Old High German

Old High German is a West Germanic language that was spoken by the Germanic peoples who inhabited central, southern, and eastern Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It is the direct predecessor of Middle High German and the literary language of the German Renaissance. German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol in Italy, the German-speaking Community of Belgium, and Liechtenstein. It is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg and one of the co-official languages in the Opole Voivodeship in Poland. The German language is most similar to other West Germanic languages such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Low German/Plattdeutsch, Luxembourgish, Scots, and Yiddish. It also contains a significant amount of vocabulary from the East Germanic languages Gothic and Old Norse. German is a pluricentric language with four main standards: Standard German, spoken in Central and Northern Germany, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Luxembourg; Swiss Standard German, spoken in Switzerland; Austrian Standard German, spoken in Austria; and Luxembourg Standard German, spoken in Luxembourg. There are also non-standard regional varieties such as Alemannic German, spoken in Alemannic dialects in Switzerland and Bavarian German, spoken in Bavaria and much of Austria. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period, which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon. The earliest forms of Old High German were spoken in the Alemannic and Bavarian dialects, which are collectively known as Alemannic German, and in the East Frankish dialects, which are collectively known as Frankish. The Old High German period is generally seen as lasting until the end of the 10th century, when the dialects were replaced by Middle High German. During the Old High German period, the Germanic languages were influenced by the Celtic languages, specifically Gaulish. The most notable Celtic loanwords in Old High German are war (OHG: werran, English: "to confuse"), wassalon (OHG: wassalōn, English: "to wash"), and werra (OHG: werra, English: "confusion"). The Old High German period also saw the influence of the Latin language on the Germanic languages. The most notable Latin loanwords in Old High German are missa (OHG: missa, English: "mass"), cappella (OHG: capellā, English: "chapel"), and quaestio (OHG: quaestiō, English: "question"). The earliest known German writing is the "Hildebrandlied", a fragment of a heroic epic poem written in the Old High German dialect of Bavarian. The poem, which is only four lines long, is believed to have been written sometime between the 8th and 10th centuries. The Old High German period came to an end with the onset of the Middle Ages. The Germanic languages were no longer spoken in a uniform manner and began to diverge into the various regional dialects that are still spoken today.