Middle High German
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Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German spoken in the
High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...
. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from
Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...
(OHG) into
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, developing from Middle High German and into New High German. The term is the ...
(ENHG).
High German The High German languages (, i.e. ''High German dialects''), or simply High German ( ) – not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called "High German" – comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Ben ...
is defined as those varieties of German which were affected by the Second Sound Shift; the
Middle Low German Middle Low German is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in writing since about 1225–34 (). During the Hanseatic period (from about 1300 to about 1600), Mid ...
(MLG) and
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 , there was no overarching sta ...
languages spoken to the North and North West, which did not participate in this
sound change In historical linguistics, a sound change is a change in the pronunciation of a language. A sound change can involve the replacement of one speech sound (or, more generally, one phonetic feature value) by a different one (called phonetic chan ...
, are not part of MHG. While there is no ''standard'' MHG, the prestige of the
Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...
court gave rise in the late 12th century to a supra-regional literary language () based on Swabian, an Alemannic dialect. This historical interpretation is complicated by the tendency of modern editions of MHG texts to use ''normalised'' spellings based on this variety (usually called "Classical MHG"), which make the written language appear more consistent than it actually is in the manuscripts. Scholars are uncertain as to whether the literary language reflected a supra-regional ''spoken'' language of the courts. An important development in this period was the , the eastward expansion of German settlement beyond the line which marked the limit of
Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...
. This process started in the 11th century, and all the East Central German dialects are a result of this expansion. "Judeo-German", the precursor of the
Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
language, is attested in the 12th–13th centuries, as a variety of Middle High German written in Hebrew characters.


Periodisation

The Middle High German period is generally dated from 1050 to 1350. An older view puts the boundary with (Early) New High German around 1500. There are several phonological criteria which separate MHG from the preceding
Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...
period: * the weakening of unstressed vowels to : OHG , MHG ("days") * the full development of umlaut and its use to mark a number of morphological categories * the devoicing of final stops: OHG > MHG ("day") Culturally, the two periods are distinguished by the transition from a predominantly clerical written culture, in which the dominant language was
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, to one centred on the courts of the great nobles, with German gradually expanding its range of use. The rise of the
Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...
dynasty in
Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...
makes the South West the dominant region in both political and cultural terms. Demographically, the MHG period is characterised by a massive rise in population, terminated by the demographic catastrophe of the
Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
(1348). Along with the rise in population comes a territorial expansion eastwards (), which saw German-speaking settlers colonise land previously under Slavic control. Linguistically, the transition to
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, developing from Middle High German and into New High German. The term is the ...
is marked by four vowel changes which together produce the phonemic system of modern German, though not all dialects participated equally in these changes: * Diphthongisation of the long high vowels > : MHG > NHG ("skin") * Monophthongisation of the high centering diphthongs > : MHG > NHG ("hat") * lengthening of stressed short vowels in open syllables: MHG > NHG ("say") * The loss of unstressed vowels in many circumstances: MHG > NHG ("lady") The centres of culture in the ENHG period are no longer the courts but the towns.


