A history of the German language

A HISTORY

OF THE

GERMAN LANGUAGE

BY

CHARLES W. SUPER, A. M., PH, D.,

President of the Ohio University; Translator of Weil's Order of Words, Etc.

"Glib is the tongue of man, and many words are therein
of every kind, and wide is the range of his speech hither and
thither."

— Iliad xx : 248-9.

COLUMBUS, OHIO :

H ANN & ADAIR,

. 1893 .

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1893, by

CHARLES \V. SUPER,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C.

"Von alien Orgamsmen gehen die sprachlichen unser in-
ner stes Wesen am ndchsten an; macht dock die Sprache erst
den Menschen" — SCHLEICHER.

"/« dew Menschen liegt ein Etwas, eine quahtas occulta,
wenn man so will, das ihn von alien Thieren ausnahmslos
sondert. Dieses Etwas nennen wir Vernunft, wenn wir es
als innere Wirksamkeit denken, wir nennen es Sprache,
sobald wir es als Auszeres, als Erscheinung gewahren iind
aujffassen. Keine Vernunft ohne Sprache, keine Sprache
ohne Vernunft. Die Sprache ist der Rubicon, we I c her das
Thier vom Menschen scheidet, welchen kein Thier jemals
ilberschreiten wird" — MAX MtJLLER.

"Al/e Geschichte beruht bei uns auf dem Gegensatz des
religiosen und pohtischen Lebens, auf der Anerkennung
beider als selbstdndig neben einander ; nie hat der Glaube
uns die tr disc hen Aufgaben verges sen lassen, die dem Men-
schen doch auch obliegen und die ihn beschdftigen, so iange
er im Schweisz seines Angesichts sein Brot essen musz.
Diese irdischen Aufgaben verlangen vor allem eine wirt-
schaftliche Ordnung, in der sie allem gelost werden konnen,
ein Recht, wodurch das duszere Leben gepflegt und ge-
schult wird, und einen Staat, der den zeithchen Bedurf-
niszen entspricht und das Recht im innern wie auch nach
auszen zur Erjullung bring I" — ARNOLD.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PREFACE, 7

INTRODUCTION, 11

GENERAL PART.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS, 25

THE GERMAN LANGUAGE CONSIDERED CHRONOLOGICALLY AND

TOPOGRAPHICALLY, 26

PRE-GERMANIC PERIOD — SHIFTING OF SOUNDS AND ACCENT, . 29

THE GERMANIC AND ITS SUB-DIVISIONS, 38

THE OLD HIGH GERMAN PERIOD, . 44

THE MIDDLE HIGH GERMAN PERIOD, 59

LANGUAGES AND DIALECTS 66

THE NEW HIGH GERMAN PERIOD —

1. Extent of Territory, 69

2. The Written Language and Folk-Speech, . . . . 72

3. Unification in a Common Literary Language, . . 77

4. Uniformity in the Spoken Language, . . . .101

5. Some Disadvantages of Uniformity, . . . . 110

6. Characteristics of the New High German, . . .113
THE INNER HISTORY OF THE GERMAN LANGUAGE -

The Influence of Analogy, ( What is Analogy? ) . . 122
INADEQUACY OF THE TRADITIONAL VOCABULARY, . . . 137
AMPLIFICATION OF THE MATERIALS OF SPEECH, . . . 156

1. Changes of Meaning, . . 156

2. Coinage of New Words, 174

3. The Influence of Foreign Language on the German . . 181

SPECIAL, F>ART.

THE NEW HIGH GERMAN ORTHOGRAPHY, 215

THE ACCENT OR INTONATION OF THE GERMAN, . . .217

vi Table of Contents.

THE DOCTRINE OF SOUNDS IN THK GERMAN, 2

THE INFLECTIONS OF THE NEW HIGH GERMAN —

1. The Noun, or Substantive, 237

2. The Pronoun,

3. The Adjective, 253

4. The Verb, • ... 255

WHAT is ANAIAXJY IN LANGUAGE ?

THE SYNTAX OF THE NEW HIGH GERMAN,

THE PARTS OF SPEECH, . . 272

The Noun,

The Verb, 285

PROPER NAMES—

Names of Persons, 292

Names of Places, 306

APPENDIX.

PREFACE.

I WAS led to prepare this volume under the conviction
that there are persons enough in this country inter-
ested in the historical development of the German lan-
guage to justify the undertaking. My object has been to
produce a book that would be read with interest, and could
be read with profit, by people whose knowledge of Ger-
man does not extend much beyond the rudiments and
who know next to nothing of comparative philology.
While not primarily intended as a manual for the class-
room, it is believed that it can be used with advantage in
connection with any German grammar. It has been my
constant aim to make duly prominent the common origin
of the English and German languages, and to use the
facts of the one to elucidate, as far as possible, the facts
of the other. It is only by the study of what has been
that we are able to understand what is. I have now and
then called attention to those general phenomena which
all languages exhibit in common, and have thus, in a
slight measure, invaded the domain of the comparative
philologist. It has also been my special object to show
the relation of dialects to the language of literature, so
that I would fain hope this volume may contribute some-
what to dissipate the erroneous notions so widely preva-
lent on this subject. The importance and persistence
of the dialects of the German make it particularly well
fitted for exhibiting the relation of the two modes of
speech to each other.

My original plan was to prepare a translation of
Behaghel's Geschichte der deutchen Sprache. But I
soon became convinced that the author's point of view

viii A History of the German Language

ought not to be that of one who has before his mind's eye
an English-speaking public. One who writes for Ger-
mans can count on a more thorough and more general
knowledge 6f phonetics, and on a larger measure of pop-
ular interest in the exposition of its laws. Professor Be-
haghel accordingly confined himself more closely to,
and expressed himself more briefly on, this part of his
subject than seemed to me advisable in an English work.
Besides, I am inclined to believe that most of my readers
will share with me the belief that a word or a sentence is
of more general interest as the visible expression of a
thought than as an exemplification of a phonetic law.
Though the statement may seem to involve a contradic-
tion, the literary and pedagogical sides of my subject
have been made more prominent than the scientific and
technical. It seemed to me better, in the long run, to
arouse an interest in the subject that would stimulate
further inquiry than to furnish indisputable facts, even sup-
posing such a thing to be possible. When we recall that
Comparative Philology has been several times rewritten,
both in general and particular, during the last two or three
decades, and that many of its problems are still unsolved,
such a course must be regarded as decidedly advisable.

The result has been that while my book is based on that
of Professor Behaghel, it contains a good deal of matter
that he might not approve, and for which it would be un-
just to hold him responsible. I desire, however, to ex-
press my great obligations to his excellent volume and to
the clear manner with which he treats his theme. I know
no German writer on this subject who combines in an
equal degree both learning and lucidity. I have also
made some use of Kluge's Etymologisches Woerterbuch
der deutschen Sprache; Socin, Schriftsprache und Dia-
lekte im Deutschen; Welker's Dialektgedichte, Skeat's
Principles of English Etymology, first and second series ;
Paul's Grundriss der germanischen Philologie ; and Balg's

A History of the German Language ix

Glossary of the Gothic Language. I have likewise
profited by the lectures of the late Professor von Keller,
of Tuebiugen, with whom I read the Heliand more than a
score of years ago. Several other works have been named
where they throw light on special subjects discussed in
the volume. I am under special obligations to my
brother, O. B. Super, Professor of Modern Languages in
Dickinson College, for suggestions and assistance. His
co-operation has, I feel sure, added no little to the value
of my work.

It is probable that^ have fallen into some errors in trac-
ing the origin and development of words. The path of the
linguistic sciences is thickly strewn with defunct and decay-
ing etymologies, and that I have added some to the num-
ber is more than probable. Nevertheless, I have adopted
none for which I«did not have competent — I would fain
believe the best — authorities, so that I have reason to be-
lieve my mistakes will be found to be comparatively few.
It should be remembered, too, that the necessity of being
brief, may now and then lead the reader to think that I
have been mistaken, where a fuller discussion of the point
in question would show that I am probably correct in the
conclusion I have accepted. Against premature ver-
dicts of this sort I know of no remedy except a careful
examination of the evidence on which I have proceeded.
The chain may occasionally seem to be broken merely
because some of its links have not been exposed to view.

I would fain believe that under more favorable condi-
tions I could have produced a better book than I have.
Most of it was written at long intervals, in brief periods of
an hour or two in length. The official demands of a
laborious position ; daily recurring duties as a teacher ;.
frequent calls for editorial work in another field, made
such large drafts on my time that but little was left for
any self-assumed task. What could have been done
under fairly favorably conditions in a little more than a
2

x A History of the German Language

year, occupied me nearly four years. All this can be no
excuse for any errors of fact the volume may contain, but
it may be some palliation .for minor defects in their ar-
rangement and for infelicities of style of which I fear at-
tentive readers will find only too many. For these the
generous indulgence of the reader is asked. My experi-
ence is but a counterpart of hundreds, perhaps thousands,
of American teachers : whatever they do in the line of
systematic study except so far as it serves the immediate
purposes of the school and class-room, is generally at the
sacrifice of no little personal ease and at the expense of
hours of rest and recreation.

If this volume contributes somewhat to the better
knowledge of a language, which, in my opinion, embodies
a larger number of excellencies than any other of aficient
or modern times, except the Greek, I shall feel that my
labor has not been in vain.

I am not unaware that we have a number of American
scholars whose attainments in Germanic Philology are
much superior to mine, and who are in position to pro-
duce a better book than this. As they have not, however,
thus far undertaken the task, at least so far as the public
is informed, I am led to put forth this modest work in the
hope that it may, at least, prepare the way for something
more excellent. CHARLES W. SUPER.

Athens, O., June, 1892.

INTRODUCTION.

SO far as we know, the Germans from the remotest
times have lived substantially in the same place
where we now find them. It was formerly believed that
they had originally emigrated from Asia, but many of the
best authorities at present favor the theory that the
Aryans originated in Europe; and if this is true, the Ger-
mans must have come into existence on or near the terri-
tory which they now occupy.

When we ask the question intelligently, What was the original
abode of the Aryan race? we can only mean, What part of the
earth's surface did they occupy before splitting up into the frag-
ments that subsequently developed into a number of nationalities?
To answer this we have nothing except the slender evidence of a
very limited vocabulary which was formed in accordance with the
fauna, flora and general topographical conditions among which the
race originally dwelt. But if in their unity they wandered about, as
it is universally admitted they did, over countries having substan-
tially the same physical characteristics, their vocabulary would not
change either by increase or elimination. If these conditions
changed, new words would be formed, which would correspond to
the new habitat. But how are we now to distinguish these from the
older stratum, if the people who used them were still homogeneous ?
Do the primitive words that still survive, date from the beginning of
their career, or from the time when they had become comparatively
stable? The inquiry must always remain barren of trustworthy re-
sults, fascinating as it is for the student of language.

The first mention that is made of the Germans is found
in a description of a voyage made by Pytheas of Massilia
about 340 B. C. He speaks of them as Teutones and calls
them a part of the great Skythian stock. This mistake
on his part in confounding Germans and Skythians is at-
tributable to the ignorance of the writer. To the Greeks
all the people of northern and eastern Europe were
Skythians, — wherever definite knowledge ended there the

12 A History of the German Language

Skythians began. For the name "German" we are
directly indebted to the Romans, who received it from the
Kelts. It probably means " neighbors," the Germans being
for a long time the only foreign nation with whom the
western Kelts came into contact. There are other signifi-
cations of the name proposed, one of the best authen-
ticated being " dwellers in the forest."

Pytheas probably advanced along the coast of the North
Sea as far as the mouth of the Eider, and in the region of
the Elbe, according to his account, was the dividing line
between Kelts and Teutons. Later investigations tend
to show that Pytheas was correct in this matter, for many
of the proper names in northwestern Germany, especially
in the valley of the Ems, are now known to be of Keltic
origin.

The dividing line on the south of the Germans was the
Hercynian Forest, which is merely*a general term for the
range of hills and mountains extending entirely through
central Germany. Hercynia is itself a Keltic name
allied to Kymric erchymiad, elevation. Precisely at what
time they extended their boundaries westward, it is impos-
sible to say, but the extension in that direction occurred
earlier than in a southern direction, for in Caesar's time
the Rhine was substantially the boundary between the
two nations, the Menapii being the only Keltic tribe still
remaining east of the Rhine, and they only in part. It
was about this time that the Volcse, who were then living
in the valley of the Main, were driven out by the Mar-
comanni and Chatti. Near the same time three German
tribes, the Vangiones, Nemeti and Triboci settled along
the Rhine, occupying the territory in the above order from
the mouth of the Neckar to the Swiss boundary. Shortly
before this (about 72 B. C.) Ariovistus had led his Ger-
mans across the Rhine and settled in eastern Gaul.

On the east, the Germans were shut in by the Slavs
who were pressing westward. A line drawn from Koen-

A History of the German Language 13

igsberg, in Prussia, to the confluence of the Bug and
Vistula and then following the latter to its source, will
indicate the boundary between Slavs and Germans.

Although Sweden has been regarded by some as the
original home of the Germans, it is more likely that that
country was at one time inhabited entirely by Finns, and
that these were gradually driven northward by the en-
croachments of the Germans, who crossed over either
from Germany or Denmark. Certain it is that Finnish
antiquities have been found in almost every part of
Sweden.

But this limited space soon proved too small for a
people who increased so rapidly as the Germans, and
emigration became a necessity, especially since their
eastern neighbors not only prohibited expansion in that
direction, but were actually crowding them westward.
However, there is not much doubt that the rapid in-
crease of population common among the Germans will
furnish a sufficient explanation of these vast swarms of
emigrants.

The first of the German tribes to leave their homes en
masse was the Bastarnae, who are found north and west of
the mouth of the Danube as early as the second century
B. C. Next came the great emigration of the Cirnbri and
Teutons. The latter started from the shores of the North
Sea, and there is a tradition that they were compelled to
leave their homes on account of an incursion of the
ocean ; which is not improbable, since the whole north-
west coast of Germany is so little elevated above the sea
level that the tide can only be kept out by artificial means.
Notwithstanding the dykes, about 15,000 persons perished
in a single night in 1634 by a high tide on the west coast
of Schleswig-Holstein. These Teutons moved toward the
southeast, and the Cimbri, who lived on the left bank of
the Elbe in the region of the present Magdeburg, joined
them in their expedition and formed its van-guard. On

14 A History of the German Language

their march they came in contact with the Boii, a
Keltic tribe living in what is now called Bohemia (i. e.
home or land of the Boii). Prevented from settling here,
they continued their journey to the southeast, across
the Danube, through Pannonia until they came into the
land of the Scordisci, a Keltic tribe living about the
junction of the Save and the Danube. They must have
arrived here about 114 B. C. Defeated in a battle with the
Scordisci, they retreated toward the northwest, and on
their way met and defeated the Roman Consul, Papirius
Carbo, at Noreia, 113 B. C. They then advanced west-
ward, passing apparently unhindered through the territory
of the Helvetians, and arriving on the Rhone, on the
confines of the Roman Province, 109 B. C. Here they
defeated the Consul Silvanus, but instead of marching
directly into Italy, they began to plunder Gaul, which
they subjugated almost entirely. In the year 105 they
gained another great victory over the Romans at Arausio
(Orange) after which the Cimbri separated from the
Teutons and returned into the heart of Gaul. They soon
afterwards made an expedition into Spain and plundered
the northwestern part of it, but having been defeated by
the Keltiberians, they returned to Gaul in the year 103
B. C. In the year following, the Teutons were defeated
and nearly annihilated by Marius at Aquae Sextise, in the
Province, and the Cimbri at Vercellse, in northwestern
Italy, in the following year.

It does not lie within the scope of the present volume
to give in this Introduction a history of the various Ger-
man tribes. Such a history must, from the nature of the
case, consist largely of the discussion of obscure points and
contradictory, or, at least, apparently contradictory state-
ments made by ancient writers about them. But it will
be proper to give a brief account of those tribes that made
expeditions beyond the German territory, and for a while
exerted an influence upon the destinies of the countries

A History of the German Language 15

through which they passed, or in which they sojourned
for a greater or less time. We shall thus get a fuller in-
sight into the character of the German people than their
language alone is able to give us. Such a preliminary
sketch is the more important for the reason that it relates,
for the most part, to a period from which the existing lin-
guistic remains are very scanty.

The German nation as such is some eight hundred
years old ; but during most of this time it was broken up
into an almost countless number of different governments
under many different names, and varying greatly in ex-
tent of territory. At the beginning of this period the
tribal differences had been to a considerable extent oblit-
erated, and tribal affinities no longer formed a bond be-
tween the subjects of the different rulers.

The Bastarnse were, according to Zeuss, the first Ger-
man tribe of whom we have any fairly definite knowledge.
At this time they dwelt about the headwaters of the
Vistula. They are subsequently found north and west of
the Danube. In the reign of Perseus, king of Macedon,
they formed an alliance with this monarch against the
Romans. Still later they are found in the service of
Mithridates, king of Pontus. In fact, they appear several
times among the enemies of Rome, until the time of the
emperor Probus, toward the close of the third century>
when they disappear from history.

We first hear of the Burgundians in the present pro-
vince of Posen. In the third century of our era they
emigrated toward the southwest, and lived, during nearly
the whole of the fourth century, along the upper Main.
Toward the end of the century they came to the Rhine,
where they founded a kingdom with Worms as its capital.
It is here that the legends of the Nibelungen find them.
In consideration of their services to the Romans as mer-
cenary troops, they were permitted to establish themselves
in eastern Gaul, especially in the basin of the Rhone.

16 A History of the German Language

Toward the close of the ninth century we find in this
region two Burgundian kingdoms, one of which was called
the ''cisjuran,'' the other the '' transjuran." These ex-
isted separately for some twenty-five years, when they were
again united. For more than four centuries Burgundy
was regarded as at least nominally a part of the German
Empire. The dukedom of Burgundy lay north of these
two kingdoms, and under a succession of ambitious rulers
played an important part in the history of France.
Though varying considerably, at different times in extent
of territory, it had a separate existence until near the close
of the seventeenth century, when it shared the destiny
that had befallen the larger part of the Burgundian king-
doms much earlier, and was absorbed by France.

The Lombards, whose tribal affinities allied them with
the Suevi, first appear about the lower course of the Elbe.
They were probably the last of the German tribes to leave
their homes en masse. For a long time they do not seem
to have played a prominent part in the various tribal
wars and expeditions. So late as the middle of the fifth
century they were subjects of the Heruli in Moravia.
Subsequently they defeated these and made themselves
masters of considerable territory in what is now Hungary.
Later still they formed a union with a horde of Saxons
with whom they marched across the Alps, and before the
end of the sixth century they had made themselves mas-
ters of all northern Italy. Here they founded a kingdom,
with Milan as its capital, that lasted two hundred years.
Their history, which is' a turbulent one, can be traced
until the time of Karl the Great, who made their territory
a part of his empire. Though never numerous, they main-
tained their supremacy by their valor. Few traces of
them now remain, the most conspicuous being the name
Lombardy, which is still applied to that part of Italy
which they once held in subjection.

The Vandals first emerge into the dim light of history

A History of the German Language 17

dwelling along the mid-course of the Oder. Like most of
their brethren they joined various expeditions against the
Romans, but subsequently adopted a more settled life in
Pannonia. About the beginning of the fifth century they
forced their way across Gaul into Spain, where they
founded a kingdom, the name of which is still preserved
in that of the province Andalusia. They afterward passed
over into Africa, subdued its northern portion, captured
Carthage, which they made their capital, built large fleets
with which they plundered the islands of the Mediter-
ranean, as well as the adjacent coasts, and finally took
Rome itself. As is wont to be the case, they now began
to degenerate by reason of their prosperity and fancied
security. In the year 524 their King Gelimer was
defeated by the Roman general Belisarius, and taken to
Constantinople to grace his triumph, while the kingdom
of the Vandals was made a part of the Eastern Empire.

The Goths had a tradition that their original. home was
on an island called Scandzia, and there may be some con-
nection between their name and that of the southermost
province of Sweden. In the time of Tacitus .they lived
along the lower course of the Vistula. Probably about
the middle of the second century they started on their
long march toward the southwest, which ended by their
settling in the regions north and west of the Black Sea.
Here they soon appear as Eastern and Western Goths,
these appellations designating the relative geographical
positions which their two main divisions occupy to each
other. For a period of nearly two centuries they made
occasional incursions into the Roman empire. It was in
one of these raids that they burned the splendid temple of
Artemis in the year 260. (See Acts of the Apostles,
chapter 19.) A few years before the beginning of the
fifth century the Eastern Gothic tribes were subdued by
the Huns, but the Western Goths continued to plunder
southeastern Europe, and crossing over into Italy they

18 A History of the German Language

finally captured Rome itself in 410. Still continuing to
move westward they are found for three centuries longer
in France, Spain, and Africa, when they disappear from
history. The remembrance of their former presence is
still preserved in the name of the Spanish province, Cata-
lonia (Gotalonia). The Eastern Goths, as subjects of the
Huns, took part in several of the expeditions of their king
Attila. After the death of this monarch they achieved
their independence, and settled in what is now Austria
proper. Somewhat later they made an expedition into
Italy, the northern portion of which they brought under
subjection, and finally extended their rule over the entire
peninsula. After varying fortunes they disappear as a
separate people, toward the end of the sixth century.

A glance at the map of Europe in the last quarter of the
fifth century, when their power was at its zenith, shows
the following territory in the possession of the Germans :
The Suevi were masters of the northwestern portion of the
Iberian peninsula. Their kingdom was about as large as
Portugal. The Western Goths possessed the remainder
of the peninsula and France as far northward as the river
Loire. The kingdom of the Burgundians lay in the basin
of the Rhone. The Franks held sway over an extensive
territory lying on both sides of the Rhine between
Treves, Mayence and the North Sea. North and east
of them were the Saxons. Toward the south between the
Franks and the Burgundians were the Alemani, and east
of the Saxons, Franks and Alemani were the Thuringians,
a people whose eastern boundary cannot be defined. The
head-waters of the Oder were occupied by the Longobardi ;
directly south of them dwelt the Heruli ; and still further
south, between the Danube and the river Aluta, were the
lands of the Gepids. West of the last two tribes lay the
kingdom of the Ostrogoths, some of whom were, however,
in Illyria and subjects of the Eastern Empire. The
Rugians had settled in the Grand Duchy of Austria on.

A History of the German Language 19

both sides of the Danube. From here to the Mediter-
ranean, including Italy and Sicily, stretched the kingdom
of Odoacer, while the Vandals held in subjection most of
Africa west of the Great Syrtis, Corsica, Sardinia, and the
Balearic Isles. The Saxons and Angles had just begun to
make settlements on the coast of England.

After this brief survey of the earliest history of the Ger-
mans we next proceed to define the relation of the Teu-
tonic to the other most important languages of the world.
It seems important to do so here, though we shall find it
necessary to repeat some of our statements farther along.

The German is an important member of the great family
of languages variously designated as the Aryan, the Indo-
Germanic and the Indo-European. This family is usually
divided by philologists into nine different groups or
branches of which three belong to Asia and six to Europe.

The Keltic, the most westerly of these groups, is at
present the native speech of three or four millions of
people in Scotland, Wales, Ireland and a few departments
of France. Aside from a small number of inscriptions
found chiefly in the region of the central Saone little is
known of the Keltic in its earliest forms. The oldest
monuments of the Welsh dialect date from the eighth
century and consist chiefly of legendary poems and chroni-
cles. The Breton, another dialect of the Keltic, was
probably transplanted into France in the fifth century.
It closely resembles the Welsh though its literary monu-
ments are not older than the fourteenth century. Some-
what later it is largely represented in glosses to Latin
authors and in the Middle Ages it possessed an extensive
literature in the form of Chronicles, Legends, and Laws.

The Slavic is the most easterly of the European groups
and is spoken by about ninety millions of people.
Numerically it is the first in importance of the exclusively
continental groups. It is the principal language of Russia
in Europe, and to it belong the Polish, the Bohemian (or

20 A History of the German Language

Czech), the Servian, the Bulgarian and a number of less
important dialects. The earliest monuments of the Polish
language date from the tenth century, and Bohemia had
.an extensive literature dating from the Middle Ages and ex-
tending to the time of the Hussite wars. The alphabet of
the Slavic was adapted from the Greek though very in-
adequate to its intended purpose, by the brothers Cyrillus
and Methodius who first preached Christianity to the
Bulgarians in the ninth century. Its oldest literary re-
mains are the Gospels translated by the missionaries and
some liturgical works in the Old Bulgarian, which, though
not the mother of the other Slavic tongues, stands in the
relation of an older sister. Where this language was
spoken has not been definitely determined, but probably
somewhere in the region between the Black and Adriatic
Seas. Slavic dialects are still used to some extent in
Saxony and Prussia and at one time a considerable por-
tion of what is now Germany was occupied by Slavs.

The Lithuanian group is spoken by about two and
a half millions of people in northeastern Prussia and the
adjoining territory of Russia. Its literature is of very little
importance and it hardly at any time attained the dignity
of a written language. But this group is of great interest
to philologists because it has conserved in a remarkable
degree some prominent characteristics of the primitive
Indo-European language.

The Italian group has no extant literature of any im-
portance of earlier date than the comedies of Plautus,
though there are some fragments of older date both in
Latin and other Italic dialects. Its most important ex-
tant representatives are the French, the Spanish, the
Portuguese, and the Italian.

The Greek group has been confined from the remotest
times to substantially the same territory it now occupies.
Its literary monuments are several centuries older than
those of any other European language. It has never been

A History of the German Language 21

spoken by a very large number of persons, but its influ-
ence upon the civilization of the world has been much
greater than that of any other group. Its dialects have
diverged less, generally speaking, from the parent lan-
guage than has been the case with any other member of
the Indo-European stock, and modern Greek is still sub-
stantially the same language it was nearly three thousand
years ago.

The Germanic or Teutonic group embraces the Ger-
man proper, the Dutch, the English, the Danish,
and the Swedish. German proper is the native language
of about sixty millions of people in continental Europe,,
but the Teutonic group of languages is not only spoken
by a larger number of persons than any other of the Indo-
European stock, but it represents the most potent influ-
ence in literature, science and all the arts of civilized life.
Its oldest extant literature is represented by the Maeso-
Gothic dialect and dates from the close of the fourth cen-
tury. This dialect was at that time spoken in the region
of the lower Danube, probably in what is now Bulgaria.

The earliest literary monuments of the German lan-
guage, aside from the translation of the Bible by Ulfilas,.
are confined, roughly speaking, to southwestern Germany.
We first meet with the so-called glosses or interlinear
translations of Latin texts into German, and lists of Latin
words arranged either alphabetically or according to
subjects with their equivalents in German. These were
prepared for pedagogical purposes. There are extant two-
longer poems dating from the ninth century — the old
Saxon Heliand, a sort of New Testament history by an
unknown author, and Otfried's Harmony of the Gospels.
Toward the end of the eleventh century we meet with sev-
eral longer religious poems. Nevertheless, the literature of
the ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries, must be called
scanty, and all of it together makes a volume of but mod-
erate size. To the close of the eighth century belong like-

22 A History of the German Language

wise some brief translations of liturgies and catechetical
writings. The ninth century adds some other religious
writings and translated portions of the Bible. The Com-
mentary of Notker is usually assigned to about the year
1000, and it is believed that Willeram's Paraphrase of the
Song of Solomon is about a century younger. Both these
contain a liberal intermixture of Latin.

This literature is somewhat widely distributed, but it
belongs chiefly to Austrian Germany, Bavaria, eastern
Switzerland, Alsatia and Fulda, once an independent
bishopric, but now a part of Prussia. The Heliand above
mentioned is of a more northern origin. With the twelfth
century German poetry entered upon a career of rapid
development and toward its close the culmination of the
first classical period had been attained. It was, however,
still confined chiefly to South Germany, and it is only in
the two following centuries that there is an intellectual
movement northward. The prose literature of the
twelfth century consists chiefly of sermons, and its mass is
largely increased during the thirteenth and fourteenth cen-
turies. To the first part of the thirteenth century must
be assigned the so-called Sachsenspiegel, a collection of
provincial laws, and this is a few decades earlier than the
Schwabenspiegel, a similar collection. These are the first
legal writings in German. Of about the same age is the
first historical work in the native language, a Chronicle of
the World, in Low-German. Toward the close of the
thirteenth century we begin to meet with German title-
deeds and other official documents. With the fourteenth
century they increase in number rapidly. The earliest of
these belong to southwestern Germany, but before the end
of the thirteenth century they are met with in almost all
parts of the nation, except the eastern parts of what is
now Prussia. The German is employed to considerable
extent for purposes of historical narration, and in the fif-
teenth century literature proper (belles lettres) is exten-

23

sively cultivated. During this period many devotional
books and translations of portions of the Bible were pub-
lished and widely read. The rise of Protestantism was
favorable to the cultivation of German, and in the six-
teenth century it had become the recognized medium for
the adherents of this faith, while the Latin continued to
be the official language of the Church of Rome. But the
rise of the German universities was unfavorable to the
German language. The Latin continued to be the means
of communication among the learned in all the profes-
sions, and the use of the German was considered unworthy
of the scholar. According to Paulsen seventy per cent,
of the books printed in Germany about the year 1570 were
in the Latin language. At no other time does the Ger-
man seem to have been so far in the background, and from
this point it begins to move slowly to the front. But not
until 1680 were more German books published than Latin.
In 1730'only about one-third of the issues from the press
were Latin, and toward the close of the century this lan-
guage had virtually ceased to be in general use even
among scholars. The proportion of Latin and German
seems to have varied considerably in the writings pertain-
ing to the different professions and departments of learn-
ing. In the domain of Protestant theology German
probably predominated from the first, except in purely
doctrinal discussions. In historical works German was
chiefly used as early as the end of the seventeenth cen-
tury; it also predominated for philosophy and medicine at
the beginning of the eighteenth century. For writings
on jurisprudence Latin continued to be chiefly employed
until about the middle of the eighteenth century, when
for the first time German works are in the majority. At
the universities Latin was exclusively used in the lectures
until 1687. From this time German came into use grad-
ually, but Latin was not entirely superseded until quite
recently. It was largely owing to this preference for

24 A History of the German Language

Latin as the language of books that the Germans were the
latest of all the important nations of Europe to develop a
modern classical literature. For about two hundred years
anterior to the appearance of Goethe, Germany produced
hardly a single work belonging to the department of
belles lettres. The best intellects devoted themselves to
the study of antique life, and the literature in which it is
embodied, in apparent ignorance of the unlimited capabil-
ities of their mother tongue. This unwise and almost ex-
clusive devotion to foreign languages had a deleterious
effect on even those authors who wrote in German. Not
having had the rhetorical training of the writers of an-
tiquity their sentences are generally long and lumbering,
inartistically constructed and heavy.

During a part of the eighteenth century this predilec-
tion for foreign languages and literature manifested itself
in a new direction, and French was cultivated to a consid-
able extent. This was especially the case among the
nobility, and those who aped their manners. It is chiefly
due to the influence and writings of L,essing, Goethe, and
Schiller that modern German literature attained the high
place it now holds.

GENERAL PART.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

THERE is, perhaps, nothing that we can study and
investigate that is more mysterious than lan-
guage. We may divide and subdivide, and analyze
as much as we please, there always remains a resi-
duum that defies our closest scrutiny. We know that
a word belonging to an unfamiliar foreign language affects
the mind, the sensorium, differently from one to which we
are accustomed. We may say that one enters the intel-
lect, while the other only enters the ear. We talk about
an awakened image, a responsive chord ; but there is no
real image and no actual chord. These are but figures of
speech taken from the material world intended to illus-
trate, as well as they may, psychic processes. They are
symbols of which the value is pretty generally under-
stood, but they are only symbols. We have no name and
no designation for the thing itself. — no words that in the
first instance were used, only of mental operations. Lan-
guage is something with which we operate, something of
which the power and functions are well known, but of Us
essence we know little or nothing. We often talk of lan-
guage as if it was something external, or as if it were the
dead matter that we find written or printed, when in
truth it has no existence, is not language in the proper
sense of the word, if it is not vitalized by life and thought.
The body of language, the living and only real word
exists but the moment it is uttered ; its imperfect image is
sometimes fixed on the printed page, or on some plastic
substance ; which, however, tells us nothing until brought
in contact with the living, thinking mind.
3

26 A History of the German Language

There are languages that are not written ; tens of
thousands of dialects exist, or have existed, that were
never put in books or on paper, and yet they were or are
as truly human speech as those that are the custodians of
the most extensive literature. We are too apt to regard
the language we find written or printed as the only real
language, when, in fact, it is nothing more than its faint
image. I look at the instrument with which I write. I
think of it as the pen, die Feder, la plume, designating it
by a different name in each language with which I am
acquainted. Here the thing awakens in my mind what I
may call a vocal image, even though I do not necessarily
give it voice. Or I hear some one pronounce the name of
the object, and it at once brings before my '' mind's eye "
the concept of the pen, and so there goes on incessantly
in the world, and has gone on for countless ages, this
transition from concept to vocal expression, — this transla-
tion of thought into words; and from vocal expression
to concept, the transmutation of vocal expression into
thought. We think, then speak or write ; others speak or
write, and their words stimulate thought in us.

THE GERMAN LANGUAGE CONSIDERED CHRONOLOGICALLY
AND TOPOGRAPHICALLY.

Matters of every day occurrence rarely attract our atten-
tion or stimulate us to reflection. Nothing is more com-
mon than the words that make up our speech — the sen-
tences we meet in our ordinary reading. These things
are, however, rarely the subject of remark among the illit-
erate, to whom language is something that exists as a mat-
ter of course. But among people of intelligence there is
a lively interest in the phenomena of speech or language,
and they are frequently the theme of friendly discussion.
How are certain facts to be explained? If we ourselves-

A Jfisfory of the German Language 27

always used the same form of expression for the same
thought, or saw others doing so, there is no doubt that
questions of language would interest us as little as the
observation that water flows down hill, or that iron rusts.
But the phenomena of speech do not have this uniformity '•>
our attention is continually drawn to differences in the
time, the place, and the personality of the speaker.

While it may seem perfectly natural for the educated
man of the present day to take note of these phenomena,
and in accordance with the scientific spirit of our time, to
arrange them so far as may be in categories, the world
has made slow progress toward this attainment.

