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82-445: The Sihltal railway line ( German : Sihltalbahn ) is a railway line in the Swiss canton of Zürich , which connects the city of Zürich with the communities of the Sihl Valley . Passenger service on the line now forms part of the Zürich S-Bahn , branded as that network's service S4 , and is part of the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV) zone-based fare network. The line was opened in 1892 and electrified in 1924. Today it

164-465: A de facto official language of Namibia after the end of German colonial rule alongside English and Afrikaans , and had de jure co-official status from 1984 until its independence from South Africa in 1990. However, the Namibian government perceived Afrikaans and German as symbols of apartheid and colonialism, and decided English would be the sole official language upon independence, stating that it

246-402: A second language , and 75–100   million as a foreign language . This would imply the existence of approximately 175–220   million German speakers worldwide. German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon estimated a number of 289 million German foreign language speakers without clarifying the criteria by which he classified a speaker. As of 2012 , about 90   million people, or 16% of

328-612: A "commonly used" language and the Pan South African Language Board is obligated to promote and ensure respect for it. Cameroon was also a colony of the German Empire from the same period (1884 to 1916). However, German was replaced by French and English, the languages of the two successor colonial powers, after its loss in World War I . Nevertheless, since the 21st century, German has become

410-710: A freight branch was constructed linking Giesshübel station with Wiedikon station on the Lake Zürich left bank line of the Swiss Northeastern Railway (NOB). On 1 June 1897 the Sihltal line was extended to Sihlbrugg and a connection with the Thalwil–Arth-Goldau railway of the NOB. In 1924 the line was electrified using alternating current . In 1932 the management of the Sihltal line took over

492-559: A greater need for regularity in written conventions. While the major changes of the MHG period were socio-cultural, High German was still undergoing significant linguistic changes in syntax, phonetics, and morphology as well (e.g. diphthongization of certain vowel sounds: hus (OHG & MHG "house") → haus (regionally in later MHG)→ Haus (NHG), and weakening of unstressed short vowels to schwa [ə]: taga (OHG "days")→ tage (MHG)). A great wealth of texts survives from

574-458: A native tongue today, mostly descendants of German colonial settlers . The period of German colonialism in Namibia also led to the evolution of a Standard German-based pidgin language called " Namibian Black German ", which became a second language for parts of the indigenous population. Although it is nearly extinct today, some older Namibians still have some knowledge of it. German remained

656-696: A popular foreign language among pupils and students, with 300,000 people learning or speaking German in Cameroon in 2010 and over 230,000 in 2020. Today Cameroon is one of the African countries outside Namibia with the highest number of people learning German. In the United States, German is the fifth most spoken language in terms of native and second language speakers after English, Spanish , French , and Chinese (with figures for Cantonese and Mandarin combined), with over 1 million total speakers. In

738-483: A result, the surviving texts are written in highly disparate regional dialects and exhibit significant Latin influence, particularly in vocabulary. At this point monasteries, where most written works were produced, were dominated by Latin, and German saw only occasional use in official and ecclesiastical writing. While there is no complete agreement over the dates of the Middle High German (MHG) period, it

820-485: A selection of former Sihltal line rolling stock, including two early steam locomotives, and a railcar and a locomotive built for the original electrification. The Sihltal line is constructed to standard gauge and uses overhead lines for electrification. Both it and the Uetliberg line , with which it shares right-of-way between Zürich HB SZU and Zürich Giesshübel , are electrified at 15 kV AC . Prior to August 2022

902-565: A south-western segment of the city of Zürich. Above Langnau am Albis, some 13 km (8.1 mi) from the confluence with the Limmat, there are no major settlements alongside the river, and only a few small villages. Whilst the town of Einsiedeln is situated close to the Sihlsee, it is actually in the valley of a tributary river, the Alp . The first written reference to the name dates to 1018, in

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984-502: Is Switzerland's largest artificial lake, and is impounded by a 33-metre (108 ft) high dam. Electricity is generated by diverting water down a tunnel from the Sihlsee, which has a water level elevation of 889 m (2,917 ft), through the Etzelwerk hydroelectric power station at Altendorf , into Lake Zürich , which has a water level elevation of 406 m (1,332 ft). This has led to decreased water flows downstream of

1066-601: Is a recognized minority language in the following countries: In France, the High German varieties of Alsatian and Moselle Franconian are identified as " regional languages ", but the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 1998 has not yet been ratified by the government. Namibia also was a colony of the German Empire, from 1884 to 1915. About 30,000 people still speak German as

