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Middle Low German or Middle Saxon (autonym: ''Sassisch'', i.e. " Saxon",
Standard High German Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (not to be confused with High German dialects, more precisely Upper German dialects) (german: Standardhochdeutsch, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the standardized variety ...
: ', Modern Dutch: ') is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the
Old Saxon Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, was a Germanic language and the earliest recorded form of Low German (spoken nowadays in Northern Germany, the northeastern Netherlands, southern Denmark, the Americas and parts of Eastern Europe). I ...
language in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
and has been documented in writing since about 1225/34 ('' Sachsenspiegel''). During the Hanseatic period (from about 1300 to about 1600), Middle Low German was the leading written language in the north of
Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...
and served as a lingua franca in the northern half of Europe. It was used parallel to
medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...
also for purposes of
diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...
and for deeds.


Terminology

While ''Middle Low German'' (MLG) is a scholarly term developed in hindsight, speakers in their time referred to the language mainly as (Saxon) or (the Saxon language). This terminology was also still known in
Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (gi ...
's time in the adjacent
Central German Central German or Middle German (german: mitteldeutsche Dialekte, mitteldeutsche Mundarten, Mitteldeutsch) is a group of High German dialects spoken from the Rhineland in the west to the former eastern territories of Germany. Central German d ...
-speaking areas. Its Latin equivalent was also used as meaning 'Low German' (among other meanings). Some languages whose first contacts with Germany were via Low German-speaking 'Saxons', took their name as meaning 'German' in general, e.g. Finnish 'German'. In contrast to Latin as the primary written language, speakers also referred to discourse in Saxon as speaking/writing , i.e. 'clearly, intelligibly'. This contains the same root as 'German' (cf. High German: , Dutch ( archaically ''N(i)ederduytsche'' to mean the contemporary version of the
Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. '' Afrikaans'' ...
) both from
Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic br ...
"of the people"; 'popular, vernacular') which could also be used for Low German if the context was clear. Compare also the modern colloquial term (from 'plain, simple') denoting Low (or West Central)
German dialects German dialects are the various traditional local varieties of the German language. Though varied by region, those of the southern half of Germany beneath the Benrath line are dominated by the geographical spread of the High German consonant s ...
in contrast to the written standard. Another medieval term is (lit. 'East-ish') which was at first applied to the Hanseatic cities of the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
(the 'East Sea'), their territory being called ('East-land'), their inhabitants ('Eastlings'). This appellation was later expanded to other German Hanseatic cities and it was a general name for Hanseatic merchants in the Netherlands, e.g. in
Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...
where they had their (office; see
Kontor A ''kontor'' () was a foreign trading post of the Hanseatic League. In addition to the major ''kontore'' in London (the Steelyard), Bruges, Bergen (Bryggen), and Novgorod (Peterhof), some ports had a representative merchant and a warehouse. E ...
). In the 16th century, the term (lit. 'Lowland-ish,
Netherlandish The Low Countries comprise the coastal Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta region in Western Europe, whose definition usually includes the modern countries of Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. Both Belgium and the Netherlands derived their ...
') gained ground, contrasting Saxon with the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
dialects in the
uplands Upland or Uplands may refer to: Geography *Hill, an area of higher land, generally *Highland, an area of higher land divided into low and high points *Upland and lowland, conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level *I ...
to the south. It became dominant in the High German dialects (as ENHG , which could also refer to the modern
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
), while remained the most widespread term within MLG. The equivalent of 'Low German' ( NHG ) seems to have been introduced later on by High German speakers and at first applied especially to Netherlanders. ''Middle Low German'' is a modern term used with varying degrees of inclusivity. It is distinguished from
Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. Hig ...
, spoken to the south, which was later replaced by
Early New High German Early New High German (ENHG) is a term for the period in the history of the German language generally defined, following Wilhelm Scherer, as the period 1350 to 1650. The term is the standard translation of the German (Fnhd., Frnhd.), introduc ...
. Though
Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarc ...
is today usually excluded from MLG (although very closely related), it is sometimes, especially in older literature, included in MLG, which then encompasses the
dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated vari ...
of all high-medieval Continental Germanic dialects outside MHG, from
Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
in the West to the eastern Baltic.


