Knowra Old High German Old High German Old High German is the earliest attested form of High German, spoken from about 500 to 1050. Its surviving texts are written in several regional dialects.
High German languages : A group of West Germanic varieties distinguished by the High German consonant shift. Old High German is the earliest attested stage of this language group.
Second Germanic consonant shift : A chain of consonant changes that affected southern Germanic dialects and produced key High German distinctions. This shift accounts for hallmark differences such as German machen versus English make.
Old High German literature : The body of surviving poetry, glosses, translations, and other texts written in Old High German. Its limited corpus is the main evidence for the language.
Hildebrandslied : An Old High German heroic poem about the encounter between the warrior Hildebrand and his son Hadubrand. It is a rare surviving example of Germanic heroic poetry in the language.
West Germanic languages : A branch of Germanic languages that includes English, German, Dutch, and their historical relatives. Old High German belongs to West Germanic, before later German varieties emerged.
Old High German dialects : Regional varieties of Old High German, including Alemannic, Bavarian, and Franconian. Dialect variation shaped spelling and pronunciation across surviving manuscripts.
Carolingian Renaissance : A revival of learning and manuscript production under the Carolingian rulers in the eighth and ninth centuries. Its schools and scriptoria fostered much of the surviving written record.
Abrogans : An eighth-century Latin–Old High German glossary and one of the earliest substantial German books. Its word-by-word entries document early vocabulary and scribal practice.
Germanic languages : A branch of Indo-European languages including German, English, Dutch, and the Scandinavian languages. This family supplies the deeper linguistic ancestry of Old High German.
Old High German phonology : The sound system of Old High German, reconstructed from spelling patterns and comparisons with related languages. Its vowels and consonants reveal changes underway during the period.
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