1148-612: Is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects , with many varieties existing in Europe and other parts of the world. Some of these non-standard varieties have become recognized and protected by regional or national governments. Since 2004, heads of state of the German-speaking countries have met every year, and the Council for German Orthography has been the main international body regulating German orthography . German

1230-558: Is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages . The Germanic languages are traditionally subdivided into three branches: North Germanic , East Germanic , and West Germanic . The first of these branches survives in modern Danish , Swedish , Norwegian , Faroese , and Icelandic , all of which are descended from Old Norse . The East Germanic languages are now extinct, and Gothic

1312-478: Is called the "German Sprachraum ". German is the official language of the following countries: German is a co-official language of the following countries: Although expulsions and (forced) assimilation after the two World wars greatly diminished them, minority communities of mostly bilingual German native speakers exist in areas both adjacent to and detached from the Sprachraum. Within Europe, German

1394-430: Is complicated by the existence of several varieties whose status as separate "languages" or "dialects" is disputed for political and linguistic reasons, including quantitatively strong varieties like certain forms of Alemannic and Low German . With the inclusion or exclusion of certain varieties, it is estimated that approximately 90–95 million people speak German as a first language , 10–25   million speak it as

1476-535: Is generally seen as ending when the 1346–53 Black Death decimated Europe's population. Modern High German begins with the Early New High German (ENHG) period, which Wilhelm Scherer dates 1350–1650, terminating with the end of the Thirty Years' War . This period saw the further displacement of Latin by German as the primary language of courtly proceedings and, increasingly, of literature in

1558-611: Is generally seen as lasting from 1050 to 1350. This was a period of significant expansion of the geographical territory occupied by Germanic tribes, and consequently of the number of German speakers. Whereas during the Old High German period the Germanic tribes extended only as far east as the Elbe and Saale rivers, the MHG period saw a number of these tribes expanding beyond this eastern boundary into Slavic territory (known as

1640-565: Is less closely related to languages based on Low Franconian dialects (e.g., Dutch and Afrikaans), Low German or Low Saxon dialects (spoken in northern Germany and southern Denmark ), neither of which underwent the High German consonant shift. As has been noted, the former of these dialect types is Istvaeonic and the latter Ingvaeonic, whereas the High German dialects are all Irminonic; the differences between these languages and standard German are therefore considerable. Also related to German are

1722-435: Is one of the major languages of the world . German is the second-most widely spoken Germanic language , after English, both as a first and as a second language . German is also widely taught as a foreign language , especially in continental Europe (where it is the third most taught foreign language after English and French), and in the United States. Overall, German is the fourth most commonly learned second language, and

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1804-597: Is one of the three biggest newspapers in Namibia and the only German-language daily in Africa. An estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in South Africa, mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the largest communities consists of the speakers of "Nataler Deutsch", a variety of Low German concentrated in and around Wartburg . The South African constitution identifies German as

1886-555: Is only served by trains on the Sihltal line. Also located here is a junction with the freight only branch to Zürich Wiedikon station on the Swiss Federal Railways ' Lake Zürich left bank line . The next stop on the line is Zürich Saalsporthalle-Sihlcity station , which is adjacent to the large Sihlcity shopping mall , with direct access to the platforms from the mall. Further suburban stations follow at Zürich Brunau , Zürich Manegg and Zürich Leimbach . Leaving

1968-770: Is owned by the Sihltal Zürich Uetliberg Bahn SZU AG , a company that also owns the Uetliberg line , and organizes the Zimmerberg Bus , and operates the Luftseilbahn Adliswil-Felsenegg (LAF) . The Sihltal line was built by the Sihltalbahn company (SiTB), which opened a line from Zürich Selnau to Sihlwald 3 August 1892. Selnau was already the terminus of the Uetliberg line , and the two lines ran in parallel as far as Giesshübel station . That December,

2050-401: Is partly derived from Latin and Greek , along with fewer words borrowed from French and Modern English . English, however, is the main source of more recent loanwords . German is a pluricentric language ; the three standardized variants are German , Austrian , and Swiss Standard German . Standard German is sometimes called High German , which refers to its regional origin. German

2132-525: Is the Sachsenspiegel , the first book of laws written in Middle Low German ( c.  1220 ). The abundance and especially the secular character of the literature of the MHG period demonstrate the beginnings of a standardized written form of German, as well as the desire of poets and authors to be understood by individuals on supra-dialectal terms. The Middle High German period

