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76-653: Swiss Standard German is the official written language in German-speaking Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is used in books, all official publications (including all laws and regulations), in newspapers, printed notices, most advertising, and other printed matter. Authors write literature mainly using Swiss Standard German; some dialect literature exists. SSG is similar in most respects to the Standard German in Germany and Austria ; there are

152-426: A One Standard German Axiom is a defining feature of Germanistik. Outside of Switzerland, Austria and South Tyrol, local dialects tend to be used mainly in informal situations or at home and in dialect literature, but more recently, a resurgence of German dialects has appeared in mass media. In German, Standard German is generally called Hochdeutsch , reflecting the fact that its phonetics are largely those of

228-466: A medial diglossia instead. Most German Swiss can speak fluent Swiss Standard German, but may or may not like doing so, as it feels stilted and unnatural to many. When they compare their Swiss Standard German to the way people from Germany speak, they think their own proficiency is inferior because it is studied and slower. Most German Swiss think that the majority speak rather poor Swiss Standard German; however, when asked about their personal proficiency,

304-475: A few differences in spelling, most notably the replacing of the German ß with ss (since the 20th century). For example: There are some differences in vocabulary, including, for instance, using a loanword from another language. For example: In addition, SSG uses different orthography in letter writing, and the salutations used for the same also differ from Non-Swiss Standard German. The Swiss use

380-575: A handful of different locations, namely Mesopotamia and Egypt ( c.  3200  – c.  3100 BCE ), China ( c.  1250 BCE ), and Mesoamerica ( c.  1 CE ). Scholars mark the difference between prehistory and history with the invention of the first written language. The first writing can be dated back to the Neolithic era, with clay tablets being used to keep track of livestock and commodities. The first example of written language can be dated to Uruk , at

456-481: A hyphen after their stems. Words that are written with capital letters in Standard German are nouns. English has taken many loanwords from German, often without any change of spelling (aside from frequently eliminating umlauts and not capitalizing nouns ): The Duden is the de facto official dictionary of the Standard High German language, first published by Konrad Duden in 1880. The Duden

532-809: A language community. Analogously, digraphia occurs when a language may be written in different scripts. For example, Serbian may be written using either the Cyrillic or Latin script , while Hindustani may be written in Devanagari or the Urdu alphabet . Writing systems can be broadly classified into several types based on the units of language they correspond with: namely logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic. They are distinct from phonetic transcriptions with technical applications, which are not used as writing as such. For example, notation systems for signed languages like SignWriting been developed, but it

608-440: A majority will answer that they speak quite well. Written language A written language is the representation of a language by means of writing . This involves the use of visual symbols, known as graphemes , to represent linguistic units such as phonemes , syllables , morphemes , or words . However, written language is not merely spoken or signed language written down, though it can approximate that. Instead, it

684-526: A recommended standard is published by the Council for German Orthography which represents the governments of all majority and minority German-speaking countries and dependencies. Adherence is obligatory for government institutions, including schools. Regarding the pronunciation, although there is no official standards body, there is a long-standing de facto standard pronunciation ( Bühnendeutsch ), most commonly used in formal speech and teaching materials. It

760-781: A result, the written form of a language may retain archaic features or spellings that no longer reflect contemporary speech. Over time, this divergence may contribute to a dynamic of diglossia. There are too many grammatical differences to address, but here is a sample. In terms of clause types, written language is predominantly declarative (e.g. It's red. ) and typically contains fewer imperatives (e.g. Make it red. ), interrogatives (e.g. Is it red? ), and exclamatives (e.g. How red it is! ) than spoken or signed language. Noun phrases are generally predominantly third person , but they are even more so in written language. Verb phrases in spoken English are more likely to be in simple aspect than in perfect or progressive aspect, and almost all of

836-434: A single language community in different social contexts. The "high variety", often the written language, is used in formal contexts, such as literature, formal education, or official communications. This variety tends to be more standardized and conservative, and may incorporate older or more formal vocabulary and grammar. The "low variety", often the spoken language, is used in everyday conversation and informal contexts. It

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912-517: A traditional dialect of a specific region but as a written language developed over a process of several hundred years in which writers tried to write in a way that was understood in the largest area. Martin Luther's translation of the Bible in 1522 (New Testament, Old Testament 1534) was an important development towards an early standardization of written German. Luther based his translation largely on

