When did the Old High German period begin and end?
Scholars generally date the Old High German period from around 750 to 1050. Some researchers argue for an earlier start in the 6th century when the defining Second Sound Shift first appeared.
Scholars generally date the Old High German period from around 750 to 1050. Some researchers argue for an earlier start in the 6th century when the defining Second Sound Shift first appeared.
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.
Old High German literacy emerged exclusively within monastic scriptoria at locations like St. Gallen and Reichenau Island. All surviving texts were composed by scribes whose primary task was writing Latin rather than German.
Charlemagne had conquered all OHG dialect regions into a single polity by 788. The Alemannic polity fell to Clovis I in 496, while Saxons and Bavarians were subdued in the last twenty years of the 8th century.
Most historians accept the mid-11th century as the transition point to Middle High German. A hundred-year gap in continuous texts follows the death of Notker Labeo in 1022.