Extent

Middle Low German covered a wider area than the
Old Saxon Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, was a Germanic language and the earliest recorded form of Low German (spoken nowadays in Northern Germany, the northeastern Netherlands, southern Denmark, the Americas and parts of Eastern Europe). I ...
language of the preceding period, due to expansion to the East and, to a lesser degree, to the North. In the East, the MLG-speaking area expanded greatly as part of the ''
Ostsiedlung (, literally "East-settling") is the term for the Early Medieval and High Medieval migration-period when ethnic Germans moved into the territories in the eastern part of Francia, East Francia, and the Holy Roman Empire (that Germans had a ...
'' (settlement of the East) in the 12th to 14th century and came to include
Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...
,
Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...
,
Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
and (Old)
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
, which were hitherto dominated by Slavic and
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
tribes. Some pockets of these native peoples persisted for quite some time, e.g. the ''
Wends Wends ( ang, Winedas ; non, Vindar; german: Wenden , ; da, vendere; sv, vender; pl, Wendowie, cz, Wendové) is a historical name for Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various people ...
'' along the lower Elbe until about 1700 or the
Kashubians The Kashubians ( csb, Kaszëbi; pl, Kaszubi; german: Kaschuben), also known as Cassubians or Kashubs, are a Lechitic ( West Slavic) ethnic group native to the historical region of Pomerania, including its eastern part called Pomerelia, in nor ...
of Eastern Pomerania up to modern times. In the North, the Frisian-speaking areas along the North Sea diminished in favour of Saxon, esp. in
East Frisia East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...
which largely switched to MLG since the mid-14th century. North of the
Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...
, MLG advanced slowly into Sleswick, against Danish and North Frisian, although the whole region was ruled by
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...
. MLG exerted a huge influence upon Scandinavia (cf. ''History''), although native speakers of Low German were mostly confined to the cities where they formed colonies of merchants and craftsmen. It was an official language of Old Livonia, whose population consisted mostly of
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
and Finnic tribes. In the West, at the
Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an ov ...
, the forests of the Veluwe and close to the
Lower Rhine The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); ...
, MLG bordered on closely related
Low Franconian Low Franconian, Low Frankish, NetherlandicSarah Grey Thomason, Terrence Kaufman: ''Language Contact, Creolization, and Genetic Linguistics'', University of California Press, 1991, p. 321. (Calling it "Low Frankish (or Netherlandish)".)Scott Shay ...
dialects whose written language was mainly
Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarc ...
. In earlier times, these were sometimes included in the modern definition of MLG (cf. ''Terminology''). In the South, MLG bordered on High German dialects roughly along the northern borders of
Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are ...
and
Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...
. The language border then ran eastwards across the plain of the middle Elbe until it met the (then more extensive) Sorb-speaking area along the upper
Spree Spree may refer to: Geography * Spree (river), river in Germany Film and television * '' The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace * ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery * "Spree" (''Numbers ...
that separated it from High German. The border was never a sharp one, rather a continuum. The modern convention is to use the pronunciation of northern ''maken'' vs. southern ''machen'' ('to make') for determining an exact border. Along the middle
Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...
and lower
Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Franconian Saal ...
rivers, Low German began to retreat in favour of High German dialects already during Late Medieval times (cf. ''
Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north of ...
'' whose name is Low German but whose inhabitants already spoke mostly/exclusively High German when the
Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
set in).