The Hebrews had no grammar of their language until
more than a thousand years after Christ. The Greeks
made no scientific study of their language during its
Golden Age ; and not till it had sunk far in decay, or
about half a century B. C., was the first Greek gram-
mar composed. This became the basis of nearly all
subsequent grammars of both the Greek and Latin lan^
guages. The grammatical study of the Teutonic Ian-,
guages, in a truly scientific spirit, dates from the appear-
ance of Grimm's Deutsche Grammatik, at the beginning
of the present century. But good grammars of either
English or German for young learners are hardly, older
than the present generation. It is the different ways in.
which the same thought may be expressed that more than,
anything else awakens reflection upon language. These
differences are not merely casual, but are the necessary
phenomena which make up the life of a language. To
record and explain, as far as it can be done, the changes
which a language undergoes, is to write its history. This
present work is intended to be a brief resume of the most
important changes the German language has undergone
from the earliest period within our knowledge up to our
day ; for it is only after a study of its growth that we are.
in a position to understand its present structure.

28 A History of the German Language

The German language, as the term is generally under-
stood and as it is here employed, is the speech used by
the different members of the German family, but this
should be carefully distinguished from the Germanic
family, which is more comprehensive. Its territory is in
the main, that embraced within the German empire, but
extending somewhat beyond its borders so as to include
a part of Switzerland, German Austria, contiguous por-
tions of Russia, and settlements in other parts of the
world. The language of the Netherlands may also be
reckoned as belonging to the German.

Authorities differ considerably as to the number of per-
sons whose native speech is German. Meyer's Lexicon
gives the number of Germans in the empire as 42,000,000,
and a recent writer in the London Times, as 47,000,000.
Hovelacque estimates those in Austria at 9,000,000, and
in Switzerland at 2,000,000. Morfill puts the number of
Germans in the Russian empire at about 1,240,000, and
Meyer- Waldeck at 2,000,000. The following table is be-
lieved to be substantially correct :

Number of Germans in the Empire - - 45,000,000

Number of Germans in Austria - 10,000,000

Number of Germans in Switzerland - - 1,800,000

' Number of Germans in Russia -.--.,- 1,500,000

Number of Germans in France - 1 50,000

Number of Germans in Holland - - - 100,000

Number of Germans in Italy - - - - 30,000

' Number of Germans in all other lands - - 100,000

Total - - - - - - - 58,680,000

The Allgemeine Erdkunde, published by Tempsky, in
Prague, says that Europe contains one hundred and five
millions of people belonging to the Germanic race ;
ninety-eight belonging to the Romanic ; ninety-six be-
longing to the Slavic; and three millions belonging to
other Indo-European races. About thirty millions are not
of Indo-European stock.

A History of the German Language 29

The census of the United States for 1880 shows that
there were in this country at that date about two million
persons who were natives of the German Empire. The
number of persons whose father or mother was a native
German was considerably larger. These should be added
to the table given above.

If we wish to examine the beginnings of the Geiman
language and to trace its historical development from its
inception it will not suffice to confine ourselves within the
limits above prescribed. Our first and introductory chap-
ter will take us far beyond these. It will be necessary to
consider the language in its remoUst discoverable rela-
tionships.

PRE-GERMANIC PERIOD — SHIFTING OF SOUNDS AND
ACCENT.

The different members of the German family are only a
fragment of a larger whole ; they are a portion of the great
Germanic stock to which belong, among the nations of
our time, the English and the Scandinavians. The sepa-
ration of the Germans proper from their remaining kins-
folk, necessarily brought with it a change in their lan-
guage. If, therefore, there is an agreement on any point
in the structure of the German and Scandinavian lan-
guages, it may in most cases be assumed with confidence
that it takes us back to a period anterior to that separa-
tion. A comparative study of the different Germanic dia-
lects enables us then to form a pretty correct idea of the lan-
guage used by all the Germanic tribes in common. This
language is called the General Germanic or Primitive
Teutonic speech.

But the science of language enables us to do more. By
it we are placed in position to prove that just as the
English and Scandinavians are related to the Germans in
a certain degree of kinship, so the latter are in turn

30 A History of the German Language

related, but more remotely, to a larger circle of people of
the same blood. This larger circle embraces the natives
of India, of Iran, of Armenia, as well as the Greeks, the
Italians, whose chief representatives were the ancient
Romans, the Kelts, the Slavs and the Lithuanians. All
these formed, at one time in the far distant past, a homo-
geneous nation, and spoke a common language, now gen-
erally known as the Indo-Germanic The people them-
selves are called Indo-Europeans or Aryans. It is possi-
ble to form a fairly definite idea of this language by a com-
parison of the various languages that are descended from
it. No amount of research can take us further back than
this point. The attempt has been made by several differ-
ent scholars to show that ultimately a relationship existed
also between the Indo-European and Semitic languages,
the best known of which is the Hebrew, and the most im-
portant, the Arabic, but the results of their labors have
convinced few competent scholars.

See, for instance, Andreas Raabe, Gemeinschaftliche Grammatik
der arischen und der semitischen Sprachen, Leipzig, 1874; Delitzsch
Studien ueber Indogermanisch-Semitische Wurzelverwandschaft,
Leipzig, 1873 ; and von Raumer, DIP Urverwandschaft der semiti-
schen und der ariscben Spracheu, in Kuhn's Zeitscbrift, Band XXII.
More accessible are tbe articles Philology and Shemitic Languages in
McClintock and Strong's Cyclopedia. They are written by different
authors and maintain radically different views. The belief seems to
be gaining ground that all languages are descended from one parent
speech, though it is at present held for anthropological rather than
linguistic reasons.

But if it is as yet impossible for the most thorough in-
vestigation to penetrate beyond the point above indicated,
this does not prove or even make it probable that the
Indo-European bore a close resemblance to the primitive
human speech. It was, on the contrary, a highly devel-
oped language that postulates a long period of formation
and development, and, so far as structure is concerned,
there is no radical difference between Indo-European (or
Indo-Germanic) and Germanic. The former had about

A History of the German Language 31

the same and an equal number of sounds as the latter; in
richness of grammatical forms it was superior. In the
structure of the complete sentence it was, however, in-
ferior, though it already exhibits the principle of subordi-
nating one sentence to another by means of conjunctions.
The following pages set forth the most important
sounds of the Indo-European tongue, together with the
specific terms used to designate them. It is customary to
divide them into vowels and consonants. The vowels
were:

Simole/*' e' *' °» "' short
mPle\a, e, i, 6, u, long.

Compound (or diphthongs) ai, au, ei, eu.

Until a few years ago, philologists, almost without exception, held
to the opinion that the vowel system of the Indo-European had but
three sounds, namely, a, i, u. Herein they followed such leaders as
Grimm, Schleicher, and Curtius. The investigations of the so-called
" Junggrammatiktr" (ueo-grammarians) have, however, caused this
view to be generally abandoned by ah1 except those whose long ser-
vice in defense of the old theory has made it morally impossible for
them to adjust themselves to the newest discoveries.

The consonants are divided into sonants (voiced) and
surds (voiceless). Of the former class the Indo-European
possessed the semi-vowels j (English y) and w, the liquids
r and 1, and the nasals m and n ; of the latter there were
two classes :

(a) Simple and momentary, because they did not ad-

mit of lengthening ;

(b) Continuative, or enduring.

The momentary or explosive consonants are further
sub-divided into gutturals, k and g ; labials, p and b ; and
dentals, t and d ; or into tenues k, t, p ; and medials, g,
b, d.

The continuative consonants, or those that may be in-
definitely prolonged, sometimes called fricatives or spir-
ants, are chiefly represented by s.

32 A History of the German Language

The compound consonants are combinations of the
media with the letter h, thus forming gh, dh, and bh.

These two letters were, however, sounded separately,
somewhat as in log-house, god-head, etc.

At a time, which cannot now be determined, the Ger-
manic language separated from the primitive Indo-
European tongue — in other words changes began to take
place in one part of this tongue, from which the remain-
ing portion continued free. When we examine the list of
words which the Germanic has in common with the Greek
and Latin, we notice that the vowels and sonant con-
sonants are, in the main, the same in all three, but that the
surds, except s, have, in all cases, undergone a change ;
however, with such regularity and consistency that we
commonly find a certain consonant in Greek and Latin
represented by a certain other consonant in the Germanic.
This phenomenon of sound-shifting is usually called
Grimm's Law, for the reason that Jacob Grimm, acting on
a suggestion of the Danish philologist Rask, first clearly
stated the conditions under which it takes place This
law, however, expresses only the first of two similar
changes that took place during the life of the Germanic
language. The facts may be ranged under three general
heads :

(1) The tenuis of the Indo-European, which is repre-
sented for us by the Greek and Latin, becomes a spirant
(fricative) in the Germanic. It is necessary to make a dis-
tinction here which could fitly be omitted in describing
the sounds of the Indo-European. Just as there are surd
and sonant, or voiceless and voiced — momentary-conso-
nants, so there are likewise surd and sonant fricatives.
Now, the spirant that represents the Indo-European tenuis
is voiceless. It is also to be remarked that the guttural
spirant is represented in the Germanic by h. Accordingly
k becomes h, p becomes f, and t becomes th, pronounced
as in "third." The following words illustrate this law:

A History of the German Language

33:

icepas

KVV09
KWTTT)

PRIMITIVE INITIAL K-SOUNDS BECOME H.

LATIN. GERMAN. ENGLISH.

cord-is Herz heart

cornu Horn horn

canis Hund hound

capulum Heft haft

PRIMITIVE INITIAL P-SOUNDS BECOME F.

LATIN. GERMAN. ENGLISH.

7T€T-0/Aat

pater

Vater (fater)

father

penna (petua)

Feder

feather

pluit

flieszen

fleet

Flotte

float

PRIMITIVE MEDIAL T BECOMES TH.

LATIN. GERMAN.

(jtpdrrjp

frater
mater
pater

Bruder (bruodar) bro-ther
Mutter (muotar) mo-ther
Vater (fatar) fa-ther

NOTE. - These three examples are given because they illustrate the-
phonetic law in a general way, though they do not all strictly be-
long to the same category. See also page 51.

These lists might be considerably extended, and the
student will do well to search for other examples. It
needs to be kept in mind that the object here is to give
equivalents in form, as far as possible, though not in
meaning ; for the farther we go from the parent speech
the more widely do the significations of words generally
part asunder. The four words for "father" and
"mother" have precisely the same meaning in the four
languages above given, but the Greek (j>pa.TT)p is not the
same in sense with the other words placed opposite. So
" canis " and " Hund '' mean the same thing, but the
meaning of " hound " is more restricted. The words
placed with TTCT- and TrAe- or TA.O-, are all related both in form
and signification, but the minor differences are important-
It will be noticed that the English often bears a closer re-

34 A History of the German Language

semblance to the primitive Germanic than the modern
German.

(2) The law,%stated in its most general terms, is that
the Indo-European aspirates appear as medise in the Ger-
manic. We need to remember, then, that the primitive
gh, dh, and bh correspond to the Greek x, # and <£, and to
the Latin h, f and f. We thus get :

PRIMITIVE INITIAL, GH BECOMES G.

GREEK. LATIN. GERMAN. ENGLISH.

hortus Garten garden

(h)anser Gans goose

INITIAL DH BECOMES D.

GREEK. LATIN. GERMAN. ENGLISH.

Ovpa fores Thiire, Thor door

6vya.T-i)p Tochter daughter

6r)p6<s ferus Tier deer

INITIAL BH BECOMES B.

GREEK. LATIN. GBRMAN. ENGLISH.

fero ge(baren) bear

fagus Bucbe bucl!' wbeat)

<f)paK- farcio(frac-) Burg burg, bury

We saw above that the Greek word for "brother " is not
-derived from the same root with the Latin and Germanic,
but from one entirely different, as is evident from the
word dSeA<£d?. We notice a similar omission in the Latin,
where the place of the missing word for daughter has been
taken by '' filia." There are comparatively few words of
the original Aryan that have representatives, or descend-
ants, in all the branches into which it subsequently split.

But the facts do not, in all cases, accord with the law
stated above. Some dialects have g only at the beginning
of words or not at all ; in its stead they have a voiced gut-
tural spirant. Some dialects again, especially the Low
German, do not have a labial middle mute (b) in the in-
terior of words, but supply its place with a sonant spirant,

A History of the German Language

35

a sound lying between the German f and w, and which
may be represented by bh. These spirants have not pro-
ceeded from mediae ; they maintain their original place.
It is evident that our second law is not of universal appli-
cation. It is probable that all the aspirates of the Indo-
European first become spirant, and these afterward in
part passed into mediae, or middle mutes, and in part
have persisted to the present time.

(3) The mediae become tenues (the middle mutes be-
come smooth).

INITIAL G BECOMES K.

yews
ye'vos

gena

genus

Km 11
kind

INITIAL, D BECOMES T.

LATIN. GERMAN.

Zahre

Suo

lacruma
(dacruma)

duo Zwei

domao Zahm

PRIMITIVE MEDIAL B BECOMES P.

LATIN. GERMAN.

chin

cild (?)

kin

kind

tear

two
tame

turba

(Dorp)
Dorf

-thorpe
-throp
And, perhaps,

Kai/i/aj3is cannabis Hanf hemp

There is no example where this change occurs initially.
The syllable -thorp or -thorpe is lound as an affix in many names of
persons and places, as Ibthorpe, Althorpe, Wilstrop. In England
these names occur chiefly in those portions where the Danes made
permanent settlements. The metathesis of r is very common in the
Indo-European languages, and is often found in words that have
passed from Anglo-Saxon into English, as urnan-run, brid —
bird, etc.

Owing to these shiftings a marked change passed over
the vocalization of the Indo-European. The Germanic no
longer, possesses aspirates ; but the number of spirants,
the only representative of which was s in the primitive
tongue has considerably increased.

36 A History of the German Language

These three sets of consonant shiftings had no connec-
tion with each other, and were not contemporaneous. In
fact, it can be shown that the transformation of media to
tennis is much moie recent than the other two changes.
Neither is there any connection of cause and effect be-
tween them. It cannot be said that the media shifted to
tenuis because the aspirates became media in order to
avoid the concurrence of certain sounds ; that is, in order
to prevent the coincidence of the old sound with a differ-
ent new one ; for, to say nothing of other causes, such a
trend toward differentiation which should operate to pre-
vent the coming together of certain sounds and verbal
forms, is entirely foreign to the language It has hitherto
been impossible to assign any valid reasons for the shift-
ings we have just explained; and every theory that has
been proposed is too fanciful to merit a place here.

But the laws that we set forth underlie an apparent ex-
ception. We find that the Indo-European k, t, and p are
represented not only by h, th, and f, but also by g, d, and
b. Besides the correspondence exhibited in (1) above, we
find also the following :

dico zeigen

(iu)clytus laut loud

capio hebeii heave

In the first series we have the Latin and Greek k-sound
represented by the German g ; in the second, the Latin
and Greek t by the English d ; and in the third, p by b.
How shall these exceptions be accounted for?

A study of the laws of accentuation in the different lan-
guages furnishes an explanation. We shall have frequent
occasion to show that the accent plays an important part
in the fortunes of words. Now, the Indo-European ac-
cent and the Germanic are not the same; that is, the orig-
inal accent was not persistent. The Germanic tongues
now place the chief stress on the same syllable, both in

A History of the German Language 37

radical and derivative words. In such words as Hauser,
hauslich and Hauslichkeit, the accent remains on the word
Haus, from which they are derived. So in English we
say head, heady, headstrong, headstrongness, and even
interest, interesting, interestingly and disinterestedness;
for, though these words were not originally English, there
is a constant tendency to naturalize loan-words by bringing
them under its own laws of accent. As a rule, the first
syllable of a word carries the accent. The case was other-
wise in the Indo-European where it shifted from one sylla-
ble to another in the same word. A familiar illustration
is furnished by the nominatives MTW and avSpes which be-
come in the genitive p-rjrpos and avSpw. Any syllable may
receive the accent. This mobility of the Indo-European
accent continued into the Germanic period, and had an
influence on the displacement of the smooth mutes. If it
preceded one of these letters, or sounds, which may be
represented thus — k, — t, — p, the tenuis was changed
into a spirant; if it followed, the result was a middle mute
(media). This law will be further exemplified on the fol-
lowing pages.

These laws are of great importance because they enable
us to distinguish the words of pure Germanic stock from
those of later introduction. Only words in which
these consonantal shiftings have taken place are of native
origin ; but those in which gutturals correspond to gut-
turals, labials to labials, or dentals to dentals, are not
originally related. The German Kopf cannot, therefore,
be cognate with the Latin " caput," nor Fuchs with
" fuscus. '' It is true Kammer and " chamber " are identical
with the Latin " camera," but this is not a word of German
origin, but simply borrowed from the Latin. In like
manner Dom is the Germanized form ot the Latin
" domus."

By means of Verner's Law — as the law just given is
called from the name of its discoverer — we are enabled to

38 A History of the German Language

determine the place of the accent in Aryan words. In
those cases where an Indo-European k or t or p corre-
sponds to German sonant the accent must have followed
these letters ; where they are represented by a spirant it
preceded them. Or, more fully : Indo-European k, t>
or p are sometimes represented by h, th, or f, and
sometimes by g, d, or b. How the accent de-
termines which of the two it shall be may be seen
by the following examples : The Latin pater, mater and
frater all have the original medial t ; but in German the
words appear as Vater, Mutter and Bruder. We find,
however, that the two former had in the pre-Teutonic
period the accent on the final syllable, while the latter had
it on the first.

The Greek en-rd represents the original accent. Here
£7T- alone would, according to Grimm's Law, become sef,
and we find, for example, capt-us appear as haft. But the
exception above noted gives us the O. H. G. sib-un, a
word that also has the Gothic consonants, while regularly
we should get sif-un. The cases where h stands in place
of the regular g are comparatively rare.

An article in the Eclectic Review for July, 1892, by Max Muller,
reprinted from the Nineteenth Century, and entitled, " On the
Enormous Antiquity of the East," incidentally discusses the effect
of the shifting accent on certain English words.

THE GERMANIC AND ITS SUB-DIVISIONS.

These two processes, namely, the rotation of the conso-
nants above given, and the shifting of the accent, achieved
the independent existence of the primitive Germanic
tongue. It still possessed considerable wealth in forms.
The verb had a separate form for the passive voice and the
noun one to be used in answering the questions, .where?

A History of the German Language 39"

whence? wherewith? The verb has also suffered consid-
erable curtailment in its tenses. But the Germanic verb
exhibits a mode of expressing time that is peculiar to
itself; i. e., it did not exist in the earlier language. This
is the so-called weak preterit, klagte, legte, and corres-
ponds to what most English grammarians call the regular
verb. In the structure of its sentences the primitive
Teutonic used methods no longer in use in the German.
To express cause or time the latter is obliged to employ a
subordinate sentence ; but the primitive Germanic, like the
Greek and Latin, could do this by means of a noun and
participle : als der vater kam was faderi kumondi. In like
manner where the modern German employs als or denn to
designate a comparison, the parent tongue could, like the
Greek and Latin, make use of a case. Niu saiwala mat's
ist fodeinai jah leik wastjom ? Matt. vi. 25. Here ''than
food" and "than raiment" (garments), is expressed by
nouns in the dative case.

The Germans and the primitive Germanic language
first broke up into three grand divisions, each embracing
three groups of tribes whose members were more closely
related to those within than to those without. The first
is called the Gothic, the second the Scandinavian. These
two probably resemble each other more closely than either
resembles the third group. They are usually called the
East Germanic, and the third group the West Germanic.
It is reasonable to suppose that the last named, though
still constituting a homogeneous people, separated from
the main s'ock some time before it split into two
branches.

The first appearance of the ancient Goths on the stage
of history is a brilliant episode in the national life of the
Germans. In the plentitude of their native power they
founded a monarchy on Roman territory. Not long, how-
ever, were they able to resist the seductive influences of
Roman civilization. Rome yielded to the superior cul-

-40 A History of the German Language

ture of Greece, though her all-conquering arms and invin-
cible valor easily destroyed her political independence.
So the Germans all along the line of contact were in their
turn subdued by Roman arts and Roman letters. The
language of the Goths fell into decay ; though doubtless a
considerable portion of its vocabulary passed into Italian,
Spanish and Portuguese, where it is still preserved. The
syntax of these languages likewise bears traces of Ger-
manic influence. But no written memorials exist from
which we may learn the language in which Gelimer sang
the sorrows of captivity ; we know next to nothing of the
speech of the Gepidae and the Bastarnse ; nor have the
Ostro-Goths left us any written memorials of their exis-
tence. Of the Visi-Goths — the branch that once dwelt in
the Balkan peninsula — we possess somewhat extended
literary monuments in their own tongue. These are the
oldest existing remnants of any Germanic language. They
comprise fragments of a translation of the Bible made for
the most part by Wulfila or Ulfilas, the first bishop of the
Goths, about A. D. 350.

This translation, while to some extent under the influ-
ence of the Greek and Latin, from which it was made,
furnishes a fair sample of the language of the Goths. In
its sounds it does not differ materially from the primitive
Teutonic type, and affords us in the main a true picture
of the same. In richness of etymological forms, it has,
however, suffered some losses, and is somewhat less prim-
itive in certain regards than the West Germanic dialects
that have come down to us from a much later period.

Speaking accurately, the extant remains of Gothic literature com-
prise the larger portion of the four Gospels, Paul's Letters to the
Romans, Corinthians, Ephesiaus, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians,
Thessalonians, to Timothy, Titus and Philemon. There are a few
fragments of Ezra and Nehemiah, of a Commentary on the Gospel of
John, some charters of the time of Theodoric the Great, and a few
additional trifles. As an interval of several centuries lies between
the Gothic as we know it and any other German dialect, it may in-

A History of the German Language 41

terest the reader to compare a specimen with modern German. "We
accordingly subjoin a sample of each :

Atta unsar thu in himinam, veihuai namo them ; quimai
Voter unser du in Himmeln geweihet werde Name dein komme
thiudinassus theins; vairthai vilja theins, swe in himina, jah
JTerrschaft dein werde wille dein soivie in Himmel, aneh
ana airthai ; hlaif unsarana thana sinteinan gif uns himma
auf Erden Brod unseres dies fortwahrende gieb uns diesen
daga, jah aflet uns thatei skulans sijaima svasve jah veis
Tag und erlasse uns das Schuldige wir seien soutie auch wir
afletam thaim skulam unsaraim ; jah ni briggais uns in
erlassen diesen Schuldigen unseren und mcht bringest uns in
fraistubnyai, ak lausei uns of thamma ubilin ; unte theina ist
Versuchung sondern lose uns ab diesem Uebel denn dein ist
thiudangardi jah mahts jah vulthus in aivins. Amen.
Herrscherhaus und Macht und Glauz in Ewigkeit. Amen.

" The remnants of the Gothic consist of about 3,000 native words;
of which, however, a large majority are compounded out of a com-
paratively small number of simpler words. Some of the simpler
words are not preserved ; but their existence in the time of Ulfilas or
previously is certified by their compounds. Unfortunately the 3,000
and odd words are but a fraction of the whole Gothic vocabulary.
Of the language of native song and saga, of war and sport, of political,
social, and family life, of the older national religion, of commerce,
agriculture, and other arts ; and of the terminology of natural ob-
jects, celestial and terrestrial, animal, vegetable, and mineral ; either
very scanty specimens or none at all are preserved. This loss is the
jaore to be regretted because Ulfilas shows, in the treatment of alien
subjects and events, not only ease and elegance, but sometimes an
exuberance and sometimes a precision and refinement of expression
that even surpass his model." Douse, An Introduction to the Gothic
of Ulfilas. London, 1886.

Only a small fragment of the Goths preserved a separate
existence until comparatively recent times. These dwelt
in the Crimea where they were visited in the sixteenth
century by a Belgian physician named Busbecq, who has
left some record of their language, and a list of words
which he heard, in Constantinople.

We do not have the Scandinavian or Norse in its unified
form, but only in the various languages into which it sub-
sequently broke up ; from these, however, it is possible to

42 A History of the German Language

construct the- original. It embraces the Swedish, the
Norwegian, the Danish and the Icelandic. There are no
manuscripts in these languages of earlier date than the
twelfth century. Neither have we access to the third and,
for us, most important branch of the Germanic languages
in its primitive unity. We have no means of -knowing
when the Visi-Goths separated from their brethren, nor
where this separation took place. Neither is it possible to
ascertain the extent of territory covered by the various
languages during the first centuries of our era before the
time when the literary monuments begin. In that proto-
historic period the Germanic tribes were a mass that was
almost constantly in motion.

Ancient tribes and tribal names disappear; new confed-
eracies and new names appear on the pages of history. It
is not until the sixth century, or about the time when the
conquest of Britain was achieved, that the shifting masses
become to some extent stationary. At this period the
West Germanic tribes embraced the following sub-divi-
sions as nearly as can now be made out : The Lombards,
the Bavarians, the Alemanians, the Burgundians, the
Franks, the Hessians, the Thuringians, the Angles, the
Saxons, the Jutes, and the Frisians. The German
tongue anciently extended over a larger territory than at
present. It included Great Britain about as far north as
the river Clyde, while in the west and south of the
European continent it was bounded by the Atlantic ocean
and the Pyrenees. Its southern limit was the summit of
the Alps. It must be remembered, however, that the
German occupation of much of this territory was not ex-
clusive. It was still settled by other nationalities, chiefly
Kelts, over whom they had gained the supremacy by
conquest. On the other hand its eastern boundary was
considerably farther westward than it now is. Here the
Elbe was the limit, and the country lying east of this river
was settled by Slavs.

A History of the German Language 43

If we had documents written in the dialects of the
various tribes above named, dating from the fourth or fifth
century, they would, in all probability, exhibit but slight
divergencies from each other and from the Gothic.

The main difference between the Gothic and the Scandi-
navian on the one hand, and the West Germanic on the
other, lies in the inflection of the verb. In the former the
second person of the singular number of the preterit of the
strong verb ends in t. For example, namt (du nahmst),
gaft (du gabst)=(ihou gavest). In the West Germanic
tongues the equivalent forms end in i, as namz\ gdbi.

But at the period from which we possess MSS. written in
the West Germanic, or at least a number of verbal forms, the
various branches of the original tongue diverge considerably
from each other, and likewise from the Gothic ; and these
divergencies kept getting wider. The Germanic language
of Britain has gone farthest from the primitive type.
This is the speech of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, gen-
erally known as the Anglo-Saxon, but which is also called
*' English :' by those who insist that the language of Eng-
land has remained substantially unchanged since the con-
quest of Hengist and Horsa. This difference was caused
partly by the insular position of Britain and partly by the
subsequent fate of its inhabitants. The Norman conquest
tinged the vocabulary of the natives with a considerable
admixture of Romanic words ; besides which the frequent
irruptions of the Danes, and their subsequent temporary
occupation of the island, were doubtless not without their
effect on the language.

The English, however, does not further concern us here ;
nor does the Frisian, a language, or rather a dialect, still
spoken on the islands and along the coast of the North
Sea. It differs considerably from the other Germanic
dialects of the continent. There remain, therefore, for
our further consideration : the Lombards, the Bavarians,
the Alemanians, the Burgundians, the Franks, the

44 A History of the German Language

Hessians, the Thuringians, and those of the Saxons and
Angles who remained behind when their fellow-tribes-
men crossed over into Britain. The history of the Ger-
man language naturally falls into three great epochs or
periods, an older, a middle, and a modern.

THE OLD HIGH GERMAN PERIOD.

This period closes about the year 1100 ; but the reader
should remember that in a matter so largely subject to
the laws of growth and decay as language, to assign defi-
nite dates that are of much value, is impossible. The be-
ginning of this period is not coincident with any particu-
lar year. We can hardly say more than that it may be
put about the time when credible history begins, and is in
the main coeval with the epoch from which the earliest
contemporary literary and historical documents have come
down to us. These documents are, however, by no means
entitled to the epithet " literary," in the proper sense of
that term ; often they do not even consist of connected
discourse. The oldest German poetry, like that of all other
nations, had its life in oral tradition ; and, if now and then,.
a fragment was written down, it would have been little
short of a miracle if it had survived the hostility of the
clergy to the national songs and sagas and the reminiscences
of heathendom which they perpetuated. The language
of science and learning, of public intercourse, of law, was
the Latin, and continued to be for several centuries longer.
It is true, Charles the Great (Charlemagne) made earnest
efforts to place his mother- tongue in honor. He gave
German names .to the months, caused a German Grammar
to be compiled, and took great pains to collect from Ger-
man minstrels the ancient heroic songs of his country-
men. But his son Lewis, who was wholly under the in-
fluence of the priests, was zealous in undoing the work of

A History of the German Language 45

Tiis father. The Latin has, however, preserved a quantity
of material that is valuable for the history of the German
language ; this is especially true of the records and title-
deeds pertaining to persons and places within the German
territory. These documents contain a large number of
German words ; chiefly proper names, it is true, furnished
with Latin terminations. By a judicious use of this
material we are enabled to some extent to recover the
native pronunciation and the inflection of the substantive,
-and to get some idea of German word-formation. But its
greatest value is historical because of the dates and names
of places given. Many of the words in these Latin parch-
ments are accompanied with glosses, that is, translations
of single Latin words for pedagogical purposes. These
are either written over the words in the text which they
are designed to elucidate, where they are called interlinear
glosses, or are brought together into little lexicons or
glossaries. With the age of Charles the Great connected
and continuous records begin. They consist chiefly of
translations of biblical and ecclesiastical works, a number
of Christian hymns, and some meager remnants of popular
poetry. This literature, if we choose to call it by so dig-
nified a name, is by no means equally distributed among
the various Germanic tribes. The Angles have no share
at all in it, and of their dialect 6nly a few words of uncer-
tain authenticity now remain ; neither have the Hessians,
nor the Thuringians, nor the Lombards, nor the Burgun-
dians. The Saxon portion is small ; still less that of the
Franks along the lower Rhine. The largest portion falls
to the rest of the Franks, the Bavarians, and Alemanians,
or territorially to the country along the Rhine from Con-
stance to the Moselle," and about the head-waters of the
Danube. This is the section of Germany in which Chris-
tianity first gained a firm foot-hold.

There is a special reason for the absence of records in
the language of the Lombards and the Burgundians. At

46

the beginning of the period that here concerns us the ter-
ritory embraced by the Germanic tongues had been con-
siderably curtailed. The fate that overtook the Goths on
Roman soil was shared by the Burgundians, the Lom-
bards and the Western Franks ; their language was dis-
placed by the Latin and its descendants. Still, these lan-
guages did not remain free from Teutonic influence, least
of all, the French. Many French military terms are de-
rived from the German, and also words relating to feudal-
ism and law. The French word la guerre is itself of Ger-
manic origin, and related to wirren, the O. H. G. being
werra. Strangely enough in this case the English word
" war " clearly bears the family traits, while the modern
German has displaced it by Krteg, a vocable of obscure an-
cestry. » The gender of an entire class of French words —
those ending in eur, such as " la fureur," " la couleur" —
that would according to the rules of the language to which
they belong be masculine, has been changed to feminine
by the influence of the German.

With these facts before us, we are now able to draw the
southern and western boundary of the German language,
The line begins on the shores of the North Sea near the
straits of Dover between Gravelines and Dunkirk, runs
southward almost to the river Lys, then eastward between
Maestricht and Liege as far as the river Meuse, thence
southeastward toward Malmedy, thence southward toward
Longwy, but leaving both these towns on the French side.
From here it passes southward as far as Pfalzburg (Phals-
bourg), thence southward, west of Colmar, to the point where
the little river Liitzel crosses the boundary between the Ger-
man empire and Switzerland. From here it runs eastward
to the river Birs, then follows the western boundary of the
Swiss canton of Solothurn (Soleure) in a direct line to Lake
Biel (Bjenne) and the foot of Lake Neuchatel, thence it
passes across Lake Murten (Morat) and the town of the
same name, through Freiburg, thence almost directly

A History of the German Language 47

south toward the Matterhorn, crossing the Rhone at Siders
(Sierre). From the Matterhorn its course is eastward by
Monte Rosa, then northeastward as far as the St. Gott-
hard, whence it follows the northern boundary of the
Grisons, about as far as the town of Tamins, thence east-
ward past the city of Chur (Coire) in the direction of
Klagenfurt in Austria. It will thus be seen that the pres-
ent eastern boundary of France is very nearly the line
that for many centuries separated the French from the
German language.

The internal changes that took place in the language
during this period were chiefly confined to the consonants.
Here, too, a process of shifting took place, it being the sec-
ond of a similar character. This is like the first in the
fact that the transitions took place independently of each
other, and at different times. In the case of the second
shifting we are able to follow its course and observe its re-
sults almost step by step by means of contemporary docu-
ments still in existence. The two shifts, however, differ
in so far that the second affected a much smaller number
of consonants than the first.

The different parts of the territory occupied by the Ger-
man, participated in the second shift in a much more un-
equal degree than the first. Its influence was earliest felt
and is the most marked in the south. The farther we
come north the feebler is the wave-beat of the movement.
The extreme north exhibits but faint traces of it. By this
fact we are enabled to distinguish the various dialects,
each being marked by the distance its characteristic con-
sonants have moved away from their original value.

The earliest and most complete shifting was that made
by the smooth mutes (tenues) k, t, and p. This began
and went farthest with the Germanic t. But it is neces-
sary to make a distinction between initial t on the one
hand, and medial or internal, and final t on the other.
The former did not pass into a simple sound, but into a

48 A History of the German Language

compound of tennis and spirant, a so-called affricative. In
old documents this is usually indicated by z which was
pronounced tz or ts. The Low German teihn became zehn
in High German. Here the English has preserved the
original sound in the word ten. Medial and final t was
changed into a spirant. But while the Indo-European t
was transformed into the German th (See ante, p 33),
the new spirant of the second shift had passed into a
sound which the MSS. also generally indicate by z. Its
pronunciation probably bore a close resemblance to the
German s, or rather ss, with which it subsequently be-
came identical It is by this change of t to z, which took
place about the year 600, that a most important dialectic
difference was marked, namely, that between Low Ger-
man and High German, between the north and south of
Germany. In the Low German it is retained ; in the
High German it has been superseded by the other sound.
Where " that " or " dat " was regularly used in the terri-
tory of the former ; where dasz, that of the latter. The
philologist Schleicher was in the habit of designating the
one class as '' dat-languages," and the latter as " dasz-
languages ; " for it must not be forgotten that there were,
as there still are, many other minor divergencies between
them. Generally speaking, the consonants of the Low
German underwent few changes, and we shall often have
occasion in the future to employ words from its vocabu-
lary as representatives of the General Germanic.

