Where does standard German come from?

Question

So : when I was in school, I learned a language called German, that is the official language of Germany and Austria. But I know from experience that the "German" spoken in Bavaria, Austria and Alsace are noticeably different in vocabulary and pronunciation from the standard. So where does the official language come from? Is it still the vernacular in any part of Germany?

Answer 1

The so called standard German or "high german" has its origin in the bible. In the year 1521 the reformator Martin Luther decided to translate the bible from latin into german for the first time. At this time, no one except the catholic priests and bishops spoke latin, so the people didn't understand one word of the bible and were told a lot of lies. But there was no common language in germany, just a lot of dialects. So Luther created a language which he thougt everyone would understand (but his biggest problem was, that most of the people couldn't even read or write). Nowadays, many people drop and forget their dialects and try to speak standard or high german, but this is just a sign of the times.

Answer 2

Unlike the previous answerer wrote, standard German ("Hochdeutsch") is really vernacular in parts of Germany. I am from the middle of Germany (Lower Saxony, from a town named Göttingen, near Hannover) and I speak German as my mother tongue exactly as it is used in media and at school, and as it is taught as a foreign language. I can't speak any dialect that differs from that. In Northern Germany they also speak standard German, although they had a very different dialect (Low German), but it is hardly spoken anymore. Old people still speak it but the young people there mostly speak only standard German. In many regions it differs in pronounciation and there are a few special words in certain regions, but they are not all as different to standard German as the Bavarian, Austrian and Alsacian dialects that you mention. It also has to be considered that the Austrian and Alsacian dialects are not spoken in Germany, but in Austria and France, so they are not bound to what is the official standard in Germany. Swiss German is also quite different to standard German.

Answer 3

The standard German language that all German-speakers learn in school, no matter which dialect they may speak at home, is called "Hochdeutsch" (High German). It is used in the German-language media and is spoken by all educated people in German Europe, but it is not "native" to any particular region. If you know some German and don't understand a dialect speaker, s/he will usually shift toward "Hochdeutsch".

Answer 4

To make it brief: - The colleges in French and Italian speakme areas in Switzerland coach general German. Sometimes, you'll selected which language you wish to be trained as a moment one, it is simply acquired to be certainly one of their reputable languages that is German, French or Italian (they've the Roman as good however no-one particularly speaks it). - Schools present dialog guides in general German. However, one or the opposite could present Swiss German guides. You can without doubt take personal guides (in businesses when you like) to do a Swiss German dialog direction. If you may have a skillability for languages, you'll choose up the Swiss German whilst finding out general German. It would not make any experience to coach Swiss German at colleges when you consider that no one external the nation speaks it.