History

Sub-periods of Middle Low German are: * Early Middle Low German (Standard High German: ): 1200–1350, or 1200–1370 * Classical Middle Low German (): 1350–1500, or 1370–1530 * Late Middle Low German (): 1500–1600, or 1530–1650 Middle Low German was the lingua franca of the
Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
, spoken all around the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
and the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
. It used to be thought that the language of
Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...
was dominant enough to become a normative standard (the so-called ) for an emergent spoken and written standard, but more recent work has established that there is no evidence for this and that Middle Low German was non-standardised. Middle Low German provided a large number of
loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because ...
s to languages spoken around the Baltic Sea as a result of the activities of Hanseatic traders. Its traces can be seen in the Scandinavian, Finnic, and
Baltic languages The Baltic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 4.5 million people mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. Together with the Slavic lan ...
, as well as
Standard High German Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (not to be confused with High German dialects, more precisely Upper German dialects) (german: Standardhochdeutsch, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the standardized variety ...
and
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
. It is considered the largest single source of loanwords in Danish,
Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also * ...
, Latvian, Norwegian and Swedish. Beginning in the 15th century, Middle Low German fell out of favour compared to Early Modern High German, which was first used by elites as a written and, later, a spoken language. Reasons for this loss of prestige include the decline of the Hanseatic League, followed by political heteronomy of Northern Germany and the cultural predominance of Central and Southern Germany during the
Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...
and Luther's translation of the Bible.


Phonology and orthography

The description is based on Lasch (1914) which continues to be the authoritative comprehensive grammar of the language but is not necessarily up-to-date in every detail.