Dialects

The dialect map of Germany by the end of the Middle High German period was much the same as that at the start of the 20th century, though the boundary with Low German was further south than it now is:
Central German Central German or Middle German () is a group of High German languages spoken from the Rhineland in the west to the former eastern territories of Germany. Central German divides into two subgroups, West Central German and East Central Ger ...
(''Mitteldeutsch'') *
West Central German West Central German () belongs to the Central German, Central, High German languages, High German dialect family of German language, German. It includes the following sub-families: * Central Franconian () ** Ripuarian language, Ripuarian (), spok ...
(''Westmitteldeutsch'') **
Central Franconian Central or Middle Franconian () refers to the following continuum of West Central German dialects: * Ripuarian (spoken in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in eastern Belgium, and the southeastern tip of Dutch Limburg) * Moselle Fr ...
(''Mittelfränkisch'') *** Ripuarian (''Ripuarisch'') ***
Moselle Franconian Moselle Franconian (; ) is a West Central German language, part of the Central Franconian languages area, that includes Luxembourgish. Overview Moselle Franconian is spoken in the southern Rhineland and along the course of the Moselle, i ...
(''Moselfränkisch'') ** Rhine Franconian (''Rheinfränkisch'') ** Hessian (''Hessisch'') * East Central German (''Ostmitteldeutsch'') ** Thuringian (''Thüringisch'') **
Upper Saxon Upper Saxon (, , ) is an East Central German dialect spoken in much of the modern German state of Saxony and in adjacent parts of southeastern Saxony-Anhalt and eastern Thuringia. As of the early 21st century, it is mostly extinct and a new r ...
(''Obersächsisch'') ** Silesian (''Schlesisch'') ** High Prussian (''Hochpreußisch'') Upper German (''Oberdeutsch'') *
East Franconian East Franconian ( ), usually referred to as Franconian (' ) in German, is a dialect spoken in Franconia, the northern part of the federal state of Bavaria and other areas in Germany around Nuremberg, Bamberg, Coburg, Würzburg, Hof, Bayreuth, ...
(''Ostfränkisch'') * South Rhine Franconian (''Süd(rhein)fränkisch'') * Alemannic (''Alemannisch'') **North Alemannic (''Nordalemannisch'') *** Swabian (''Schwäbisch'') *** Low Alemannic (''Niederalemannisch/Oberrheinisch'') ** High Alemannic/South Alemannic (''Hochalemannisch/Südalemannisch'') ) * Bavarian (''Bairisch'') ** Northern Bavarian (''Nordbairisch'') **
Central Bavarian Central or Middle Bavarian form a subgroup of Bavarian dialects in large parts of Austria and the German state of Bavaria along the Danube river, on the northern side of the Eastern Alps. They are spoken in the ' Old Bavarian' regions of Upper ...
(''Mittelbairisch'') **
Southern Bavarian Southern Bavarian or South Bavarian, is a cluster of Upper German dialects of the Bavarian group. They are primarily spoken in Tyrol (i.e. the Austrian federal state of Tyrol and the Italian province of South Tyrol), in Carinthia and in t ...
(''Südbairisch'') With the exception of Thuringian, the East Central German dialects are new dialects resulting from the ' and arise towards the end of the period.


Writing system

Middle High German texts are written in the
Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from â ...
. There was no standardised spelling, but modern editions generally standardise according to a set of conventions established by Karl Lachmann in the 19th century. There are several important features in this standardised orthography which are not characteristics of the original
manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...
s: *the marking of vowel length is almost entirely absent from MHG manuscripts. *the marking of umlauted vowels is often absent or inconsistent in the manuscripts. *a curly-tailed z ( or ) is used in modern handbooks and grammars to indicate the or -like sound which arose from Germanic in the
High German consonant shift In historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift is a phonological development (sound change) that took place in the southern parts of the West Germanic languages, West Germanic dialect continuum. The ...
. This character has no counterpart in the original manuscripts, which typically use or to indicate this sound. *the original texts often use and for the semi-vowels and . A particular problem is that many manuscripts are of much later date than the works they contain; as a result, they bear the signs of later scribes having modified the spellings, with greater or lesser consistency, in accord with conventions of their time. In addition, there is considerable regional variation in the spellings that appear in the original texts, which modern editions largely conceal.


Vowels

The standardised orthography of MHG editions uses the following vowel spellings: * Short vowels: and the umlauted vowels * Long vowels: and the umlauted vowels *
Diphthong A diphthong ( ), also known as a gliding vowel or a vowel glide, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of ...
s: ; and the umlauted diphthongs Grammars (as opposed to textual editions) often distinguish between and , the former indicating the mid-open which derived from Germanic , the latter (often with a dot beneath it) indicating the mid-close which results from primary umlaut of short . No such orthographic distinction is made in MHG manuscripts.


Consonants

The standardised orthography of MHG editions uses the following consonant spellings: * Stops: * Affricates: *
Fricatives A fricative is a consonant produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate in t ...
: * Nasals: *
Liquids Liquid is a state of matter with a definite volume but no fixed shape. Liquids adapt to the shape of their container and are nearly incompressible, maintaining their volume even under pressure. The density of a liquid is usually close to th ...
: *
Semivowel In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel, glide or semiconsonant is a sound that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary, rather than as the nucleus of a syllable. Examples of semivowels in English are ''y ...
s:


Phonology

The charts show the vowel and consonant systems of classical MHG. The spellings indicated are the standard spellings used in modern editions; there is much more variation in the manuscripts.