The fate of k like that of t depends upon its position in
a word. When initial or final it was aspirated throughout
the entire High German territory to ch ; for the English
" to speak " we get the High German sprechen, Low Ger-
man sprecken. The L. G. ik, A.-S. " ic,'1 corresponds to the
H. G. ich. Only in one dialect of the L. G., the West Fran-
conian, it becomes ch when final. Initial k generally per-
sists over the whole region, except in certain districts be-
longing to the Bavarian and Alemanian where it has given
place to kch and ch.

A History of the German Language 49

P both initial and medial becomes f whenever k
changes to ch : Low German, schap, slapen, Eng.
" sheep," " sleep," are equivalent to H. G. schaf,
schlafen. When initial, it becomes pf in the Alemanian,
Bavarian and part of the Franconian. The linguistic
province of the latter lies along the river Main and south
of its eastern portion. The dividing line between the two
sections, the northern p and the southern pf, runs be-
tween Bruchsal and Heidelberg, so far as it lies in Baden.
In respect to the dialects of middle Germany, which we
shall consider more at length further on, it may be here
remarked incidentally, that pf is likewise one of the char-
acteristics of the Thuringian, the Upper Saxon and
the Silesian.

Of spirants the hard h and f remain unchanged ; but th
passed into d everywhere, even in the Low German. For
example, brother is equivalent to Bruder, in which case
the English has preserved a close resemblance to the
Gothic brothar. The sonant labial mute was turned into
an explosive (the same sound it already had as an initial
letter) in the Alemanian, the Bavarian and some of the
other High German dialects. Here it was the same
sound that had already taken its place initially. The
transformation of this labial mute is of prime importance
for a general characterization of the Germanic dialects.
Throughout the territory occupied by the Low German,
the difference between b and p was the same as in the
Romanic languages ; the vocal chords were at rest while
the sound represenied by p was produced, but in the case
•of b they were in a state of vibration and a faint m was
heard in connection with it. In Central Germany the at-
tendant sound was gradually lost ; as a result, a distinction
ceased to be made between p and b. The habit is still al-
most universal among the illiterate, and even the educated
often unwittingly fall into it. But still farther south the
distinction is again observed ; in the Alemanian and

50 A History of the German Language

Bavarian the b is pronounced with less and the p with
greater force. This state of things prevailed as early as
the O. H. G. period. The effect of this phonetic change
was to displace b as the representative of the weaker labial
mute on High German territory, though it remained on
Low, as it no longer represented the Romanic b ; but p
was used in its stead. For example, the N. H. G. Buck
and the Eng. " book '' have the same initial, but its O. H.
G equivalent is puoh. The late Latin " bedellus " still
survives in our " beadle,1' but its O. H. G. representative
is petit, N. H. G. Pedell. Between the Bavarian and
the "Alemanian there was this further difference that the
latter generally retained initial b while the former turned
it into p here also.

The fate of the soft guttural mute (g) was similar to
that just described, in so far as it was developed out
of the spirant. In the districts possessed by the Low Ger-
man, the distinction between the Romanic g and k was
preserved, but in Middle Germany the former lost its
sonancy and then became virtually identical with k.
In the Bavarian, Alemanian and the South Franconian
there is some difference in the energy with which the two
letters are uttered. In the oldest stage of the two former
this middle mute is sometimes written g and sometimes k.
This indicates that these letters were intended to repre-
sent a sound which partook of the nature of both. In the
High German the d loses its sonancy under all circum-
stances and is replaced by t. The Gothic dags and Eng-
lish " day '' is tac and tag in O. H. G.

These differences prevail during the entire further de-
velopment of the language represented by the three stages
pointed out above. In view of these divisions it is cus-
tomary to speak of Old, Middle and New Low German,
and of Old, Middle and New High German.

With these facts before us we are now prepared to see
how the principle of consonantal mutation or shifting ap-

A History of the German Language 51

pears when applied to individual words. This plan is
preferable to the mere presentation of literal equivalents.
It may be well to call attention again to an important fact
in the history of words, namely, that widely diverse mean-
ings are often developed from the same radical syllable.

Indo-Ewropean k corresponds to Greek or Latin k or c,
Germanic h. Sanskrit kalamas ; Greek /caAa/w/ ; Latin
calamus ; English halm or haulm.

Indo-European t corresponds to Latin t, Low German
th, High German d. Sanskrit tarsh ; Latin torreo ;
Gothic thaursjan ; English thirst ; High German Durst.

Indo-European p corresponds to Greek or Latin p, Ger-
manic f. Sanskrit padas ; Greek Latin *•£&-, ped, pod- ;
Gothic fotus ; English foot ; High German Fusz.

Indo-European gh corresponds to Greek Latin g, Ger-
manic g. The primitive form would probably be ghans,
but Sanskrit hansas ; Greek Latin x7?", (h)anser ; A.-S.
gos ; English goose, gander ; High German Cans.

Indo-European dh corresponds to Greek 0, Latin f, Low
German d, High German t. Hypothetical dhur ; Greek
Ovpa; Latin fores ; Gothic daur; English door from A. -S-
duru ; O. H. G. tor.

Indo-European bh corresponds to Greek 4>< Latin f,
Low German b, High German b or p. Sanskrit bhag ;
Greek <^yo's ; Latin fagus ; Gothic boka ; English book,
buckwheat and beech ; A.-S. boc ; O. H. G. buoh and
puoh ; N. H. G. Buche and Buch. It should, however,
be mentioned that the original identity of these two
words in Teutonic is not quite certain.

52

Indo-European g corresponds to Germanic k or ch.
Sanskrit gaus, where the Greek and Latin are /3ovs and
bos; Gothic kos (hypothetical); English cow from A.-S.
cii; O. H. G. chuo; N. H. G. Kuh.

Indo-European d corresponds to Greek-Latin 8 and d,
Germanic t, N. H. G. z. Sanskrit da9an ; Greek-Latin
Se'Kw, decem ; Gothic taihun ; English ten, from A.-S.
tyn ; N. H. G. zehn.

Indo-European b corresponds to Latin p, Germanic p,
N. H. G. p or pf. Latin pondo ; Gothic pund and Eng-
lish pound ; N. H. G. Pfund ; but Gothic sleps, English
sleep ; O. H. G. slafan and slaf ; from which it will be
seen that the mutation of a consonant at the end of a syl-
lable is sometimes different from that at the beginning.

Very few words can be found that have congeners in a
majority of the languages of the Indo-European stock.
This will explain the gaps in our series above. In a few
instances the phonetic laws here set forth are subject to
slight modifications. These I have not thought necessary
to exhibit because my object is to show general principles
rather than minute facts. A mute does not generally un-
dergo the same transformation at the beginning, the mid-
dle and end of a word.

When philologists speak of the Indo-European —the Ursprache -
as having split up into the various branches still represented in dif-
ferent languages of Europe and Asia, they do not mean that this took
place simultaneously. Neither did the General Germanic break into
several linguistic fragments. That phonetic changes always take
place slowly is abundantly proved by the testimony of those that
have taken place within historic times. The oldest records of the
Sanskrit probably do not go further back than the sixteenth century
B. C. At this period it had already diverged considerably from the
primitive stage. Where the people who spoke this language dwelt
we do not know. Very likely they were wanderers with no fixed
place of abode. Of the Greek we have no remains earlier than the
eleventh or twelfth century B. C., while those of the Italic dialects

A History of the German Language 53

are several centuries younger. The history of both Greeks and
Italians before these dates rests on a very insecure foundation. Of
the Germanic tongues, as we have seen, there are but faint traces
earlier than the fourth century after Christ. But we have occasional
notices of German tribes in the fourth century B. C. These, too, ap-
pear now at one place, now at another, in both Europe and Asia.
The various consonantal shifts that play so important a part in the
history of the Aryan languages must be regarded as having taken
place from the parent speech, and not from auy of its branches. Yet
it is possible and even probable that this primitive speech broke up
into two or more different parts, one or more of which were again
further sub-divided. Nor do we know the causes of this differentia-
tion. They were probably climatic and topographical — the result of
slight changes in the vocal organs of the different people. We do not
know when the Primitive German languages shifted from the Aryan,
but it was at a prehistoric period ; for we find the process almost com-
plete in the earliest Gothic known to us. The bifurcation of the
Primitive Germanic into High and Low German was much later,
and took place in historic times. It seems to have been in progress
during the period lying between the sixth and the tenth centuries
after Christ. It began, as we have seen, in South Germany and
moved northward until its energy had gradually spent itself before
it reached the region of the lower Rhine. It could be proven by the
testimony of the German language, if no other were forthcoming,
that those who spoke it were originally a homogeneous mass when
they began their independent career which first separated into two
main divisions. The minor divergences that still exist partake more
or less of the chief characteristics of one or the other of these
divisions.

The lines which bound the various dialects have chang-
ed but little from the earliest times except that the L. G.
has been gradually losing ground before the encroach-
ments of the H. G. We shall, therefore, 'not go far wrong
if we supply the missing links in the older boundaries by
the linguistic facts gathered from more recent observa-
tions. The dividing line between Low and High German
passes nearly east and west. Beginning on the Meuse at
a point midway between Liege and Msestricht it passes
down the Meuse as far as Roermonde (Ruremond) and
from here eastward past Diiesseldorf to Elberfeld. Here
it turns south and runs parallel with the Rhine almost to

54 A History of the German Language

the little river Sieg. Bending thence to the northeast it
passes in an almost direct course past Minden, and thence
to Magdeburg on the Elbe. This line marked off the ter-
ritory of the O. L. G. which embraced the Saxons and a
portion of the Franks. Their two dialects are called the
Old Saxon and the Low Franconian.

The boundary between the Franconian and the Upper
German in the valley of the Rhine is formed by the forest
of Hagenau in Northern Alsace and the lower course of
the Murg, a small river that flows into the Rhine from the
southeast, a short distance from Carlsruhe. Following the
Murg a little way it turns nearly east a little south of the
city of Calw in Wiirtemberg, crossing the river Nagold it
runs northeast as far as the Neckar, near Besigheim,
thence directly east to Ellwangen. Here it turns north-
east again to Feuchtwangen, then southeast to Wasser-
trued, whence it runs off in the direction of the Fichtel
mountains.

The dividing line between the Alemanian and Bavarian
is formed in the main by the rivers Woernitz and Lech,
the one flowing southward, the other northward into the
Danube, at no great distance from the city of Augsburg,
though the Alemanian is also spoken on the right bank of
the Lech in its upper course.

The differences between the dialects were in earlier
times much less marked than at present. Taking them as
a whole and comparing them with the Gothic on the one
hand and the German as written to-day on the other, they
are found to be more closely akin to the former than to
the latter or N. H. G. Compared with this the dissimi-
larity is greatest in the form of the individual words. A
majority of these now end in a monotonous <?, but in the
olden time almost any of the long or short vowels might
terminate a word. The sensuous impression produced by
the older language with its plenitude of sonorous vowels is
very different from the modern.

A History of the German Language 55

There is one other peculiarity to which it is proper to
call attention. A number of words that now begin with 1
were in the O. H. G. preceded by an h. The modern
Liidwig (Lewis, Louis), for instance, was Hhidwig. This
combination of consonants is not found in the Romanic
tongues, and when those whose native language was
French tried to reproduce it they employed chl. For this
reason Chlodwig is no other than Ludwig ; Chlotar, than
I^othar.

In the course of the tenth and eleventh centuries the
•German language gradually assumes a different character.
The vowels of the final syllable that had been long, began
to be shortened, while the weakening of the short vowels
to e becomes more and more general. This movement
does not begin over the whole German territory at the
same time, and advances more rapidly in some parts than
in others. The South is, generally speaking, more con-
servative than the North. The transformation is about
completed by the middle of the twelfth century. By this
time a leading feature of the O. H. G. has accordingly
been obliterated, and the period of the M. H. G. and the
M. L. G. begins. But here, too, it is impossible to assign
definite dates to what was a continuous organic develop-
ment. The Upper German, for example, conserved some
of its vowels in certain positions until far into the middle
period.

The surviving literary monuments of the O. H. G.
period are the following, though they do not all belong to
O. H. G. dialects. The oldest and most important is the
translation of the Bible by Ulfilas, which has already been
spoken of. There is a tradition that he included the
whole of the Old and New Testament in his work except
the Book of Kings, and that he omitted this because he
feared lest its narration of military achievements might
tend to excite the martial spirit of his countrymen, to
which they were, in his judgment, already too prone.

56 A History of the German Language

o

The history of the only existing codex of Ulfllas is sufficiently re-
markable to merit a brief notice here. It is one of the many in-
stances where our knowledge of important facts of antiquity is wholly
dependent upon the existence of a single record, often imperfect, as in
this case. Nothing was known of this codex until the sixteenth
Century when it was discovered in the Abbey of Werden, a town not .
far from Duesseldorf in Prussia. It came into the possession of the
emperor Rudolf II. in Prague ; and when this city was taken by the
Swedes in 1648, it was removed to Stockholm. Not long afterward
it was transferred to Holland, but was again acquired by a Swede,
count de la Gardie, who had it bound in silver, and subsequently
presented it to the library of the University of Upsala, where it now
is. The letters Avith which the MSS. is written are chiefly of silver,
but partly of gold on purple colored parchment, whence it is called
the codex argenteus. It originally consisted of 330 leaves; but all
except 177 have been lost. A few fragments of the same translation
are in other European libraries.

All the extant literature of the O. H. G. consists of
translations and is consequently of little value except for
the language. A nearly complete list is here given. We
name first, The Rule of St. Benedict, translated about 780
by a monk of St. Gall, and Tatian's Harmony of the Gos-
pels made about a century later. A very important docu-
ment, both linguistically and historically, are the recipro-
cal oaths of the kings and people, often called the Stras-
burg oaths. In the year 842 the kingdom of the Franks,
was divided between Lewis the German, who received
Austrasia (Germany), and Charles the Bald, who received
Neustria (France). The latter took an oath in French,
the former in German. TJie old and the modern German
are as follows :

In godes minna ind in thes Christianes folches ind unser bedhero
Aus Liebe zu Gott und zu des Christlichen Volkes und unser beider

ge(h)altnissi fon, thesemo daze frammordes so fram so mir got
Erhaltung von diesem Tage fortan so weit als mir Gott

gewisci indi mahd furgibit, so haldih tesan (thesan) minanbruodher,
Wissen und Macht gibt so halteich diesen meinen Bruder

soso man mit rehtu sinan bruodher seal, in thiu thaz er mig
sowie man mit Recht seinen Bruder soil, in dem dasz er mir

A History of the German Language 57

so sania duo ; indi mit Ludheren in nohheiuiu thing ne gegango,
ebenso thue ; und mil Lothar in kein Ding nicht gehe ich,

the iniiiaii willon inio ce scadhen werdhen.
das meinen Willem ihm zu Schaden werde.

This fragment illustrates some of the phonetic changes
that have already been discussed.

A translation and elucidation of the Psalms by Notker
Labeo, of the end of the tenth century.

A translation with commentary of the Song of Solomon
by Williram, a monk of Ebersberg, made in the eleventh
century.

The oldest German poetry extant consists of fragments
of the Song of Hildebrand. It is composed in Low Ger-
man mixed with High German. Its form is alliterative
verse, and commemorates the combat of one Hildebrand
with his son Hadubrand. It seems to have been commit-
ted to writing near the beginning of the ninth century,
but it is evidently a reminiscence of an earlier age.

Of uncertain date, but probably belonging to the be-
ginning of the ninth century, is another Harmony of the
Gospels in the Old Saxon, known as the Heliand. This
also is in alliterative form and in the opinion of Grimm
represents the dialect spoken in the district lying between
Miinster, Essen and Cleves. A specimen is given below
chiefly for the purpose of exhibiting the form of versifica-
tion in general use among the ancient Germans :

Tho ward thar so managumu manne

mod after Kriste
gihuorben, hugiskefti, sidor sie is

helagon werk

selbon gisahon, huand eo er sulic ni ward
wundar on weroldi. Than was eft thes

werodes so filu,

so modstarke man, ni weldun the maht godes
antkennien kudliko, ac sie wid is craft mikil
wunnun mid iro wordun ; Warun im waltendes
lera so leda.

58 A History of the German Language

The alliteration is not only plainly marked in the above
brief extract, but might easily be retained in an English
translation. In each line there are three or more princi-
pal words having the same initial sound. We may cite
current words that have but slightly or not all varied from
the meaning they had more than a thousand years ago :
Many, man, mood, holy, work, self, saw, so, like, were,
wonder, world, and numerous others.

Ekkehard, a monk of St. Gall, who died in 973, when a
young man composed a poem called " Waltharius," pat-
terned after Vergil and Prudentius. It commemorates the
flight of Walter of Aquitaine and his beloved Hildegunde.
Though written in Latin it is valuable for its reminis-
cences of German heroic poetry.

To the O. H. G. belongs the so-called Wessobrunn
Prayer, the distinctive epithet qf which is due to the fact
that the MS. was discovered in the monastery of Wesso-
brunn (Weiszenbrunn) in Bavaria. Though Christian in
sentiment its form is distinctly pagan, and it is the first
known attempt to unite the new and the old religion in this
way. Similar in poetic form, that is, alliterative, equally
fragmentary and belonging to about the same epoch —
about A. D. 900 — is another poem called Muspilli. This,
though a Christian composition, is pervaded with mytho-
logical reminiscences. There is some reason to believe
that it was composed by King Lewis the German. The
•only secular production proper belonging to this period is
a fragment of a description of the earth, commonly known
as Merigarto (see-girt garden) of the eleventh century.
When complete this poem seems to have been very long.
The extant portion treats chiefly of the earth and certain
miraculous fountains.

Krist, a poem composed by a monk named Otfried,
completed about 868, is the first example in German of
the use of rhyme. It embraces five books or cantos and
owes its form probably to early Latin hymns. The author

A History of the German Language 59

seems to have been an Alsatian or a Swabian, and this
work is probably the first attempt of a German to con-
struct an artificial epic. There exists also a Song of King
Lewis (III.)» the paean of victory over the Normans in 881.
Its probable author was one Hucbald, who died in 930, and
who was during his lifetime a favorite of Charles the Bald
and his son Lewis

The above enumeration includes everything in the form
of connected discourse, except a few fragments belonging
to the O. H. G. period. Though generally included in
histories of German literature all this matter belongs
rather to a history of the German language, because its
literary value is slight, and its linguistic value inestimable.
The extant remains of the Anglo-Saxon are more exten-
sive than that of any other Germanic dialect, and the lan-
guage differs little from the Old Saxon. But as it existed
for the most part separate from the rest, it may be left out
of account here. It is, however, true of both the conti-
nental and the insular Teutonic that it was committed to
writing under the impulse of Christianity. For the former,
the inspiration proceeded primarily from two literary cen-
ters, the school at Fulda in Germany, and St. Gall in
Switzerland. The latter monastery was founded about
600, the former nearly 150 years later.

THE MIDDLE HIGH GERMAN PERIOD.

The middle period is usually designated as the Middle
High German from the dialects that played the most im-
portant part during this time. The picture which the
provinces occupied by the German language present dur-
ing this period, is much more varied than before. The
causes that brought about this greater activity are various.
In the first place those districts which hitherto have fur-
nished us few linguistic monuments, or had taken no part

GO A History of the German Language

at all in the literary movements of the times, now come
under observation. This is true of the Low German ter-
ritory, and of the northern portions of the High German,
Franconian from Mainz to Cologne, the Hessian and the
Thuringian. ' The latter dialects, spoken between the
Main and the Low German border, are now called Middle
German At the same time the whole area embraced by
the German language was a good deal enlarged. In pro-
portion as the Slavic power was forced back by German
valor and the conquered land occupied by German settlers
their language gained a firm footing east of the Elbe.
Saxony and Silesia and, in part, Bohemia are won for
the Teutonic tongue, so that in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries German literature was cultivated to a consider-
able extent in the latter country. Brandenburg, Mecklen-
burg, Pomerania and Prussia were likewise germanized.

The ancient kingdom of Prussia had, however, never
been, properly speaking, Slavic territory, but was inhab-
ited by German tribes from the earliest times, though it
was not subdued and Christianized until the thirteenth
century, the two processes going hand in hand. At this
time the German outposts toward the east were pushed
forward as far as the Niemen. In the southeast the German
language also greatly extended its boundaries at the ex-
pense of the Magyar, and planted a number of linguistic
oases in this region.

The newly acquired lands, nevertheless, did not form a
continuous and homogenous whole, a statement that is
especially true of the north. In some of the settlements
the Low German was the spoken language ; in others the
High German. But the latter bears traces of the Middle
German. Saxony and Silesia are now to be regarded as
belonging to Central Germany, and likewise the lands of
the Teutonic Knights. The 'Marches, or Viceroyalties,
and the coast region, on the other hand, were colonized by
Low German immigrants.

A History of the German Language 61

But the German language gains during this period not
only in extent of territory, but likewise in what may be
called intensity. Until now its sway was not fully acknowl-
edged in its own home ; in several departments the lan-
guage used was exclusively Latin. Hitherto prose writ-
ings that were not translations were few and of limited ex-
tent. In the M. H. G. period this condition of things is
changed. German pulpit oratory receives a great impetus
through the zealous labors of the Mystics, particularly
from about the middle of the thirteenth century. The
language of jurisprudence, too, begins to put on a
German garb About 1230 a famous book of laws known
as the Sachsenspiegel was published. This Saxons'
Looking-glass is a compilation of observances and cus-
toms to which immemorial usage had given the sanction
of laws. It was first written in Latin, a fact that is sig-
nificant of this transition period, and afterward translated
into German by the compiler, a nobleman named Eike or
Eko of Repgow. City archives now begin to be kept in
German. In Switzerland those dating from the seventh
and eighth decades of the thirteenth century are quite
numerous. Their frequency in Germany proper is nearly
half a century later. It should be noted that the writings
of this period were called into existence by the needs of
practical life, and belong in no sense to literature.
Nevertheless, literary prose is not wholly lacking for
there are beginnings of written history -both in this form
and in verse. We may even speak of works of a scientific
character, if we include under this head the philosophical
and theosophical treatises of the Mystics that were written
in the vernacular. In the main, however, the language
of scientific investigation and discussion is still the Latin.
The more general cultivation and the larger use of the
German during these periods are not the outgrowth of a
conscious or unconscious national impulse ; they are
rather the result of slackening interest in the monasterial

62 A History of the German Language

education of the times, — the effect of a sort of torpidity
that gradually creeps over the civil life of the community.

It were a mistake to suppose that this more extensive
use of the German language is a matter of small import to
its inner life. When any member of the human body is
drawn into new and unaccustomed activity its muscles
and sinews are called into requisition to an extent not be-
fore experienced There is growth and development
whore there was little or none before. So, too, language
grows with extended usage ; every new task assigned to
it exercises an influence upon its words and upon the
structure and arrangement of its sentences. The more
numerous and manifold the written materials belonging to
the periods under consideration become, the more clear and
distinct do the features of the various dialects stand out,
and the more definitely are we able to trace the boundary
lines between them.

The dividing line between the Middle and Low German
dialects did not remain permanently the same during the
period under discussion ; the latter retreated slowly before
the former. This is true more especially of the territory
between the Harz mountains and the river Saale. In 1300
the east and west boundary line was not far from the 50th
parallel of north latitude, passing the Saale above Merse-
burg; but two hundred years later it was, as it is to-day, a
good deal farther north, and crossed the Saale below the
mouth of the Bode, not far from its confluence with the Elbe.
The entire Mansfeld district, and particularly Halle, has
undergone a change in its folk-speech. The linguistic
character of the Middle German, as might be inferred from
its geographical position, make it a bond of union no less
than a stage of transition between the Upper and Lower
German. The consonants have not in all cases shared in
the High German rotation of mutes, while the vowels have
remained substantially as 4n the Upper German. In a
large number of syllables long vowels in the Low German

A History of the German Language 63

correspond to diphthongs in the Upper German, though
less in the Lower Franconian than elsewhere. We thus
get the following scheme :

stein sten stone

weisz wet wot

zwei twe two

bourn b6m beam

ouch 6k

stoup stof

brief bref brief

fiel fel fell

heisz het hight

gout god good

huon hon

truoc drog

In all cases the exceptions are confined to the border
territory. The Middle German exhibits the Upper Ger-
man sounds in both vowels and consonants. It is not un-
til pretty well along in our period that a tendency becomes
manifest to simplify certain double sounds, as, for in-
stance, where the Upper German has brif, huon, pro-
nounced almost like two syllables, we find in the Middle
German such forms as brty, Hun, etc

We have some contemporary documents intended to de-
scribe the salient characteristics of the different dialects.
One of these is in poetic form, written about 1300 by a
schoolmaster of Bamberg. But such descriptions are of
little value, even when an honest attempt is made to rep-
resent the living sounds. Speaking generally, and apply-
ing the remark to other languages as well as German, it
may be said that the number of signs in common use is
almost always and everywhere inadequate to represent the
sounds in actual use. A single sound is sometimes indi-
cated by two or more characters, examples of which are

64 A History of the German Language

particularly abundant in English, while sometimes the
same character is pronounced in two or more different
ways, as may be seen in the case of our letter a. Still it
must be said that the English is more anomalous than any
other language, but it exhibits, though in excessive de-
gree, a common tendency. The result is that we have a
greater conformity in written characters than is warranted
by the imderlying phonetic facts.

We are led to conclude that there must have existed a
clearly recognized difference between the living speech in-
herited by every individual and the language of our writ-
ten memorials. It would seem that there grew up grad-
ually a written language apart from the various dialects in
current use, in part as a medium of literary intercourse,
and in part as the fashionable speech of the upper classes.
We even read of three such written languages, a M. H. G.
which is regarded as the language of court circles, a M. G.
and a L. G. The view that postulates the existence of a
L. G. or M. G. written tongue is undoubtedly erroneous,
and it is very questionable whether there was a M. H. G.
The Switzer Ulrich of Zazichoven ; the Swabian Hartmann
of Aue ; the Alastian Godfrey of Strasburg; the Fran-
conian Wolfram of Eschenbach, all of whom flourished
about the year 1200, exhibit divergencies enough in their
vocabulary to preclude the possibility of a recognized
unity of speech. But be this as it may, many facts
come to our notice indicative of the general tendency that
the German mind is in process of preparation for such
a language ; a mingling of dialects becomes evident, and
the attempt is made by one. writer here and another there
to use a dialect that is foreign to him, while the language
of certain districts evidently preponderates over that of
others. The more actively the various sections of Ger-
many interest themselves in fostering poetry, the more
frequent literary intercourse becomes, the more attention
is given to the multiplication of manuscripts, the oftener

A History of the German Language 65

it happens that the native tongue of the copyist is differ-
ent from that of his copy. As a result the MS. he pro-
duces will be a mixture of different dialects. The result-
ing text may in turn be used by a copyist from another
part of Germany, which will make his work a mixture of
a still greater number of elements Not only are poems
transported from place to place, but poets also lead a sort
of nomadic life. We are informed that Wolfram of Eschen-
bach spent some time in Thuringia ; his writings embody
peculiarities that are foreign to his native Upper Fran-
conian. The fairest flowers of German mediaeval poetry
blossomed on H. G. soil. The political supremacy and
the literary centers that attract rising talent from all parts
of the land are on H. G. territory. We accordingly find
several poets who, though natives of L. G. districts, never-
theless aspire to the use of H. G or M. G. speech. The
preponderance of the H. G. is also shown by its encroach-
ment upon L. G. territory — a fact of which we have before
spoken. Occasional records in L. G. that exhibit a style
of expression somewhat above the mere local folk-speech
betray a leaning toward the M. G. Alongside of these
main lines of development growing out of the circum-
stances of the times, certain preferences for this and that
dialect manifest themselves that are merely a passing
fashion. It was, for example, good form at certain periods
during the 13th century, in Upper Germany to intersperse
one's speech with words and phrases from the L. G. This
was called zu flaemen. Ulrich of Lichtenstein says
bluomekm instead of blitemelin, and Meyer Helmbrecht,
the courtly son of a peasant addresses his sister with vil
Hebe suster kinder kin, susler being the Lower Frauconiau
for Schwester. In Austria, on the other hand, it was re-
garded as an evidence of good-breeding, about the middle
of the 14th century, to use the Swabian idiom.

66 A Jfistory of the German Language

LANGUAGES AND DIALECTS.

Few people of this country know how great is the lack
of homogeneity existing among all the more widely spoken
languages of Europe. This diversity of speech, however,,
prevails only among the illiterate, and not among the edu-
cated. Those who are of the present generation in the
United States and whose education has been sufficient to
enable them to read and write their mother tongue fairly
well, speak English so nearly alike that the peculiarities
are rarely sufficient to betray the particular section to
which they belong. Even the speech of the wholly illit-
erate has but little local color. But in Germany the
birth-marks inhere, as a general thing, in the speech of all,
no matter what their education may have been. It is
only the language of the stage that is entirely free from
localism. Almost every university in Germany contains
one or more professors from all parts of the empire, and in
almost every case an expert would detect their native
province after listening for a short time to their lectures.
Public sentiment is strongly against obliterating these
local peculiarities This pride of birth is so generally felt
and recognized that to speak without any traces of a dia-
lect is regarded as a mark of affectation.

Most Americans who study German and many native
Germans are unaware of the great variety the language
presents. But the same is true as regards French, or
Italian, or Spanish, or any of the more widely spoken lan-
guages. The local French of Normandy and that of
Provence are widely dissimilar, and both are unlike the
literary French. The Italian of Lombardy and Calabria
are unlike in many respects, and both differ from the
native speech of the Tuscans. The illiterate natives of
these provinces have great difficulty in understanding the
natives of every other, though, as would be expected, the
most widely sundered dialects have the fewest points in com -

A History of the German Language 67

mon. A Pomeranian cannot understand a Bernese, while
an Oldenburger finds less difficulty in comprehending
good Saxon English than good New High German, be-
cause there is a greater similarity between the two lan-
guages or dialects lying close together than those that are
farther apart. It is a well established fact that Lessing and
Schiller spoke with a marked dialectic accent and adhered
as tenaciously to their local German as Carlyle did to his
" broad Scotch." But the only difference in their written
German is that of style.

While the divergences are greatest at the two extremes,
they shade off into one another so gradually that it is al-
most impossible to discover where they begin or end.
This is not only true of the varieties of the same speech,
but also of languages that are wholly unlike when scien-
tifically examined. Border languages partake of a more
or less mixed character. The boundaries between two
distinct governments may mark the limits of the official
language, but they cannot prohibit the intercourse of the
people and the use of a medium by means of which they
make themselves mutually understood. Perhaps the only
circumstances under which two contiguous languages are
kept from commingling at all, is when they are separated
by natural barriers that are almost impassable. Within
the territory of the same language the dialects shade off
into each other by almost imperceptible degrees. Careful
observers claim that they can detect differences in the
speech of the people of two villages that are only a few
miles apart. From the nature of the case this must be so.
If the extreme eastern and extreme western or the ex-
treme northern and extreme southern portions of a coun-
try having the same language are yet linguistically wide
apart it is evident that this must result from almost im-
perceptible gradations between points lying close together.

The historical study of dialects, as well as the history of
primitive peoples, proves beyond a doubt that they began

68 A History of the German Language

in a unity from which they diverged more and more with-
out, however, entirely obliterating their native character-
istics. But after a time the centrifugal force has spent
itself and a centripetal force begins to make itself felt.
The latter is sometimes moral, sometimes political, often
both. In the case of the Greek, the moral force predom-
inated. It was the intellectual preponderance of the Attic
dialect that in the course of time made it the basis of the
Greek of the civilized world. It was the political power
of Rome that gradually carried the language of a small dis-
trictrinto every country subdued by Roman arms. The
same cause made the language of Northern Gaul the lan-
guage of classic French literature. Farther along it will
be shown how moral causes brought into existence the
New High German. Finally, however, moral causes pro-
duce the most lasting effects. Military force alone will
not permanently hold in subjection a people who are in-
tellectually the superiors of their conquerors. In the end
the victory remains with civilization and culture. These
survive because human experience has demonstrated that
they are the fittest. Power in the end remains where
there is the most knowledge.

Among modern languages the German embraces the
largest number of dialects that are interesting to the stu-
dent of language. The Germans themselves have assid-
uously studied many of them, while several embody a lit-
erature of considerable extent and value. This is chiefly
owing to the absence of a strong central government and
the existence of a large number of capitals scattered over
Germany. Natural jealousies were fostered by these
means, though they could not obliterate race characteris-
tics. Dialectic differences are chiefly of two kinds, for
they rarely affect the structure of the sentence. They may
consist in the use of different words for the same object,
or they may consist in differences of pronunciation of
words that are written precisely alike. Sometimes a word

A History of the German Language 69

is the same in two or more dialects, but has not the same
gender. The Germans themselves are not agreed as to
how certain letters of their language are to be pro-
nounced. But here, too, as has so often happened in the
course of human events, political power and intellectual
preponderance are gradually deciding the question. The
pronunciation of the more conservative Prussians is des-
tined to become the norm for all students of German.
This is not, however, saying that a time will ever come
when there will no longer be German dialects. The per-
sistence of local peculiarities of speech among a compara-
tively stationary population is one of the best attested facts
of history. So far as the German is concerned some of
these can be traced back more than a thousand years, and
they are likely to be still in existence a thousand years
hence. The fact that it can be traced in almost unbroken
continuity for fifteen centuries and has a longer career of
uninterrupted development than any other language of
western Europe, gives to German a unique place among
the languages of the civilized world.

THE NEW HIGH GERMAN PERIOD.
EXTENT OF TERRITORY.