Consonants

* Square brackets indicate
allophone In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor ''phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in '' ...
s. * Round brackets indicate phonemes that do not have phoneme status in the whole language area or are marginal in the phonological system. It has to be noted that it is not rare to find the same word in MLG affected by one of the following phonological processes in one text and unaffected by it in another text because the lack of a written standard, the dialectal variation and ongoing linguistic change during the Middle Low German (MLG) era. General notes *
Final devoicing Final-obstruent devoicing or terminal devoicing is a systematic phonological process occurring in languages such as Catalan, German, Dutch, Breton, Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, Turkish, and Wolof. In such languages, voiced obstruents in fina ...
: Voiced obstruents in the syllable coda are devoiced, e.g. ''geven'' (to give) but ''gift'' (gift). The change took place early in MLG but is not always represented in writing. Proclitic words like ''mid'' (with) might remain voiced before a vowel because they are perceived as one phonological unit with the following word. Also, as can already be seen in Old Saxon, lenited is devoiced to before syllabic nasals or liquids, e.g. ''gaffel'' (fork) from PG ''*gabalō''. * Grammatischer Wechsel: Because of sound changes in Proto-Germanic (cf.
Verner's law Verner's law describes a historical sound change in the Proto-Germanic language whereby consonants that would usually have been the voiceless fricatives , , , , , following an unstressed syllable, became the voiced fricatives , , , , . The law w ...
), some words had different sounds in different grammatical forms. In MLG, there were only fossilised remnants of the "grammatischer wechsel" (grammatical change), namely for and , e.g. ''kêsen'' (to choose) but ''koren'' ((they) chose), and for and , e.g. ''vân'' < PG ''*fanhaną'' (to take hold, to catch) but ''gevangen'' < PG ''*fanganaz'' (taken hold of, caught). *
Assimilation Assimilation may refer to: Culture * Cultural assimilation, the process whereby a minority group gradually adapts to the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture and customs ** Language shift, also known as language assimilation, the prog ...
: A sound becoming more similar to a (usually) neighbouring sound, usually in place or manner of articulation, is very common across all languages. Early MLG mared assimilation much more often in writing than later periods, e.g. ''vamme'' instead of ''van deme'' (of the). *
Dissimilation In phonology, particularly within historical linguistics, dissimilation is a phenomenon whereby similar consonants or vowels in a word become less similar. In English, dissimilation is particularly common with liquid consonants such as /r ...
: In MLG, it frequently happened with vs. or vs. , e.g. ''balbêrer'' < ''barbêrer'' (barber), or ''knuflôk'' < ''kluflôk'' (garlic). Both forms frequently co-existed. The complete loss of a sound in proximity to an identical sound can also be explained in such a way, e.g. the loss of in ''Willem'' (William) < ''Wilhelm''. * Metathesis: Some sounds tended to switch their places, especially the "liquids" and . Both forms may co-exist, e.g. ''brennen'' vs. (metathesised) ''bernen'' (to burn). *
Gemination In phonetics and phonology, gemination (), or consonant lengthening (from Latin 'doubling', itself from '' gemini'' 'twins'), is an articulation of a consonant for a longer period of time than that of a singleton consonant. It is distinct from ...
: In MLG, geminate consonants, which came into being by assimilation or syncope, were no longer pronounced as such. Instead, geminate spelling marks the preceding vowel as short. Many variants exist, like combinations of voiced and voiceless consonants (e.g. letters, Sundays). Late MLG tended to use clusters of similar consonants after short as well as long vowels for no apparent reason, e.g. for (time). * h spellings: A mute ''h'' appeared sporadically after consonants already in Old Saxon. Its use greatly increased in MLG, first at the end of a word, when it often marked the preceding vowel as long, but it later appears largely randomly. In very late times, the use of ''h'' directly after the vowel is sometimes adopted from Modern High German as a sign of vowel length. Specific notes on nasals (Indented notes refer to orthography.) * had a tendency to shift to in the coda, e.g. ''dem'' > ''den'' (the (dat.sg.m.)). ** Intervocalic is sometimes spelled ''mb'' whether or not it developed from Old Saxon . * assimilated to before velars and . * Final often dropped out in unstressed position before consonants, e.g., (we have), cf. Modern Dutch for a similar process. Similarly, it often dropped from -clusters after unstressed vowels, especially in Westphalian, e.g. ''jârlix'' (annually) < ''jârlings''. * Furthermore, had been deleted in certain coda positions several centuries earlier (the so-called
Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law In historical linguistics, the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law (also called the Anglo-Frisian or North Sea Germanic nasal spirant law) is a description of a phonological development that occurred in the Ingvaeonic dialects of the West Germanic lan ...
