy father, the pope, and slept again. And still his strange dream continued, and he saw all the princes of the empire crowding to Rome, and all striving to break

4884-414: The transition to ENHG and their uneven geographical distribution has served to further differentiate the modern dialects. The long high vowels /iː/ , /uː/ and /yː/ (spelt ⟨î⟩ , ⟨û⟩ and ⟨iu⟩ ) are diphthongized to /aɪ/ , /aʊ/ and /ɔʏ/ , spelt ⟨ei⟩ , ⟨au⟩ and ⟨eu/äu⟩ . In many dialects they fall together with

4958-407: The vowels in brackets were dropped in rapid speech. The preterite conjugation went as follows: The present tense conjugation went as follows: The vowels in brackets were dropped in rapid speech. The preterite conjugation went as follows: In the Middle High German period, the rise of a courtly culture and the changing nature of knighthood was reflected in changes to the vocabulary. Since

5032-521: The way of the truth." Luther next set about reversing or modifying the new church practices. By working alongside the authorities to restore public order, he signaled his reinvention as a conservative force within the Reformation. Despite his victory in Wittenberg, after banishing the Zwickau prophets, Luther would still have to fight elsewhere against both the established Catholic Church and also

5106-400: The work of the Reformation : The feast of All-Saints was at hand, and the elector, having retired to rest, lay musing how he should keep the festival, and was praying for the poor souls in purgatory, and beseeching Divine guidance for himself, his counselors, and his people. Thus engaged, he fell asleep, and dreamed that a monk, a true son of the apostle Paul , was sent to him; and that all

5180-524: The written language appear more consistent than it actually is in the manuscripts. Scholars are uncertain as to whether the literary language reflected a supra-regional spoken language of the courts. An important development in this period was the Ostsiedlung , the eastward expansion of German settlement beyond the Elbe - Saale line which marked the limit of Old High German . This process started in

5254-427: Was a present participle, a past participle and a verbal noun that somewhat resembles the Latin gerund , but that only existed in the genitive and dative cases. An important distinction is made between strong verbs (that exhibited ablaut ) and weak verbs (that didn't). Furthermore, there were also some irregular verbs. The present tense conjugation went as follows: The bold vowels demonstrate umlaut ;

5328-491: Was a subject of the elector, by living at his domains. Luther received two bachelor's degrees, one in biblical studies on 9 March 1508, and another in the Sentences by Peter Lombard in 1509. On 19 October 1512, he was awarded his Doctor of Theology . On 21 October 1512, Luther was received into the senate of the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg , succeeding von Staupitz as chair of theology. He spent

5402-438: Was strong because no man could take the pith out of it. Suddenly the dreamer heard an outcry, and lo, a great number of pens had issued from the long pen of the monk! The festival of All-Saints was an important day for Wittenberg . The costly relics of the castle church were then displayed before the people, and a full remission of sin was granted to all who visited the church and made confession . Accordingly on this day

5476-401: Was the first concerted and successful effort to introduce a standardised form of German for all German chanceries, and hence avoided the most idiosyncratic features of Austrian Upper German standards in favour of Central German alternatives. Emperor Maximilian's Prague Chancery and the Saxon Chancery used similar standards of German as they were bordering each other, both dialects originating from

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