988-478: A typical case of diglossia , although this term is often reserved to language pairs where the vernacular has lower prestige than the other, while Swiss German dialects do not meet this criterion as they permeate every socio-economic class of society. Since Swiss Standard German is the usual written language and the Swiss German dialects are the usual spoken language, their interrelation has sometimes been called

1064-402: Is a key driver of social mobility . Firstly, it underpins success in formal education, where the ability to comprehend textbooks, write essays, and interact with written instructional materials is fundamental. High literacy skills can lead to better academic performance, opening doors to higher education and specialized training opportunities. In the job market, proficiency in written language

1140-409: Is a separate system with its own norms, structures, and stylistic conventions, and it often evolves differently than its corresponding spoken or signed language. Written languages serve as crucial tools for communication, enabling the recording, preservation, and transmission of information, ideas, and culture across time and space. The orthography of a written language comprises the norms by which it

1216-493: Is a wider range of vocabulary used and individual words are less likely to be repeated. It also includes fewer first and second-person pronouns and fewer interjections. Written English has fewer verbs and more nouns than spoken English, but even accounting for that, verbs like think , say , know , and guess appear relatively less commonly with a content clause complement (e.g. I think that it's OK . ) in written English than in spoken English. Writing developed independently in

1292-494: Is also important. In informal situations, Swiss Standard German is only used whenever a German Swiss is communicating with a non-Swiss and it is assumed that this person does not understand the respective dialect. Amongst themselves, the German-speaking Swiss use their respective Swiss German dialect, irrespective of social class, education or topic. Unlike other regions where German varieties are spoken, there

1368-519: Is crucial for promoting social mobility and reducing inequality. The Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) primarily presented his ideas about written language in The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962). Therein, McLuhan argued that the invention and spread of the printing press , and the shift from oral tradition to written culture that it spurred, fundamentally changed the nature of human society. This change, he suggested, led to

1444-409: Is expected to function, including rules regarding spelling and typography. A society's use of written language generally has a profound impact on its social organization, cultural identity, and technological profile. Writing , speech , and signing are three distinct modalities of language ; each has unique characteristics and conventions. When discussing properties common to the modes of language,

1520-399: Is generally used in radio and television as well as in German learning materials for non-natives and at least aspirationally by language teachers. The accent is documented in reference works such as Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch (German Pronunciation Dictionary) by Eva-Maria Krech et al., Duden 6 Das Aussprachewörterbuch (Duden volume 6, The Pronunciation Dictionary) by Max Mangold and

1596-468: Is no continuum between Swiss Standard German and the Swiss German dialects. The speakers speak either Swiss Standard German, or a Swiss German dialect, and they are conscious about this choice. Nevertheless, about 10%, or 828,200, of Swiss residents speak High German (also called Standard German) at home, but mainly due to the presence of German or Austrian immigrants. The concurrent usage of Swiss Standard German and Swiss German dialects has been called

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1672-574: Is not universally agreed that these constitute a written form of the sign language in themselves. Orthography comprises the rules and conventions for writing a given language, including how its graphemes are understood to correspond with speech. In some orthographies, there is a one-to-one correspondence between phonemes and graphemes, as in Serbian and Finnish . These are known as shallow orthographies . In contrast, orthographies like that of English and French are considered deep orthographies due to

1748-792: Is often a determinant of employment opportunities. Many professions require a high level of literacy, from drafting reports and proposals to interpreting technical manuals. The ability to effectively use written language can lead to higher paying jobs and upward career progression. Literacy enables additional ways for individuals to participate in civic life, including understanding news articles and political debates to navigating legal documents. However, disparities in literacy rates and proficiency with written language can contribute to social inequalities . Socio-economic status, race, gender, and geographic location can all influence an individual's access to quality literacy instruction. Addressing these disparities through inclusive and equitable education policies

1824-493: Is only spoken in very few specific formal situations, such as in news broadcasts and reputable programmes of the public media channels; in the parliaments of German-speaking cantons ; in the federal parliament in Berne (unless another official language of Switzerland is used), although dialect is certainly encroaching on this domain; in loudspeaker announcements in public places such as railway stations, etc. Church services, including

1900-509: Is preserved in dialect literature and scholarly descriptions. It can thus be argued that it is the spread of Standard German as a language taught at school that defines the German Sprachraum , which was thus a political decision, rather than a direct consequence of dialect geography . That allowed areas with dialects with very little mutual intelligibility to participate in the same cultural sphere. Some linguists claim today that