), but there were many exceptions and restorations through analogy: the shifted form ''gôs'' (goose < PG ''*gans'') with an unshifted plural ''gense'' (geese) was quite common. Non-shifted forms have been common in the more innovative Eastern dialects. Specific notes on stops and fricatives * as a stop is always word-initially (''blôme'' flower, bloom), at the onset of stressed syllables (''barbêrer'' barber) and (historically) geminated (''ebbe'' ebb, low tide). Its allophones in other cases are word-internal and word-final (e.g. ''drêven'' to drive, vs. ''drêf'' drive (n.)). * Voiceless usually appeared word-initially (e.g. ''vader'' father), word-finally (merged with historical , see above), otherwise between short vowels and nasals/liquids (also from historical , e.g. ''gaffel'' fork) and in loans (e.g. ''straffen'' to tighten, from High German). ** It was mostly written ''v'' in the syllable onset, in the coda. Exceptions include loans (''figûre''), some proper names (''Frederik''), cases like ''gaffel'' as mentioned earlier and sporadically before ''u'' (where ''v'' would be too similar graphically) and before ''l'' and ''r''. Sometimes, ''w'' is used for ''v'', and ''ph'' for ''f''. ** It has to be noted that in MLG (like in other medieval) texts, there is usually no clear graphic distinction between ''v'' and ''u''. The distinction between both (consonant value as ''v'', vocalic value as ''u'') is used in modern dictionaries, in grammars and in this article simply for better readability. Thus, in the manuscripts, e.g. ''auer'' is ''aver'' (but). * was originally an approximant but seems to have later shifted towards a fricative. Its exact articulation likely differed from dialect to dialect, and many of them merged word-internally with , an allophone of . ** In writing, ''w'' for word-internal was kept strictly separate from at first, but the use of ''w'' later also expanded to . ** The clusters , , , were originally often written with ''v''/''u'' (''svager'' brother-in-law) but later mostly shifted to a ''w''-spelling, except for , which kept ''qu'' from Latin influence. * The dentals and tended to drop out between unstressed vowels, e.g. ''antwēr'' (either) instead of ''antwēder'', and in word-final clusters like , or , e.g. often ''rech'' next to ''recht'' (law, right), ''schrîf'' next to ''schrîft'' ((he/she) writes). * Remnants of Old Saxon shifted via into in the early MLG era. After and , it was the case already in late Old Saxon. For , word-final and some frequent words like ''dat'' (that, the (neut.)), the change also happened very early. The changes happened earliest in Westphalian and latest in North Low Saxon. * was voiced intervocalically as . Whether it was voiced word-initially is not fully clear. There seems to have been dialectal variation, with voiceless more likely for Westphalian and voiced more likely for East Elbian dialects. ** Because of the variation, voiceless (for example in loans from Romance or Slavic) was often written ''tz'', ''cz'', ''c'' etc. for clarity. * The phonemic status of is difficult to determine because of the extremely irregular orthography. Its status likely differed between the dialects, with early MLG having (Westphalian keeping it until modern times) and no phonemic , and e.g. East Elbian and in general many later dialects had from earlier . If there is phonemic , it often replaces of in clusters like and . * Connected with the status of is the manner of articulation of . Orthographic variants and some modern dialects seem to point to a more retracted, more ''sh''-like pronunciation (perhaps ), especially if there was no need to distinguish and . That is shown up by modern Westphalian. * is at best a marginal role as a phoneme and appears in loans or develops because of compounding or
epenthesis In phonology, epenthesis (; Greek ) means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially in the beginning syllable ('' prothesis'') or in the ending syllable (''paragoge'') or in-between two syllabic sounds in a word. The word ''epent ...
. Note the palatalised (next point). ** In writing, it was often marked by copious clustering, e.g. ''ertzcebischope'' (archbishop). * before front vowels is strongly palatalised in Old Saxon (note the similar situation in the closely related
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...
) and at least some of early MLG, as can be seen from spellings like ''zint'' for ''kint'' (child) and the variation of placename spellings, especially in
Nordalbingia Nordalbingia (german: Nordalbingien) (also Northern Albingia) was one of the four administrative regions of the medieval Duchy of Saxony, the others being Angria, Eastphalia, and Westphalia. The region's name is based on the Latin name ''Alba'' ...
n and Eastphalian, e.g. ''Tzellingehusen'' for modern '' Kellinghusen''. The palatalisation, perhaps as or , persisted until the High Middle Ages but was later mostly reversed. Thus, for instance, the old affricate in the Slavic placename ''Liubici'' could be reinterpreted as a velar stop, giving the modern name ''
Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...
''. A few words and placenames completely palatalised and shifted their velar into a sibilant (''sever'' beetle, chafer, from PG ''*kebrô''; the city of ''
Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...
'' < Old Saxon ''Kiellu''). ** Early MLG frequently used ''c'' for (''cleyn'' small), which later became rarer. However, geminate ''k'' (after historically short vowels and consonants) continued to be written ''ck'' (e.g. ''klocke'' bell), more rarely ''kk'' or ''gk''. ** ''gk'' otherwise appeared often after nasal (''ringk'' ring, (ice) rink). ** was often written ''x'', especially in the West. ** usually came as ''qu'', under Latin influence (''quêmen'' to come). * Furthermore, after unstressed , often changed into , e.g. in the frequent derivational suffix ''-lik'' (''vrüntligen'' friendly (infl.)) or, with
final devoicing Final-obstruent devoicing or terminal devoicing is a systematic phonological process occurring in languages such as Catalan, German, Dutch, Breton, Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, Turkish, and Wolof. In such languages, voiced obstruents in fina ...
, in ''sich'' instead of ''sik'' (him-/her-/itself, themselves). ** Sometimes, ''ch'' was used for a syllable-final (''ôch'' also, too). The ''h'' can be seen a sign of lengthening of the preceding vowel, not of
spirantisation In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them more sonorous. The word ''lenition'' itself means "softening" or "weakening" (from Latin 'weak'). Lenition can happen both synchronically (within a language at ...
(see "''h''-spelling" below). * was a fricative. Its exact articulation probably differed by dialect. Broadly, there seems to have been dialects that distinguished a voiced palatal and a voiced velar , depending on surrounding vowels (: word-initially before front vowels, word-internally after front vowels; in those positions, but with back vowels), and dialects that always used word-initially and word-internally (Eastphalian, Brandenburgian, e.g. word-internally after a back vowel: vogt, reeve). Nevertheless, was kept separate from old . In the coda position, came as a dorsal fricative (palatal or velar , depending on the preceding sound), which thus merging with . ** The spelling ''gh'' was at first used almost exclusively before ''e'' or word-finally but began to spread to other positions, notably before ''i''. It did not indicate a different pronunciation but was part of an orthographic pattern seen in many other parts of Europe. Furtherore, in early western traditions of MLG, sometimes ''ch'' was used for in all positions, also word-initially. ** Coda was mostly spelled ''ch'' because it completely merged with historic (see below). * After nasals and as a geminate, appeared as a stop , e.g. ''seggen'' "to say", ''penninghe'' "pennies". In contrast to modern varieties, it remained audible after a nasal. Pronouncing ''g'' word-initially as a stop is likely a comparatively recent innovation under High German influence. ** could be used for in older MLG, e.g. ''Dudiggerode'' for the town of Düringerode. * frequently dropped between sonorants (except after nasals), e.g. ''bormêster'' (
burgomaster Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chie ...
, mayor) < ''borgermêster''. * was often epenthetised between a stressed and an unstressed vowel, e.g. ''neigen'' (to sew) < Old Saxon ''*nāian'', or ''vrûghe'' (lady, woman) < Old Saxon ''frūa''. In Westphalian, this sound could harden into e.g. ''eggere'' (eggs). * in the onset was a glottal fricative , and it merged with historic in the coda (see above). Word-final after consonant or long vowel was frequently dropped, e.g. ''hôch'' or ''hô'' (high). In a compound or phrase, it often became silent (''Willem'' < ''Wilhelm'' William). ** Onset was written ''h'', while coda = was mostly written ''ch'' but also and the like because of its merger with . * Coda = frequently dropped between and , e.g. ''Engelbert'' (a first name) with the common component ''-bert'' < Old Saxon (bright, famous). In unstressed syllables, it could also occur between a vowel and , e.g. ''nit'' (not) < Old Saxon ''niowiht'' (not a thing). ** Often, ''h'' was used for other purposes than its actual sound value: to mark vowel length (see ''h''-spelling under "General Notes" above), to "strengthen" short words (''ghân'' to go), to mark a vocalic onset ( our (infl.)) or vowel
hiatus Hiatus may refer to: * Hiatus (anatomy), a natural fissure in a structure * Hiatus (stratigraphy), a discontinuity in the age of strata in stratigraphy *''Hiatus'', a genus of picture-winged flies with sole member species '' Hiatus fulvipes'' * G ...
(''sêhes'' (of the) lake). Specific notes on approximants * was a palatal approximant and remained separate from , the palatal allophone of . ** It was often spelled ''g'' before front vowels and was not confused with ''gh'' = . The variant ''y'' was sometimes used (''yöget'' youth). * was likely an alveolar trill or flap , like in most traditional Low German dialects until recently. Post-vocalic sometimes dropped, especially before . * was originally probably velarised, i.e. a "dark l" , at least in the coda, judging from its influence on surrounding vowels, but it was never extensively vocalised as Dutch was. During the MLG era, it seems to have shifted to a "clear l" in many dialects and tended to be dropped in some usually unstressed words, especially in Westphalian, e.g., , instead of (as).


