Old High German

• 1. The 750 To 1050 Window

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  Scholars generally date the Old High German period from around 750 to 1050. This timeframe marks the emergence of a written tradition that began with simple glosses and grew into substantial translations by the 9th century. Some researchers argue for an earlier start in the 6th century when the defining Second Sound Shift first appeared. The end of the era is less debated, as sound changes during the 11th century remodeled noun and adjective declensions entirely. A hundred-year gap in continuous texts follows the death of Notker Labeo in 1022. Most historians accept the mid-11th century as the transition point to Middle High German.

• 2. Charlemagne's Dialect Map

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  At the beginning of this period, dialect areas reflected independent tribal kingdoms across medieval Europe. By 788, Charlemagne had conquered all OHG dialect regions into a single polity. The Franks in western Francia gradually adopted Gallo-Romance languages along the Meuse and Moselle rivers. North of this line, the Franks retained their language without undergoing the Second Sound Shift. In the south, Lombards settled Northern Italy but switched to Romance after their conquest by Charlemagne in 774. No Germanic language was spoken east of a line from Kieler Förde to the Elbe and Saale rivers until the early 12th century. The Alemannic polity fell to Clovis I in 496, while Saxons and Bavarians were subdued in the last twenty years of the 8th century.

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• 3. Monasteries As Time Capsules

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  Old High German literacy emerged exclusively within monastic scriptoria at locations like St. Gallen and Reichenau Island. Saint Boniface established the German church in the mid-8th century, creating the foundation for written records. During the Carolingian Renaissance in the 9th century, efforts to preserve epic poetry intensified significantly. Einhard recorded that Charlemagne ordered old rude songs about ancient kings to be written down for posterity. Louis the Pious later destroyed his father's collection due to its pagan content. Rabanus Maurus advocated for German literacy among students including Walafrid Strabo and Otfrid of Weissenburg. All surviving texts were composed by scribes whose primary task was writing Latin rather than German.

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• 4. The Second Sound Shift

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  The main difference between Old High German and other West Germanic dialects is the Second Sound Shift. This change transformed consonantal systems so that German became distinct from English and Low German. Inherited voiceless plosives lenited into fricatives and affricates during this process. Word-initially, after resonants, or when geminated, these same consonants affricatized to specific sounds. The shift applied differently across various dialects, making precise articulation details difficult to reconstruct. Double-consonant spellings indicate true consonant gemination rather than preceding short vowels. Obstruents appeared in fortis and lenis pairs that varied realization across different regions.

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• 5. From Inflection To Analysis

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  All surviving Old High German texts were written in ecclesiastical scriptoria by scribes writing Latin primarily. The earliest text is generally considered the Abrogans, a Latin-Old High German glossary dated between 750 and 780. The 8th century Merseburg Incantations remain the only remnant of pre-Christian German literature. Secular works such as the Hildebrandslied survive only because they were written on spare sheets in religious codices. The Bavarian Muspilli represents the sole survivor of what must have been a vast oral tradition. Other important works include Otfrid von Weissenburg's Gospel harmony and the Wessobrunn Prayer recorded in early 9th-century

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• 6. The Abrogans And Incantations

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  manuscripts.

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