1976-518: Is relatively much more common in written language than in spoken language. Another example is that a construction like it was difficult to follow him is relatively more common in written language than in spoken language, compared to the alternative packaging to follow him was difficult . A final example, again from English, is that the passive voice is relatively more common in writing than in speaking. Written language typically has higher lexical density than spoken or signed language, meaning there

2052-511: Is similar to the formal German spoken in and around Hanover . Adherence to those standards by private individuals and companies, including the print and audio-visual media, is voluntary. Austrian German has had standard pronunciation exceptions since 1904 ( Luick's österreichische Bühnenaussprache). In Switzerland, no such official pronunciation codex exists, yet most Standard Swiss German speakers are markedly different sounding from Hanover-type phonetic targets. Standard German originated not as

2128-655: Is the Austrian counterpart to the German Duden and contains a number of terms unique to Austrian German or more frequently used or differently pronounced there. A considerable amount of this "Austrian" vocabulary is also common in Southern Germany , especially Bavaria , and some of it is used in Switzerland as well. Since the 39th edition in 2001 the orthography of the ÖWB has been adjusted to

2204-538: Is the respective local dialect. Due to a rather large inter-cantonal migration rate (about 5% p.a.) within modern Switzerland for decades, many different Swiss German dialects are spoken in any one place, especially in urban areas; for example, in the city of Zürich (end of 2013): of the 272,700 Swiss (total: 400,000) living in Zürich, only 40% (28%) are from Zürich itself with 51% (36%) from the entire canton of Zürich. Outside of any educational setting, Swiss Standard German

2280-463: Is the umbrella term for the standardized varieties of the German language , which are used in formal contexts and for communication between different dialect areas. German is a pluricentric Dachsprache with currently three codified (or standardised) specific national varieties: German Standard German , Austrian Standard German and Swiss Standard German . Regarding the spelling and punctuation,

2356-504: Is typically more dynamic and innovative, and may incorporate regional dialects, slang, and other informal language features. Diglossic situations are common in many parts of the world, including the Arab world , where the high Modern Standard Arabic variety coexists with other, low varieties of Arabic local to specific regions. Diglossia can have significant implications for language education, literacy, and sociolinguistic dynamics within

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2432-467: Is typically more immediate, reflecting the local context of the conversation and the emotions of the agents, often via paralinguistic cues like body language . Utterances are typically less premeditated, and are more likely to feature informal vocabulary and shorter sentences. They are also primarily used in dialogue, and as such include elements that facilitate turn-taking ; these including prosodic features such as trailing off and fillers that indicate

2508-441: Is updated regularly, with new editions appearing every four or five years. As of August 2017 , it was in its 27th edition and in 12 volumes, each covering different aspects such as loanwords , etymology , pronunciation , synonyms , and so forth. The first of these volumes, Die deutsche Rechtschreibung (German Orthography), has long been the prescriptive source for the spelling of Standard High German. The Duden had become

2584-511: The ¨ dead key . The names of municipalities, towns, stations, and streets are often not written with a starting capital umlaut, but instead with Ae , Oe , or Ue , such as the Zürich suburb Oerlikon , the hamlet Aetzikofen , and the Bernese municipality Uebeschi . However, field names, such as Äbenegg, Ötikon (near Stäfa), or Überthal, and any other word, such as Ärzte (English: physicians), usually start with capital umlauts. As for

2660-537: The Duden , in 1880. The first spelling codification by the Second Orthographic Conference of 1901 , based on Duden's work, came into effect in 1902. In 1944 there was a failed attempt at another reform; this was delayed on the order of Hitler and not taken up again after the end of World War II . In the following decades German spelling was essentially decided de facto by the editors of

2736-472: The German spelling reform of 1996 . The dictionary is also officially used in the Italian province of South Tyrol . It is currently available in 44th edition, from 2022, and includes an online version with limited access. Several organisations promote the use and learning of the Standard German language. The government-backed Goethe-Institut , (named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ) aims to enhance

2812-608: The High German spoken in the southern uplands and the Alps (including Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein and parts of northern Italy as well as southern Germany ). The corresponding term Low German reflects the fact that these dialects belong to the lowlands stretching towards the North Sea . The widespread but mistaken impression that Hochdeutsch is so-called because it is perceived to be "good German" has led to use of

2888-405: The 1980s, German has widely been considered a pluricentric language with the national standard varieties of German Standard German , Austrian Standard German and Swiss Standard German . These varieties of standard German differ above all in vocabulary , pragmatics and pronunciation , but in some instances also in grammar and, in only a handful of cases, in orthography . In formal writing,