Vowels

Modern renderings of MLG (like this article) often use circumflex or macron to mark vowel length (e.g. ''â'' or ''ā'') to help the modern reader, but original MLG texts marked vowel length not by accents but by doubling vowels, by adding a lengthening ''e'' or ''i'', by doubling the following consonants (after short vowels) or by adding ''h'' after the following consonants.


Morphology


Noun


Verb


Dialects

Lasch distinguished the following large dialect groups, emphasising that she based it strictly on the orthography, which may often omit strongly dialectal phenomena in favour of more prestigious/"standard" forms. Nevertheless, the dialect groups broadly correspond with modern ones. Westphalian ( HG: ''Westfälisch'', Dutch: ''Westfaals''): Broadly speaking, the area between the middle
Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...
and lower
Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...
. Main cities:
Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...
,
Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...
,
Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
,
Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...
,
Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...
. Some Saxon dialects in the modern
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
(esp. modern
Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...
and
Overijssel Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name translates to "across the IJssel", from the perspective of the Episcopal principality of U ...
) belonged to this group. Dutch influence on them strongly increased since the 15th century. ''Some features'': In the West, strong influence from Low Franconian orthographic patterns (e.g. ''e'' or ''i'' as a sign of length, like ''oi'' = ). The "breaking" of old short vowels in open syllables and before was often marked in writing (e.g. ''karn'' instead of ''korn''). Old geminated and sometimes was hardened into ; frequently shifted to (sometimes reversed in writing); instead of (''sal'' vs ''schal''). The native present plural verbs was ''-et'' but the written norm often impressed ''-en''. Similarly, the participle prefix ''ge-'' was usually written, though probably only spoken in the Southwest. Lexically, strong connections with adjacent dialects further north (East Frisian and Oldenburgish), e.g. ('Wednesday') instead of . Westphalian was and is often thought to be altogether the most conservative dialect group. North Low Saxon ( HG: ''Nordniedersächsisch'', Dutch: ''Noord-Nedersaksisch''): Spoken in a long stretch of coastal regions from the
Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an ov ...
in the West to
East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
in the East. Its orthographic habits come closest to what was traditionally perceived as a MLG standard (the ''Lübeck standard'', nowadays disputed). Some features: Short and in open syllables are stretched into a -like vowel. The personal suffixes ''-er'' and ''-ald'' appear as ''-ar'' and ''-old''. The pronouns ''mî'' (1.sg.), ''dî'' (2.sg.) and ''jû'' (2.pl.) are used for both dative and accusative. Three subgroups can be distinguished: (1) ''East Frisian and Oldenburgish'', i.e. the areas west of the lower
Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...
, in the North including dialects on Frisian substrate. As can be expected, there is much Westphalian, Dutch and Frisian influence (''hem'' next to ''em'' 'him'; plurals in ''-s''; ''vrent'' next to ''vrünt'' 'friend'). (2) ''Nordalbingian'', between the lower
Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...
and the lower
Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...
, and also Holstein on the right bank of the lower
Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...
. main towns:
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
,
Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...
, Lunenburg,
Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
. (3) ''East Elbian'', including
Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...
and the areas further east, like
Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...
,
Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
, northern
Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...
(Prignitz, Uckermark, Altmark),
Old Prussia Prussia (Old Prussian: ''Prūsa''; german: Preußen; lt, Prūsija; pl, Prusy; russian: Пруссия, tr=Prussiya, ''/Prussia/Borussia'') is a historical region in Europe on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, that ranges from the V ...
,
Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...
. Very close to ''Nordalbingian''. While the Eastern dialects are today clearly distinguished from the West by their uniform present plural verb ending in ''-en'' (against Western uniform ), in MLG times, both endings competed against each other in West and East. Main towns: Lübeck,
Wismar Wismar (; Low German: ''Wismer''), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar (''Hansestadt Wismar'') is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest cit ...
,
Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state ...
,
Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, N ...
. High German influence was strong in the
Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
, due to the diverse regional origins of its chivalric elite, therefore MLG written culture was neglected early on. Eastphalian ( HG: ''Ostfälisch''): Roughly the area east of the middle
Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...
, north and partly west of the
Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...
mountains, reaching the middle
Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...
, but leaving out the
Altmark :''See German tanker Altmark for the ship named after Altmark and Stary Targ for the Polish village named Altmark in German.'' The (English: Old MarchHansard, ''The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time ...'', Volume 32. ...
region. In the north, the sparsely populated Lunenburg Heath forms something of a natural border. Main cities:
Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
,
Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the ...
, Brunswick,
Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mi ...
,
Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...
,
Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...
,
Halle Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hal ...
(early times). The area within the Elbe's drainage was established by colonisation and is in many ways special. The southern part of this ''Elbe Eastphalian'' ( HG: ''Elbostfälisch'') area switched to High German already in Late Medieval times. ''Some features'': Umlaut is more productive, occurring before ''-ich'' and ''-isch'' (e.g. 'Saxon, Low German') and shifting also ''e'' to ''i'' (e.g. ''stidde'' for ''stêde'' 'place'). Diphthongised short is rarely marked as such, contrary to other dialects. Before , ''e'' and ''a'' are frequently interchanged for each other. Unstressed ''o'' (as in the suffix ''-schop'') frequently changes into ''u'' (''-schup''). The modal verb for 'shall/should' features , not (i.e. ''schal''). The past participle's prefix was commonly spoken ''e-'' but mostly written ''ge-'' under prescriptive influence. The local form ''ek'' ('I' (pron. 1.sg.)) competed with "standard" ''ik''; in a similar way the oblique form ''mik'' ('me') with "standard" ''mî''. Unusually, there is also a dative pronoun (1.sg. ''mê''). Lexically, close connections with Nordalbingian. Unusual plural ''menne'' ('men'). (South) Brandenburgish ( HG: ''(Süd-)Brandenburgisch'') and ''East Anhaltish'' ( HG: ''Ostanhaltisch''): Roughly between the middle Elbe and the middle Oder, and along the middle Havel, bordering old Sorbian territory to the Southeast. Main cities:
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
, Frankfurt/Oder,
Zerbst Zerbst () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until an administrative reform in 2007, Zerbst was the capital of the former Anhalt-Zerbst district. Geography Zerbst is situated in the Anhalt-Wittenberg regi ...
. A colonial dialect strongly influenced by settlers speaking Low Franconian. Also strongly influenced by High German early on. ''Some features'': Old long ''ê'' and ''ô'' were diphthongised into and , written ''i'' and ''u''. Old Germanic coda is restored, contrary to Ingvaeonic sound changes, e.g. ''gans'' 'goose'. Present plural of verbs features the suffix ''-en''. Lack of negative determiner ''nên'' ('no' (attr.)), instead: ''keyn'', similar to High German. The past participle retains the prefix ''ge-''. Lack of ''gaderen'' ('to gather') and ''tőgen'' ('to show'); instead of them, forms close to High German, i.e. and . In East Anhaltish, distinction of dative and accusative pronouns (e.g. ''mi'' vs ''mik'', cf. HG ''mir'' and ''mich'').