2214-578: Is the only language in this branch which survives in written texts. The West Germanic languages, however, have undergone extensive dialectal subdivision and are now represented in modern languages such as English, German, Dutch , Yiddish , Afrikaans , and others. Within the West Germanic language dialect continuum, the Benrath and Uerdingen lines (running through Düsseldorf - Benrath and Krefeld - Uerdingen , respectively) serve to distinguish

2296-485: Is understood in all areas where German is spoken. Approximate distribution of native German speakers (assuming a rounded total of 95 million) worldwide: As a result of the German diaspora , as well as the popularity of German taught as a foreign language , the geographical distribution of German speakers (or "Germanophones") spans all inhabited continents. However, an exact, global number of native German speakers

2378-689: The Ostsiedlung ). With the increasing wealth and geographic spread of the Germanic groups came greater use of German in the courts of nobles as the standard language of official proceedings and literature. A clear example of this is the mittelhochdeutsche Dichtersprache employed in the Hohenstaufen court in Swabia as a standardized supra-dialectal written language. While these efforts were still regionally bound, German began to be used in place of Latin for certain official purposes, leading to

2460-636: The A3 motorway runs along and over the river on a viaduct. Nearer the city centre, the SZU railway line runs in tunnel along and under the river. One access to that line's Selnau station is constructed in the form of an artificial island within the river. Just downstream of here, the Schanzengraben moat , which is fed from Lake Zürich and formerly protected the western perimeter of the Altstadt , flows into

2542-639: The Alamanni , Bavarian, and Thuringian groups, all belonging to the Elbe Germanic group ( Irminones ), which had settled in what is now southern-central Germany and Austria between the second and sixth centuries, during the great migration. In general, the surviving texts of Old High German (OHG) show a wide range of dialectal diversity with very little written uniformity. The early written tradition of OHG survived mostly through monasteries and scriptoria as local translations of Latin originals; as

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2624-537: The Early Middle Ages . German is an inflected language , with four cases for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative); three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and two numbers (singular, plural). It has strong and weak verbs . The majority of its vocabulary derives from the ancient Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, while a smaller share

2706-480: The European Union 's population, spoke German as their mother tongue, making it the second most widely spoken language on the continent after Russian and the second biggest language in terms of overall speakers (after English), as well as the most spoken native language. The area in central Europe where the majority of the population speaks German as a first language and has German as a (co-)official language

2788-522: The German states . While these states were still part of the Holy Roman Empire , and far from any form of unification, the desire for a cohesive written language that would be understandable across the many German-speaking principalities and kingdoms was stronger than ever. As a spoken language German remained highly fractured throughout this period, with a vast number of often mutually incomprehensible regional dialects being spoken throughout

2870-746: The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I , and the other being Meißner Deutsch , used in the Electorate of Saxony in the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg . Alongside these courtly written standards, the invention of the printing press led to the development of a number of printers' languages ( Druckersprachen ) aimed at making printed material readable and understandable across as many diverse dialects of German as possible. The greater ease of production and increased availability of written texts brought about increased standardisation in

2952-666: The Old High German language in several Elder Futhark inscriptions from as early as the sixth century AD (such as the Pforzen buckle ), the Old High German period is generally seen as beginning with the Abrogans (written c.  765–775 ), a Latin-German glossary supplying over 3,000 Old High German words with their Latin equivalents. After the Abrogans , the first coherent works written in Old High German appear in

3034-676: The Sprachraum in Europe. German is used in a wide variety of spheres throughout the country, especially in business, tourism, and public signage, as well as in education, churches (most notably the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK) ), other cultural spheres such as music, and media (such as German language radio programs by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation ). The Allgemeine Zeitung

3116-550: The Standard German language in its written form, and the Duden Handbook was declared its standard definition. Punctuation and compound spelling (joined or isolated compounds) were not standardized in the process. The Deutsche Bühnensprache ( lit.   ' German stage language ' ) by Theodor Siebs had established conventions for German pronunciation in theatres , three years earlier; however, this

3198-513: The Upper German dialects spoken in the southern German-speaking countries , such as Swiss German ( Alemannic dialects ) and the various Germanic dialects spoken in the French region of Grand Est , such as Alsatian (mainly Alemannic, but also Central–and   Upper Franconian dialects) and Lorraine Franconian (Central Franconian). After these High German dialects, standard German

3280-469: The pagan Germanic tradition. Of particular interest to scholars, however, has been the Hildebrandslied , a secular epic poem telling the tale of an estranged father and son unknowingly meeting each other in battle. Linguistically, this text is highly interesting due to the mixed use of Old Saxon and Old High German dialects in its composition. The written works of this period stem mainly from