Vowels


Short and long Vowels

Notes: # Not all dialects distinguish the three unrounded mid front vowels. # It is probable that the short high and mid vowels are lower than their long equivalents, as in Modern German, but that is impossible to establish from the written sources. # The found in unstressed syllables may indicate or schwa .


Diphthongs

MHG diphthongs are indicated by the spellings , , , and , , , and they have the approximate values of , , , , , , , respectively.


Consonants

# Precise information about the articulation of consonants is impossible to establish and must have varied between dialects. # In the plosive and fricative series, if there are two consonants in a cell, the first is
fortis Fortis may refer to: Business * Fortis (Swiss watchmaker), a Swiss watch company * Fortis Films, an American film and television production company founded by actress and producer Sandra Bullock * Fortis Healthcare, a chain of hospitals in ...
and the second lenis. The voicing of lenis consonants varied between dialects. # There are long consonants, and the following double consonant spellings indicate not vowel length, as they do in Modern German orthography, but rather genuine double consonants: ''pp'', ''bb'', ''tt'', ''dd'', ''ck'' (for ), ''gg'', ''ff'', ''ss'', ''zz'', ''mm'', ''nn'', ''ll'', ''rr''. # It is reasonable to assume that has an allophone after back vowels, as in Modern German. # The original Germanic fricative ''s'' was in writing usually clearly distinguished from the younger fricative ''z'' that evolved from the High German consonant shift. The sounds of both letters seem not to have merged before the 13th century. Since ''s'' later came to be pronounced before other consonants (as in ''Stein'' , ''Speer'' , ''Schmerz'' (original ''smerz'') or the southwestern pronunciation of words like ''Ast'' ), it seems safe to assume that the actual pronunciation of Germanic ''s'' was somewhere between and , most likely about , in all Old High German until late Middle High German. A word like ''swaz'', "whatever", would thus never have been but rather , later (13th century) , .


Grammar


Pronouns

Middle High German pronouns of the first person refer to the speaker; those of the second person refer to an addressed person; and those of the third person refer to a person or thing of which one speaks. The
pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (Interlinear gloss, glossed ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the part of speech, parts of speech, but so ...
s of the third person may be used to replace nominal phrases. These have the same
gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...
s,
number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
s and
case Case or CASE may refer to: Instances * Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design * Special case, an instance that differs in a certain way from others of the type Containers * Case (goods), a package of relate ...
s as the original nominal phrase.


Personal pronouns


Possessive pronouns

The possessive pronouns ' are used like adjectives and hence take on adjective endings following the normal rules.


Articles

The inflected forms of the article depend on the number, the case and the gender of the corresponding noun. The definite article has the same plural forms for all three genders. Definite article (strong) The
instrumental case In grammar, the instrumental case ( abbreviated or ) is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the ''instrument'' or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action. The noun may be either a physical object or ...
, only existing in the neuter singular, is used only with
preposition Adpositions are a part of speech, class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in, under, towards, behind, ago'', etc.) or mark various thematic relations, semantic roles (''of, for''). The most common adpositions are prepositi ...
s: ', ', etc. In all the other genders and in the plural it is substituted with the dative: ', ', '.


Nouns

Middle High German
nouns In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an object or subject within a phrase, clause, or sentence.Example n ...
were declined according to four cases (
nominative In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case, or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb, or (in Latin and formal variants of E ...
,
genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...
,
dative In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a drink". In this exampl ...
,
accusative In grammar, the accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to receive the direct object of a transitive verb. In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: "me", "him", "her", " ...
), two
numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
(singular and
plural In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...
) and three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter), much like Modern High German, though there are several important differences.