The changes in the territorial boundaries of the Ger-
man language during this period are not as great as dur-
ing the former, nevertheless several of considerable im-
portance took place. The loss of French Flanders is a
serious one for the German. In the seventeeth century
the Flemish tongue extended beyond Boulogne ; at the
beginning of the eighteenth the dividing line between it
and the French was near Calais ; now it is, as before
stated, east of Gravelines. In Alsace-Lorraine the Ger-
man suffered losses at different times by the encroach-
ments of the French. Since 1870 these have ceased. In
the south, the German is slowly retreating before the

70 A History of the German Language

Romanish and the Italian. The German oases upon
Italian territory known as the setticommum and the tredeci
communi have become almost obliterated. In the s'rug-
gle between the German and the Czech, which took place
where the outposts of the former had pressed upon the ter-
ritory of the latter, the German was not able to hold what
it had gained. Here the opposition to the German is par-
ticularly strong. In Poland the Teutonic has been slowly
but steadily gaining ground for about two centuries.
Northward the German has likewise acquired some terri-
tory at the expense of the Danish during the last two
decades. The oasis in Lusatia inhabited by Wends is
gradually becoming smaller. A remarkable restriction in
the use of the German language took place within Ger-
man territory in the time under consideration. During
the M. H. G. period there was a clearly marked tendency
toward the use of German prose in scientific and literary
discussion. This tendency not only ceased, but a strong
reaction set in. At no period in the history of the Ger-
man tongue is the popular mind so active as in the six-
teenth ; no other has called into being such masterpieces
of native eloquence and popular satire. Church hymns
of the very highest merit and folk-songs of the same order
belong to this period. This impulse was due to Luther
more than to any other man ; but he was only the leader
of a movement in which a large portion of the German
people took part. The most tangible evidence of his
labors in behalf of his mother-tongue is his translation of
the Bible, completed in 1534. Of this about forty editions
were published in the next twenty-five years, and nearly
twice as many of the New Testament portion alone.

But at the same time the use of the Latin language is re-
vived both in prose and poetry. The Humanists — as the
friends of liberal culture based on a knowledge of Greek
and Roman antiquity are commonly called — carried on
their controversies and their correspondence in Latin.

A History of the German Language 71

Terence was raised from the dead, as it were, to see his
comedies performed on the stage of the Latin schools.
Almost every scholar translated his name into Latin or
Greek as nearly as it could be done. In this way a great
deal of talent and literary ability that would naturally
have been employed in the development of the German
language was wasted ; for scholars sought their models in
the past, chiefly in Cicero, under conditions which made
even an approach to him impossible. A dead language,
like a cadaver, may be useful for dissection and study, but
growth and development are as far from the one as from
the other. But in the course of the seventeenth century
the unlimited authority of the Latin begins to be ques-
tioned and signs of a linguistic rebellion appear here and
there. We see a conscious effort on the part of German
patriots to restore their grand old native tongue to its
place of honor and to rescue it from under the haughty
dominion of the foreigner. The situation was in this re-
spect different from what it had been in the preceding
period, where the increasing use of German was the al-
most unconscious but natural result of the conditions of
society. The foremost German savant of the seventeenth
century — Leibniz — stands on the dividing line between
what may be called the old and the new era. Though his
principal works were written in Latin, his German writ-
ings give clear evidence that he appreciated the worth of
his mother tongue, and in them he champions its culti-
vation, albeit his pleas failed to produce the effect they
might have had from the importance and influence of their
author had they been published during his life. Younger
contemporaries took more decisive steps than he. In the
winter of 1687-8, Christian Thomasius gave at Leipzig the
first course of lectures, ever delivered in the German.
During the latter year he also began to issue the pioneer
of German literary periodicals. This step required no lit-
tle courage, for as was to be expected, his colleagues with

72 A History of the German Language

few exceptions raised an outcry against such a " desecra-
tion " of the professional office. Christian Wolf — born in
1679 — made German the language of Philosophy. In the
wake of Philosophy appeared critical and historical writ-
ings. By the middle of the eighteenth century the Ger-
man language is master of the field. Since that time the
importance of Latin has been on a steady decline. In
larger works it is only used when the writers expect to
be read beyond the boundaries of Germany ; and even
then but rarely, because the most valuable contributions
to science, history and literature are soon translated into
the chief languages of Europe. The use of Latin is now
confined almost exclusively to dissertations on subjects
connected with classical philology.

THE WRITTEN LANGUAGE AND FOLK-SPEECH.

»

The most important difference between the M. H. G.
and the N. H. G. is not mainly one of pronunciation, as
we have seen was the case in the, transition from the O.
H. G. to the M. H. G., although there is considerable dif-
ference in this respect between the M. H. G. and the N.
H. G. The salient features of the language of the New
High German period are of a different kind. In this
period for the first time we observe a definite and designed
purpose to create a uniform written language which shall
be above all the existing dialects. We now distinctly rec-
ognize two currents in the German language. The one
is, to use Behaghel's figure, that of the dialects or folk-
speech, each of the latter flowing in its well-worn and
natural bed, and each resembling the other only in its
general features. In fact, every one of these may be
likened to a separate rivulet, small and unimportant when
compared with the main stream. The other is the written
language moving in an artificial channel, provided with

A History of the German Language 73

many sluices and filters for the purpose of keeping out the
scum, the sediment and the earthy taste. The difference
between the natural and the artificial is here as in every
other case very marked. The process of unimpeded de-
velopment is seen only in the dialects. The water that
flows in a channel made by the hand of man — the writ-
ten language, is a preparation found in nature no oftener
than brooks that flow with distilled water.

No belief could be more erroneous, yet it is one held
even to-day by many intelligent persons that dialects are
a corruption of written speech. Continuing the metaphor,
we may say that the fall of the two channels is very un-
like ; the development — to drop the figure — in a language
that is merely spoken is, generally speaking, much more
rapid than where a language is both spoken and written.
The former is facilitated by the natural conditions of the
situation. A dialect or patois is handed down from gen-
eration to generation by means of the mobile and quickly
vanishing spoken word, and at most but two or three
generations act upon the child by their manner of speech.
With a written language the case is otherwise; he who
learns it is in a certain sense under the spell of the written
or printed character. This continually calls him back to
an established norm, and not only brothers and sisters,
parents and grandparents are the instructors of the young,
but often words and modes of speech are held up for imi-
tation that belong to former centuries. We should, how-
ever, guard against supposing that the printed character
does more than fix a language to the eye ; it cannot check
changes of pronunciation. These take place in spite of it.
The French and English languages, and to a less extent
the German, as printed, exhibit their status as it was in
the main one or more centuries ago, but we do not pro-
nounce as we write. We still write English substantially
as Shakespere did, yet it is doubtful whether he pro-
nounced three consecutive words, taken at random from
6

74 A History of the German Language

his plays, as they are pronounced to-day. In many cases,
nevertheless, the dialects are more conservative than the
written language, and the uneducated use words that are
unknown to those who have always been accustomed to
the language of books. Such words have generally been
preserved through oral transmission, though they have not
been admitted into books, except for special purposes.
When, then, we say that a written language is more con-
servative than one that is spoken, it is well not to take the
statement as unconditionally true.

To characterize generally the development of the dia-
lects of the N. H. G. period it may be said that the inflec-
tions suffer abrasion as the inflected words are handed
down from generation to generation. But the fate of the
different dialects was widely diverse, and their number is
at present, legion. In the single canton of Bern, which
contains less than 2,700 square miles, or about one-third
as many as New Jersey, and not much above half a million
of inhabitants, not less than thirteen different dialects have
been recognized. One who has accustomed himself to
note minute differences of language is generally able to
discover the native district of a German from his mode
of speech. Some dialects are marked by a peculiarity of
intonation. Those of the Saxons, the Thuringians and
the German Russians are characterized by a sort of sing-
song tone. Then, too, the general impression made by a
language differs from that of another according as the
voice moves in longer or shorter intervals ; that is, the
distance between the rising and falling inflections is
greater in some cases than in others. In this regard the
intervals are in general less among the North Germans
than among those of the South. There is also a differ-
ence in the rapidity of utterance ; in the North, the people
talk faster than in the South. We have already, in speak-
ing of the rotation of mutes, called attention to the fact
that from time immemorial diversities have existed be-

A History of the German Language 75

tween the individual sounds, or tones. The same tone
has not everywhere the same color. So far as the conso-
nants are concerned these differences are substantially the
same as they were in the O. H. G. and M. H. G. periods.
The vowels, on the other hand, especially the long ones
and the diphthongs, have undergone many mutations.
We may cite, as a case in point, the M. H. G. diphthong
ei, that is pronounced in the different H. G. dialects as ei,
as ai, as ai, and a, and oi or 6i and oa. Less numerous
than the diversities in the vowel sounds, that often vary as
one passes from village to village, are the variations in the
word formation, the manner of composition and deri-
vation, and in the structure of the sentence. The Low
and Middle German makes diminutives by affixing -ken
and -chen to the regular designation, as Hdndeken, Hand-
chen; the Upper German by means of -H or -le, as Handli,
Handle. It is only in the Low German that we find terms
of endearment terminating in -ing, as Vatting, Mutting, -
Lining and Mining. To represent the same ideas the
Alemanian has words ending in -z, as Aetti ( compare
Gothic Atta ), Bilebi, Ruodi. In many of the Upper Ger-
man dialects the verbs formed with the prefix zer- are
lacking; instead of zerbrechen, zerschlagen, zerreiszen,
we find verbreche, verreisze, etc. In place of the prefix
er- the Bavarian has der-, making derschlagen, though it
may be that this comes from an original er-, just as
minder was originally minner. The Alemanian, except-
ing the Swabian and some of the Franconian dialects,
make no distinction between the nominative and the accu-
sative case, except in the personal pronoun. Ich hab der
vatter net gsehe means ich habe den vater mcht gesehen.
On the other hand, the L. G. is without the ending er in
the nominative case of the adjective and puts in its stead
the accusative, hei is en gauden Mann, en wohren Heid,
for er ist ein guter Mann, ein wahrer Heide. The per-
sonal pronoun of the third plural hen, sie, has generally

76 / A History of the German Language .

been displaced in the L. G. by the dative (h)em, ehr, a
fate similar to that which has overtaken the English ac-
cusatives for which we have the datives him, her, them.
The Upper, or South German, dialects have all given up
the imperfect tense of the verb and put in its place the
perfects with sein and haben. In the use of this perfect
the Iv. G. shows a much stronger preference for the auxil-
iary haben than the H. G. In the former we hear, dat
hett slicht gahn, for, das ist schlecht gegangen; and even
dat hett gaud west, for, das ist gut gewesen. The use of
the prepositions with the dative case has, in most of the
L,. G. dialects, suffered considerable loss to the gain of the
accusative : dat was in dat johr 1829, for das war in dem
jahr, or, ut dit holt, for, aus diesem Holz, or, an de Bost,
for, an der Brust. The Alemanian no longer, or at least
rarely, uses the relative pronoun ; in its place he has sub-
stituted the adverb wo, as '.$• Hus, wo abbrennt isch. In
dependent sentences the L,. G. and M. G. dialects employ
the preterit tense, subjunctive mood, as, mer secht er war
gstorbe ; on the other hand the Bavarian and the Aleman-
ian use the subjunctive present, as, mer seit, er sig gstorbe
(it is said he has died). What would be expressed in
book-German by, hieraus war nicht viel zu entnehmen,
would be in L. G. with a change in the order of the words,
hir was nich vel ut tau nemen. The diversities in the vo-
cabulary are great and numerous. Almost every com-
munity employs words that are not understood at a few
leagues distance ; other words again are peculiar to large
sections of country. To this class belong for the Upper
German losen for h'oren, lupfen for emporheben ; for the L/.
G. kiken meaning sehen and trecken meaning ziehen. Of-
ten when the same words are found in different dialects
they have not the same signification. In the Alemanian
the verb lehren is equivalent to the H. G. lernen as well
as to lehren; in the South Franconian both significations
are included in lernen. It is well known that in English

A History of the German Language . 77

the word "learn" often does duty for both itself and. the
verb "teach". It is characteristic of the L G. that he
uses all in the sense of schon, and that he applies schon
not only to things visible, but also to objects that have an
agreeable taste or an agreeable smell. Peculiar to the
South or Upper German is the use of Schmuts for Fetty
and schmecken, which can properly be applied only to the
taste, instead of nechen. Quite remarkable is the dis-
placement which the meanings of the verbs signifying
"to go" have experienced on Upper German territory: in
one section the simple verb gehen is used as about equiva-
lent to fortgehen (depart); here gehen, meaning to be in
motion, is expressed by laufen, but for the H. G. laufen
(go quickly) we find springen used, while for spnngen
(leap) a number of different verbs are employed. There
is not space here to define with any approach to complete-
ness the local peculiarities of the various German dia-
lects ; nor have they as yet been thoroughly investigated
and the results recorded. Many words have, doubtless,
perished beyond recovery with the generations that used
them. A large number of careful observers are however
busy in this field and not a day passes which does not
contribute its increment to the vocabulary of the German
language in its widest sense.

UNIFICATION IN A COMMON LITERARY LANGUAGE.

The same considerations of incomplete investigation
hold good when we turn to the artificial structure of the
N. H. G. and its history, which we found to be true in
regard to the dialects. Nevertheless it is possible to
sketch a picture of its development in its most important
outlines. It is customary to designate Luther as the cre-
ator of the German language as it is now written and to
place its beginning about the commencement of the six-
teenth century. Taken literally, the statement is not true.
For, strictly speaking, Luther did not create the language

78 A History of the German Language

that he reformed and brought to honor; besides Germany
had not, by a good deal, even after he entered upon his
public career, a real and recognized unity of speech. The
roots of the German book-language lie farther back, and
extend into the preceding period. In order that a cer-
tain type of speech may gain the ascendency over another,
or over every other, it must be supported by some gener-
ally recognized authority, and this authority must be suf-
ficiently continuous to produce a permanent impression.
It may be chiefly political as in the case of ancient Rome,
or modern France and Spain ; or it may be chiefly moral
and literary as in the case of ancient Greece and modern
Italy. It will then obtain recognition in proportion to its
similarity to other types. Such authority the official Ger-
man of the empire must of necessity have had. It was
the language in which records were kept, edicts promul-
gated, charters granted, and so on, beginning with about
the year 1325. Before this time the Latin was chiefly used,
or German bristling with Latin. Luther himself leaves
us in no doubt as to his method of procedure. He says in
one place, " I use the common German tongue in order
that both North Germans and South Germans may under-
stand me. I speak according to the Saxon chancery which
is followed by all princes and kings in Germany. The
emperor Maximilian and the elector,, duke of Saxony have
drawn the German languages into one language in the
Roman empire.'1 It proved to be a fact of great signifi-
cance in the development of the German language that
the German emperors belonged to the same dynasty, with
one brief interregnum, for almost a century, from the
accession of Charles IV. in 1347. Their court was in the
capital of Bohemia, a land upon which bordered Middle
and Upper German territory, as well as the Upper Saxon
and Austrian dialects. The official language or Kanzlei-
sprache of the Bohemian metropolis was a sort of com-
promise between two elements, and the type had become so

A History of the German Language 79

firmly fixed that when the imperial crown passed from the
house Luxemburg to that of Hapsburg in 1438, there was
no change made in the official language. And not only was
this language used in the imperial chancery for official
communications ; for while formerly those documents
which bore the official signature of the emperor were of a
very varied character so far as their language was con-
cerned and contained many provincialisms, those begin-
ning with the era of Frederick III., especially those dating
from the time of Maximilian and bearing the official sig-
nature, exhibit a designed uniformity in language no mat-
ter in what part of Germany they were composed. It fol-
lowed from the nature of the conditions that the official
records of the minor courts or chanceries were patterned
after these. That of the Elector of Saxony, who was one
of the most influential of the subordinate sovereigns, ex-
ercised an important influence. The linguistic territory
within its jurisdiction belonged to the Middle German,
and its official language accordingly bore the same char-
acter until the middle of the fifteenth century when it be-
gins to approximate very plainly to that of the imperial
chancery. This is owing partly to the introduction of Up-
per German peculiarities, and partly to the fact that the
development of the Middle German exhibits a tendency
to approximate in its pronunciation to the same speech.
Both these tendencies progressed more rapidly because
they were recorded in the official language than they would
have done without such support. Here, then, we have two
courts that form, in a sense, the nucleus of a unity that
was destined to draw others to itself. This was the first
step and a long one ; but it was nothing more. The uni-
fication was entirely superficial and affected the speech of
but a small portion of the people. It was not organic.
One fact is of itself weighty evidence in this distinction.
The very sovereigns whose chancery-jargon had become a
pattern for their peers in official communications still

80 A History of the German Language

used their native dialect in their private correspondence.
But further, this official language was ill-suited to become
the medium through which a national literature should
find utterance, because the thoughts therein set forth had
a rather narrow range and it exhibited a preference for
traditional formulas and stereotyped expressions. Its in-
fluence was thus limited almost exclusively to the domain
of sounds and word-formation. For a reconstruction of
the language as a whole and to bring about complete uni-
fication much was still lacking.

It was Luther who did the decisive deed. The author-
ity inherent in legal documents is relatively weak and
limited ; not many persons read them. Luther's imposing
figure moved the German people to its deepest depths.
He dealt with questions that laid hold upon their hearts
and feelings, no matter what their social condition. How
mightily religious questions move the Teutonic mind may
be seen in the effect produced by the English translation
of the Bible made about half a century after Luther's.
Its phraseology has made such an impression on English
diction that it is still plainly discernible. Of necessity
the weighty thoughts with which Luther's words were
freighted and which gave them such wide currency had
an important influence on German style. Not only his
thoughts but the form in which they were expressed were
Well calculated to make a lasting impression on the minds
of his readers. This is true in the largest measure of his
translation of the Bible and of his hymns. The particular
form in which Luther expressed himself was thus, in its
very nature, the pledge of a far-reaching influence ; for
with clear discernment he selected those words and ex-
pressions that had already, in a certain sense, gained more
or less currency. This has already in part been pointed
out. But the more one studies his life and career the more
one becomes impressed with the fact that he was a genius
of the highest order. Not only was he a man of transcen-

A History of the German Language 81

dant ability in certain directions, but he was great in a
variety of senses. He possessed what rarely accompanies
genius — extraordinary tact. The task which he under-
took was no light one, yet he executed it with a skill never
equalled before or since on an equally large scale. In the
first place he made himself an authority, and did so by the
force of natural talents alone. To do this he had to gain
the confidence and affection of his countrymen. When
he had gained the needed authority he knew how to use
it effectively; or perhaps it would be more correct to say
that by a wise use of his influence he kept on increasing
it. The times, the man, and the occasion all came to-
gether, that made him in a sense the creator of a language.
How clearly he discerned one phase of the work before
him may be seen from some of his remarks on translating.
Says he, "One who would talk German does not ask the
Latin how he shall do it; he mast ask the mother in the
home, the children on the streets, the common man in the
market-place and note carefully how they talk, then trans-
late accordingly. They will then understand what is said
to them because it is German. When Christ says, " ex
abundantia cordis os loquitur,' I would translate, if I
followed the papists, aus dem Ueberflusz des Herzens redet
der Mund. But tell me is this talking German ? What
German understands such stuff"? No, the mother in the
home and the plain man would say, Wesz das Herz volt
ist, des gehet der Mund iiber.

"Luther came from the elemental class of society ; not
from the ranks of abject, degraded poverty, the proletariat,
but from the class which earns its daily bread in the sweat
of its brow, and which — next to the peasant class — is the
basis of the social structure. Hence, he retained through-
out life a sympathy with the laborer and the peasant, and
a power of adapting his expressions to their shrewd, idio-
matic, and terse idiom, and hence, of course, the natural-
ness and vigor of his diction. Furthermore, his experience

82 A History of the German Language

in the matter of dialect was greater than that of any other
man. No one of his contemporaries was brought in con-
tact with so many men of such varied conditions and such
varied modes of speech. He was for years the father-con-
fessor, in the truest and best sense, for all Protestantism.
Whoever was in doubt of mind or distress of body or es-
tate wrote or went in person to the great reformer and was
sure of a full and honest answer. Luther's modest and
quiet abode was the goal of a pilgrimage second to none
of the Crusades. All the secrets of the soul, all the troubles
of social aud political life, were poured into his sympathiz-
ing heart in every German jargon, from the rasping gut-
terals of the Swiss Rhine to the lisping sibilants of the
half-Slavic Drina. Let us add to this an inborn gift of ex-
pression, a delicate ear for proprieties of speech and vocal
utterance, a quick perception of what was most available,
and a sturdy common sense in recognizing what was at-
tainable, and we sh'all begin to realize how it was that
Luther became the Luther who personifies to us the abid-
ing element of German thought and speech."

There are nevertheless certain points connected with
the spread of Luther's German upon which we are not yet
fully informed. But it is safe to say that its triumphal
march was not so rapid as the phrase '* Luther, the creator
of the N. H. G. language'' would lead one to suppose. It
met with vigorous opposition in several quarters. To sep-
arate Luther's language from his personality was no
easy matter. It was the bearer of Protestant ideas. This
circumstance made its progress in Roman Catholic coun-
tries a slow one. How closely his language was associated
with the doctrines he taught may be inferred from the
single fact that Gottsched's Sprachlehre, published just
before the middle of the eighteenth century, was for some
time a prohibited book in countries that still adhered to
the old belief. Nay, even in Protestant lands progress
was slow. German particularism, not unfrequ'ently a syn-

A History of the German Language 83

onym for the narrowest sectionalism, sometimes entered
the lists in defense of local peculiarities in language, no
less than in other affairs. Even as late as the middle of the
seventeenth century or after, Thomas Platter, in Protestant
Basel writes his autobiography in the Alemanian dialect.
In 1671 the authorities of the Canton of Bern issued a
rescript to the clergy in which they are exhorted to refrain
from the use of an uncommon and novel German, " which
only annoys the intelligent and neither instructs the com-
mon people in the truths of Christianity nor edifies them."
On L. G. territory the spread of Luther's language was
more rapid than farther south. But here too we find oft-
repeated efforts to raise the local speech to the dignity of
a literary language ; and these have not yet entirely ceased.
A number of periodicals and almanacs are still printed in
L. G. Besides the designed opposition there was that also
which was unintentional. There are still extant letters
written in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that
exhibit a strange mixture of book-German and folk-speech.
Specimens of this may be seen in the correspondence of
the duchess Elizabeth of Saxony with her brother the
landgrave Philip of Hesse. They show that the spirit was
willing but the flesh weak.

Those who are interested in a fuller discussion of this subject will
find it somewhat briefly but lucidly treated by Professor Kluge, in
his Von Luther bis Lessing and more fully in, an unfinished work by
Professor Rueckert, Geschichte der neuhochdeutschen Schriftsprache.

It is evident from what has been said, and much more
might be said, that despite the zealous efforts of gram-
marians and the appearance of prominent writers in the
sixteenth century there hardly existed a conscious unity
in the German language. In the next century such a goal
was clearly before the mind of scholars, but the deviations
from a direct course toward it were still sufficiently evi-
dent. It was not until the latter half of the eighteenth
century that unification was really an accomplished fact.

84 A History of the German Language

Upon the border between the old and the new era the most
prominent figure is Haller. In the two first editions of
his poems there are marked traces of the Alemanian dialect j
for as he himself says, " I am a Swiss. The German lan-
guage is a foreign one to me and I have little practice in
the selection of words," where he evidently means that he
has been in the habit of using the words that he had
learned in childhood. But in the third edition the traces
of his maternal dialect have almost disappeared. Eleven
editions of his poems were issued during his life, or be-
tween the years 1732-77, though nearly all were written
before 1735. His long residence in Germany dating from
1736 had doubtless much to do with this change in his
language.

Complete uniformity does not even yet prevail and will
probably never be attained. Provincial variations in lan-
guage still occur, especially in the borderlands, as would
be expected. In most cases when a writer is an Austrian
or a Swiss one can discover his nationality in his writings.
It is, for example, a characteristic of the latter to use the
word rufen in the sense of hervorrufen, verlangen, as der
Antrag rief einer Idngeren Discussion, for der Antrag
rief eine Idngere Discussion hervor. Here both
the verb and its object are not in accord with good Ger-
man usage. Or, man hatte schon lange einer Verbesserung
dieser Strasze gerufen, for man hatte schon lange eine V.
deiser Strasze verlangt. This phraseology is found even
in Godfrey Keller one of the leading poets of the present
century. Another Swiss peculiarity is the word jeweilen
for bisweilen ; bemilhend in the sense of peinlich, an einer
Sache bettragen for zu einer Sache beitragen.

The Shibboleth of the Austrian is the construction ver-
gessen auf etwas for etwas vergessen, as "auf die Er-
weiterung des Wahlrechts hatte er vergessen" for die
Erweiterung des W. ; and further, fiber instead of auf, ge-
masz, as, fiber Beschlusz, fiber Auftrag ; likewise the word

A History of the German Language 85

Gepflogenheit (Sitte, Gewohnheit) — which has, however,
come to be something more than an Austrian peculiarity.
Ueberall is not unfrequently found in North German
writers in the sense Qiiiberhaupt, as, "es ware die Pflicht
des Herausgebers gewesen, wenn erden Aufsatz iiberall ac-
ceptierte" (Rundschau VII. ,317). The use of erinnernfot
sich ennnern is likewise characteristic of North Germany,
as, "von der Melodie erinnere ich nur einen Theil instead
of erinnere ich mich, etc. It is not improbable, now that
the political metropolis of Germany is on L. G. territory
and is likewise gaining more and more prominence in art
and literature, that we shall find an increasing number of
L. G. provincialisms finding their way into books and
periodicals. The number of variations from a uniform
standard becomes much larger when we take into account
those that are not local in character but the result of indi-
vidual initiative. And while it is conceivable, though not
probable, that local peculiarities might in time disappear,
those that have a personal stamp will from their very na-
ture never cease to find utterance, owing to causes that lie
in the nature of language.

There is not a moment, as we shall see farther on, when
the development of a language is at a standstill. By vir-
tue of a law of inherent necessity new word-forms, new
combinations of old words, and even wholly new words
are called into existence without cessation. And so there
goes on an endless struggle between the old and the new ;
there is a prevailing uncertainty, a vascillation in the use
of language that can never be removed from a living
tongue. We may call the product excrescences and cor-
ruptions, blossoms of style or weeds of style, neologisms
or barbarisms, or what not, but we know that the thing
exists and will continue to spring into existence. It was
the observation of these phenomena that led the poet
Horace to write, "It is a license that has been granted and
ever will be, to put forth a new word stamped with the

86 -A History of the German Language

current die. At each year's fall the forests change their
leaves, those green in spring then drop to earth ; even so
the old race of words passes away, while new-born words,
like youths, flourish in vigorous lite."

These observations are true not only of German and
Latin, but of every language, so long as it is in constant use.
The same forces are everywhere at work and the products
similar. It is plainly evident in our day that the birth of
new words, like the birth of human beings, largely
exceeds in number the death of old ones, as may be seen
from a comparison of a recently compiled dictionary with
one of older date. In fact there seems to be a concerted
effort on the part of lexicographers to secure from entire
oblivion any word that has ever found its way into print.

In what may be designated as morphology, the German
exhibits a comparatively small number of variations. It
is equally correct to say der Friede and der Frieden, des
Bauer s and des Bauern, die Lumpe and die Lumpen ; and
so of other doublets. Er kommt and er kommt are both
permissible though the former is doubtless to be preferred ;
er schwor and er schwur, er fragte and er frug are all in
use though perhaps in all cases the weight of authority is
in favor of one or the other of the two forms. In the follow-
ing examples the second is preferable to the first, die B rote-
die Brote^ die Spornen-dieSporen, hand gehabt-gehandhabt,
Variations in the usage and mistakes in the collocations
of words are of frequent occurrence. Persons who have
not sufficient education to write grammatically have nev-
ertheless something to say in which the public is often
interested, or which the writers believe will be of interest
to others besides themselves. We accordingly find such
errors as, trotz des Regens for trotz dem Regen ; wdhrend
des Tages and wdhrend dem Tage ; der Gehalt and das
Gehalt; ich habe gestanden and ich bin gestanden. But
trotz as a preposition properly takts the genitive case like
wdhrend, Gehalt is of the masculine gender, and stchen is

A History of the German Language 87

conjugated with sein. Not unfrequently ich anerkenne is
used for ich erkenne an ; der mich betroffene UnfalL instead
of der Unfall, der mich betroffen. We read of einer
reitenden Artillerie-Kaserne or of einer Idndlichen Arbei-
terfrage, though the barracks are not mounted nor is the
question agrarian. A large number of erroneous col-
locations of words arise from the circumstance that during
the act of writing or speaking two equally authorized ex-
pressions occur to the mind at the same time and a part
only of each is used. This will explain such phrases as
sich befindlich, which is evidently a mixture of sich befin-
dend and befindlich. Renter often uses the formula, wat
gelt mt dat an, plainly a combination of a part of was gilt
mtr das? and of was gehl mich das an? In Emilia Galotti,
when Claudia tells how furious Emilia's father had been
on learning that the prince had lately seen her "nichtokne
Muzfallen" (not without displeasure), she really meant
nicht ohne Wohlgefallen, the exact opposite of what her
words taken literally, signify.

Mistakes in the use of words are usually of two
kinds. On the one hand, old words are used with new
meanings which do not properly belong to them ; as for
example when verdanken is employed in the sense of Dank
sagen while it can properly be used only in the sense of the
French 'devoir.' It is correct to say ich verdanke thm
dieses (I am indebted to him for this, je lui dois ceci ), but
ich sage ihm Dankfilr dieses ( I thank him for this)) has a
somewhat different meaning. Again, beilaufig ( incident-
ally) is used as if it were ungefahr instead of nebenbei
bemerkt; or bereits in the sense of beinahe (almost) instead
of schon (already). On the other hand — and the number
of errors of this sort is legion — new words are formed, gen-
erally new derivatives or new compounds. As the Ger-
man lends itself so readily to combinations of this kind
there is a great temptation for those who have occasion to
use a new word to coin one to suit their real or imagined

88 A History of the German Language

purpose. But it requires an adequate knowledge of the
language to coin new words in conformity to its principles.
Some of the most offensive of these neologisms are dies-
beziiglich, Lebendgeburten, Nebensdtzlichkeiten (Nebensdtze)^
daherig, demnachstig, mittlerweihg , verbescheiden, and so
on. A mere glance at the mode of composition employed
in these wiords will enable the reader to see its illegitimacy.
The largest contingent of neologisms is furnished by the
newspaper press. Newspaper German and bad German
are pretty nearly synonymous terms, a statement that is
true of other modern languages also. And the complaints
are growing in frequency over the degeneracy of this cur-
rent ephemeral literature. Almost all who write are so
eager to come before the public that it does not seem to
make much difference to them in what garb. The ille-
gitimate offspring of the faculty of speech to which atten-
tion has been briefly called above, together with other
divergences from the normal type are chiefly those of con-
struction and word-formation. They are not as noticeable
to foreigners or to persons of limited culture as the varia-
tions in pronunciation to which attention has already been
called. The same vowels and diphthongs as well as the
same consonants and combination of consonants are
very differently pronounced in different parts of Ger-
many. This is mystifying not only to the foreigner
who has learned his German chiefly from books, but
a stumbling-block to the Germans themselves who are
often at a loss to understand the language of a district
lying at some distance from their own. In view of the
facts in the case, it is a question how the efforts toward the
unification of the N. H. G. can be most judiciously direct-
ed toward the accomplishment of the desired end. If, as
I hope to show later, all these divergences and errors have
a psychological justification ; if all progress in language
is closely related to them, are we not in duty bound to let
them have free course ? Shall not we make a practical

A History of the German Language 89

application of the words of Goethe, " What we understand
we can not find fault with" ? It is doubtful whether such
a conclusion naturally follows. In morals, in social life,
many things are done to which we can not justly take ex-
ception, but which may nevertheless be prohibited by ethi-
cal or statute laws because they are incompatible with the
objects for which society exists. The unconditioned liberty
of one person interferes with that of others. He
is a rare man who can do as he pleases without
coming in conflict with his fellow men. The ends
at which society aims in the use of language may
also require an interference against a license that
is proper enough in itself. The mere fact of the ex-
istence of a written language is in contravention of the
hereditary rights of dialects. Errors of speech and disre-
gard of the laws of language are contrary to the ends for
which languages exist, and to a greater or less extent de-
feat those ends. These are the accurate communication
of thoughts and feelings to others. In order that com-
munication may be adequate and exact, language must
possess two characteristics : perfect comprehensibility and
perfect beauty of form. Offenses against beauty of form
are harmful in two ways. The attention of the reader or
listener is withdrawn from the contents of a communica-
tion to mere externals and therefore to non-essentials.
Generally when our aesthetic sense is offended by an inar-
tistic form in language we unconsciously get an aversion
to the content. An educated person is rarely impressed
by the words of a speaker who uses bad grammar, as he
would be if he spoke correctly. Most errors of speech are
not only a bar to perfect intelligibility but are also sins
against the canons of style. An unusual expression or a
word to which we are unaccustomed does not call up in
the mind with the same rapidity the designed representa-
tion that an old and familiar one does. A keen sense of
beauty and propriety is painfully wounded when words

7

90 A History of the German Language

having an entirely modern stamp are used side by side
with obsolete ones. There is no doubt then, it would
seem, that we are perfectly right when we demand of each
individual that for the benefit of all he shall refrain from
the employment of all incorrect forms of speech. And
though the variations in German may have a certain justi-
fication for their existence, we do right in demanding the
avoidance of everything that may lead to uncertainty, and
in setting up a norm of correct speech. The simplest
style, — a mode of expression that is easily understood by
the most unlettered rustic — may nevertheless be just as
correct in grammar and as careful in the choice of words
as the most ornate. There can be no possible advantage
in fostering dialectic diversity and there is considerable
disadvantage, while the tendency of advancing civilization
is clearly toward uniformity. Almost everything that can
be said in favor of diversity is that it is easier for every-
body to express himself in his native dialect than to ac-
custom himself to a style with which he is more or less
unfamiliar. But if we attach any weight to such a laissez-
faire doctrine we may as well go further and object to learn-
ing everything that is difficult.