2964-694: The Duden dictionaries. After the war, this tradition was followed with two different centers: Mannheim in West Germany and Leipzig in East Germany . By the early 1950s, a few other publishing houses had begun to attack the Duden monopoly in the West by publishing their own dictionaries, which did not always conform to the "official" spellings prescribed by Duden. In response, the Ministers of Culture of

3040-409: The Standard German varieties must not be confused with the variation of the local German dialects . Even though the Standard German varieties are to a certain degree influenced by the local dialects, they are very distinct. All varieties of Standard German are based on the common tradition of the written German language, whereas the local dialects have their own historical roots that go further back than

3116-540: The Standard German word Spital (hospital). Spital is also found in volumes of Standard German language dictionaries; however, Germans from northern Germany prefer to use Krankenhaus , whereas Spital is also used in areas of southern Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, and South Tyrol . Some nouns have different gender: Some expressions are borrowed from French and thus differ from usage in Germany, such as The Swiss keyboard layout has no ß key, nor does it have

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3192-501: The aid of tone of voice, facial expressions, or body language, which often results in more explicit and detailed descriptions. While a speaker can typically be identified by the quality of their voice, the author of a written text is often not obvious to a reader only analyzing the text itself. Writers may nevertheless indicate their identity via the graphical characteristics of their handwriting . Written languages generally change more slowly than their spoken or signed counterparts. As

3268-521: The already developed language of the Saxon chancery, which was more widely understood than other dialects and as a Central German dialect, was felt to be "halfway" between the dialects of the north and south. Luther drew principally on Eastern Upper and East Central German dialects and preserved much of the grammatical system of Middle High German . Later in 1748, a grammar manual by Johann Christoph Gottsched , Grundlegung einer deutschen Sprachkunst ,

3344-658: The bible of the Standard High German language, being the definitive set of rules regarding grammar, spelling, and usage of Standard High German. The Österreichisches Wörterbuch ("Austrian Dictionary"), abbreviated ÖWB , is the official dictionary of the Standard High German language in the Republic of Austria . It is edited by a group of linguists under the authority of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (German: Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur ). It

3420-525: The capital umlaut keys Ä , Ö and Ü . This dates back to mechanical typewriters that had the French diacritical marks letters on these keys to allow the Swiss to write French on a Swiss German QWERTZ keyboard (and vice versa). Thus a Swiss German VSM keyboard has an ä key that prints an à (a-grave) when shifted. However, it is possible to write uppercase umlauts by use of caps lock or by using

3496-914: The complex relationships between sounds and symbols. For instance, in English, the phoneme / f / can be represented by the graphemes ⟨f⟩ as in ⟨fish⟩ , ⟨ph⟩ as in ⟨phone⟩ , or ⟨gh⟩ as in ⟨enough⟩ . Orthographies also include rules about punctuation, capitalization, word breaks, and emphasis. They may also include specific conventions for representing foreign words and names, and for handling spelling changes to reflect changes in pronunciation or meaning over time. Standard German Standard High German ( SHG ), less precisely Standard German or High German ( German : Standardhochdeutsch , Standarddeutsch , Hochdeutsch or, in Switzerland, Schriftdeutsch ),

3572-451: The difference between British and American English. The pronouncing dictionary of the Duden dictionary group codifies the standard pronunciation for German Standard German and allows for a small number of divergences; for example, the string "äh" has two authorized pronunciations, /ɛː/ and /eː/. Some regions see only the first as correct, and others use only the second; Duden now recognizes both as correct. Standardized High German pronunciation

3648-590: The differences are small; in regards to the spoken language, the different varieties of Standard German are easily recognized by most speakers. These three national standards (German, Austrian and Swiss) have each been adopted by other German-speaking countries and communities as their standard form of German. The German standard is applied in Luxembourg , Belgium , and Namibia while the Swiss standard has been adopted in Liechtenstein . The variation of

3724-400: The emergence of new written genres and conventions, such as interactions via social media . This has implications for social relationships, education, and professional communication. Literacy is the ability to read and write. From a graphemic perspective, this ability requires the capability of correctly recognizing or reproducing graphemes, the smallest units of written language. Literacy