Strong nouns


Weak nouns


Verbs

Verbs were conjugated according to three moods (
indicative A realis mood ( abbreviated ) is a grammatical mood which is used principally to indicate that something is a statement of fact; in other words, to express what the speaker considers to be a known state of affairs, as in declarative sentence Dec ...
, subjunctive (conjunctive) and imperative), three persons, two
numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
(singular and
plural In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...
) and two tenses ( present tense and
preterite The preterite or preterit ( ; abbreviated or ) is a grammatical tense or verb form serving to denote events that took place or were completed in the past; in some languages, such as Spanish, French, and English, it is equivalent to the simple p ...
) There was a present participle, a past participle and a verbal noun that somewhat resembles the
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
gerund In linguistics, a gerund ( abbreviated ger) is any of various nonfinite verb forms in various languages; most often, but not exclusively, it is one that functions as a noun. The name is derived from Late Latin ''gerundium,'' meaning "which is ...
, but that only existed in the
genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...
and
dative In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a drink". In this exampl ...
cases. An important distinction is made between strong verbs (that exhibited
ablaut In linguistics, the Indo-European ablaut ( , from German ) is a system of apophony (regular vowel variations) in the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE). An example of ablaut in English is the strong verb ''sing, sang, sung'' and its relate ...
) and weak verbs (that didn't). Furthermore, there were also some irregular verbs.


Strong verbs

The present tense conjugation went as follows: * Imperative: 2.sg.: ', 2.pl.: ' * Present participle: ' * Infinitive: ' * Verbal noun: ''genitive'': ', ''dative'': ' The bold vowels demonstrate umlaut; the vowels in brackets were dropped in rapid speech. The
preterite The preterite or preterit ( ; abbreviated or ) is a grammatical tense or verb form serving to denote events that took place or were completed in the past; in some languages, such as Spanish, French, and English, it is equivalent to the simple p ...
conjugation went as follows: * Past participle: '


Weak verbs

The present tense conjugation went as follows: * Imperative: 2.sg: ', 2.pl: ' * Present participle: ' * Infinitive: ' * Verbal noun: ''genitive'': ', ''dative'': ' The vowels in brackets were dropped in rapid speech. The
preterite The preterite or preterit ( ; abbreviated or ) is a grammatical tense or verb form serving to denote events that took place or were completed in the past; in some languages, such as Spanish, French, and English, it is equivalent to the simple p ...
conjugation went as follows: * Past participle: '


Vocabulary

In the Middle High German period, the rise of a courtly culture and the changing nature of knighthood was reflected in changes to the vocabulary. Since the impetus for this set of social changes came largely from France, many of the new words were either loans from French or influenced by French terms. The French loans mainly cover the areas of chivalry, warfare and equipment, entertainment, and luxury goods: *MHG ' < OF ' (NHG ', "adventure") *MHG ' < OF ' (NHG ', "prize, reward") *MHG ' < OF ' (NHG ', "lance") *MHG ' < OF ' (NHG ', "palace") *MHG ' < OF ' (NHG ', "festival, feast") *MHG ' < OF ' (NHG ', "paint brush") *MHG ' < OF ' (NHG ', "velvet") *MHG ' < OF ' (NHG ', "raisin") Two highly productive suffixes were borrowed from French in this period: *The noun suffix - is seen initially in borrowings from French such as ' ("retinue, household") and then starts to be combined with German nouns to produce, for example, ("hunting") from ("huntsman"), or ("medicine ") from ("doctor"). With the Early New High German diphthongization the suffix became /ai/ (spelling ) giving NHG ', '. *The verb suffix - resulted from adding the German infinitive suffix ''-en'' to the Old French infinitive endings ''-er/ir/ier''. Initially, this was just a way of integrating French verbs into German syntax, but the suffix became productive in its own right and was added to non-French roots: MHG ' is based on OF ' ("to ride a horse"), but ' ("to cut in half") has no French source.


Sample texts


'' Iwein''

The text is the opening of
Hartmann von Aue Hartmann von Aue, also known as Hartmann von Ouwe, (born ''c.'' 1160–70, died ''c.'' 1210–20) was a German knight and poet. With his works including '' Erec'', '' Iwein'', '' Gregorius'', and '' Der arme Heinrich'', he introduced the Arthu ...
's ''Iwein'' () Commentary: This text shows many typical features of Middle High German poetic language. Most Middle High German words survive into modern German in some form or other: this passage contains only one word (' 'say' 14) which has since disappeared from the language. But many words have changed their meaning substantially. ' (6) means 'state of mind' (cognates with ''mood''), where modern German ' means courage. ' (3) can be translated with 'honour', but is quite a different concept of honour from modern German '; the medieval term focuses on reputation and the respect accorded to status in society.