But the serious question is this : How shall we decide
in each particular instance whether a word or a mode of
speech is to be regarded as correct, or at least admissible,
or incorrect. At the first blush we should be inclined to
demand that language shall conform to the laws of logic.
For there is no doubt that the logical contradictions and
vague expressions that we meet with in language obstruct
a clear comprehension of the meaning and disagreeably
affect the artistic sense. On this ground then much that
is spoken and written must at once be discarded as illogical.
But our faith in the competency of the rules of logic to
decide questions in language is rudely shaken when we
discover that in many cases language and logic are not on
friendly terms with each other, and that the concepts fre-

A History of the German Language 91

quently combined in words do not comport with the rules
of logic. The term Maulwurf— which in old English was
'mold-warp' because the animal so named casts up the
mold — ought to mean a throw that is made with the mouth
or snout, but not a little creature that casts up the earth
with its feet. In this case the English designation is more
nearly correct than the German. We hear of a Vaterbrust,
of a Gdnsebrust as designating the breast of a father or
of a goose, and a bodice is called a Schniirbrust because it
is used to lace the breast. In all these compounds there
is not much deviation from the meaning of the simple
words that enter into them. But who by taking these as
a guide could divine the signification of Armbrust (cross-
bow) ? The Germans say erne Ansicht teilen just as we
say in English ' to share an opinion ' or ' a view,' in spite
of the fact that when an opinion is shared with one or
more persons it does not for that reason become the less,
as if it were a material substance. It is sometimes said
of a person that his coat or his home or his native land got
too small for him ; and yet it was the man alone who
changed. Logically then we could only say that he be-
came too large for his coat after the manner of the homely
proverb " he got too big for his boots." It is illogical and
objectionable to speak of one who has drunk as einen ge-
trunkenen ; nevertheless ein Trunkener is exactly equiva-
lent in meaning to ein Getrunkener. Similarly we say in
English, the man was drunk, when in fact it was an intox-
icating liquid that was drunk. It would be logical to say,
the man has drunk, but not that he was drunk. The
word Bedienter (literally, one who is served) does not des-
ignate the recipient of a service at the hands of another,
but one whose business it is to render service to another.
A biting dog is a dog that bites just as a kicking mule is
one that kicks, but a riding-saddle or a riding-horse is a
saddle or a horse to be rode on, while a drinking-cup or a
drinking-fountain are neither to be drunk nor things that

92 A History of the German Language

drink, but they are objects to be used for drinking pur-
poses. We thus find that the English participle in -ing is
used in two exactly opposite senses, and its particular
meaning in any given instance must always be determined
by the context. The same is true of other languages.
The German entbloden is formed just like entkleiden and
entfarben, and might rationally be supposed to signify, to
lay off one's modesty, shamefacedness, or in other words
to be equivalent to sich nicht scheuen. In fact, however
" er entblodete sich nicht'1'1 is used like " er scheute sich
nicht" where the negative in the first sentence is plainly
illogical. The terms Fastnacht, Weihnacht refer not only
to the hours of the night, but much more to those of the
day. The English fortnight is similarly used. It would
be an unendurable contradiction to speak of a piece of
wooden iron or of a quadrangular circle ; yet Wachsstreich-
holzchen is in common use as well as viereckige Fenster-
scheibe, notwithstanding the fact that Scheibe means disk.
It will thus be seen that there are illogical forms of expres-
sion that are linguistically incorrect and others that are
universally regarded as correct. In some cases we notice
the logical inconsistency, in others we do not. The rules
of logic will not therefore enable us to decide whether a
given word or phrase is grammatically correct or incor-
rect. Questions of this sort must be brought before an-
other tribunal for decision. This will be further evident
from some additional considerations. Of a given number
of words formed exactly alike, some will stand the test of
logic and some will not. The German vocabulary con-
tains the word Mannesalter ; logically then it ought also
to contain the word Frauenalter, or at least such a com-
pound would be in accordance with the principles of word-
composition. Yet it does not occur. Conversely we find
Frauenzimmer but not Mannes simmer. From Tag are
formed tagen and Tagung to designate the meeting of a
congress, diet, etc., by day. It would be logical then to

A History of the German Language 93

speak of the same occurence if it took place at night as
nachten and Nachtung. But these words are not a part of
the German vocabulary, and if one were to coin them they
would be scarcely intelligible in spite of their familiar
analogues. It is correct to say ganz und gar nicht and
even gar nicht, but the people of Basel are clearly in the
wrong when they say, as they often do, ganz nicht. From
the few examples above given, which might be increased
almost indefinitely, it is easy to see that grammatical anal-
ogy affords little or no aid in determining what is correct
in language and what is not.

But perhaps the aesthetic feelings will furnish us with a
more trustworthy guide than anything else ; for it is uni-
versally admitted that in order to fulfill the objects for
which speech exists, beauty of form is of paramount im-
portance. We might make a test by allowing the intelli-
gent public to decide between two forms of expression, in
order to ascertain which is the more nearly perfect. Here
too, as is usually the case where the beauty of an object is
the matter under consideration, the question to be deter-
mined is how far the passage under consideration com-
bines harmony of form and content. But since, in lan-
guage as we find it to-day, with only the rarest exceptions,
no relation exists between the form of a word and its
meaning the whole discussion falls to the ground at once.
If we were to assume that the beauty of a word or of a
collocation of words consisted solely in their power to fur-
nish gratification to the sense of hearing we should find
ourselves in the domain of music and of pure subjectivity,
when, in effect, we are doing what we can to curb the ten-
dency to resort to individual judgment. And as there are
all degrees of capacity among men to appreciate the
beauty of musical sounds, the same is true when applied
to language. Here then as in music there are a number
of generally recognized and well established laws that can
be broken with impunity only by the privileged few. Men

94 A History of the German Language

equally competent judges and equally masters of a lan-
guage may differ as to which of two words or two expres-
sions is the more harmonious. It is well to remember too
that what is familiar is generally more or less agreeable.
We listen with pleasure to the language or the melodies
to which we have been long accustomed though to others
they may sound harsh and inharmonious. In like man-
ner long usage may blind us to blemishes of style and
bad grammar, a fact of which daily observation furnishes
us with numerous examples. The question is easier
answered if we put it thus : which of two words harmo-
nizes better with its environment in a given sentence?
The chief beauty of discourse consists in unity of style.
No attempt should be made to place antique ornamenta-
tion on modern furniture, nor should venturesome innova-
tions be mingled with well established art-forms of the
past. In this respect, then, the competence of the aesthetic
judgment is beyond dispute. Unfortunately the aesthetic
sense of the Germans is not at all sensitive. We have
sufficient evidence of this in the obvious tendency to use
foreign words. Many persons who attach great impor-
tance to style and to being " in the style," in many things
and who would regard it as little -short of sacrilege to put
modern furniture in an old German chamber do not hesi-
tate to employ a motley intermixture of German, Latin
and French words in discourse without the faintest con-
ception of the sins against style they are committing.
How much more difficult then will it .be for this feebly de-
veloped feeling for style to discriminate justly among pure
German words ? The only remedy lies in the cultivation
and development of a higher sense of propriety in matters
of literary form before it can be relied on for guidance.
It is however always easy to determine by direct percep-
tion whether a word or an expression is perfectly clear
without calling in the adventitious aid of logic and aes-
thetics. Words, whether simple or compound, and sen-

A History of the German Language 95

tences are intelligible in proportion to our familiarity with
their use either by ourselves or by others. Usage alone
decides what is correct and what incorrect. That which
is in common use is linguistically right and what is un-
usual is wrong. Careful observation of usage alone will
cultivate the sense of harmony in speech whether written
or spoken, and it is only by this means that absolute per-
fection can be more and more nearly reached. The sense
of style is nothing more than knowledge that has become
unconscious, a reminiscence of the collocation of words
often observed before, and a recognition of others that
have an unfamiliar look. This is the rule of Horace, or
rather a statement of facts observed by him, nearly two
thousand years ago, when he says that new words come
into existence and others die

si volet usus, quern penes arbitriumst et jus et

norma loquendi :

Every Grammar and every Rhetoric that has ever been
written, beginning with Aristotle, is nothing more than
an attempt to formulate into rules the usage followed by
the best writers. Language precedes grammar, and not
grammar, language. But how shall we proceed to ascer-
tain the laws of linguistic usage ? The German as well as
the Englishman is not so fortunately situated in this re-
gard as the members of several other nations. For him
there is no legislative body, no Academy like the French,
always prepared to render a decision upon doubtful points.
Many have regretted this ; in spite of the fact that it is
doubtful whether such a corporation has much influence in
directing the development of language. The comprehen-
sive mind of Leibniz concerned itself more than two hun-
dred years ago with the formation of a German Academy,
and in quite recent times the demand for such an institu-
tion has again found expression in public prints and
elsewhere. It is very doubtful, however, whether the re-
sults likely to be attained are worth the effort. In the

96 A History of the German Language

first place, where could a dozen, or even half a dozen
German scholars be found who would be able to come to
an agreement as to what is the usage of their language,
and competent to lay down a set of rules in the matter ?
When the question of regulating German orthography
was discussed at a conference recently called to meet in
Berlin for that purpose, it was found that even upon such
a subordinate and apparently unimportant matter no
agreement could be reached. The English advocates of a
spelling reform are likewise meeting with but little en-
couragement. But aside from such practical difficulties it
lies in the nature of the case that a set of printed rules
can not keep pace with the growth of a living language.
The writing public pays little attention to such rules. If
a new word aptly designates a new thing it will be gener-
ally adopted, no matter how illogically it may be con-
structed. In like manner, a happily turned phrase rapidly
gains currency no matter how repugnant it may be to a
cultivated taste, provided it be expressive. The experi-
ence of the French shows very plainly the difficulties that
such a code has to encounter. The more persistently the
Dictionnaire de I ^ Academic adhered to its elegant classi-
cism the stronger grew the sentiment against it, and the
more rampant did unbridled license in language become
as the Romantic school began to grow in popular favor.
As a result the French are to-day not much better off in
this respect than the Germans ; their periodicals are about
as much as the German the arena on which carelessness
in the use of words and expressions have full play, and
where neologisms abound.

Fewer drawbacks, doubtless, attach to the labors and
suggestions of private individuals than to dicta of official
bodies. Rules are not so likely to become obsolete, for the
reason that with a constant efflux of fresh writings the
new takes its place alongside of the old. Books of rules
no doubt have their uses, but it is neither convenient nor

A History of the German Language 97

profitable to turn to their pages when writing or speaking
in order to ascertain how that which we have to say may
be most fitly expressed. Such a proceeding would be
very much as if one were in a company and the question
happening to turn upon some difficult point of etiquette
we should have recourse to Knigge's Umgang mil Men-
schen, or to some similar manual that we might happen to
have with us. Usage in language must not be a mere ex-
ternal matter ; it needs to be a part of one's self. This it
can never become if we do not drink for ourselves from
the same fountains from which the compilers of lexicons
and dictionaries have drawn. How to express our thoughts
intelligibly and intelligently as well as with grace, is a
power that can only be acquired through a familiarity
with the way others have habitually given utterance to
their thoughts. We must make our own the highly de-
veloped sense of form in language acquired by others.
Generally speaking, the more one reads the more acute
will his sense of the beauty of diction become. But it
should be carefully noted that it is not the quantity of the
matter read that makes the well-read man. The votes
must not be merely counted ; they must also be weighed.
We can not learn what constitutes good breeding from
those who are indifferent to good breeding. The litera-
ture of the passing day — most of which is entitled to be
called literature solely because it is expressed in the letters
of the alphabet — that is produced so hurriedly as to ex-
clude every consideration of style, can not exercise a
formative influence on the mode of expression of those
who read it. Its tendency is deformative, rather. This
is true not only of the average newspaper, but of the writ-
ings of many authors who are the favorites of the multi-
tude, and who consider themselves under obligations to
bless the world every year with a fresh novel. Yet it is
true, on the other hand, that one of the most prolific liv-
ing authors, Paul Heyse, is likewise an incomparable mas-

98 A History of the German Language

ter of German style. But there is one other practice be-
sides the reading of newspapers and other periodicals
that blunts the keen sense of style : this is translating
from foreign languages. Translators rarely succeed in
eliminating all the peculiarities of the foreign tongue.
Latinisms and Gallicisms have almost become an integral
part of German, or are in a fair way to become so. But
the German itself may be the means of defiling its own
purity. How this is liable to happen can be seen in the
writings of Jacob Grimm. It is with genuine enjoyment
that the appreciative reader observes his wonderful mas-
tery over his native German. With what warmth and en-
thusiasm does he enter into its life and spirit ! How
thoroughly he has at command all the resources of the
language ! But his familiarity with its earlier stages
seems not unfrequently to have blunted a comprehension
of the legitimate claims of current speech ; old German
words and combinations of words are not uncommon in
his works. There are doubtless intentional deviations
from modern usage for the purpose of expressing
thoughts and things belonging to the past. A like prone-
ness to resort to the use of archaisms is often noticeable
in the writings of clergymen and others who are habitual
readers of the English Bible.

Language, as has been said above, is in perpetual growth
and movement. As new words come into vogue with new
things, old ones pass into oblivion with the disuse of the
objects to which thev are affixed. There will thus often
occur cases where the exigency of the occasion compels a
writer, when dealing with the past, to sacrifice either the
accuracy of his designation of an object or the justness of
the conception he wishes to express, or to introduce anti-
quated words and formulas. It may be assumed to be al-
together impossible to write in a strictly modern style upon
subjects that pertain chiefly or wholly to the past. There
is a class of writers who of set purpose deviate from the

A History of the German Language 99

current fashion of language. They are the humorists.
Errors readily noticed often serve to heighten the comic
effects they wish to produce, and the design of portraying
the petty concerns of life frequently leads to the use of
new and unheard of compounds. Richter has incidentally
touched upon the value to him, of any newly coined word
that he can press into his service for the portrayal of half
and quarter tints. To the same class belongs also the
large guild of popular writers whose aim is either to de
scribe the life of the people or to exercise some influence
upon them for a purpose. In order to make themselves
easily understood they designedly ignore the laws of cul-
tivated or even of correct speech. It would be wholly out
of place to cite as models of good German such authors as
Hebel, Gotthelf or Rosegger. The first of these, a writer
of remarkable merit, employed almost exclusively as the
vehicle of expression, the Alemanian dialect ; the
second made use of several Austrian dialects, while the
third, whose real name was Bitzins wrote for the most part
in the German of the Bernese Swiss. In the writings of
scholars we often find an intentional neglect of style.
There was a time when it was regarded as somewhat "of a
reproach among the learned to write well. He who at-
tached much importance to elegance of diction was liable
to the charge of superficiality, though it needs to be said
thai: this state of affairs prevailed hardly anywhere except
in Germany. Fortunately, this opinion is losing ground
more and more, so that the modern historians are scarcely
less careful of their manner of writing than of the' matter
they use. It has come to be regarded as an essential quali-
fication of the historian that he shall combine artistic skill
in the use of language with thoroughness of research.
Accordingly the prose of writers like Ranke, Gregorovius,
Hausrath and Treitschke is almost a model of excellence.
It may surprise the reader that the works of the classical
German writers — Lessing, Schiller and Goethe — are not

100

placed in the front rank in point of style. The reason is
plain : it is inadmissible to set up as models for contem-
poraries, the works of writers who belonged to a past age.
A careful examination will make it clear that the process
of development in language has carried us a considerable
distance beyond the literary form they employed for the
expression of their thoughts. This is more particularly
true of Lessing, but it must also be said of Schiller and
Goethe that we can hardly open a page of their writings
without finding words and phrases that have a somewhat
foreign look. It may seem a little discouraging to find
that the clearness after which we are told to strive in
writing will soon count for little or nothing. Nevertheless
this changing fashion in language will no more justify us
in neglecting the proprieties of form than the mutability
of social observances excuses us from paying any attention
to them. There is however a large element of perma-
nence in literary work that fulfills the highest require-
ments of literary art. It is not probable that the time will
ever come when any nation will permit its masterpieces to
sink into neglect. On the contrary, it is the excellence of
its style that keeps alive many a work of which the con-
tents have ceased to be of general interest. Not unfre-
quently it is possible for us to anticipate the clburse of de-
velopment that a language will take. The most careful
observer even when possessed of the keenest sense of the
beauties of style will not always be able to determine in-
fallibly which of two or more verbal forms or phrases is
entitled to the preference. In the struggle between the
old and the new there must always be times when two
forces are in equilibrium ; when for two different modes
of expression, two equally weighty authorities may be
cited. Under such circumstances, what is one to do?
Regard for clearness will not solve the difficulty, and so
we must project the present into the future. In this case
as in many others, the historian of the past may become

A History of the German Language 101

the prophet of the future. One who has carefully studied
the development of a language in the past. is often able to
predict which of two forms equally correct at the present
time will ultimately displace the other. If the question
were asked, for instance, whether one ought to say des
Bauers or des Bauern, the thorough student of German
might with confidence predict that the former will in the
not distant future be regarded as the only correct termina-
tion. Haifa century and more ago a number of English
words were accented on the penult or antepenult ; but the
tendency of the accent is regressive so that it now rests
one or even two syllables nearer the beginning of the
word. It is therefore safe to assume that others will fol-
low the same law. Of course, these are criteria that not
many persons are able to use and there are comparatively
few instances in which a safe prediction is possible. It
only remains then for us to recognize with philosophical
resignation the uncertainty of the situation. It is folly to
make demands upon language to which in the nature of
things it can not respond ; we must allow to it the free-
dom of development which we grant to every living or-
ganism and deny to no other product of the human soul.

UNIFORMITY IX THE SPOKEN LANGUAGE.

It has been shown that there are a number of points
upon which the N. H. G. has not yet reached the stage of
complete uniformity and regularity. It is now proposed
to call attention to some additional facts that point in the
same direction. The uniformity thus far spoken of, exists
in reality only on paper and has to do only with reading
matter. The advance that has been made toward securing
unity in the spoken language is still in its inception. But
the movement in this direction, though only fairly begun,
is destined to continue with accelerating speed and the
dialects are doomed to extinction. Whether this is to be
looked upon with regret or with satisfaction is not a mat-

102 A History of the German Language

ter to be here considered ; the result is inevitable and to
contend against it, useless. The objects for which language
exists imperatively demand the removal of this obstacle
to facility of communication. Under existing conditions
the peasants of Westphalia and the herdsmen of Switzer-
land, when each uses his vernacular, comprehend each
other as little as the French understand the Chinese,
though both the former speak the same^language.

The most potent agency in this mission of civilization
is the school. Here the attention of both eye and ear is
persistently directed to the language as it is written and
printed. The living word as it is heard in the pulpit like-
wise exercises an influence, though not a powerful one, be-
cause its chief object is comprehensibility, and it accord-
ingly conforms to local conditions. There are, however,
localities where the sway of dialect is still comparatively
unbroken. In the Canton of Bern a few years ago,
ministers still preached in the local vernacular. Still
weaker is the influence of the stage, because only a
small part of the population comes within its sphere. Of
great importance is the habit of reading which is simply
an intensifying and continuing of the work begun in the
school, a habit that is greatly encouraged by the issue of
numerous periodicals. The facilities for easy intercourse
between different parts of the country do a good deal toward
obliterating dialectic differences. In the not distant past,
persons could easily be found who had never passed a day
beyond the sound of their local vernacular. At the present
time it would be hard to find a school-boy whose travels
have not extended farther. The same causes likewise
make a change of residence comparatively easy. Re-
movals from one place to another are, accordingly, more
frequent than formerly and are often to a greater distance.
The slight divergences between the language spoken in
the different parts of the United States are largely due to
the easy means of intercommunication. Here too, one

A History of the German Language 103

may see to what extent the least visited sections have the
most marked peculiarities of speech and to what extent
they are persistent.

The relation existing between written and spoken lan-
guage may be of various kinds. The majority of persons
employ their native folk-speech in conversation. Many
who are able to understand the language of books are un-
able to use it. There is, besides, a tolerably large contin-
gent that can understand only their local vernacular.
Those persons are rare who use only the written language ;
and they are for the most part such as have acquired the
German later in life. Among native Germans this can
only be the case where there is below them no numerous
and comparatively uneducated populace. This is the sit-
uation of the Germans in the Baltic provinces of Russia.
Among persons who use both the spoken and the written
language, there are many gradations. Comparatively few
speak in pure dialect, and the number of those who are
wholly free from any trace of dialect is equally small.
Usually there is a mixture of both, with the preponder-
ance in favor of the one or the other. The unconscious
oscillation between one and the other frequently produces
a comic effect and has even been represented in literature.
Fritz Reuter is perhaps the best known writer who has
made use of it. The mixture is often different in the
same individual ; or it may vary in the same class of per-
sons, or in the different provinces of the German empire.
In conversation with a stranger, a German is likely to dis-
card local peculiarities as much as possible ; in familiar in-
tercourse with an acquaintance he will probably use the
vernacular most freely. The more serious the subject of
discussion the nearer is he likely to approach the language
of books. On the platform, in public lectures, in the pro-
fessor's chair the hearers do not readily tolerate the use of
dialect. In addressing a superior, the language of books
is more likely to be employed than to an inferior. The

104 A History of the German Language

language of deliberation will usually be more correct than
that of passion or exhaustion. The educated man is less
apt to use a dialect than the illiterate ; the man who has
traveled extensively, than he who has spent most of
his life at home ; the dweller in the city, than the in-
habitant of a rural district ; the courtier, than the plain
citizen.

Within the territory of the L,. G. pure H. G. is much
more frequently heard than in other portions of the Em-
pire. Dialectic peculiarities, are most common and most
noticeable in the higher classes of Swabia, Bavaria, Aus-
tria and Switzerland. In fact, it is rare to find a person
whose language is not more or less tainted. In some
parts of Switzerland even the proceedings of the courts
are conducted in the local speech of the district. The
spirit of republican independence makes the people of
this country loth to conform, even in language, to the rules
prescribed by those who live under a monarchial govern-
ment. The feeling of local importance that one may find
in all parts of Germany, but more especially in the south,
is here intensified by the difference in the form of govern-
ment. While the speech of wider areas has certain gen-
eral characteristics in common, there are other character-
istics that pertain to narrower circles within these. In
Basel and Bern, to speak now only of Switzerland, the
use of local dialects is more common than in other parts.
This is doubtless owing to certain native peculiarities of
the inhabitants. It may be that in one locality more im-
portance is attached to external form than in another ; in
another, the people may incline to local isolation ; while in
still another, the language may be tenaciously adhered to
because it is an inheritance that has descended to them
from their ancestors and which they feel ought to be
transmitted to posterity as little impaired as possible.
The fact that the people of North Germany generally
speak the language with greater purity than those of the

A History of the German Language 105

South is to be attributed in part to the greater conservatism
of the latter and in part to the wider gap that exists be-
tween the northern vernacular and the N. H. G.

Wherever the written German is understood the High
or South German dialects are, in a measure at least, in-
telligible ; this can not be said of the Low German dia-
lects. There is, accordingly, a stronger motive for the na-
tive of North Germany to learn the literary language,
than there is for the native of other parts. He must con-
form as far as possible to the language of books in order
to be understood even by his own countrymen who have
not learned his particular dialect. Again, it is easier to
learn an entirely new language and to use it in its purity,
if it is sharply distinct from that to which we have been
accustomed, than it is to learn one that deviates but
slightly. This statement is subject to some exceptions,
but is true in the main.

The relative ease with which we pass from the use of
one language to another will receive some additional
elucidation if we look somewhat more closely at the way
in which the literary German and folk-speech are inter-
mingled. Single H. G. words find earliest and readiest
entrance into the dialects, because in such cases the differ-
ence between meum and tuum is clearly marked. Much
later and rarer is the introduction of H. G. phrases and
expressions. There exists, however, another considera-
tion. H. G. words even in dialectic guise are more easily
understood than phrases or sentences when used in the
place of dialect-words. But not all H. G. word-forms find
equally ready admission into folk-speech ; the more fre-
quently a dialect word is used the greater the difficulty of
displacing it. It happens quite frequently that persons
who attach much importance to purity of speech inad-
vertently let slip the dialectic forms of ist and nicht,
These words being among the most frequently used in all
languages, their pronunciation acquired in childhood be-
8

106 A History of the German Language

comes so confirmed by habit that it is almost the last to be
exchanged for another.

But most difficult of all is to observe carefully the rules
for the pronunciation of particular sounds. This is so be-
cause, in the first place, that utterance which has been ac-
quired in connection with the printed page is not clearly
indicated by the characters to which it is attached.
Whether st is to be pronounced as it is written, or as scht;
whether ch is to be sounded as in Bach or as in Bache, can
not be learned by the eye alone. A second obstacle is
often interposed by the dialect when it makes no differ-
ence in pronunciation where one exists in the literary lan-
guage : the latter has two distinct sounds where the
former has but one. Persons who are in the habit of
using a dialect observe that those who speak the H. G.
employ two different sounds, of which one accords with
their vernacular while the other does not. But the mem-
ory often fails to keep them distinct and an uncertainty
arises as to when the one is to be used and when the other.
The result is that the dialect sound is frequently carried
into the H. G., where it does not belong. Few things are
more difficult to acquire and to remember accurately for
any considerable length of time than a sound or a tone.
This failure of memory often produces curious linguistic
effects. The Alemannian, for instance, knows that he
should sometimes use an ei in the H. G. where his ver-
nacular has z\ as Weile for Wil, or schleiche for schliche.
But by following the analogy of the case too far he is apt
to say veil when he should say viel, or ich verseichere sie
when he means ich versichere sie; and so on. The
Swabian pronounces the H. G. sind, Wind as if printed
send and Wend; and misled like his Alemannian brother
by a false analogy he utters Mensch as if it were written
Minsch. Or, again, because the H. G. gehabt, geholt are
pronounced in his native dialect like ghabt and kabt, or
gholt and kolt ; he in like manner introduces an e after the

A History of the German Language 107

initial g, thus making Gehockeler out of Cockier (cock).
The Austrian utters final -er almost as if written -a, say-
ing, for example, IVmda, when he means Winter. In like
manner then he is apt to say in Sommer when he means
in Summa. In the dialect of Leipzig and vicinity au is
pronounced like o, so that lazifen^ for example, becomes
lofen. Accordingly when the natives want to say Ofen
they are apt to call it Aufen, and because Knopfloch ( but-
ton-hole) and Knoblauch (garlic) are pronounced sub-
stantially alike in their vernacular, they confound the
sounds where the result is ridiculous: instead of say-
ing Knopflochseide they may say, when trying to speak
H. G., Knoblauchseide . The same uncertainty and con-
fusion appears when a native Low German tries to use the
H. G. mir and mich, dir and dich ; for in a large portion of
L. G. territory the dative and accusative of these two
words is simply mi and di. It is only those that have
been well educated who are in all cases able to decide
quickly which of the two terminations is to be employed.
Mistakes of this kind are likely to occur whenever and
wherever there is considerable difference between the
speech of the educated and the uneducated ; that is, where
a language of books exists along with one that is only
spoken. We find persons who having learned that it is
incorrect to say "talkin','' "planting" and the like will
carry the analogy too far and say " chicking '' or " plant-
ing" when they mean chicken and plantain. Sometimes
these incorrect forms finally make their way into the lit-
erary language, as, for example, chickens, which is a double
plural. The singular is chick, and the plural should end
in -en like that of ox. Compare also the plurals housen,
children, brethren and even " sistern." There is hardly
any doubt that a similar mental process has unconsciously
been an important factor in giving forms to many German
words that it would be difficult to account for in any other
way. We have here simply a process that is of frequent

108 A History of the German Language

occurrence in all languages, because the human inind acts
in much the same way. It is certain that a number of
pure H. G. words are the result of earlier false analogies.
Loffel, ergotzen, loschen were in the M. H. G. leffel, ergetzen
and leschen; but because in many dialects the H. G. e and
o stood for the same sound they became confounded in the
course of time, and usage finally settled upon the wrong
one. Since the mistake has become known efforts are
being made to correct the error and restore the correct or-
thography. The proverb sein Schdfchen ins Trockene
bnngen has arisen from the L. G. sein Schepken, etc. In
this dialect Schepken corresponds to the H. G. Schdfchen
and Schiffchen; but the wrong word was transferred be-
cause the proverb has reference to putting the ship not the
sheep into a dry place. In those parts of Germany where
little is known of ships and much of sheep, the mistake
was almost certain to be made.

In many instances when wrong forms, judged by the
H. G. standard, are used they are not the result of an at-
tempt to reproduce the correct one, because the speaker is
incapable of recognizing the difference between the two ;
or if he recognizes the difference when made by the vocal
organs of another he makes none when he attempts to pro-
nounce the words himself. The Saxons and Swabians are
to a considerable extent afflicted with a sort of deafness
which prevents them from distinguishing between p and b
or t and d. It may thus occur that ein typischer character
becomes ein diebischer character. A lexicon of the Swabian
"has no words beginning with t and p, their places being
occupied by d and b. So far as the p as related to t is
concerned the Gothic prototype is preserved, as there are
few, if any pure Gothic words beginning with this letter.
In the case of the initial t as related to d the latter in most
cases preserves the Gothic sound ; which is also retained
in English. The Gothic dauhtar, dags, daigs are the
English 'daughter,' 'day' and 'dough,' and the Swabian

A History of the German Language 109

Dochter, Dag and Deig or even Doag are represented in
the N. H. G. by Tochter, Tag and Teig. How tenaciously
the dialects resist the displacement of some sounds is evi-
dent from the fact that for several letters and combinations
of letters there is no recognized pronunciation to this day.
It is perhaps admissible to say that the L. G. pronuncia-
tion of sp and st, which is in accord with the English, is
incorrect, and that these letters should be sounded as if
written schp and scht. On the other hand the pronuncia-
tion of g varies considerably. Sometimes it is sounded
like j (Eng. y), sometimes like ch, sometimes like the
English letter of the same name before a, o and u.
None is universally recognized as correct. A similar state
of affairs exists in regard to final ng. In some localities it
is sounded as if written nk, so that Gang, Sang become
Gank, Sank; in others, it has the same sound when final
that it has elsewhere in a word. The sound represented
by the letter r is produced in some districts with the tip
of the tongue ; in others, with the palate. Sometimes it
is made to resemble closely the sound of eh, or even a.
Professor Vischer recently published a humorous article
in "Gegenwart" under the caption "Sufferings of the
wretched letter r during its travels through Ger-
many." In South Germany s is pronounced sharp like
the English initial s ; but in North Germany like s
in ' houses.' Some of the differences that prevail in
the pronunciation of the vowels and diphthongs have
already been pointed out. The divergence in the
pronunciation of ^ is perhaps of little importance
and is doubtless not generally observed. The others
are of greater consequence and are liable to lead to
a misconception of the meaning of the speaker. They
ought therefore as far as possible to be removed. So far
as the r is concerned there are physical obstacles in the
way ; but none in the case of g. It is well therefore to
follow the example of the German stage which is almost

110 A History of the German Language

a unit in pronouncing it, at least initial and medial, like
the English g in such words as game, go and gun.

SOME DISADVANTAGES OF UNIFORMITY.

Uniformity in spoken and written German, so far as it
exists at present is the result of a conscious effort and the
outgrowth of internal necessity. It has nevertheless
brought with it some disadvantages. So long as a dialect
was the mode of speech employed by everybody, each
writer was at liberty to use that particular name to desig-
nate an object or an idea which it had in the vernacular.
All newly coined words could forthwith be transferred to
paper or book. As soon however as a literary language
came into existence this could no longer be done because
such a language sought general currency wherever German
was used. The needs of a larger constituency had thence-
forth to be kept in view ; and only such words and forms
of expression were likely to be understood as had already
come into use in one way and another. The vocabulary
of a speaker or writer is confined within somewhat circum-
scribed limits. The more abstract and colorless the sig-
nification of a word the larger is the number of dialects
in which it occurs; the more sensuous and concrete its
meaning the wider the divergences in the various dialects.
It is for concepts of this class that it is very difficult to
find designations that will obtain universal acceptance
wherever the language is spoken. But there is another
obstacle in the way. The nature of the subjects discussed
in print necessarily limits, to some extent, the vocabulary
that can be used, and the entire body of words is drawn
upon somewhat unevenly. The portion, therefore, that
most fully represents local diversity is the least used in
literature. Given a language in common use among the
educated only, and it follows as a matter of course that ob-
jects have a less general interest for this class if they sup-
ply purely physical needs or if they are closely identified

A History of the German Language 111

with the trivial concerns of the every day life of those liv-
ing at the other end of the social scale. This statement
applies with particular force to the German literature of
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In fact, the lit-
erature of Germany can hardly be called German litera-
ture. As has already been pointed out scholars wrote
chiefly in Latin, and later in French ; and when they con-
descended to use their vernacular they expressed them-
selves very clumsily. Where a uniform language is em-
ployed over a wide extent of territory there are many
words that can not be used because they have only a local
existence and many things that can not be spoken of be-
cause they have no name that is universally understood.
This is true of a number of plants and animals ; of articles
of food ; of utensils for domestic use and in agriculture ;
as well as of many acts that are essential to the prepara-
tion and use of these objects. It needs but the cursory
examination of a dictionary intended for general use to
convince one that it lacks a considerable number of words
in actual or daily use among the people whose language
it aims to embody. Much of what is known in English
as slangy but for which the German language has no exact
equivalent, is excluded. One may be familiar with the
language used at times by almost all Germans and yet find
in every section of their country many new words that he
will be unable to comprehend or old ones used in a sense
unfamiliar to him.

It may be stated here because it affords a familiar example of a
similar fact that nearly all our so-called Americanisms are not words
newly coined here, but English words used in a different sense from
that which they have in the mother-country.

It is also to be noted that the literary language has,
strictly speaking, no sympathy with, and therefore no
designations for, the small and trivial mental processes
that belong to the daily experiences of the average man, —
for the words that express anger and vexation, for curses

112 A History of the German Language

and terms of reproach, for exclamations of joy and pain,
or for the thousand utterances of flattery or kindly ap-
proval.

