ABSTRACT

A History of the German Language Through Texts examines the evolution of German, from the Early Medieval period to the present day.
Written in a lively and accessible style, the book looks at the history of German through a wide range of texts, from medical, legal and scientific writing to literature, everyday newspapers and adverts. All texts are translated and accompanied by commentaries. The book also offers a glossary of technical terms and abbreviations, a summary of the main changes in each historical period, a guide to reference material, and suggestions for further reading.
A History of the German Language Through Texts is essential reading for students of German, Linguistics or Philology.

chapter 1|9 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|14 pages

Pre-textual German

From Indo-European to West Germanic

part 1|76 pages

Old High German (c.750–c.1050)

chapter 3|13 pages

The Lord's Prayer

Major dialects of the OHG period and Old English

chapter 4|12 pages

Heroic Lay

Das Hildebrandslied

chapter 5|6 pages

Legal code

Lex Salica

chapter 6|7 pages

Political treaty

The Strasburg Oaths

chapter 7|10 pages

Gospel harmony

Otfrid von Weissenburg's Evangelienbuch

chapter 8|9 pages

Political praise poem

The Ludwigslied

chapter 9|6 pages

Phrasebook

The Paris Conversations

chapter 10|9 pages

History

Notker of St Gallen's prologue to his Boethius translation

part 2|59 pages

Middle High German (c.1050–c.1350)

chapter 11|10 pages

Williram of Ebersberg

Commentary to the Song of Songs

chapter 12|10 pages

Courtly romance

Hartmann von Aue's Iwein

chapter 13|7 pages

French influence

Gottfried von Strassburg's Tristan

chapter 14|9 pages

Legal Documents

Oath for Jews and Vienna Fief Transfer

chapter 15|9 pages

Legal code

Der Sachsenspiegel

chapter 16|5 pages

Mysticism

Mechthild von Magdeburg – Das fließende Licht der Gottheit

chapter 17|7 pages

Medicine

Breslauer Arzneibuch

part 3|71 pages

Early New High German (c.1350–c.1700)

chapter 18|11 pages

Humanism and linguistic levelling

Niklas von Wyle's Translatzen

chapter 19|10 pages

Low German and the language of business

The Hanseatic League

chapter 20|10 pages

Language use for special purposes

Cookery recipes 1350–1600

chapter 21|10 pages

Language use in the early mass media

Reformation pamphlets

chapter 22|13 pages

Bible translation

Martin Luther

chapter 23|6 pages

Purism in the seventeenth century

Johann Rist

chapter 24|8 pages

Dialect

Andreas Gryphius's Die Geliebte Dornrose

part IV|73 pages

New High German (c.1700–c.1945)

chapter IV 25|8 pages

‘Natural style'

Letters and Moral Weeklies

chapter IV 26|9 pages

J.W. Goethe

Literature, natural sciences and administration

chapter IV 27|11 pages

Political pamphlets

Berlin 1848

chapter IV 28|9 pages

A History of the German Language through Texts

Jacob Grimm's Vorrede zum Deutschen Wörterbuch

chapter IV 29|6 pages

Industrialization, technology and language

Die Marmorirkunst and Ferdinand Lassalle

chapter IV 30|9 pages

Elements of everyday language use

Letters and letter-writing manuals

chapter IV 31|11 pages

Scientific prose in the nineteenth century

Rudolf Virchow

chapter IV 32|8 pages

National Socialism

Fritz Lenz's Die Familie im Dienst der Rassenhygiene

part V|51 pages

Contemporary German (c.1945–2000)

chapter V 33|9 pages

The language of the GDR

Texts on the erection and fall of the Berlin Wall

chapter V 34|7 pages

The public sphere

Discourse stragegies and lexical development

chapter V 35|7 pages

English Influence

Jil Sander and the Verein Deutsche Sprache

chapter V 36|12 pages

Newspapers

Language and textual organization in the nineteenth century and twentieth century

chapter V 37|14 pages

Jugendsprache

Katz und Goldt and chatrooms