3362-723: The Empire. Its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Prague (German: Prag ) and Budapest ( Buda , German: Ofen ), to name two examples, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain; others, like Pressburg ( Pozsony , now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and cities like Zagreb (German: Agram ) or Ljubljana (German: Laibach ), contained significant German minorities. In

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3444-748: The Frisian languages— North Frisian (spoken in Nordfriesland ), Saterland Frisian (spoken in Saterland ), and West Frisian (spoken in Friesland )—as well as the Anglic languages of English and Scots. These Anglo-Frisian dialects did not take part in the High German consonant shift, and the Anglic languages also adopted much vocabulary from both Old Norse and the Norman language . The history of

3526-536: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of

3608-451: The German states; the invention of the printing press c.  1440 and the publication of Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language. The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German, one being gemeine tiutsch , used in the court of

3690-681: The Germanic dialects that were affected by the High German consonant shift (south of Benrath) from those that were not (north of Uerdingen). The various regional dialects spoken south of these lines are grouped as High German dialects, while those spoken to the north comprise the Low German and Low Franconian dialects. As members of the West Germanic language family, High German, Low German, and Low Franconian have been proposed to be further distinguished historically as Irminonic , Ingvaeonic , and Istvaeonic , respectively. This classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by

3772-655: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are

3854-1033: The Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and the Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German

3936-518: The MHG period. Significantly, these texts include a number of impressive secular works, such as the Nibelungenlied , an epic poem telling the story of the dragon -slayer Siegfried ( c.  thirteenth century ), and the Iwein , an Arthurian verse poem by Hartmann von Aue ( c.  1203 ), lyric poems , and courtly romances such as Parzival and Tristan . Also noteworthy

4018-511: The Sihl, just before the latter flows under Zürich Hauptbahnhof railway station . The station has platforms on two levels, and the river actually tunnels under the upper ones, but above the lower ones, in 5 culverts each with a length of 190 metres (623 ft) and a clear opening of 12 metres (39 ft) by 3 metres (10 ft). Shortly after passing under the station, the Sihl joins the Limmat at

4100-458: The Uetliberg line used 1200 V DC . To allow both lines to operate over the shared section, the Uetliberg line used an overhead line offset from the centre of the track, and its cars were equipped with specially designed pantographs to collect from this. Passenger services on the Sihltal line are operated with a mixture of single and double deck cars, sometimes with examples of both types in

4182-560: The apex of the Platzspitz park . The river flows through the Sihlsee some 50 kilometres (31 mi) upstream of Zürich city centre, and studies have shown that a failure of the dam could lead to an 8-metre (26 ft) high flood wave reaching the city within 2 hours. This threat is exacerbated by the fact that the river passes through Zürich Hauptbahnhof station in a tunnel that limits the river’s flow capacity, raising concerns about

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4264-420: The available water power. From here the valley bottom is continuously built-up through the town of Adliswil to the boundary of the city of Zürich . Once in the city, the river flows through and between the Leimbach , Wollishofen , Friesenberg , Alt-Wiedikon and Enge quarters before reaching the city centre. In this stretch the river is crossed by many bridges, and for one 1.2 km (0.75 mi) stretch

4346-407: The cantons of Zug and Zürich, passing through the Sihlsprung rapids along the way. At the village of Sihlbrugg , the river enters the canton of Zürich for a second and final time. North of Sihlbrugg, the river flows through a lightly populated and heavily wooded valley, accompanied by a main road and railway line. The Sihlwald forest , a rare example of a large-scale and original forest, lies on

4428-472: The city of Zürich behind, the line closely follows the river Sihl , serving the stations of Sood-Oberleimbach , Adliswil and Sihlau in the municipality of Adliswil . At Adliswil, a short walk provides an interchange to the Adliswil-Felsenegg cable car , which rises to the summit of Felsenegg . Beyond Adliswil, the stations of Wildpark-Höfli , Langnau-Gattikon and Sihlwald are served, although many trains terminate at Langnau-Gattikon. Beyond Sihlwald,

4510-485: The configuration, each train has between 351 and 448 seats. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and

4592-406: The dam, with negative impact on water quality and a tendency for the river to dry out in places during low flow conditions in winter. Below the dam, the Sihl enters a narrow glacial valley and continues in an easterly direction, receiving the water of its tributary the Alp , before briefly entering the canton of Zürich near the village of Hütten . The river then continues as the border between