3800-487: The end of the 4th millennium BCE. An ancient Mesopotamian poem tells a tale about the invention of writing: Because the messenger's mouth was heavy and he couldn't repeat, the Lord of Kulaba patted some clay and put words on it, like a tablet. Until then, there had been no putting words on clay. The origins of written language are tied to the development of human civilization. The earliest forms of writing were born out of

3876-468: The federal states in West Germany officially declared the Duden spellings to be binding as of November 1955 ("Duden-Monopol" or "Dudenmonopol", "Duden-Privileg" or "Dudenprivileg"). The orthography reform of 1996 was based on an international agreement signed by the governments of the German -speaking countries Germany , Austria , Liechtenstein and Switzerland ; but acceptance of the reform

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3952-486: The individual speaking, signing, or writing will be referred to as the sender , and the individual listening, viewing, or reading as the receiver ; senders and receivers together will be collectively termed agents . The spoken, signed, and written modes of language mutually influence one another, with the boundaries between conventions for each being fluid—particularly in informal written contexts like taking quick notes or posting on social media. Spoken and signed language

4028-683: The knowledge of German culture and language within Europe and the rest of the world. This is done by holding exhibitions and conferences with German-related themes, and providing training and guidance in the learning and use of the German language. For example, the Goethe-Institut teaches the Goethe-Zertifikat German language qualification. The German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle provides radio and television broadcasts in Standard German and 30 other languages across

4104-443: The letter ß because it contains a long vowel, even though that letter occurs at the end of a syllable. The logic of this change is that an 'ß' is a single letter whereas 'ss' are two letters, so the same distinction applies as (for example) between the words den and denn . This is a selection of cognates in both English and Standard German. Instead of the usual infinitive ending -en , Standard German verbs are indicated by

4180-486: The modern age. Furthermore, he theorized about the effects of different media on human consciousness and society. He famously asserted that " the medium is the message ", meaning that the form of a medium embeds itself in any message it would transmit or convey, creating a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived. While McLuhan's ideas are influential, they have also been critiqued and debated. Some scholars argue that he overemphasized

4256-426: The necessity to record commerce, historical events, and cultural traditions. The first known true writing systems were developed during the early Bronze Age (late 4th millennium BCE) in ancient Sumer , present-day southern Iraq. This system, known as cuneiform , was pictographic at first, but later evolved into an alphabet, a series of wedge-shaped signs used to represent language phonemically . At roughly

4332-401: The past perfect verbs appear in written fiction. Information packaging is the way that information is packaged within a sentence, that is the linear order in which information is presented. For example, On the hill, there was a tree has a different informational structure than There was a tree on the hill . While, in English, at least, the second structure is more common, the first example

4408-453: The preservation and transmission of culture, history, and knowledge across time and space, allowing societies to develop complex systems of law, administration, and education. For example, the invention of writing in ancient Mesopotamia enabled the creation of detailed legal codes, like the Code of Hammurabi . The advent of digital technology has revolutionized written communication, leading to

4484-400: The reform, some newspapers, such as Die Zeit , Neue Zürcher Zeitung and Süddeutsche Zeitung , created their own in-house orthographies. After 10 years, without any intervention by the federal parliament, a major revision of the spelling reform was installed in 2006 because there were disagreements regarding capitalization and splitting of German words. Also revised were

4560-520: The rest of Northern Germany. Standard High German is written in the Latin alphabet . In addition to the 26 standard letters, German has three vowels with an umlaut mark , namely ä , ö and ü , as well as the Eszett or scharfes s (sharp s): ß . In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, ss is used instead of ß . A first step to standardisation, although non-prescriptive, of Early New High German

4636-471: The rise of individualism , nationalism , and other aspects of modernity. McLuhan proposed that written language, especially as reproduced in large quantities by the printing press, contributed to a linear and sequential mode of thinking, as opposed to the more holistic and contextual thinking fostered by oral cultures. He associated this linear mode of thought with a shift towards more detached and objective forms of reasoning, which he saw as characteristic of

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4712-443: The role of the medium (in this case, written language) at the expense of the content of communication. It has also been suggested that his theories are overly deterministic, not sufficiently accounting for the ways in which people can use and interpret media in varied ways. Diglossia is a sociolinguistic phenomenon where two distinct varieties of a language – often one spoken and one written – are used by

4788-452: The rules governing punctuation marks. The most noticeable change was probably in the use of the letter ß , called scharfes s ( Sharp S ) or Eszett (pronounced ess-tsett , coming from ſz). Traditionally, this letter was used in three situations: Examples are Füße , paßt , and daß . Currently, only the first rule is in effect, making the reformed spellings Füße , passt , and dass . The word Fuß 'foot' has