While it is still true that there are classes of concepts
that are not without general interest yet the stock of words
is nevertheless inadequate for their accurate designation.
This state of things is however passing away gradually.
The great interest manifested in our day for the scientific
investigation of the most trivial phenomena of nature, —
and I use the word trivial in a relative sense — is not with-
out its influence upon the study of the speech of the
most ignorant and uncultivated. This interest not only
has a tendency to elevate those who stand at the bottom
of the social scale ; but since there will always remain
those who can not be raised, it descends of set purpose to
their level in order to study social life in its lowest forms.
The great increase in the size of our modern dictionaries
is the outgrowth of a desire to embody in them every vis-
ible sign that has ever been used to give utterance to a
thought or an impression, no matter when or by whom.
It is in this way that the vocabulary of each is made the
common property of all, at least to examine and study, if
not to use. There is a realm in which the living folk-
speech gives evidence of a creative power: it is in the in-
vention of onomatopoetic words intended to designate in-
significant actions and sounds. These however find their
way into literature but slowly, or not at all, for the reason
that there is an absence of sympathy between those who
use the language of books and those who do not. The
progress of intelligence as manifested in the creation and
development of a uniform literary language has however
done a good deal to curtail the linguistic material at its
disposal by removing its modes of expression from the
hearts and sympathies of the common people. Nor has a
reaction been wanting. This protest against a language
having general currency has found expression in the ere-

A History of the German Language 113

ation of a dialect literature. This is not a mere play and
pastime, the amusement of such vacant hours as a writer
can not otherwise fill up. It has a deeper significance.
And for the reason that it fills a want felt by the human
heart it will probably never cease to exist. When literary
form is given to discourse in dialect there is not seldom
exhibited the phenomenon which has been characterized
above as hyper-High German. Just as the user of a dia-
lect often expresses himself incorrectly when he attempts
the H. G., so he may also wrongly transfer his H. G. into
his dialect. A very common L,. G. error of this kind is
affixing the ending -et to neuter adjectives — en grotet Hus,
en level Kind for ein grosses Haus, em liebes Kind. The
pure dialect has no adjectives terminating in -et.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NEW HIGH GERMAN.

Having now concluded our observations upon the ten-
dencies toward uniformity in the German, and their re-
sults, it is proper, finally, to glance at the constitu-
ent elements of the unified language and at those special
characteristics that mark the N. H. G. as temporally and
topographically distinct from other speech-unities. The
reader should, however, keep constantly in mind that what
is habitually designated as N. H. G. is not a homogeneous
whole. Not only do the different periods of the N. H. G.
show different stages in the process of unification, but the
language apart from these gradations, has, during the en-
tire N. H. G. period advanced step by step. The language
of Luther was no longer that of the German classics ; that
of the classic writers is not the German of to-day. But
the character of the tongue as a whole has remained substan-
tially the same : it is a mixture of various dialects of which
the chief ingredients are those of Middle Germany. Its
vowel system is mainly that of the middle region, but its
consonants are for the most part Bavaro- Austrian. Neither
in the forms of the individual words nor in their combina-

114 A History of the German Language

tions is there much difference among the dialects repre-
sented in the N. H. G. : the gender of the nouns is M. G.,
not Upper G. In the dialects belonging to the latter
region we find der Backen, der Butter, der Trauben; but
in M. G. and also in the N. H. G. these words appear as
die Backe, die Butter, die Traube. A number of other
words do not have the same gender in Switzerland and
South Germany that they have farther north. The dif-
ferent dialects have contributed very unequally to the vo-
cabulary of the N. H. G., though here again Central Ger-
many predominates. The purely U. G. contingent is very
small. Almost the only words from this region that have
become an integral part of the written tongue are the
names of objects that are found here exclusively, and per-
tain to mountainous districts. Among these are Alp,
Fluh, Gletscher (from the French glacier), Lawine (from
late Latin labina and related to labi), Matte and Senn.
Most of these words can not be translated into Eng-
lish. The verbs lugen (perhaps related to Eng. look)
and staunen are of Swiss origin though in common use in
South Germany. The contribution of North Germany to
the written language is quite large. There is a long list
of words relating to navigation, to life along and on the
ocean. Among these are Brise, Bucht, Dune, Hafen, lich-
ten (lift, make light the anchor), Steven, Tau, Wrack, etc.
The connection of some of these words with their English
equivalents is evident at a glance. But there are other
terms that come from the same quarter, such as echt from
an older ehaft, that which pertains to e (Ehe), that is, law,
right. The change from// to cht is a characteristic of the
L. G. as may be seen in Schluft for Schtucht, sanft for
Sacht, etc. Further Fracht, Harke, Kneipen, Knicken, and
many more. In some cases both the H. G. and L. G. words
have gained currency, as Brunnen and Born, feist and fett,
sanft and sachte, siihnen and (ver) sbhnen, Waffen and Wap-
pen. The points of difference between the pronunciation

A History of the German Language 115

of the N. H. G. and the M. G. will be discussed further on.
It may be stated here, however, that it relates chiefly to
the long vowels. In place of the older zit, wit, hus, musy
hiute, hute the modern German has Zeit, weit, Haus,
Maus, heute, Leute. The differences between the etymol-
ogy and syntax of the two periods are less regular and
consistent. Some examples will be given later in the
book.

It has already been remarked that the material which
constitutes what we call language is a traditional inheri-
tance received by each generation which it in turn transmits
to posterity with very slight changes. We learn our vernac-
ular from hearing it spoken and not from the printed
character. When speaking of language it is important to
keep in mind its two-fold nature : as a series of vocal ut-
terances that impress themselves on the mind through the
sense of hearing, or as a number of characters that reach
it through the sense of sight. It is the gradual changes
through which the words that constitute a spoken lan-
guage passes that it is proposed to consider here. The
first part of this book has shown that a great many differ-
ences exist within what is called the German language.
It changes with times and places, but differs also accord-
ing to the social position of those who use it. We have
now to examine somewhat more closely into the nature
and character of these variations. The attempt has been
made to represent graphically these varieties by compar-
ing words to stones which a brook or a river carries along
with it and which thus gradually become more and more
abraded and less and like their original form. In this
metaphor the flowing stream is intended to represent cur-
rent usage ; but the comparison is radically erroneous. A
word is not a thing which after it is once coined continues
to exist forever afterward. It is an activity, an event.
And this event consists in the simultaneous occurrence of
a movement of the soul and a sound produced by a move-

116 A History of the German Language

ment of the organs of speech, so that, briefly expressed, a
mental concept and a vocal sound are combined. This
combination is not under all circumstances of the same
kind. The number of intuitions inhering in the con-
sciousness is dependent upon the number of impressions
made upon the mind of the speaker and upon those with
whom he comes into conversation. The narrower the
social circle to which a person belongs, the lower his grade
of culture, the more circumscribed will be the range of his
intuitions. The factory hand and the peasant need a com-
paratively small number of words to satisfy their linguistic
wants, while on the other hand the scholar and the poet
find several thousand barely sufficient. The more unusual
a man's occupation, the farther he is removed from the
ordinary affairs of the mass of mankind the more singular
is his vocabulary. The German language contains a long
list of art-terms that constitutes a kind of separate speech
for the use of artists and other persons interested in art.
The merchant, the fisherman, the beekeeper, the miner,
the sailor and the hunter, have each a vocabulary peculiar
to their craft. The novice who is in process of initiation
into the mysteries of these occupations is compelled to
acquire a new language to correspond to the new concepts
called into existence in his mind. The great body of con-
cepts embodied in a language is different at different
times. When chivalry and the feudal system began to
decay; when old systems of jurisprudence fell into dis-
use ; when the study of astrology was abandoned, many
words were irrevocably doomed to oblivion.

But the mere existence of objects in the external world
is not the only factor in the formation of concepts and
their corresponding words ; the depth and therefore the
permanence of the impression made by such objects is also
of great importance. The character of this impression is
in turn dependent upon the relation of the external object
to man — whether detrimental or beneficial. Huge ani-

A History of the German Language 117

mals and large trees, those animals and plants that are
serviceable to man for food and clothing, or that threaten
his life by their voracity or by their poisonous qualities
received names long before the tiny bug that burrows in
the earth and the little flower that blooms in the depths
of the forest. And so It conies that the names of the
larger animals, the great trees of the forest, and the most
important cereals are common to all the members of the
Germanic family. Some of these, such as wolf, cow, ox,
birch, beech, alder, barley and the like have radically the
same designations in other branches of the Indo European
family of languages. On the other hand the names of
flowers and insects are often different in the different dia-
lects of the same tongue, so that at the present day the
zoologist and botanist are still obliged to use Latin tech-
nical terms in order not to be misunderstood. We may
cite as instances the primula elatior (oxlip primrose) for
which the German has about sixty names and the colchium
autumnale (meadow saffron) some fifty. These statements,
though made with primary reference to the proto-historic
period of the languages here under consideration are
amply confirmed by the familiar facts of daily experience.
Everybody knows the names of the larger trees, the com-
mon grasses and the useful animals, but hardly one person
in ten thousand recognizes or takes any interest in the un-
important forms of animal and vegetable life that are
about us wherever we may be.

The stock of representative images varies therefore ac-
cording to different individuals and groups of individuals.
The possible number is still further increased when there
is a choice among several concepts : the same person may
give vocal utterance to one percept in one way and to an-
other in another ; or he may express the same concept in
different ways at different times. It may be that in one
case the language with which he is familiar already con-
tains in its vocabulary the word by means of which he

118 A History of the German Language

may express his percept and this word or term may come
into the consciousness of the speaker and suffice for his
momentary needs. He then voices his percept in exactly
the same way, that is, with precisely the same term as
others before him ; or he at least essays so to do. For the
minute reproduction of a word that has become a part of
the body of speech is rendered difficult by various circum-
stances, and is dependent upon divers conditions. The
most important preliminary condition is that the word
shall have been heard and perceived in all its minutiae ;
it must have been perceived by the hearer exactly as it
was uttered by the speaker. The accurate perception of
a foreign or new word is rendered most easy when all its
separate parts are pronounced slowly and distinctly. It is
by such a method that the child will most readily and ac-
curately learn to speak and to read. When some particu-
lar sound or combination of sounds uttered by the speaker
finds a lodgment in the consciousness of the hearer and is
accurately grasped by the intellect one would suppose that
when the latter attempted to reproduce it by imitation the
reproduction would correspond precisely to the original.
It is perfectly natural for one man to believe that he can
imitate any sound made by another when both use the
same vocal organs. This however by no means follows as
a matter of course ; in fact experience proves the converse to
be generally true, — for just as all imitation is imperfect so
is imitation in language. The child in order to reproduce
by imitation the words uttered in its hearing, proceeds to
put its vocal organs into action, with but a faint compre-
hension of the methods by which its object is to be at-
tained. Its first efforts produce very imperfect results,
but it constantly compares its linguistic achievements with
the vocal images, so to speak, inhering in its consciousness
and is in this way constantly reminded of its shortcomings.
It then brings into action other portions of its vocal or-
gans, and finally by oft-repeated effort it succeeds in mak-

A History of the German Language 119

ing its own words approximate very closely to those it
'hears spoken by others. Only persons with an abnormally
acute sense of hearing are able to reproduce accurately
any word they hear. But the human ear is a very untrust-
worthy instrument. Two sounds may seem to be exactly
identical and yet be considerably different in the mode of
their production. Then again different causes may pro-
duce similar effects ; in order to produce the same acoustic
effects the learner's organs of speech aie likely to make
movements and to get into positions that do not accord
with those of the teacher. And this substitution of vocal
effects produced in one way for those produced in another
which produces the same sum of results is likely to be
often necessary because the organs of speech of different
persons are differently constructed and when two products,
of which the one factor is unlike, are to have equal value,
the remaining factors must also be dissimilar. To illus-
trate this proposition by a mathematical formula : if we
multiply 5 by 9 the product is 45, but if we substitute
some other digit for the 9 we must change the 5 also if we
want to still get 45 as our product. By a somewhat simi-
lar process it happens that words when transmitted from
father to son, from generation to generation, undergo a
variation or a series of variations in pronunciation. It is
a well established fact that languages undergo change in
the course of time when there is no appreciable external
influence affecting them. This gradual change is usually
spoken of as decay, though there is no good reason for so
designating a process of development that is perfectly
normal and that in no way impairs the efficiency of a lan-
guage as a medium of communication.

The deviation from any particular type is at first almost
infinitesimally small, but the slight difference that in
course of time comes to exist between the pronunciation
of the son and the grandson continues to grow greater
through several generations and in a century or two be-

120 A History of the German Language

comes quite marked. These differences are usually of two
kinds : they are either qualitative or quantitative. In the
first case other parts of the organs of speech are brought
into action and other muscles used than before. An ex-
ample is furnished by the transformation of the labial m
into the dental n as when Inbisz becomes Imbisz. In the
second case the same muscles are employed with greater
or less vigor or force. For example, less muscular exer-
tion in the organs of speech is required to pronounce Ferd
and Fund, as the Westphalian does when speaking H. G.
than -the correct forms Pferd and Pfund. Those cases
where greater muscular exertion is made in trying to imi-
tate a particular sound are comparatively rare compared
with those in which the result is sought to be effected with
less. Laziness, as it is sometimes called ; a disposition to
ease of utterance, plays an important role in the develop-
ment of language, less important however as a cause of
variation than in giving a particular character to changes
that are already in progress.

It is customary to designate the mutations in language
we have described above as phonetic laws, or to speak of
these as due to phonetic laws. The obstacles that hinder
the accurate reproduction of a sound always appear when-
ever an attempt is made to utter it, no matter in what
word or how often it may recur. In other words, a sound
produced by the organs of speech always follows the same
line of variation from any given type. By noting the cir-
cumstances under which the variations occur we are able
to formulate the phonetic law of the case, law being here
simply an order of sequence. It is a phonetic law, or to
express the same fact in other words, it is in accordance
with a phonetic law, that the long i of the M. H. G.,
which is still preserved in some modern dialects, becomes
the diphthong ei in the N. H. G. : gige appears as Geige,
hirat Heirat, miden meiden, nit Neid, sit Zeit, and so on.
This statement is true not only of the German language

A History of the German Language 121

within itself, that is of one dialect as related to another or
of one period of the language as compared with another,
but likewise of every other language. It is by the study
of phonetic laws that the relationship of the most distant
members of the same family of languages is determined.
To these laws there are no exceptions, the apparent excep-
tions being due to the action of yet undiscovered laws.

This uniformity of development, however, holds good
in the first instance of the individual only. In the case
of a larger number of persons the circumstances that in-
fluence the development of a language may, and often do,
vary greatly. The sense of hearing is not equally acute
in all ; or the organs of speech may not be formed pre-
cisely alike. From the nature of the conditions, then, it
must follow that in course of time as many languages will
be formed or developed as there are separate individuals.
And it can not be denied that even within the narrowest
circles slight differences of pronunciation may be recog-
nized among those composing it. But it is true, further-
more, that the learner is not wholly or even chiefly under
the influence of a single speaker, but under several ; so
that the speech of each person is in a certain sense an epi-
tome or average of the speech used by the social circle to
which he belongs. This is always true of every member
of the rising generation. Where this is part of a circum-
scribed circle the language that serves as a model is rela-
tively homogeneous, and the various averages represented
by each individual differ but slightly from each other and
from the more primitive type. It follows naturally that
when two persons or two groups of persons cease to be in
close relation and frequent intercourse, or when their in-
tercourse ceases altogether the development of their lan-
guage must bifurcate; one sound will gradually change
in one direction ; another will slowly vary in a different
direction until in course of time dialects come to be form-
ed that vary considerably from each other. The farther
9

122 A History of the German Language

two contemporary social spheres lie apart, the less the in-
tercourse between them, the greater will become the dif-
ferences of speech peculiar to each, just as similarly dif-
ferences increase with the lapse of time. It will thus be
seen that there is no radical difference between the causes
that produce variations in language whether we consider
them in regard to place or in regard to time.

INNER HISTORY OP THE GERMAN LANGUAGE.
THE INFLUENCE OF ANALOGY, ETC.

(See also farther on the chapter entitled What is Analogy in Language?)

If a language underwent no changes except those that
were due to phonetic laws its history would be very simple
and transparent. It would be an easy matter to formulate
these laws ; and by a knowledge of them one could, by a
simple mechanical process, turn verses from Goethe into
the language of the Nibelungen Lay, or the poetry of Ot-
fried into the language of Ulfilas. But the real state of
the case is altogether different. A common form of varia-
tion from the normal type is due to abbreviation or abridg-
ment. This may take place in the case of a single word,
as when we say, a glass of soda, for a glass of soda-water ;
or a kilo for a kilogramme. This is particularly frequent
in proper names that are shortened into pet-names or nick-
names. Instances are so common that none need be given
here, especially as this subject is taken up again in the
last chapter. A different class of abbreviations are those
in which only part of a familiar phrase or sentence is ex-
pressed, the hearer being left to infer the rest. We say,
" Good morning," instead of, " I wish you a good morning,"
or " Wait a little," for " Wait a little time ; " and so on ad
infinitum. Here we have what grammarians usually call
ellipsis. The possibility of understanding such an incom-
plete series of sounds is easily understood when we take
into careful consideration the psychic processes that under-
lie and control our comprehension of a spoken word or sen-

A History of the German Language 123

tence. The case will be made plainer by a simple illustra-
tion from the material world. If two stringed instruments
are in the same room and a string of one is set in vibration,
the strings of the other instrument that have the same pitch
or that stand in certain harmonic relations to it will vibrate
of their own accord. A somewhat similar phenomenon
takes place in speech. When a word or sentence is utter-
ed in our hearing, it does not merely produce a mechan-
ical effect upon the mind, but awakens like or similar con-
cepts that exist in its mysterious depths. Latent images
are brought under consciousness thro' the medium of the
ear. This echo, as we may call it, is returned in the exact
form of the original word or phrase, provided it is one that
has been heard before. This is an important element in
the comprehension of another's language. It would be a
gross error to suppose that in ordinary conversation we stop
to consider each individual word in a sentence as it enters
our ears. Unless a word is very short, we rarely hear it
entire. We take note only of the important parts of a
word or sentence, and when we hear these the complete
concept lying dormant in consciousness is awakened. We
generally fail to observe how fragmentary is that which we
can properly be said to hear. This will also explain why
it is that we understand spoken words less readily than
written words, especially when they belong to a language
with which we are not very familiar. More or less time
is often necessary until a word that we hear or see touches
a responsive chord in our consciousness — until we under-
stand it. Sometimes it may happen that we are obliged
to carry a word in the memory for days until we can recall
its meaning, that is, until we find the corresponding word
and its definition that had been previously learned. But
words may awaken concepts that are not identical though
containing similar radical elements. Let us take, for ex-
ample, the word ' stone ' and suppose that a child after
hearing it repeatedly has fixed it firmly in memory. If

124 A History of the German Language

now it hears the word ' stony ' without any clue to its sig-
nification, this word will be unconsciously associated
with the former, though the child may not recognize
clearly the relation existing between them. Or we may
take the word ' horse ' and we shall find the same mental
process in regard to ' horses ' together with such com-
pounds as ' horse-whip,' l horse-thief,' ' horse-play,' ' un-
horse,' 'horse-back,' 'horse-radish,' 'horse-shoe,' 'horse-
fly,' and many others. To express the same fact some-
what differently : words having the same vocal elements
are unconsciously associated together. The feeling arises
in the mind that in order to express any particular repre-
sentation or concept a certain sum of vocal sounds must
enter into it. Nor is a perfect coincidence necessary be-
tween the newly awakened concept and that already in
the mind ; a certain degree of resemblance is all that the
mind requires in order to associate together words that are
etymologically related. Not only is the resemblance be-
tween nehmen, genehm, and Vernehmung easily seen but
nimmt, nahmen, and genommen are readily associated with
them.

Evidently then, such word-groups, by the principle of
mental association, afford important aid to the memory in
retaining the individual members of the group, and they
play an important part in transmitting an inherited lan-
guage to posterity. On the other hand, words may be as-
sociated into groups though they have a merely external
resemblance, while in signification they have no connec-
tion at all with each other. It is often the case that this
mistaken grouping together of unrelated words has the ef-
fect of neutralizing phonetic laws. The law of associa.
tion is more powerful than the tendency to ease of utter-
ance and counteracts it. Take the series nehm-, nimm-,
nahm-, nomm-, and how shall we know which of these
forms is the bearer of the signification ? When Luther
says, ich kreuche, er kreucht, wir kriechen, sie kriechen, is

A History of the German Language 125

kreuch- or kriech- the true representation, either vocal or
ideographic, of the concept ' creep' ? The illiterate user
of the words has no means of determining this question.
He only remembers that the present tense employs nehm-
or nimm-, and the perfect genommen; that formerly the
singular number was kreuch and the plural kriech-. If his
concepts become confused owing to a momentary failure
of memory he is just as likely to say ich krieche, wir kreuchen,
as to use the correct forms. Viewed externally we may say
that krieche has changed its form after the pattern or the
analogy of kriecJien, From many similar examples we take
the following : in some of the German dialects we find
fahrt, schlagt, tragt used for the correct forms fahrt, schlagt,
tragt. In this case the original a has been modified after
the analogy of ich fahre, schlage, fahren, schlagen, etc. In
such instances it is often rather difficult to determine how
the influence of analogy operated. We can only see that
a given expression which we may represent by x has taken
on so close a resemblance to another which we may repre-
sent by y that it must always remain doubtful which was
the original and which the copy. Of this character are the
expressions given on p. 1 06 ff., where we have the mixture of
two locutions. The number of words and phrases that have
undergone changes under the influence of analogy is very
large — probably as large as those that have been regularly
developed according to phonetic laws. To treat the sub-
ject fully would require a volume. Its importance is,
however, such that it seems advisable to pursue it some-
what further.

The first results of the creation of new forms through
the influence of analogy are doublets. Thus krieche,
spoken of above, existed for a time alongside of kreuche,
just as we have gelehrt and gelahrt, gesendet and gesandt,
gewendet and gewandt, or ' proven^ and ' proved,' ' digged '
and ' dug,' ' lighted ' and ' lit.' Doublets or double forms
of the same word are found in all civilized languages.

126 A History of the German Language

The two words do not however generally long exist side by
side with equal rank. The genius of language is opposed to
the maintenance of two words or two expressions that
mean precisely the same thing ; in the course of time one
of the two forms becomes obsolete. If both are preserved
they become synonyms. Both the English and the Ger-
man languages contain a number of words, the one of
Germanic, the other of Latin or Greek ancestry that are
substantially or exactly equivalent. To this class belong
Telephon and Fernsprecher, Lichtbild and Photographic ; but
the tendency of all languages is to seek to accomplish its
ends with the least expenditure of effort. It is not im-
probable, therefore, that one of these will erelong cease
to be in current use, and it will likely be the borrowed
word. The struggle for existence between ich krieche and
ich kreuche has been decided in favor of the former, while of
the couples above cited, one word in each case may be re-
garded as obsolescent in the N. H. G. Usually that one
of two forms survives which is the most firmly fixed in the
memory ; in other words that which is the most frequently
used and therefore has the most support by analogy.
Kreuch occurs only in the three persons of the present in-
dicative, and in the singular number of the imperative,
while kriech was regularly used in the plural of the present
indicative, in the entire subjunctive, in the infinitive, in
the present participle, and in the plural number of the
imperative. If the forces contending for the mastery are
about equally matched chance decides the victory in favor
of one or the other party — and when we speak of chance,
in this connection we mean no more than some hitherto
undiscovered law. The users of a language that belong
to the same class or circle naturally tend to uniformity of
speech. Thus it happens that groups of persons who are
separated and have no intercourse with each other do not
retain the same verbal forms, but what persists in one
group dies out in another. It is in this way that the force

A History of the German Language' 127

of analogy contributes to the formation of dialects. As an
example of this we may cite the fact that in the M. H. G.
period the first person plural corresponding to ich fandvtas
wir funden. In the N. H. G. the vowel of the root is the
same in both cases, the u of the plural having been
changed by analogy into 0, so that we now have ich fand,
wir fanden. The L. G. has taken the opposite course so
that Fritz Renter has heifunn, wi funnen.

Again, uniformity may be attained in one district and
not in another. The variation between a and a as shown
in ichfahre, er fdhrt or ich trage, er trdgt of the M. H. G.
as compared with the N. H. G. is not found in the Middle-
Netherlandic, nor in many of the contemporary dialects
that still have er fahrt, er tragt. Why uniformity is at-
tained in one case and not in another is a question not
easily answered. This much may, however, be asserted.
Where original differences of sound are associated with
differences of function the tendency toward uniformity is
feeble and the opposite tendency strong. If we compare,
for example, the forms, ich nehme, wir nehmen, on the one
hand, with the widely different ich nahm, wir nahmen, on
the other, we observe that diversity in form is associated
with differences of function, the one form expressing
present, the other past, time. These two forms have ac-
cordingly remained distinct in all German dialects. But
in the M. H. G. the preterite of ich hoere was ich hdrte\ in
which case the distinction between the oe and the 6 was
needless, the / being sufficient to indicate the difference in
time between the present and the past. The N. H. G. is
accordingly ich horte. This is in conformity with a trend
everywhere manifest in language, to achieve the largest
results with the smallest expenditure of means — the law
of least effort. The difference of function between two
cognate words may, in the course of time, become so great
that they are no longer felt to be related. Schon and fast
were originally the adverbial forms of schbn and fest, and

128 A History of the German Language

similar differences in pronunciation between adjective and
nonn are by no means uncommon in the M. H. G. They
have, however, only been kept separate in cases where,
owing to the meaning, an isolation of the forms of the
words had taken place : in almost all other instances the
influence of analogy has made the adjective and the ad-
verb alike. In the M. H. G. the word rauh was inflected,
Nom. ruck- Gen. ruhes. It is related to Eng. ' rough,' and
in M. G. occurs only in the compounds Rauch-werk, Rauch-
handel, etc., where, however, the primitive adjectival sig-
nificance is no longer remembered. Innumerable exam-
ples of such isolated forms may be traced, and some addi-
tional ones will be given further on.

If the results of the influence of analogy are compared
with those changes that took place according to well es-
tablished phonetic laws, it becomes evident that the two
processes stand in a certain contrast to each other. Pho-
netic changes, in the course of time made identical types
unlike : the hoere, horte, before given, were at an earlier
stage horiu, horte ; the horiu was gradually transformed into
hoere through the influence of the i. In other words, z in
any syllable of a word that had become familiar to the
users, being slightly anticipated in pronunciation, in the
course of time modified the vowel in the preceding syl-
lable. But the tendency of analogy is to bring together
again words that had been differentiated under the in-
fluence of phonetic laws acting in a contrary direction. In
obedience to the laws of association the effect of a sound
embodied in words extends beyond the limits hitherto
considered and suggests others that have no related sig-
nificance or etymology, when the mere external form is
sufficiently similar to recall a former word — and by form
we mean the word as pronounced, not as written. Or, to
put the matter somewhat differently, a word which the
speaker is in the habit of using exists in his mind as a
latent concept. When now he hears another with which

A History of the German Language 129

he is unfamiliar, but which bears some resemblance to the
former, a connection is at once suggested. As spoken
words are but sound, this process bears a good deal of re-
semblance to the harmonic overtones that are produced
when certain fundamental notes are put in vibration.
Usually the speaker is scarcely conscious of a possible re-
lation when none really exists, or only becomes so when
really related concepts do not appear. Often none exist,
as is usually the case with foreign words ; and sometimes
the existence of an etymological relation has been forgot-
ten. For example, wahnwitzig (wahnsinnig) is formed of
an adjective wan (empty), which was lost at a very early
period of the O. G. ; and another adjective related to our
word ' wit.' After it had dropped out of use as a separate
word, another closely resembling it though unrelated, the
substantive Wahn, took its place in popular belief. The
same results may follow when etymologically related words
exist, but in such a corrupted form that the relation is no
longer perceived. Sometimes the formal resemblance be-
tween unrelated words is greater than between such as are
really cognate. The word Eiland is a simplified form of
Einland: after the loss of the n it looked more like a com-
pound of Ei with land than of Ein, and was often so re-
garded. I may repeat here what I have before said that
mere external similarity between words is hardly any more
a sign of relationship than is resemblance in form or face,
between persons. There is no visible connection between
the cognate words echt and Ehe (see p. 114) though one
might be suspected between the former and achten. It
sometimes happens that the phonetic resemblance of a
word to another that is unrelated is less close than to a
related word, and yet the former will be taken as its con-
gener. This happens when the proper word has become
obsolete and the wrong one is in current use. An instance
occurs in the word Gallusthor, a designation of one of the
gates of the city of Frankfort, which was formerly das

130 A History of the German Language

Galgenthor. After the gallows, which gave the name, had
been removed and forgotten, the inappropriateness of the
older designation became evident to even those who did
not know what the new compound meant. Its unpleasant
associations may likewise have contributed to the disuse
of the correct designation.

This process of mental suggestion and association which
leads to the grouping of unrelated words as if they were
cognate solely on the ground of external similarity is usu-
ally designated as popular etymology or folk-etymology.
Word-groups brought together in this way are of great
importance for the comprehension and memorizing of new
words — perhaps hardly less so than those which are formed
on true philological principles. In such cases words in-
distinctly heard are associated with those of which a part
has been retained in the memory and called into con-
sciousness by the principle of association. If then the
words imperfectly grasped correspond at least partly with
such as are already familiar to the hearer he generally
completes them correctly and they are reproduced un-
changed except in obedience to the proper phonetic laws
applicable to the case. Wahnwitz and Eiland, given above,
are examples of this process. But if no corresponding
word exists in the mind of the hearer, he completes the
new word as best he may with others that deviate more or
less widely from the original. In popular speech, for ex-
ample, unguentum Neapolitanum becomes iimgewendter Napo-
leon and Mautturm is transformed into Mauseturm.

Cases where foreign or obsolete words are perverted into
native ones are as common in English as in German, and a
few examples may be cited to show how frequently this
mental process finds expression in sound. Ibrahim Pacha
was known by the unlettered in England as "Abraham Par-
ker," the name of the ship Hirondelle was called " Iron
Devil " by the English sailors ; and " chateauvert " has be-
come "Shotover." The Indian name Swatara, which occurs

A History of the German Language 131

in Pennsylvania, is frequently pronounced "Sweet-arrow,''
and libel is often taken to be a compound of the two
words lie-bill.

The tenacity with which the elementary parts of word-
groups formed by the influence of folk-etymology cohere
is not equally great in all cases. Words may be thrown
together because of a mere external similarity of sound
without any reference to the sense. Some of the illustra-
tions above given exhibit this. In the last century Aben-
teuer was written Abendtheuer; but it is doubtful whether
any one who used it thought of it as designating an event
that took place in the evening (Abend}, If it occurs to
the speaker that no relationship exists between words
more or less alike he sometimes seeks to find a reason for
the form before him. The designation Sauerland, origi-
nally Suderland, i. e., Silderland applied to the southern
portion of Saxony, was justified in popular belief by the
anecdote which represented Karl the Great as having ex-
claimed after its conquest " das war mir ein sauer land,"
saner being still used as an epithet of that which costs
great labor. Similarly Achalm, the name of an old castle
in Wurtemberg, is said to have come from the interrupted
exclamation, "Ach Allmachtiger," of a dying knight ; and
the story goes that the Wartburg in Saxony is so called
because its builder cried out on looking from the eminence
on which it stands, " Wart nur Berg, du sollst mir eine Burg
iverden" Shotover Hill in Oxfordshire is popularly be-
lieved to get its name from the circumstance that an archer
shot an arrow over it, and Quebec is often explained as be-
ing a contraction of " quel bee!" (what a peninsula!) the
exclamation used by a delighted Frenchman upon a first
view of the site of the town. It must be remembered,
however, that in almost every case of this kind
the occurrence was subsequently invented to ex-
plain the name, and that its real origin must be
looked for elsewhere. This process takes place in

132 A History of the German Language

what is sometimes designated as the myth-making stage
of popular etymology.

In some cases the phonetic similarity between two or
more words suggests to the hearer a relationship of signifi-
cation. This may be favored by attending circumstances.
The statement holds good, for instance, in Silndflut, trans-
formed from the original sin-ftuot, which means, the great
flood, and not, as popularity imagined, a flood sent upon
the earth on account of men's sins. Here the old mean-
ing of sin has been displaced by a modern word having a
somewhat similar form, but an entirely different meaning.
There is reason to believe that the term "Mysteries"
(Mysterien) as applied to the well known mediaeval relig-
ious dramas was generally associated in the popular mind
with the mystery of divine service (Cf. Luke VIII., 10.
" Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the king-
dom of God.'1 u Vobis datum est nosse mysterium regni
Dei "), when in reality it is derived from the Latin ' min-
isterium ' and has no connection with mystery. Examples
of this kind are however comparatively rare.

The assumed relationship between a new word and a
familiar one is generally based on slight grounds, some-
times on facts that are incompatible with each other. The
word Armbrust, from the Latin arcubalista, easily suggests
arm and Brust, but the connection between these parts of
the human body and the weapon remains obscure. Few
people would think that an Eiland ought, properly speak-
ing, to designate a portion of land having the shape of an
egg. To most persons doubtless the word Maulwurf sug-
gests the thought that the animal was so named because
it casts up the earth with its mouth ; when in fact it does
this with its hind feet. The word was originally Moltwerf,
which is the nearer the Eng. ' mold-warp,' an animal that
casts up the mold. The current term mole, which appears
also in mole-hill, is a part of the original, somewhat modi-
fied. Nevertheless, however great the transformation a

133

word has undergone owing to a popular misconception of
its etymological relationship, its meaning generally under-
goes no change. But there are exceptions. Sometimes
resemblance of sound suggests a wrong meaning which
may in the course of time entirely displace the correct
one. Das gelobte Land meant originally ' the promised
land,' the adjective coming from geloben; but it is now
generally supposed to belong to loben, which is however a
different word. Sue/it can hardly be used in any other
sense than to designate a blameworthy striving. This
grows out of the fact that it has long been mentally asso-
ciated with the verb suchen, when in reality it originally
designated a disease and is etymologically related to siech.
There is still a third kind of phonetic suggestion. This
takes place when words as wholes are so unlike that a con-
fusion of meaning is impossible, while yet there seems to
be a certain remote connection between them. Hence it
results that two words are brought into mental juxtaposi-
tion the significations of which in part overlap. There is
a manifest tendency in the Germanic languages to place
such words together and the effect has been to enrich
them with a number of formulas containing two or more
members that are associated because of the similarity
of certain sounds which they embody. The initial
syllables or letters may be the same and produce allitera-
tion. The systematic employment of such initial sounds
is a recognized principle in old Germanic metrical compo-
sition. The number of alliterative formulas in German is
very large and they belong under several different heads.
They may combine synonyms as los und ledig, Lust und
Liebe, Schimpf und Schande ; or antonyms, as Lust und Leid,
samt und senders , Wo hi und We he ; or parts of a whole as
Haus und Hof, Kiiche und Keller, Mann und Maus. Phrases
of this kind are not uncommon in English, as " neither
praise nor pudding," " weal or woe," " chick and child,"
" watch and ward," " hale and hearty," " glory and

134 A History of the German Language

gloom." They may be made up of words placed in a syn-
tactical relation to each other, as bitterbose, der wilde Wald
(cf. the wild- wood), seine sieben Sachen, wenn die Maus satt
ist, ist das MehL bitter; or the initial sounds may be differ-
ent, but the principal words rime together, as Lug und
Trug, Saus und Brans, toll und voll, Dach und Fach, Freud
oder Leid, Handel und Wandel, Sang und Klang, Wahl
macht Qua/, heute rot, morgen tot.