4674-430: The development of non-local forms of language and exposed all speakers to forms of German from outside their own area. With Luther's rendering of the Bible in the vernacular, German asserted itself against the dominance of Latin as a legitimate language for courtly, literary, and now ecclesiastical subject-matter. His Bible was ubiquitous in the German states: nearly every household possessed a copy. Nevertheless, even with

4756-404: The dialect so as to make the work as natural and accessible to German speakers as possible. Copies of Luther's Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region, translating words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Luther said the following concerning his translation method: One who would talk German does not ask the Latin how he shall do it; he must ask the mother in

4838-435: The eastern provinces of Banat , Bukovina , and Transylvania (German: Banat, Buchenland, Siebenbürgen ), German was the predominant language not only in the larger towns—like Temeschburg ( Timișoara ), Hermannstadt ( Sibiu ), and Kronstadt ( Brașov )—but also in many smaller localities in the surrounding areas. In 1901, the Second Orthographic Conference ended with a (nearly) complete standardization of

4920-472: The form Sylaha . The name may be of Old European or Celtic origin: *Sîla ("quiet watercourse", from a root *sîl = "to trickle, wet") > Romance Sila with the addition of the Old High German element aha "flowing water". The river rises to the north-eastern side of the Druesberg mountain , in the municipality of Unteriberg of the canton of Schwyz , and flows north to the village of Studen . Some 2 km (1.2 mi) downstream of Studen,

5002-410: The former terminus. The underground platform and tracks used at Hbf were already in existence, having been built prior to 1973 for a U-Bahn scheme that was ultimately rejected by voters. Once the new extension had been opened, the former terminus at Selnau was redeveloped and little evidence of it is now visible. In 2006, the line was upgraded to allow a service every 10 minutes during peak periods. At

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5084-435: The home, the children on the streets, the common man in the market-place and note carefully how they talk, then translate accordingly. They will then understand what is said to them because it is German. When Christ says ' ex abundantia cordis os loquitur ,' I would translate, if I followed the papists, aus dem Überflusz des Herzens redet der Mund . But tell me is this talking German? What German understands such stuff? No,

5166-417: The influence of Luther's Bible as an unofficial written standard, a widely accepted standard for written German did not appear until the middle of the eighteenth century. German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire , which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe . Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of

5248-431: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Sihl The river flows through, or along the border of, the cantons of Schwyz , Zürich and Zug . The main settlements of the Sihl Valley are all in the canton of Zürich, and include the towns of Langnau am Albis and Adliswil , along with

5330-577: The line continues to a junction with the Swiss Federal Railways ' Thalwil–Arth-Goldau railway at Sihlbrugg station , although this section of line does not carry a regular passenger service. The passenger services on the line now forms part of the Zürich S-Bahn , branded as the S4 . Trains usually run every 20 minutes outside peak periods, and every 10 minutes during peak periods. Most trains terminate at Langnau-Gattikon station , with only one train per hour continuing to Sihlwald station . Standard Zürcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV) zonal fare tariffs apply to

5412-408: The line. The night service (SN4) of the S4 line, operating on weekends after midnight, runs between Zürich Hauptbahnhof and Langnau-Gattikon. The Zürcher Museums-Bahn (ZMB) operates occasional heritage railway services over the Sihltal line. On the last Sunday of every month from April to October, a steam service is operated from Zürich Wiedikon station to Sihlbrugg station . The ZMB preserves

5494-425: The management of the Uetliberg line, but the two companies remained in existence until 1973, when they were merged to form the SZU. In 1990, the two lines were extended from their previous joint terminus at Bahnhof Selnau to a terminus at Zürich HB SZU , beneath Zürich Hbf station . This extension involved the construction of a new rail tunnel from Selnau to Hbf, and a new underground intermediate station adjacent to

5576-402: The mother in the home and the plain man would say, Wesz das Herz voll ist, des gehet der Mund über . Luther's translation of the Bible into High German was also decisive for the German language and its evolution from Early New High German to modern Standard German. The publication of Luther's Bible was a decisive moment in the spread of literacy in early modern Germany , and promoted

5658-423: The ninth century, chief among them being the Muspilli , Merseburg charms , and Hildebrandslied , and other religious texts (the Georgslied , Ludwigslied , Evangelienbuch , and translated hymns and prayers). The Muspilli is a Christian poem written in a Bavarian dialect offering an account of the soul after the Last Judgment , and the Merseburg charms are transcriptions of spells and charms from