4864-512: The same time, the system of Egyptian hieroglyphs was developing in the Nile valley, also evolving from pictographic proto-writing to include phonemic elements. The Indus Valley civilization developed a form of writing known as the Indus script c.  2600 BCE , although its precise nature remains undeciphered. The Chinese script , one of the oldest continuously used writing systems in

4940-440: The sender has not yet finished their turn. Errors encountered in spoken and signed language include disfluencies and hesitation. By contrast, written language is typically more structured and formal. While speech and signing are transient, writing is permanent. It allows for planning, revision, and editing, which can lead to more complex sentences and a more extensive vocabulary. Written language also has to convey meaning without

5016-515: The sermon and prayers, are usually in Swiss Standard German. Generally in any educational setting Swiss Standard German is used (during lessons, lectures or tutorials). However, outside of lessons Swiss-German dialects are used, even when, for example, talking to a teacher about the class. The situations in which Swiss Standard German is spoken are characteristically formal and public, and there are situations where written communication

5092-535: The supposedly less judgmental Standarddeutsch ("Standard German"), deutsche Standardsprache ("German standard language"). On the other hand, the "standard" written languages of Switzerland and Austria have each been codified as standards distinct from that used in Germany. For this reason, "Hochdeutsch" or "High German", originally a mere geographic designation, applies unproblematically to Swiss Standard German and Austrian German as well as to German Standard German and may be preferred for that reason. Since

5168-504: The training materials at the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (West German Broadcasting) and Deutschlandfunk (Radio Germany). It is an invented accent, rather than one radiating from any particular German-speaking city. It is often said that the people of Hannover speak German with an accent that comes closest to the standard of the Duden dictionaries, but the claim is debatable, particularly since it may apply equally well to

5244-437: The unification of the written language, and in the case of Low German, belong to a different language entirely. In most regions, the speakers use a continuum of mixtures from more dialectal varieties to more standard varieties according to situation. However, there are two (or three) exceptions: While the three principal national varieties are recognized as three distinct standards, the differences are few, perhaps comparable to

5320-471: The various dialects of Swiss German, they are occasionally written, but their written usage is mostly restricted to informal situations such as private text messages , e-mails , letters , notes, or within social media such as Facebook . The ability of German Swiss to transliterate their language into writing is an integral and important part of the identity and culture of German-speaking Switzerland. The default spoken language in German-speaking Switzerland

5396-465: The voice of Socrates , expressed concerns in the dialogue " Phaedrus " that a reliance on writing would weaken one's ability to memorize and understand, as written words would "create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories". He further argued that written words, being unable to answer questions or clarify themselves, are inferior to the living, interactive discourse of oral communication. Written language facilitates

5472-410: The world, originated around the late 2nd millennium BCE, evolving from oracle bone script used for divination purposes. The development and use of written language has had profound impacts on human societies, influencing everything from social organization and cultural identity to technology and the dissemination of knowledge. Plato ( c.  427  – 348 BCE), through

5548-545: Was almost entirely a written language. People in Northern Germany who spoke mainly Low Saxon dialects , which were very different from Standard German, learned it more or less as a foreign language. However, the Northern pronunciation (of Standard German) later became considered standard and spread southward. In some regions such as around Hanover , the local dialect has completely died out as spoken language but

5624-572: Was introduced by the Luther Bible of 1534. In consequence, the written language of the chancery of Saxony-Wittenberg rose in importance in the course of the 17th century so much so that it was used in texts such as the 1665 revision of the Zürich Bible . The First Orthographical Conference convened in 1876 by order of the government of Prussia , but failed. Konrad Duden published the first edition of his dictionary, later simply known as

5700-603: Was key in the development of German writing and standardization of the language. Similarly to Luther, Gottsched based his manual on the Central German variant of the Upper Saxon area. Over the course of the mid-18th century and onward, a written standard then began to emerge and be widely accepted in German-speaking areas, thus ending the period of Early New High German . Until about 1800, Standard German

5776-489: Was limited and led to public controversy and considerable dispute. The states ( Bundesländer ) of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria refused to accept it. At one point, the dispute reached the highest court, which quickly dismissed it, claiming that the states had to decide for themselves and that only in schools could the reform be made the official rule – everybody else could continue writing as they had learned it. While, as of 2004 , most German print media followed

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