When there is no word in the mind of the hearer to be
recalled by a new one that is brought to his attention and
by which it may be remembered, considerable mental ef-
fort is required to retain it even when clearly apprehended.
When then this is not the case fancy has free play and
there is no check to the mutilations it may produce. For
this reason proper names usually fare the worst because
they are of comparatively infrequent recurrence and do
not afford much opportunity for revision and correction.

There is another principle of association leading to the
formation of word-groups that is different from any so far
considered. Owing to the habit of bringing together
words that have the same or similar sounds, a certain one
comes to be regarded as the bearer of the signification, as
stein in steinigen, versteinern, etc., and this is the only im-
portant part of the words. It is this notion that often
leads to the formation of popular etymologies.

But there is another mental process that goes hand in
hand with the observation of the points of agreement be-
tween words, and that is the observation of their differ-
ences. Many words have what are apt to be regarded as
superfluous syllables — syllables that seem to have little or
nothing to do in determining the meaning, and which in
fact have nothing to do with the radical signification.
How wide-spread this notion may become is forcibly illus-
trated in the case of the French, which consists almost
entirely of Latin words, less that part that follows the ac-
cented syllable. Many Anglo-Saxon words suffered a sim-

A History of the German Language 135

ilar apocopation during their transition in the English.
One German word may end in -*», another in -igen, and still
another in -ern, as Steine, steinigen, steinern, and these end-
ings add nothing to the root that is peculiar to it. Some-
times the radical meaning is embodied in one form ; some-
times in another; sometimes it is contained in a single
syllable ; sometimes in two or even more syllables. In
other cases it represents an action ; in still others it mere-
ly designates the accompaniment of a different concept.
When now a word differs in meaning from another having
the same stem, the notion may easily arise that the differ-
ence is owing solely to the termination. On comparing
Stein, Steine, steinigen, steinern, it is natural to suppose that
the plural is represented by the final -e, the casting of
stones by -igen, and something made of stones by -ern.
But it should be carefully noted that we are concerned
here with a definite, simple, concept only ; it by no means
follows necessarily that the -e is used to designate quan-
tity. When now a person, who has come to the conclusion
above noted as to the use of the -£, hears such a word as
Kreuze, it will not only suggest Kreuz, or some similar
word, but also the termination -e found in Steine and per-
haps the word itself. The same may happen in the case
of Fische, Tage, Tische, etc. Not only is the etymologically
related word suggested, but two others that are unrelated,
merely because of a certain similarity of sound. The sug-
gestion is usually weak so long as there is nothing in com-
mon between two words except a similarity of sound. For
example, laste and Last, fange and Fang, resemble Steine
and Stein only in the added or subtracted -e. The case is
different when the similarity includes intellectual elements
also. If we compare Kreuz with Kreuze, or Stein with
Steine it seems evident that the final -e serves the purpose
of indicating the plural number. Groups of words are
thus formed bearing all manner of relations to some radi-
cal or elementary signification. From steinern, Stein or

136

holzern, Holz, the natural inference is that the ending -ern
is used to designate material, while from hore, horte or
sage, sagte it seems plain that the / indicates past time.
It is evident that such word-groups are further important
for the transmission of language from generation to gen-
eration, as they are of the greatest importance for every
single act of speaking. It is neither necessary nor possi-
ble to remember whether in the case of each separate
word, one has ever noticed how its plural is formed ; it
suffices to recall a few that can be taken as models. So
long as the speaker follows correct models the new forms
will be correct, but without a thorough knowledge of the
materials he is using he will now and then be led uncon-
sciously astray. If the preterit tense of klagen is klagte
and of sagen is sagte, that of schlagen would naturally be
supposed to be schlagte, though it is not. In like manner
if Apfel and Acker make their plurals with Aepfel and
Aecker respectively, the inference is natural though incor-
rect that the plural of Adler will be Aedler. And blunders
of this sort are constantly made by learners of a language,
whether children who are acquiring their vernacular or
adults, a foreign language. A somewhat careful examina-
tion of the whole question will convince any one that all
languages exhibit this tendency toward greater uniformity
— a tendency that is however less marked in those that
have acquired a more fixed character through the art of
printing than in others. The inclination to form words
into groups is directly opposed to the operation of phonetic
laws properly so r ' ted. Like as Stein and Krenz become
plural by affixing an - , so do Blatt, Haus and Lamm by
the addition of -er and infixing an/; or Graf, Bar and
Herr by adding -en. In sagen and klagen, t is employed as^
a sign of the preterit, while in graben, tragen, schlagen the
same result is effected *by a modification of the radical
vowel. It will thus be seen that German like most other
languages has more than one way of indicating phonetic-

A History of the German Language 137

•

ally grammatical and logical relations. Whan now the
speaker remembers that one method is employed in one
case and a different one in another it is a matter of some
chance which of the two he will employ in a third. It is
probable that the new form will be shaped according to
the model with which he is most familiar that is the one
which has been most firmly fixed in his memory. Under
such circumstances it may happen that a word of frequent
occurrence will have an equally strong influence with sev-
eral others of a uniform type, but which are less common.

It will be seen from this brief statement of some of the most im-
portant principles of the life and growth of language that phonetic
laws can be as little controlled by man as the laws of the physical
universe. While each separate individual may modify his own
speech and regulate it according to his own pleasure, his influence
under the most favorable condition does not extend far. If he would
speak and write for the purpose of being understood he must use
words that can be easily understood. A language goes its own way
and not much can be done toward intelligently directing its course.
In the words of the poet Uhland

Indes Gelehrte walten, bestimmen und gestalten

der Sprache Form und Zier,

So schaffest du inwendig, thatkraf tig und lebendig
gesamtes Volk an ihr.

INADEQUACY OF THE TRADITIONAL VOCABULARY.

Supposing a language to possess the proper terms for the
accurate embodyment in speech of certain concepts, it
may happen nevertheless that the right word or words do
not report themselves to the consciousness of the speaker
when they are wanted ; or he may know them and be un-
willing to make use of them. In order to express himself
at all he will be obliged to have recourse to words not pre-
viously employed in the sense he attaches to them. He
may use old words with a new meaning, or he may create
new words. The result in the former case is, in a certain
sense, the impoverishment of language ; in the other its

vocabulary is enlarged. The causes that lead to the use
10

138 A History of the German Language

•

of new verbal designation, are many and various. Of
course the memory can not recall that which was never
entrusted to its keeping. Adults are frequently unable to
give expression to thoughts and feelings new to them. On
the other hand children often coin new words that the
adult easily dispenses with. But the power to recall that
which was once in the mind likewise differs with different
persons. Words rarely used are more likely to be for-
gotten than those of common occurrence. The same is
true of those that have but few cognates as compared with
those having many. For this reason it is found to be a
great help in the acquisition of a language to associate
each new word with one in some way related to it with
which the beginner is already familiar. Besides, persons
of equal intelligence and culture do not recall words with
the same facility. Much depends on the degree of atten-
tion and on time in recalling previous concepts. The
ability to hold the attention steadily to what is before the
mind is least in persons of meager education, and defective
intellectual training. It is a matter of common observa-
tion that persons of this class are fond of using familiar
formulas, and leaving the hearer or reader to infer the
particular shade of meaning they are intended to convey-
Widely diverse significations are attached to the same
word or phrase. The word " make " like the German
machen is used in many senses differing widely from the
original. We hear, the train made (ran) forty miles an
hour; he made (earned) a great deal of money; he made
(gained) many friends; they made (elected) him president ;
to make the beds ; to make love ; to make one out a fool ;
and so on, almost ad infinitum. It is further to be ob-
served that a certain mental inertia, oftener called lazi-
ness, is characteristic of certain classes of society, and ex-
hibits itself in speech. There is in current use a large list
of students' words and phrases, a sort of college slang, in
which there is evident the desire to make the same word-

A History of the German Language 139

forms do duty on a hundred different occasions and to
express the most diverse ideas. The same tendency is
observable in every occupation in which any considerable
number of persons are engaged. It is not necessary to be
very explicit to those who habitually share our thoughts
and feelings : they will understand what we mean upon
the merest hint. Such consciously or unconsciously formed
guilds have generally certain characteristics of speech in
common that constitute a kind of badge of membership in
the same craft. Besides, it is not natural for human be-
ings to exert themselves either mentally or physically be-
yond what is necessary ; and where the interest is mainly
turned in certain directions other interests are neglected.
Different mental states in the same person also exert
an influence on the facility with which words are recalled,
and on the vocabulary. Generally speaking, a much
smaller number of new word-forms is likely to be coined
in speaking than in writing, because the tone of voice which
accompanies our utterances makes our words more readily
intelligible and makes it less important that we confine
ourselves to a well established vocabulary. In serious
discourse we are apt to use a smaller number of words
than in the familiar language of every-day life. When en-
gaged in the calm interchange of thought with another we
usually 'hold ourselves closer to the traditional forms of
speech than when under excitement or in passionate argu-
ment. The degree of our attention is also influenced by
the importance we attach to the thoughts we have to com-
municate. This factor has had no inconsiderable effect
upon the language of law and diplomacy. Here the
slightest inaccuracy of expression or statement may give
rise to complications and disputes. Accordingly well
established words and formulas are sought with pains-
taking accuracy, either by an effort of memory or by re-
course to written or printed documents : and when these
recur they are not avoided by the substitution of synor

140 A History of the German Language

nyms — a practice that is well nigh universal in discourse
where artistic effect is aimed at.

But even when the speaker is in position to employ
other than stereotyped modes of speech to express his
thoughts he may have reasons for not doing so. Generally
his main object is to be understood and his hearers may be
less cultured than he ; or he may be able to express what
he has to say in several different ways, but his hearers to
comprehend but one. In the M. H. G. there are three
different words having the form wern. One of these is
equivalent to dauern, which has Eng. cognates in ' dure,'
4 endure,' and is the modern wdhren. Another of its
meanings is 4 hinder,' ' keep off.' The simple form is no
longer common and occurs only as an archaism. The usual
forms are abwehren and verwehren. Still another of its
meanings was sahlen, geben (pay, give) and is etymolog-
ically related to the Eng. ' warrant ;' it is preserved in
gewdhren. The identity in form of these three words grad-
ually led to the disuse of two, in common speech, and -the
same fate has overtaken other words.

The danger of ambiguity is, however, generally less
than might be supposed at first blush, because the context
usually shows in what sense the speaker wishes his words
to be understood ; though in written or printed documents
misapprehension is more likely to occur than in living
speech. But the ends for which language exists are not
subserved if it be understood after mature reflection.
Frequently the object of the speaker is attained only in
case his words are easily understood and as rapidly as
they are uttered ; often, too, a thing or a thought is of no
interest to us in its relation to other things and thoughts ;
we are concerned about a single phase or quality of it
only. We accordingly want it to be designated by such a
term as will cause its concept to stand out prominently
among its surroundings and secure for it a ready compre-
hension.

A History of the German Language 141

Ease of comprehension may be further facilitated by the
addition of modifying elements to existing formulas of
speech, and these elements may be either additions to in.
dividual words or to the phrase. At present prepositions
are often used with cases where formerly the case was of
itself sufficiently definite. If one compares a page of
Anglo-Saxon, or Greek, or Latin with one of English or
French it becomes evident almost at a glance that parti-
cles are of much more frequent occurrence in the modern
than in the older languages. In the N. H. G. the number
of connecting words is larger than in the M. H. G. ; and
we can trace step by step the substitution of compound
for simple words. A few examples have already been
given. Similarly bediirfen, begehren, bewegen, erbarmen,
erbleichen, erhitsen, gedeihen, gehoren, genieszen, are now
used in precisely the same sense which these words for-
merly had without the inseparable prefix. Einladen has
usurped the functions of an earlier laden; abgesandter that
of gesandter ; loslosen that of Ibsen ; mindern was grad-
ually displaced by vermindern, and this, in turn, is being
supplanted by herabmindern; Sometimes words of like
or closely related meanings are combined and the com-
pound used in the sense of one or the other, when the fact
of composition had been forgotten. Formerly Maul,
Saum and Elen meant precisely what Maultier, Saumtier
and Elentier mean now. The first part of the compound
Windhund, Eng. ' greyhound,' has no more connection
with ' wind ' in the sense of air in motion than ' grey ' in
the above word has with ' gray ' a color. Both com-
pounds are in one respect curiously alike. In the M. H.
G. wint was a sufficient designation of the animal, and
some word now represented by ' grey ' seems to have
meant ' dog ' in an early period of the Germanic lan-
guages. In the compound Lindwurm (dragon) the first
syllable in the form lint was originally equivalent to
Wurm, Schlange. •

142 A History of the German Language

Of two expressions that one is always the clearest and
most easily understood which is etymologically the most
transparent, — in other words, that has one or more cog-
nates in form and signification. The M. H. G. mac has
been displaced by the modern Verwandter which means
the same thing ; an older maere, by beriihmt, and mage-
zoge by Erzieher. Minne and mtnnen, so frequent in medi-
aeval German, have been supplanted by Liebe and lieben,
doubtless because these words have a strong support in
the adjective lieb. In some instances it is not easy to un-
derstand why one word has gradually fallen into disuse
and another meaning the same thing taken its place, when
the object which it designates has remained unchanged.
There is an evident disposition in common speech to
avoid the solitary adverb sehr and to supply its place with
such intensivesas/^r^ter/^, eklig, haarig, hollisch, mbr-
derlich, ochsig, and the like, — a tendency that is also quite
marked in Eng. where we frequently hear such substitutes
as ' awful/ " mighty,' 'devilish,' etc. Instead of the Ger-
man Maul one frequently hears Fresse, Gefrasz ; and the
still coarser terms Schnabel, Riissel are not uncommon
among the lower classes for Mund; Riecher (smeller) is
used for Nase; verrecken, properly said of the lower ani-
mals only, for sterben; Deckel (lid, cover) for Huty etc.

An indirect or tropical manner of speech is more
graphic and therefore more easily comprehended than a
direct. By means of a trope the attention is drawn to that
characteristic of a whole complex mental image in which
lies the point of comparison of its two members. Figur-
ative expressions are more frequent in poetry than in
prose. That of the orient is usually filled with strongly
metaphorical turns. Many examples may be found in the
Book of Psalms, as witness numbers XXIII., XCL, CXIV.

The language of what would generally be regarded as a
widely different sphere, that of common life, is interspers-
ed with metaphors. Instead of* the direct sich tduschen

A History of the German language 143

(to be mistaken), one hears sich schneiden (to cut one's
self), sich stoszen (to hit against, accidentally), sich ver-
hauen (to hew over the line) ; in place of vergessen^ ver-
schwitzen (to spoil with sweat) ; instead of studieren, ochsen
or bilffeln. A rude fellow is designated as klobig, klotzig
or knotig (cloddish, or gnarly — cf. the Eng. block-head,
one whose head is like a block of wood) ; a bed (Beti) is
called Korb, Klappe, Nest; for Bauch, Ramen (paunch) or
Schwartenmagen is used while the head (Kopf} is spoken
of as Kilbel (bucket), Aepfel or Simri. It will be seen that
in cultivated languages there is a sort of double current of
development, one of the direct mode of expression, the
other of the indirect or figurative. In the last analysis all
words used to describe mental acts and states are borrowed
from such as once designated operations performed by the
body : in some cases the same word still has both func-
tions.

It yet remains to consider another factor that contributes
to the perspicuity of language. The facility with which
an expression is comprehended and therefore its force, de-
pends in some measure upon the number of parts that en-
ter into it : the fewer these are the stronger it is. A single
word is more graphic than a combination of two or three
or more. German poetry is full of compounds, made for
the occasion, that would hardly be used in prose ; and the
same is true, though to a less extent, of English poetry.
Translators from German or Greek into English are con-
stantly tempted to transfer compounds, which the genius
of the latter tongue, owing to French influence, scarcely
admits. One of the chief elements of strength in the Ger-
man is the facility with which compounds of almost any
length can be formed. When carried to excess, as the
Germans themselves not unfrequently do, it leads to
heaviness of style, though it can not be said to produce
obscurity.

In direct contrast to what has been said regarding

144 A'History of the German Language

the preference of words on account of clearness and the
rejection of such as would lead to obscurity, circumstances
sometimes arise where an expressson is preferred for the
sole reason that it is not likely to be understood. Talley-
rand was right, in part, when he said language was given
to man to enable him to conceal his thoughts. One per-
son may have occasion to address another in the presence
of a third person whom he does not wish to understand
what he is communicating. When both have command
of but a single language it must be so transformed as to
make it unintelligible to those from whom it is deemed
advisable to conceal its content. Children sometimes in-
vent a kind of esoteric speech by prefixing a syllable to
every word they use, while on the other hand older per-
sons resort to similar jugglery to tell what they do not
wish children to understand.

No class employs a mode of speech so widely dif-
ferent from that in ordinary use as do those who are
associated together for the purpose of preying upon so-
ciety. Such a class exists in every large city and it is
greatly to their interest to be able so to express themselves
as not to be understood by law-abiding people.

German rogue's slang is largely made up of corrupt He-
brew intermingled with words from the gypsy tongue, to-
gether with such terms as are not to be understood in their
common acceptation. A goose may be called a flat footer ;
the cheeks, gills ; the hands, either fore-feet or paws.
Sometimes this style of speech is highly figurative, as
when a cunning fellow is called a fox, or when one who is
hung is said to dance in the air ; or when one who offers
his opinion unasked is spoken of as putting in his oar.
It is probable that such a mysterious language is in use in
every large city, composed in the main on the same prin-
ciples, though differing somewhat in its constituent ele-
ments. A kind of aristocratic desire to be different from
ordinary mortals gives the language of sportsmen a some-

A History of the German Language 145

what unique cast. In effect, [sport is in most European
countries the almost exclusive privilege of the rich, or at
least of those who have money to spend freely, and is
rarely indulged in by those who labor with their hands.
Many of the terms here used are a part of the language of
technology and have a peculiar and special signification.
There is further exhibited in language a propensity under
certain circumstances to the use of words which, though
intelligible, are vague in signification. This remark is
applicable to most euphemisms. Sometimes single words
are substituted for others, as unbekleidet (unclad, nude)
for nakt* or limbs for legs; a stupid person may be called
innocent or unsophisticated ; or a bore, quiet, uncommu-
nicative, and the like. Sometimes circumlocutions are
used : death is very often designated in this manner in all
languages. This style of expression is the exact opposite
of plainness and directness of speech. Many persons who
would shudder to use oaths, nevertheless make use of
words that are substantially the same thing, though in a
form recognizable only to those who are familiar with their
history. Darn, dickens, de'il, deuce, are examples of this
sort. If we trace the history of certain words in all civil-
ized languages we shall find that they exhibit a downward
progress in the moral scale. This may be readily seen by
an examination of such English terms as wretch, skeptic,
miscreant, wench, and villain. The German Dime was
originally equivalent to maiden, and might with entire
propriety be applied even to the Virgin Mary ; now it
means " harlot." Freeh at one time meant spirited ; now
it signifies " froward " or " impertinent." Geil was equal
to frohlich (joyous); its present sense is "lascivious."
Wicht was beforetime the designation of " thing " in gen-
eral, and is still used in a slightly different sense in the
Eng. "wight;" now its usual sense is "rogue." In all
these instances a possible quality of the object gradually
usurped the entire meaning of the word. An opposite

146 A History of the German Language

propensity is exhibited in the names originally given in
derision to sects and political parties.

There is in the nature of language and the objects for
which it exists no justification for the adumbration of the
meaning of words and phrases just discussed. It is in
part, at least, explicable by the development of the ethical
consciousness. Men have gradually become averse to
taking in vain and to using on every occasion the name of
that which is sacred, and seek to avoid, in refined society,
the mention of what is disagreeable. The heroes of
Homer do not hesitate to exhibit on every occasion their
most intense feelings ; the modern hero strives to conceal
them. There is also a sort of superstitious fear in the
minds of many persons lest to name the Evil One may
cause him to appear. The supposed power of the words
used in incantations is well known. There is, moreover,
a disposition on the part of cultivated persons to avoid the
manners and customs of the uncultured, which extends
even to language. Not only the life and thought of the two
classes are different, but also their modes of expression.
Again, language that is adequate for the ordinary occa-
sions is often too tame and commonplace under unusual
circumstances — in solemn moments, in the sanctuary,
under strong emotion. Hence has arisen the language of
politeness, the phraseology of law and diplomacy, and the
diction of poetry.

The same concept may thus find utterance in one of two
or more possible words or phrases that differ widely in
their social value. Compare, for example, Schmutz with
Dreck; Mund with Maul and Gosche; Ross with Pferd
and Gaul; Haupt with Kopf and Schddel; abscheiden with
sterben, hingehen, krepieren, verrecken ; and many more.

The language of jurisprudence and diplomacy is char-
acterized by a certain rigidity and formalism, for reasons
already set forth. Besides, as dignity is naturally asso-
ciated in the minds of men with age, the solemnity and

A History of the German Language 147

importance of an occasion is enhanced when the speakers
employ a mode of speech that has the sanction of imme-
morial usage. A familiar illustration of this may be seen
in the prayers in a language with which those using them
are totally unacquainted. Age is supposed to give them
an efficiency which would be wanting if they were trans-
lated into the language of every-day life. But compre-
hension is often rendered difficult when the language of
former times is employed in speaking of the present; and
the difficulty may inhere in the individual words, or in the
structure of the sentences.

The valedictory address to the imperial diet of 1518 be-
gins as follows : " We, by the grace of God, Roman em-
peror elect, at all times augmenter of his realm, etc., pro-
claim by this letter and make known to each and every
one, after we as elect Roman emperor, governor and pro-
tector of Christendom, with solicitude have noted and
taken to heart the tumults and disorders, which do more
and more, as time advances, manifest themselves in all
parts of the empire, and the weighty and obligatory af-
fairs of all Christendom, of our holy faith and the German
nation, with what annoyance the enemy of Christ our
Lord and Savior, the Turk, strives daily to oppress and
destroy our faith and the universal Christian church and
for this reason has caused our legates and those of all
Christian kings and potentates to come to his Holiness the
Pope, to take counsel together and to determine how re-
sistance may be successfully made to such nefarious
schemes and projects and, further, from the same and other
determining motives have decided upon an imperial diet in
our city and that of the Holy Empire, Augsburg, purpos-
ing, together with the estates of the Holy Empire, in the
same empire, to take counsel and adjudicate upon the se-
ditions of our estates and of the German nation, the wants
and disorders, unity and peace, in virtue of the written
authority of our estates authorized at the last imperial diet

148 A History of the German Language

held in Mainz and what further may be necessary in order
that such sedition, wants and disorders may be put an end
to; and that affairs may be placed in a permanent and
commendable state, to the end that there may result effi-
cient aid against the Turk, for the rescue of our Holy
faith."

The object of the above translation has been to exhibit the lumber-
ing style of the German just previous to the reforms instituted by
Luther, rather than to put the extract into good English. For
the benefit of those who are interested in the original it is also
given:

" Wir Maximilian von Gottes Gnaden, erwahlter Romischer Kayser, zu
alien Zeiten Mehrer desz Reichs, etc., Bekennen offentlich mil diesem
Brief, und thun kund allermanniglich, nachdem Wir, als erwahlter
Romischer Kayser, Vogt und Schirm-Herr der Christenheit, ausz Christ-
lichem Gemiith betracht, und zu Herzen gefaszt, die Emporungen und Ge-
brechen, so sich allenthalben im Reich je langer je mehr erzeigen, auch die
schwere und obliegende Sachen gemeiner Christenheit, unsers Heiligen
XJlaubens und Teutschen Nation, mit was Anfechtung der Feind Christi,
unsers Herrn und Seligmachers, der Turk, unsern Glauben und gemeine
Christliche Kirch zu benothigen und unter zu driicken, sich taglich iibet,
und deszhalben hievor verfiigt das Unser und aller christlichen konige
und Potentaten Bottschaften, zu Pabstlicher Heiligkeit kommen sind,
zu rathschlagen und zu beschlieszen, wie solchen erschrecklichen Obliegen
und Furnehmen, Rath und Widerstand beschehen mag, und ferner
ausz denselben und anderer bewtfglichen Ursachen einen Reichstag
in Unser und desz heiligen Reichs Stadt Augspurg fiirgenommen,
der Meynung mit desz Heil. Reichs Standen, in desselben Reichs, seiner
Stand und Teutschen Nation Emporung, auch Mangel und Gebrechen
Rechtens, Einigkeit und Friedens, laut der Stand Schrifft, auf nechst-
gehaltenen Reichs-Tag zu Mayntz ausgangen, und was ferner die
Nothdurfft erfordert, zu rathschlagen und zu handeln, damit solche
Emporung, Mangel und Gebrechen abgestellt, und in gut loblich bestandig
Wesen gebracht werden, und daraus eine ausztraglich Hiilff wider den
Tiirken, zu Rettung unsers Heil. Glaubens, folgen mag."

The language of politeness like the arts of civility has
for its object to promote the social intercourse between
man and his fellow-man, and to make it as attractive and
agreeable as possible. It originates in the desire to say
what is pleasing, but has nevertheless a clearly marked
sphere, and therefore a sort of technical character. It

A History of the German Language 149

proceeds mainly upon the assumption that one person
should always show to another the evidence of his esteem,
either by enhancing the importance of him who is spoken
to, or humbling one's self. This may be done either by
expressions of good-will in general, or by demonstrations
of joy at seeing another, or by expressing the hope
of soon meeting him again. Society has, however, not
left it to each individual to decide with what degree of
esteem he shall regard his fellow-man. It has established
a particular style of address for particular persons and for
special circumstances. The language of politeness must,
therefore, of necessity have a kind of fixed and formal
character. It is a matter of little moment to the historian
of language, nor has it any relevancy to the question of
, morals, whether the sentiments felt correspond with the
words employed, or indeed whether the language used
expresses any thought at all. The words employed in the
language of courtesy may, of course, give utterance to the
same concepts to which they give expression when the
speaker uses them with perfect freedom ; but it is often
the case that these appear too commonplace on occasions
when it is considered good form to employ them, and this
statement is true not merely of the vocabulary but even
of the syntax of common speech. Not only should the
general mode of address be different, but one should
speak in a different way of himself. The most character-
istic divergence from the language of every day life is the
tendency to make the difference in rank between the
speaker and person addressed as great as possible, to the
advantage of the latter. This may be done by the use of
the plural number instead of the singular. The speaker
minifies his own importance by using 'we' instead of ' I,'
thus merging himself in the great mass of mankind ; or
magnifies that of the person addressed by using ' you '
instead of ' thou,' as if he were in the presence of more
than a single individual, or the speaker may omit all ref-

150 A History of the German Language

erence to himself by the omission of the personal pro-
noun altogether. This form of address is used in the
familiar phrases, " thanks," "pray," "beg pardon '' (danke,
bitle), for, I thank you, accept my thanks, I beg your
pardon. Generally, however, this style of speech is used
because of its brevity and because the words not expressed
are easily understood. Again, the person addressed may
be spoken to, as one not present, that is, in the third per-
son. It is customary to say Euer Gnaden, E^^er Hoheit
(your Grace, your Highness), when the meaning is ' thy
Grace,' and petitions are usually presented, not in the
name of the petitioner personally, but " your humble sub-
scriber makes bold to pray," etc. The use of er, sie, was
originally intended to mark politely the difference in
social station which the speaker felt in the presence of the
person spoken to ; but now, conversely, these pronouns are
used to make the latter realize this difference. The use
of the third person in direct address is later than that of
the plural, and belongs to the N. H. G. period ; but ir (ye)
instead of du (thou) is a trait of the mediaeval period.

With these facts the reader may compare the frequent
use of " thy servant,'' meaning I in the Bible, and the
closing formulas still employed in epistolary correspond-
ence and elsewhere, such as "your most obedient servant/'
and so on.

The latest, and in some respects the most curious, stage
of development is one that has been reached by the Ger-
man language alone in the assignment of equivalent
values to the plural number and the third person — Sie
haben for du hast of the ordinary style of address. Wie
befehlen der Herr Oberst? means Oberst, was befiehlst
du ? This Sie haben is often mistakenly employed for er
hat, sie hat in speaking of one who is present and who
would be directly addressed with Sie haben.

In the category of professional etiquette belong also the
epithets "honorable," "his honor," "reverend," etc. All

A History of the German Language 151

these are to be regarded as titles accompanying the office,
but having no necessary relation to the office-holder ;
though it is natural to expect that a man who has been
honored by election or appointment to an honorable office
shall himself be honorable. This is by no means always
the case, as abundant experience proves. The editorial
" we '' gives a fictitious importance to the person using it,
as if the writer spoke for a number of persons besides him-
self. It has been frequently remarked that this " we "
carries with it in the eyes of many, much more weight than
the simple " I,'1 though both usually mean exactly the
same thing. The English " thou " is now rarely used ex-
cept in addressing the Deity ; and by an apparently strange
anomaly the German du is used in the same way, but
likewise in conversation with familiar friends.

The English is perhaps the most democratic of modern languages
just as the English-speaking people have everywhere made the near-
est approach to a pure democracy in government, and there are but
few occasions where the use of ' you ' is inadmissible. The ancients
were, at least in point of language more modest than the modern.
Two well-known instances are furnished by the personal narratives
of Xenophon and Csesar ; both of whom uniformly speak of them-
selves in the third person.

Some interesting facts in the history and use of pronouns may be
found in Schele De Vere's Studies in English under the appropriate
caption.

But it is in poetic composition that sesthetic considera-
tions produce the most conspicuous peculiarities of speech :
it is here that the far-fetched, the affected and unusual in
expression are most frequently to be met with. Not only
is the vocabulary often uncommon, but the composition
and the order of words differ from ordinary prose. It is
true that no hard and fast line separates prose from poetry,
but a certain class of objects is most frequently represent-
ed in one than in the other. So in prose we find du lebst,
er lebt; in poetry the writer is allowed to choose between
these forms and du lebest, er lebet (thou livest, he liveth).
Prose prefers hob, geracht, schwor, webte, wurde; poetry,

152 A History of the German Language

hub, gerochen, schwur, wob and ward. Such plurals as
Bander, Denkmaler, Lander belong to the former ; Bande,
Denkmale, Lande, to the latter. Abbreviations like
macht 'ge, wedge, Reu1, klagf are admissible only in
poetry. To it alone belong such forms as Herze, Genosz,
zurilcke, mem, dein, for meiner, deiner, desz and wesz in-
stead of dessen, wessen; likewise inniglich, wonniglich for
the shorter prose forms inmg, wonnig. The poets give us
welch Geti'tmmel, ein gliicklich Land, Roslein rot, gebraucht
der Zeit, font die Glocke Grabgesang, and they generally
avoid the insertion of clauses between the article and the
noun. The vocabulary of poetry contains comparatively
few loan-words, and to it alone belong such words as
frevel for frevelhaft, frommen, gulden, Hain, Hindin,
Mdhr, Odem, lind, schwank, siech, zag, while such as
Erlebnisz, Gesichtskreis, deswegen, derjenige, Seelenruhe
pertain exclusively to the province of prose. Gemeine is
more poetic than Gemeinde, Fitttch than Flilgel, Ross than
Pferd, nahen than sich n'dhern, mehren, zeugen, zwingen
than vermehren, erzeugen, bezwingen.

Generally speaking, poetry represents the conservative
elements of language ; prose its progressive and growing
force. English poets like their German brethren are fond
of employing archaic words in preference to those in every
day use ; pure Teutonic in preference to engrafted words.
Tennyson exhibits a marked predilection for the older words
and word-forms. William Barnes, the Dorsetshire poet
advocates the restoration of the homely Saxon compounds
in many cases where they have been displaced by borrow-
ed equivalents. He proposes "fore-elders " for ancestors;
" forewit " for prudence ; " inwit " for conscience ; " wort-
lore " for botany ; and many more. In some cases it is
difficult to give a reason for assigning a word to the vocab-
ulary of poetry rather than prose, or vice versa ; yet few
persons will deny that such a distinction exists in all lan-
guages. But it is well to remember that much the largest

A History of the German Language 153

portion of verse-composition can not with any propriety be
ranked as poetry. The gap between the language of prose
and that of poetry is not equally wide at all periods in the
history of any literature. There are times in the annals
of every nation when it places little value on works of the
imagination. Then, too, there are intrinsic differences in
national tastes. The Romans produced hardly any genu-
ine national poetry at any time ; the Greeks comparatively
little of genuine merit after the loss of their independence.
During the greater part of the seventeenth century poetry
of a high order was held in comparatively little esteem in
England, and during this period German poetry had sunk
almost to the level of prose. For about two centuries be-
ginning with the middle of the sixteenth, Germany pro-
duced hardly any literature worthy of the name. Brokes
(born 1680) uses such expressions as " das Gehor bezau-
bernden Gesang, von solchem nach der Kunst gekrduselten
Geschwine"

Contemporary poets often differ widely as regards the
interval which separates their writings from prose. The
court-romances of the M. H. G. period are much more
nearly related to the spoken language of their time than
the popular epics of the same era. The same statement
may be made of Otfried's Harmony of the Gospel when
compared with the old Saxon Heliand, which was prob-
ably composed but little earlier. An important factor is
likewise the social condition of the poet. If he belongs
to the class of bards or professional minstrels, or is in
familiar intercourse with it, the influence of tradition will
be much more marked in his compositions than when this
is not the case. This fact will account for the divergence
in style between the authors of the Heliand, the Nibelun-
gen Lay and Gudrun, on the one hand, and Godfrey of
Strasburg on the other.