5740-462: The pronunciation of the ending -ig as [ɪk] instead of [ɪç]. In Northern Germany, High German was a foreign language to most inhabitants, whose native dialects were subsets of Low German. It was usually encountered only in writing or formal speech; in fact, most of High German was a written language, not identical to any spoken dialect, throughout the German-speaking area until well into the 19th century. However, wider standardization of pronunciation

5822-412: The river enters the artificial Sihlsee reservoir at its southern end. Nearby, the Minster also flows into the Sihlsee, and was, prior to construction of the reservoir, a direct tributary of the Sihl. The Eubach , Rickentalbach and Grossbach tributary streams also flow into the Sihl via the Sihlsee. The Sihlsee is some 8.5 km (5.3 mi) long, and lies close to the town of Einsiedeln . It

5904-457: The same complex of pedestrian subways and subterranean shopping malls that link the station's other platforms. From Hauptbahnhof to Zürich Giesshübel station the two lines share a common twin-track line, initially in tunnel, partly running along and under the Sihl river. The current Selnau station is located in this under-river tunnel section. The two lines diverge at Giesshübel station, which

5986-404: The same time passenger services were withdrawn between Sihlwald and Sihlbrugg, although the track still exists and is used by occasional trains. The Sihltal line shares a common terminus with the Uetliberg line , utilising a dedicated underground island platform ( Zürich HB SZU ) at Zürich Hauptbahnhof station . There is no rail connection to the rest of the station, but the platform is served by

6068-524: The same train. Traction is provided by electric locomotives , which operate their trains in push-pull mode with a driving car at the other end of the train. Six new multiple unit trains have been ordered to enter service in 2013, equipped for dual voltage operation so as to operate on both the Uetliberg and Sihltal lines. As of 2019, service continues to be provided by Class 450 and 456  [ de ] electric locomotives in push-pull operation, with 3–4 single- and double-decker coaches. Depending on

6150-524: The slopes of the Albis that rise up from the river to the west. At this point, Lake Zürich lies only 2 km (1.2 mi) to the east, but is separated from the river by the Zimmerberg mountain . Reaching the town of Langnau am Albis , on the west bank of the river, and the village of Gattikon , on the east bank, the valley becomes more populous and industrial, with industry originally attracted by

6232-546: The states of North Dakota and South Dakota , German is the most common language spoken at home after English. As a legacy of significant German immigration to the country , German geographical names can be found throughout the Midwest region , such as New Ulm and Bismarck (North Dakota's state capital), plus many other regions. A number of German varieties have developed in the country and are still spoken today, such as Pennsylvania Dutch and Texas German . In Brazil,

6314-500: The third most commonly learned second language in the United States in K-12 education. The language has been influential in the fields of philosophy, theology, science, and technology. It is the second most commonly used language in science and the third most widely used language on websites . The German-speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of annual publication of new books, with one-tenth of all books (including e-books) in

6396-555: The world being published in German. German is most closely related to other West Germanic languages, namely Afrikaans , Dutch , English , the Frisian languages , and Scots . It also contains close similarities in vocabulary to some languages in the North Germanic group , such as Danish , Norwegian , and Swedish . Modern German gradually developed from Old High German , which in turn developed from Proto-Germanic during

6478-600: The written form of German. One of the central events in the development of ENHG was the publication of Luther's translation of the Bible into High German (the New Testament was published in 1522; the Old Testament was published in parts and completed in 1534). Luther based his translation primarily on the Meißner Deutsch of Saxony , spending much time among the population of Saxony researching

6560-429: Was a "neutral" language as there were virtually no English native speakers in Namibia at that time. German, Afrikaans, and several indigenous languages thus became "national languages" by law, identifying them as elements of the cultural heritage of the nation and ensuring that the state acknowledged and supported their presence in the country. Today, Namibia is considered to be the only German-speaking country outside of

6642-547: Was an artificial standard that did not correspond to any traditional spoken dialect. Rather, it was based on the pronunciation of German in Northern Germany, although it was subsequently regarded often as a general prescriptive norm, despite differing pronunciation traditions especially in the Upper-German-speaking regions that still characterise the dialect of the area today – especially

6724-492: Was established on the basis of public speaking in theatres and the media during the 20th century and documented in pronouncing dictionaries. Official revisions of some of the rules from 1901 were not issued until the controversial German orthography reform of 1996 was made the official standard by governments of all German-speaking countries. Media and written works are now almost all produced in Standard German which

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