What is standard German?
Historically and linguistically, standard German is a mixture
of Middle German and High German (i.e. most Austrian dialects).
It did not develop out of one regional dialect (as in Italian) but
was artificially created by poets, philosophers and scholars.
Standard German: a mixture of Middle German and
High German
This mixture refers to the historic development of German language.
Some features of Middle German and some features of High German
were blended for standard German. An example:
Middle German was responsible for vocal changes of certain diphthongs
to monophthongs:
| uo, ie, ui |
-> |
u, i, ü |
| bruoder |
|
Bruder (brother) |
| guete |
|
Güte (benevolence) |
High German (Bavarian and Austrian varieties) added some diphthongs:
| i, iu, u |
-> |
ei, eu, au |
| min |
|
mein (my) |
| hus |
|
Haus (house) |
In all recommended language schools you are taught standard German.
Acquiring some local slang and dialectal vocabulary is fun and adds
excitement to your German learning experience. However, your main
activities will be centered on standard German!
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