Literature

*
Bible translations into German German language translations of the Bible have existed since the Middle Ages. The most influential is Luther's translation, which established High German as the literary language throughout Germany by the middle of the seventeenth century and which ...
* The '' Sachsenspiegel'' * ''Reynke de Vos'', a version of
Reynard Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, a ...

at wikisource

Low German Incunable prints
in Low German as catalogued in the
Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke ''Der Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke'' (English: The Union Catalogue of Incunabula) ( abbreviated as ''GW or GKW'') is an ongoing project of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and appears in conjunction with the print edition of the union catalogue ...
, including the Low German
Ship of Fools
',

' and the novel

'


Sample texts


References


External links


A grammar and chrestomathy of Middle Low German by Heinrich August Lübben (1882)
(in German), at the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

A grammar of Middle Low German (1914)
by
Agathe Lasch Agathe Lasch (born 4 July 1879, in Berlin; died 18 August 1942, in Riga) was a German philologist. She was the first female professor of German studies in Germany, and the first female professor at the University of Hamburg. She founded the his ...
(in German), at the Internet Archive
Schiller-Lübben
A Middle Low German to German dictionary by Schiller/Lübben (1875–1881) a

an
at the Internet Archive

Project TITUS
including texts i



* ttp://germanic-studies.org/Middle-Low-German-loanwords-in-the-Scandinavian-languages.htm Middle Low German influence on the Scandinavian languages
Middle Low German corpus
Still under construction, but the website contains a very concise sketch of MLG grammar also based on Lasch {{Authority control Low German German dialects Hanseatic League History of the German language Low German, Middle Languages attested from the 12th century