'' Nibelungenlied''

The text is the opening strophe of the ().
Middle High German Uns ist in alten mæren    wunders vil geseit von helden lobebæren,    von grôzer arebeit, von freuden, hôchgezîten,    von weinen und von klagen, von küener recken strîten    muget ir nu wunder hÅ“ren sagen. Modern German translation In alten Erzählungen wird uns viel Wunderbares berichtet von ruhmreichen Helden, von hartem Streit, von glücklichen Tagen und Festen, von Schmerz und Klage: vom Kampf tapferer Recken: Davon könnt auch Ihr nun Wunderbares berichten hören. English translation In ancient tales many marvels are told us of renowned heroes, of great hardship of joys, festivities, of weeping and lamenting of bold warriors' battles — now ''you'' may hear such marvels told!
Commentary: All the MHG words are recognizable from Modern German, though ("tale") and ("warrior") are archaic and ("praiseworthy") has given way to . Words which have changed in meaning include , which means "strife" or "hardship" in MHG, but now means "work", and ("festivity") which now, as , has the narrower meaning of "wedding".


''Erec''

The text is from the opening of
Hartmann von Aue Hartmann von Aue, also known as Hartmann von Ouwe, (born ''c.'' 1160–70, died ''c.'' 1210–20) was a German knight and poet. With his works including '' Erec'', '' Iwein'', '' Gregorius'', and '' Der arme Heinrich'', he introduced the Arthu ...
's '' Erec'' (). The manuscript (the Ambraser Heldenbuch) dates from 1516, over three centuries after the composition of the poem.


Literature

The following are some of the main authors and works of MHG literature: *
Lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, t ...
** Minnesang ***
Codex Manesse The Codex Manesse (also or Pariser Handschrift) is a (a German term for a manuscript containing songs) which is the single most comprehensive source of Middle High German ''Minnesang'' poetry. It was written and illustrated manuscript, illustr ...
*** Reinmar von Hagenau *** Walther von der Vogelweide *** Heinrich Frauenlob ** Oswald von Wolkenstein *
Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...
** ' ** ' *
Chivalric romance As a literary genre, the chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the noble courts of high medieval and early modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a chivalri ...
**
Hartmann von Aue Hartmann von Aue, also known as Hartmann von Ouwe, (born ''c.'' 1160–70, died ''c.'' 1210–20) was a German knight and poet. With his works including '' Erec'', '' Iwein'', '' Gregorius'', and '' Der arme Heinrich'', he introduced the Arthu ...
's ' and ' **
Wolfram von Eschenbach Wolfram von Eschenbach (; – ) was a German knight, poet and composer, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry. Life Little is known of Wolfram's life. Ther ...
's ' ** Gottfried von Strassburg's ' ** Ulrich von Türheim's ' and ' ** Rudolf von Ems's works ** Konrad von Würzburg's works ** Eilhart von Oberge's ' * ** ' ** ' *
Chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...
s ** ' ** Jans der Enikel's ' and ' ** ' * Law ** '


See also

*
High German consonant shift In historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift is a phonological development (sound change) that took place in the southern parts of the West Germanic languages, West Germanic dialect continuum. The ...
* Matthias Lexer


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * Jones, Howard; Jones, Martin H. (2019). ''The Oxford Guide to Middle High German'', Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. . * * * * Walshe, M.O'C. (1974). ''A Middle High German Reader: With Grammar, Notes and Glossary'', Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. . * * Wright, Joseph & Walshe, M.O'C. (1955)
''Middle High German Primer''
5th edn., Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. The foregoing link is to a TIFF and PNG format. See also th

s edition, which is in HTML as well as the preceding formats.


External links




Online versions of the two main MHG dictionaries

Middle High German audio literature
{{Authority control History of the German language High German languages German dialects High German, Middle Languages attested from the 11th century