Purely external considerations often have great weight
in determining the language of poetic composition. What
11

154 A Histoi-y of the German Language

is not designed to be read either publicly or in private,
but to be recited, generally contains a large number of
stereotyped formulas to which the rhapsodist may have
recourse when his memory is at fault, or when there is
need of a pause as a sort of preparation for what is to fol-
low. The poetry of the old German gleemen is full of
such standing epithets. The epitheton ornans is a promi-
nent characteristic of the Homeric poems. The ships are
designated as "hollow," the storm as " sweeping," and the
sea as " barren " or " dark blue " or " swarming." We
have u light-haired " Menelaos, the " discreet " Tele-
machos, and the " white-armed " Nausikaa ; Mykenae is
the " golden,'' Pylos the " sandy " and Thebes the " seven-
gated." Voss a contemporary of Goethe mechanically
imitates Homeric usage in this respect in Luise, although
his poem was composed for a wholly different purpose;
and while his skill as a translator, especially of Homer, has
never been surpassed, he failed to achieve permanent fame
as an original poet. Goethe with true poetic instinct does
not employ standing epithets to describe the characters of
his Hermann and Dorothea, but judiciously varies them
to suit the different situations.

As the old Germanic poetry was alliterative the need of
words having the same initial sound no doubt contributed
much to the development of frequently occurring epithets.
The number of words of this class required was much
larger than is necessary to satisfy the demands of modern
rime. This becomes easily evident upon a glance at the
specimen already given. On the other hand the construc-
tion of modern German poetry is rendered much more
difficult by reason of the large number of words having
more than two syllables, but of which two successive syl-
lables are equally accented. For example, Leuchtwurm-
chen, Mcukafer, Mondsckeibe, and many others, can.
rarely, if at all, be employed in poetic diction, and when
needed their place must be supplied by substitutes. Such

A History of the German Language 153

English compounds as death-dealing, way-fating, blood-
thirsty ofier a similar difficulty. Sometimes dignity and
congruence ; or in other words aesthetic appositeness is
intentionally eschewed by writers and speakers. A coarse
and vulgar expression may now and then be used for its
own sake. This trait is characteristic of students' slang
of which we have already spoken. With a designed dis-
regard of the rules and traditions of language we find here
Maul used for Mund, fressen and saufen instead of essen
and trinken. Euphemisms are rare. When vulgar or
trivial words are used in close connection with those that
express emotions of sublimity ; or when words that are
almost void of meaning are placed alongside of such as-
are weighty and significant a comic effect is produced.
Moritz Busch, a popular contemporary writer, is in the
habit of employing such combinations to excite the risi-
bilities of his readers. Sustained efforts of this sort give
rise to what is usually called the mock-heroic, examples of
which are the Battle of the Frogs and Mice by Pigres, in
Greek ; the Hudibras of Butler ; the Rape of the Lock by
Pope, and the Jobsiade of Kortum. An intentional devia-
tion from linguistic tradition, or, in other words, a viola-
tion of grammatical rules, sometimes produces a comic"
effect. Such expressions as " bif of ditterance," " we
thunk," " many a smile he smole and many a wink he
wunk,'' etc., will illustrate this usage from the English
standpoint. Irony, or the employment of words in a sense
nearly or quite the contrary of their usual meaning, alsa
deserves to be mentioned as one of the forms of language.
It has been shown in a former section that the laws of
logic have but little influence on the formation and devel-
opment of language, and that the chief object sought to
be attained are beauty of diction and ease of comprehen-
sion. Still, it can not be denied that a species of applied
logic, what may be called the theory of grammar, has had
some effect on the N. H. G. as well as upon all cultivated

156 A History of the German Language

languages. So far as the German is concerned the labors
of Gottsched and Adelung, the former of whom belonged
to the earlier part of the eighteenth century, the latter to
its later years, have not been altogether fruitless.

AMPLIFICATION OF THE MATERIALS OF SPEECH.

What has been said thus far has had special reference to
the causes that were mainly instrumental in producing
changes in language and have been an answer to the ques-
tion why the new is unceasingly displacing the old. It
has become evident from the study of particular examples
that for various reasons the same word can not be per-
petually employed in one and the same sense. It behooves
us then to examine the relation existing between vocables
used with a certain signification now with that which they
had in the earlier periods of the language, and how it is
possible by means of the same word to awaken one con-
cept at one time and a different one at another time, or, to
express the thought otherwise, how can a word undergo a
•change of meaning during the period of its existence as
an integral part of spoken language? And again, how
shall we find words to express a concept of which we are
conscious for the first time ? The answer is to be found
in the study of any cultivated language ; for it will show
that old words have undergone a gradual transformation
of meaning, and that new ones have been coined to desig-
nate new objects.

CHANGE OF MEANING.

When an existing word is employed in a new significa-
tion it is generally the case that no formal connection ex-
ists between the old and the new word. The speaker then
employs one with which the hearer is already familiar, but
in a different sense. If however he expects to be under-
stood some relation must exist between the thought to be
^communicated and the word to be used. This relation be-

A History of the German Language 157

tween the two words may be their greater or less simil-
arity to each other. We have no difficulty in recognizing
a person whose portrait we have seen. The delineation
may be rude, a mere outline sketch ; yet the imagination
easily supplies the missing traits. In like manner any
concept may be awakened in the mind by another concept
that bears a general resemblance to it. This concept may
indicate no rnore than the general type of a class or of in-
dividuals, provided it be used in such a way that the miss-
ing parts may be readily called to mind. For example,
Luther says, " das Wort sie sollen lassen stan" in speaking
of the Word of the Holy Scriptures. This " Word " is em-
ployed in precisely the same way in English. In like
manner Schrift or " Scriptures '' is used for the contents
of the Bible though it simply means writings. In such
expressions as " er geh'ort der Gesellschaft an" " er ist von
Famihe" the mind readily supplies the adjective gut, as
the speaker intended it should. Sitsen, brummen, spinnen
are frequently used in the sense of gefangen sem; machen
as we have seen may be applied to a great number of acts.
If there no longer exists alongside of this unliteral and in-
direct meaning one that is literal and direct, — in other
words, if a term has become obsolete in one or more senses
we say that its signification has been narrowed or particu-
larized. It may be said of civilized languages as a whole
that they exhibit a tendency toward greater definiteness
in the meaning of their words. If we compare Latin, for
example, with English or German, it is often impossible
to find a modern equivalent for the ancient term. Even
in the same language the difficulty is often insurmount-
able. Ecke was formerly applied to anything sharp or
pointed, and might be applied to the edge of a sword ;
now it means " corner." Gerben (tan) meant simply be-
retten and had no reference to any particular object. The
Greek o-wro&s originally meant an arrangement of any
sort, a body of troops, or of laws, a constitution, and it was

158 A History of the German Language

not till later that it was applied to the arrangement of the
words in a sentence, as its derivative is still used in both
German and English. We say of a child that it knows its
letters, and of an adult that he is a man of letters ; yet
nobody is at a loss for a moment as to the meaning in each
case.

If we wish to call up in the mind of a child the concept
of a dog or a horse we can do so by showing him the pic-
ture of either of these animals. The apprehension of
their essential traits is not rendered defective by the sight
of some that are unessential ; nor is the mental picture of
the animal made less vivid by the rudeness of the picture
before the eye. So in language, the naming of a particu-
lar characteristic may call to mind the concept of an entire
class or species. The German word holzen (handle wood)
is used of any kind of a fight even when no weaponsx)f
wood are used, just as bechern (use cups, or goblets) is
said of a drinking bout from mugs as well. We frequently
say of a man that he drinks too much, or that he likes
drink, or that he is too fond of his cups, when we have in
mind only drink that intoxicates.

We are sometimes reminded of one person by the sight
of another ; but there must be some point of resemblance,
however slight, between the two, though they may be un-
like in every other particular. What is true of objects
presented to the eye is equally true of sounds that enter
the ear. A single individual may awaken the reminis-
cence of an entire class. But in such cases the word
class must be understood in its most comprehensive
sense, for, strictly speaking, a class or genus is created
whenever we discover any similarity between two wholly
different things. A white horse, a snow-drop, Parian
marble, linen, snow, a taper, and other white objects form
a class or genus, of which the common characteristic is
the color, just as much as do horse, ox, and hare in the
genus mammalia, or snow-drop, lily and rose, under the

A History of the German Language 159

general class phenogams. The same object may generally
be ranged under several categories at the same time. But
we may likewise be aware that divergences exist between
different classes or genera. The more conspicuous the
qualities are upon which the similarity of two concepts
rests the more readily they are observed and the more
easily the subordinate elements are ranged under those
that are of a more general character. In this way the
mind forms categories of objects that are evident to all
and become a matter of continuous tradition. When the
connection between two objects is close and their relation
intimate one may be easily and unconsciously exchanged
for the other, as when the idea of time is common to
both. In some of the current German dialects the word
Mittag is also used in the sense of Nachmittag ; in others
Abend is employed, where still others regard Nachmittag
as the proper term. In the South German dialects the
perfect tense has entirely displaced the older imperfect,
er ist gegangen, er ist gekommen mean er ging, er kam.
In French there is an evident tendency in the same direc-
tion. The Latin perfect of historic times is both a per-
fect and an aorist, the result of a failure to distinguish
between two different forms of the earlier language.

Again, in contemplating an action we may fail to notice
whether it originated at a certain point or took place
there ; for this reason the notions of active and passive are
sometimes confounded or interchanged. Thus, heiszen
was originally equivalent to einen Namen geben, later, to
einen Namen besitzen, haben. Hence, we must translate
Ich heisze Peter, my name is, or I am called, Peter.
Kehren, treiben, wenden in the older language meant no
more than to put an object in motion ; now they are used
in a number of different senses. It is correct to say einen
fahren, but formerly the verb could take no object and
was used like the English ' fare ' which is virtually the
same word. The participial adjectives in ein besonnener,

160 A History of the German Language

ein iiberlegter Mensch are both passive in form, but active
in signification. Ein Bedienter, literally, one served, is one
who serves, a servant, ein Studterter is one who has studied,
though in strict grammar it should mean one who has
been studied. Similarly, we say in English the lesson is
learned aftd the man is learned, where the word " learned "
has two widely different meanings. If we wish to render
these two phrases in German we shall have to translate
the first learned by gelernt and the second by gelehrt.
Attention has already been called to the fact that the
German as well as the English dialects make no distinc-
tion between lehren (teach) and lernen (learn).

It seems to be natural to recognize a close affinity be-
tween impressions produced on the sensorium through its
different organs. Sensations received through the eye are
transferred to those perceived by the ear. We speak of a
round tone or the dull sound, of the tones of color as loud
or soft. Grell and hell, now referred to the organ of sight
or hearing, related originally to the ear alone, Grille
(cricket) and Hall (clang, resonance) being connected with
these words. Siisz, at first used of the taste, is now used
of the taste or smell or sound. Its derivative Geschmack
like our " taste " is even used of perceptions by the
aesthetic sense. Impressions received through the sense
of touch are sometimes applied to those coming originally
through that of hearing, seeing or smelling : bitter means
that which bites, stinken at first meant that which pricks
or stings, while both the German and the Englishman
speak of tones or words as warm, sharp, pointed, cutting,
soft, harsh, rough, and so on.

Another kind of interchange between different categories
of concepts takes place when objects primarily designed
for one use are spoken of as if intended for another. The
original purpose embodied in the radical form of the word
is lost sight of, in the transferred meaning. For instance
the name Streichholschen is still applied to matches made,

A History of the German Language 161

not of wood, but of wax, just as Fensterschetbe is used of
panes of glass that are not round but of some other shape.
So in English we speak of an ovation or of an inaugura-
tion to designate ceremonies that have nothing to do with
either sheep or augurs. A vivid impression and a painful
one are nearly related. Accordingly many intensive adverbs
are derived from words that in their earlier history desig-
nated feelings of pain. " Es ist grausam kalt" " es ist
schrecklich heisz^ are the counterpart of the English " it
is outrageously cold,'' " it is fearfully hot ;" es dauert
furchtbar lang is our " it lasts dreadfully long." We even
hear of a thing being "awfully pretty,'' "awfully good"
or " awfully nice." The word sehr, Eng. sore, originally
meant painful. The Scotch " sair " still preserves in sound
its connection with the German while such expressions as
u sore need," "sorely in need'' show clearly the original
signification. In many of the Middle German dialects
oder is used in the sense of aber, the notion of contrast or
opposition in both leading to their interchange.

In cases where the close connection between two or
more concepts is not made evident by striking points of
similarity alongside of which minor divergences are lost
sight of, in other words where resemblances are chiefly
external, they give rise to what are called metaphors, or
metaphoric language. The result is the same where class
distinctions are merely casual or superficial marks, but
where nevertheless the relations between objects and their
mental concepts are not entirely hidden. It is not possi-
ble, however, to draw a fine line of demarcation between
the examples given above and those here had in view, as
the mental processes are closely akin. Examples are end-
less. The same designations are applied to lifeless and
living objects. The human form suggests many compar-
isons with inanimate things. We speak of the head of a
valley, of a stream, of a nail (Nagelkopf) ; of a neck or of
a tongue of land (Landzunge) ; of an arm of the sea

162 A Hlstoi'y of the German Language

(Meeresarm) ; of the leg of a chair (Stuhlbeiri), and so on.
The process is reversed when the head is called a pump-
kin, a gourd, a calabash and other names taken from in-
animate objects. The German word Kopf (head) is ety-
mologically related to Eng. ' cup ' and had originally very
nearly its meaning. The Latin word ' testa,' a vessel of
burned or baked clay, has in part furnished the Romance
languages with their word for ' head,' ' caput,' the proper
word having been supplanted by it. Other familiar Ger-
man words of this class are Brustkorb, Herzkammer,
Knieschetbe, Becken, etc.

Designations of time are generally named from concepts
of space. Corresponding to the English ' point of time,'
' portion of time,' ' piece of a day,' the German uses
Zeitpnnkt, Zeitraum, eine Spanne Zeit, Zeitabschnitt ; um,
nach and vor originally had reference only to space.
The notion of space or of time is plainly seen in expres-
sions embodying the relation of cause and effect, " to do a
thing out of hatred or envy," " to die from fright," "to
fall from grace " are examples under this head. Wegen
is an old dative plural of the substantive Weg, whence the
older phrase von — wegen ; des Geldes wegen accordingly
means, auf den Wegen des Geldes. The English ' way '
has a great variety of similar uses in both the singular and
plural number, as " by way of making amends," " this is
nothing out of the way," " in a business way," " always,"
and so on. Weil originally had a temporal signification,
but is now chiefly causal, as may be seen in the Eng.
" while ;" and is a sort of adverbial case of Weile. The
Eng. word is still used as a noun and a verb in addition
to its function as an adverbial conjunction, as may be seen
in ' a long while,' ' to while away the time.'

The largest number of metaphorical expressions belong
to the class in which mental phenomena are described in
terms that were originally used to designate purely sensu-
ous acts or experiences. Such words are einsehen (see into),

A History of the German Language 163

erfassen (grasp), begreifen (comprehend) r vernehmen,
Fassung, Zustand, Verhalten, and many others of this
character. In English the etymology is not always so
transparent because Latin derivatives have taken the
place of many Germanic words ; but these when carefullv
examined show precisely the same origin. Returning
again to the German, erinnem means bring into ; lehren
is to bring into or upon the way ; goth. ' laisjan,' related to
Geleise ; lernen, to be brought into the way, and the prim-
itive signification of befehlen was to give over. Vernunft is
almost equivalent to Vernehmen and is from the same root,
— compare with it the Eng. under-stand-ing. AngstVfez. the
Eng. ' anxious,' ' anxiety,' and Bangigkeit are based on the
idea of pressing or bending. List (artifice), which in the M.
H. G., still had the general sense of ' insight,' is connected
with lehren, lernen, Geleise. The Germans say of insane per-
sons that they are Verriickt, that is moved out of their proper
or natural state. Our word ' insane ' means simply ' un-
sound,' and might logically be applied to those who are
sick in body as well as to those who are sick in mind, if
usage had so determined. Persons are said to be beside
themselves when they do not clearly apprehend what they
are doing. " There is a screw loose '' is a thought as com-
mon among the Germans as among the English. ' Whim '
is probably a veiled expression for a buzzing or stirring in
the head, and we say even more undisguisedly " he has a
bee in his bonnet," to designate about the same cerebral
condition. Comparatively few proverbial expressions can
be literally translated from one language into another, but
the similarity of concepts underlying them is remarkable.
It is a well established fact in the life and growth of all
languages that mental processes are without exception
designated from acts of the physical body or from occur-
rences in the material universe. In the case of many
metaphorical expressions transmitted to us from former
times it is not always easy to recognize their origin.

164 A History of the German Language

Words undergo changes in form, as we have seen, irr
obedience to phonetic laws ; but a word or an expression
may remain unchanged and the custom out of which it
grew pass away. The Germans still say Wir haben einen
Span wider jemand, because in olden times a chip or flat
piece of wood was used to cite persons before a judicial
tribunal. In German as in English we may speak of
throwing down or taking up the gauntlet, when we wish
to challenge an opponent or take up a challenge from him.
In order to understand the etymological meaning of Ange-
binde, something bound on or to, we need to remember
that it was once customary to bind a birth-day present to
the arm or around the neck of a child. At present it may
be used of any gift. The Germans say einen Korb geben
(give a basket) just 'as we say to "give the mitten," be-
cause formerly the maiden let fall the basket in which an
unacceptable lover wished to be drawn up to her window,
or prepared it so that the bottom broke out. Silnden-
register is explained by the mediaeval belief that the devil
kept a record of the sins of each person, which was to be
presented for adjudication after death. In the metaphor-
ical expressions above cited the quality in which the cor-
respondence rests is not always the most salient, but is at
least one that is not irrelevant. But there is another
group of concepts in which certain characteristics appear-
ing only occasionally form the basis of the metaphor. It
is thus that Mutter chen, mein Sohn, mein Kind are used as
expressions of endearment, very much like the Eng.
" mammy," " sonny," " sissy," etc. In some dialects a
garrulous woman is called a Schw'dtzfr abase and basen, to
act the aunt, cousin, means simply to gossip. In Basel,
Tochter is used as the exact equivalent of girl, notwith-
standing the fact that there are many aunts who know
when to hold their tongues and that there are many
daughters who are no longer maidens. Sometimes proper
names are pressed into service to designate certain quali-

A History of the German Language 165

-ties: Hans, Grete, Peter, Stoffel and T'ojfel, both abbre-
viations of Christophel, are terms for expressing stupidity ?
just as we call an Irishman "Pat/' a servant girl "Bridget,"
a Scotchman "Sandy" or a sailor "Jack." "Simple
Simon," "Smart Aleck," "country Jake," " Jack-of-all-
trades," are familiar phrases among us. A Prahlhans or a
Schmalhans is a boaster, though there are many persons
who boast, bearing other names than Jack or John. In
Berlin persons who are better known on account of their
many words than their profound thoughts are called
Quaselfntze, Quaselliese, Quaselpeter ; in each of these ap-
pellations there is a proper name. There too, a dealer in
cigars is called Ctgarrenfritze. In Basel a good-natured,
stupid fellow is known as Baschi (Sebastian); Johann is
the common designation of man-servant, while in Paris a
certain class of women and girls is called grisettes,
though they often wear garments of other colors than gray.
In Lower Austria Leahnl means about the same that Kerl
does in other parts of Germany, — it is an abbreviation of
Leonhardt. Similarly, we speak of a Bohemian, a Philis-
tine, an outlandish fellow, or an outlandish act. In docu-
ments of the fifteenth century occurs the term Lazarus-
mensch to designate a leper. In the seventeenth century
" to dissect " was called in Leipzig rolfingen, because a
well known professor, Rolfing, practiced this art in that
city. Artificially cut and trimmed gardens were said to
be lenotrized from the name of the French architect
Lenotre. A mischievious trick is still called eine Eulen-
spiegelei, from the name of a noted practical joker who is
reputed to have lived in the thirteenth century and an in-
credible story is often designated as a Munchausen tale.

In order to call up in the mind the complete image or
representation of an object is not necessary that it should
be designated in its entirety. Any small portion, any ob-
ject that bears the least relation to it, may by the prin-
ciple of association, awaken a long train of concepts. A

166 A History of the German Language

myrtle flower may call up in the mind of the aged woman
her bridal wreath in which it was entwined ; the marriage
festivities ; the table-talk that occurred ; and the parting
words of her parents, all of which may come vividly be-
fore her mind's eye. Words and phrases may be inter-
changed when the substituted concepts bear any relation
to the original either by proximity in space or time, or
cause and effect. Here, too, as in the permutation of sim-
ilar images the closeness of the connection is not always
the same. Owing to the presence of one concept the
recollection of another may in all cases and almost of
necessity be present also ; or the association may be occa-
sional and accidental. When we hear or read Schiller's
" er zdhlt die Hdupter seiner Lieben, " we know that he means
not only the heads of his dear ones, but the beloved
persons; the hospitable roof, the hospitable threshold,,
are often used for the entire hospitable dwelling.
Dickkopf (thick-head), Gelbschnabel (yellow-beak), Lang-
finger, designate beings possessing these attributes.
Kutte (cowl) and Schiirze (apron) are sometimes used as
synonymous with monk and housewife. Bench and bar
often mean judges and lawyers. In the peculiar language
of German students Hausbesen or Zimmerbesen designates
the maid who takes care of their rooms. We often use
the name of a place when we are thinking of the persons
who assemble there, as the House (of Representatives),,
the Senate chamber, the church, the court. The curious
word Frauenzimmer originally meant just what the sepa-
rate parts of the compound would make it to mean, a
chamber for women ; and even in the last century it was
used to designate a number of persons of the female sex.
Bursche the popular appellation of a university-student
comes from the Latin ' bursa,' the place where the students
dwelt together. Concepts of things and persons and acts
and circumstances reciprocally condition each other.
Sometimes an object suggests a quality, then in time

A History of the German Language 167

comes to be substituted for it. " Heart " is thus used to-
signify " courage," and " to take heart " means " to take
courage." The keen eye and the strong hand of a man
are sometimes extolled to express in another way the
thought that he can see far and hit hard. A reenforce-
ment means not merely the act of reenforcing, but a body
of men sent to reenforce others. The government, as
often used, is synonymous with those who govern. Ge-
f'dngnisz in the older German is the same as Gefangenschaft^
i. e. prison, is the same as imprisonment. Juvenile frivol-
ity and youthful recklessness are but other terms for friv-
olous or reckless youths. Says Hebel, " schon manchei
Rausch ist seitdem auf den Bergen gewachsen," but he is
thinking of the grapes from which the wine was made
that produced the intoxication. Holen (fetch) designated
in the earlier time an act which frequently preceded the
bringing of an object, the act of calling, and is etymolog-
ically the same word as the Greek /caAeTv ; lauschen in its
primitive sense means verborgen sein; and verwegen (rash)
is related to wdgen, this epithet being applicable to a per-
son who has mistakenly weighed his powers and as a re-
sult exhibits over-confidence in himself. Erschrecken rad-
ically signifies to ' start up,' as may be seen in Heuschrecke
(grasshopper, hayhopper). The cause is named from the
effect, like the Homeric <£o/3os, the flight produced by
fear. The phrase in Harnisch geraten (get into, put on
one's armor) was in former times the frequent result of
getting angry ; it is still used in the latter sense, though
the use of armor has been totally discarded. The Ameri-
canism " to put on the war paint " is simply a metaphor-
ical expression for preparing to attack an opponent, and
has its origin in the custom of the Indians when making
ready to attack an enemy. Uprightness, honesty, sim-
plicity as opposed to duplicity, may sometimes be the re-
sult of dullness : hence a stupid person may be called a
simpleton. Occasionally the lack of moral qualities is

168 A History of the German Language

designated by a term that indicates mental weakness;
thus schlecht primarily means schlicht (plain, straight-
forward), as may be seen in schlechthin, schlechtweg^ schlecht
und recht.

In examining the development of words and the meta-
morphoses which their meanings have undergone we are
confronted with a variegated and sometimes a confused
picture. The science of language must confine itself
wholly to what is past, and can not, like some of the
physical sciences, predict what will happen in the future.
If we know what a certain word signified five hundred or
a thousand years ago, it will give us no more than a clue
to its present signification. The various possible mean-
ings not only run parallel to each other, but continually
cross each other. The same word may be used in a num-
ber of different senses at the same time, or in different
periods of its history. Every language has a tolerably
long list of words which when used alone, that is, with no
context, are likely to call into existence a number of dif-
ferent concepts. ' Head ' is a word of this class. We have
already spoken of Kopf and its primitive meaning. Its
modern signification as the equivalent of Haupt is the re-
sult of a two-fold transfer. At first the skull, because of
its resemblance to a cup, was called Kopf; next this part
of the head came to be used for the whole. The meta-
phors originating in the word Kopf as the equivalent of
Haupt are very numerous, such as Kehlkopf, Krautkopf^
Balkenkopf, Bergkopf, Saulenkopf, and so on, almost ad
infinitnm. Further, the head alone is often mentioned
when the entire body is meant, a herd of cattle is said to
consist of so many head ; a tax is generally so much per
head, and the proverb "so viel Kopfe, so viel Sinne" is
familiar to all, though not all stop to consider that there
is needed a good deal more than heads, if there are to be
minds or opinions. Kopf, like head, is often used to des-
ignate certain mental qualities, just as the heart is the

A History of the German Language 169

synonym for others. We say of a man that he has a good
head, or a poor head ; that he is hard-headed or head-strong,
or that he has a head of his own. Parallel to these phrases
are the German, er hat einen eignen, einen guten, einen
harten Kopf^ and akin to them are such compounds as
Hohlkopf, Querkopf, Schwachkopf (numskull, blockhead).
The Germans even go so far as to say er hat Kopf, or er ist
em guter Kopf when they are speaking of a person of tal-
ents. In the last instance we have a triple transfer of
meanings, — first, from a cup to the human skull, then
from the skull to the whole head, then from the head to
the entire person. When we compare the changes in
meaning with the mutations in the form and pronuncia-
tions of words that take place under the influence of anal-
ogy we find that in both cases the relation between form
and content has shifted, and from the same cause. When
any external impression upon our senses makes itself felt
in consciousness, it awakens earlier impressions, already
therein, provided some kind of relation exists between
them. Changes in pronunciation are the effect of the remi-
niscence of former impressions or word-symbols ; while
changes in meaning result from a sort of confusion between
concepts reciprocally awakened. It has been remarked in
a former paragraph that in the transformation of words
resulting from analogy, its influence does not extend to all
the senses in which a word may be used. We may here
call attention to a closely allied phenomenon, that the
meaning of a word does not always change in toto, but only
in certain cases ; in others not. In some cases the form
of a word may remain virtually the same through a long
period of years, while its meaning undergoes more or less
important modifications ; in others, the meaning may re-
main unchanged, in spite of a change of form. In the
former of the two processes of development above referred
to, the original, or at least earlier, pronunciation of a word
is preserved in isolated examples, and in the latter, a kind
12

170 A History of the German Language

of isolation of meaning takes place in which certain words
preserve a more primitive signification than pertains to
them in their general sense. It is usually in compounds,
rhyming couplets, proverbial expressions, and the like that
the old meanings survive. In Feuersbrunst (conflagration)
the purely sensuous signification of Brunst is preserved,
while Brunst alone is now used in a much more restricted
sense. Ding originally meant a judicial procedure. The
Norwegian supreme legislative body is still called stor-
thing, "the great court." From its earlier meaning it is easy
to see how bedingen came to mean " make terms or condi-
tions," notwithstanding the fact that the German Ding
and the Bng. ' thing,' now have a widely different sense.
Fahren could formerly be used of a going on foot : this
signification is still preserved in Wallfahrt. The older
meaning of klein (fine, elegant) is retained in Kleinod, to
which that of ' costly ' was afterward added. The termi-
nation -od is also found in different forms in Einode, Ar-
mut, Monat, Heimat, and corresponds to the Latin -atus
found in such words as ' magistratus,' ' senatus.' Leib for-
merly was the equivalent of the modern Leben, so that
Leibrente means a life-rent, and Leibzucht a livelihood.
Leiche at one time meant the same as Korper, whence
Leichdorn (corn). The Eng. ' sweetmeats ' has preserved
the earlier meaning of meat as the equivalent of food.
The " meat offering " of the ancient Hebrews contained
no flesh.

This word Korper readily suggests the Latin corpus,
corporis, from which it is derived and of which it still con-
serves the meaning. Its history in English exhibits ta
some extent the process above illustrated by means of sev-
eral examples. There are a number of technical phrases
in which the original signification is retained, such as
" habeas corpus," " corpus juris," etc. But the deriva-
tive corps and corpse show both a metamorphosis of form
and a restriction of meaning as compared with the Latin

A History of the German Language 171

original. In Spenser's time ' corpse ' meant a living body ;
consequently it underwent a change of meaning almost
exactly similar to that of Leiche touched upon above.

We have already seen that sometimes the same verbal
or vocal concept may have several meanings, or indeed, a
large number, while it is equally true that the same thing
may be said, the same concept expressed, in two or more
ways. In one case several radii proceed from the same
point, in the others they converge at the same point. As
there often exist alongside of the metaphorical or figura-
tive designation of concepts, one or more literal designa-
tions ; or there may be several metaphorical designations
for the same thing, it follows that, by a transfer of mean-
ings, several words may develop alongside of each other,
or rather parallel to each other in sense, that however
differ more widely from one another than the double forms
resulting from analogy. In other words, the so-called
synonyms arise. The number of synonyms in existence
for the various concepts that may be called into existence
varies greatly. The simpler any phenomenon, the smaller
the number of variations under which it appears, the less,
the interest it has for mankind, the fewer the synonyms by
which it may be designated. Luft and Wasser as names-
of elements have, strictly speaking, no synonyms. But
phenomena that appear in a great variety of forms ; objects
that excite humor or provoke mirth present an almost end-
less variety of points of view from whjch they may be re-
garded, and therefore furnish a fertile field for the growth
of synonymous expressions. Words and phrases to desig-
nate beating or fighting, being in love, and cheating are
particularly numerous. But perhaps the longest list of all
would be the various ways to designate drinking and
being drunk ; it is probable that some hundreds could be
collected from the different German dialects.

But even synonyms that designate virtually the same
concept may vary in what may be called the degree of

172 A History of the German Language

their application: that is, the occasion, the mood of the
speaker, his culture and education determine to some ex-
tent the exact meaning he attaches to words and phrases.
One person may, when employing such a word as cheat
or deceive, wish to convey the additional idea of moral
condemnation ; another may use it with approval because
it indicates to him the subsidiary notion of shrewdness.
The same word may be used under precisely similar cir-
cumstances with a slight difference of meaning, or two
words may be used in exactly the same sense, merely for
the sake of euphony. Generally, however, this state of a
language does not continue long, and of two words so re-
lated to each other one soon becomes obsolete.

The English language, owing to the double origin of its vocabulary,
is somewhat different from other cultivated tongues. During the
period of its formation it seems to have been necessary to use " yokes
of words," one Saxon, the other Norman-French in order that the
one might make the other intelligible. Chaucer's poems are full of
such pairs; and even in Hooker we find "cecity and blindness,"
" nocive and hurtful," "sense and meaning," etc. But in such cases
as may be readily seen, one of the two words has become obsolete, or
nearly so, and is only found in writers like Carlyle, who purposely
affect a style having an archaic flavor.

Whenever new material is added to the existing verbal
stock of a language, as is constantly the case, by a trans-
fer of the signification of existing words, an earlier concept
or group of concepts, is employed in a slightly different
sense, and the desired representation is called up in the
mind of the reader or hearer through the relation existing
between the sensuous concept and that in which the new
word stands to it. But the converse of this may also take
place : it may happen that the connection between the two
meanings is not at once evident but may create an idea of
a different sort. This mode of calling up representations
is frequently employed in jests, the point of which de-
pends on the double sense (double entendre) in which the
word or phrase may be understood. When the German
.says, " Er hat mehr Gliick als Ferdinand," Fer in the

A History of the German Language 173

proper name serves to call up in the mind of the hearer,
the reminiscence of the word Verstand, and the expression
is a little milder than if the words were used which the
speaker really has in mind. Similar to this is the Eng-
lish, "You tell a li-kely story.'1 It is sometimes said of an
avaricious person, " Er ist von Habsburg" where the point
of the remark lies in the similarity between the first syl-
lable of Habsburg, and the verb haben. It is by a similar
mental process that Swift connects Jupiter and Jew Peter,
Andromache with Andrew Mackey, and Peloponnesus
with Pail-up-and-ease-us. German jest books contain
many names of places etymologically connected with the
qualities from which their inhabitants are supposed to be
chiefly known. On the whole, however, this mode of sub-
stituting one word for another is comparatively rare in
comparison with that growing out of a real change of
meaning. We shall see further on how words often come
to be substituted for others on account of resemblance or
similarity of sound, and thus lead to the coinage of en-
tirely new ones.

A Glossary of Old English Bible Words, by Eastwood and
Wright, is a volume of several hundred pages, devoted to a dis-
cussion of words that have gone entirely out of current use, or are
now employed in a sense different from that of three or four centu-
ries ago. As most English-speaking people are accustomed to the
phraseology of the Bible from childhood, the changes are less notice-
able here than elsewhere. A modern history, for instance, written
in the language of the sixteenth century, would strike any one as a
singular piece of composition. It should be remembered, too, that
in both English and German we often do not have the continuous
history of a word, and are not, therefore, in position to follow the
gradual transformation of meaning it underwent. The careful ob-
server of the speech of old people, especially of native Englishmen,
or of those who are comparatively uneducated, may often notice words
and forms of expression that are no longer used in the written lan-
guage. Nearly all these, however, still flourish in the dialects of the
different districts of England. The same statement is true of all the
countries of Europe, whose language has had a continuous literary
culture for several centuries.

174 A History of the German Language

THE COINAGE OF NEW WORDS.

Daily experience and frequent observation teach us that
new words may be formed by the combination of existing
ones. Two words are united to form a third in which the
separate percepts or concepts are each embodied in the
new compound. This method of compounding words
may be of two kinds. By the one, both concepts are rec-
ognized as co-ordinate, and when placed alongside of each
other hold about the same relation to one another that
they would have if united by means of a conjunction.
We have here accordingly a case of simple addition.
This earliest and simplest method of forming compounds
has in historical times become rare in the German lan-
guage. In the oldest Teutonic one could say sunvader^
meaning " son and father." At present such combina-
tions exist only in the numerals from dreizehn to neunzehn
and such adjectives as bittersiisz, blaugri'm, helldunkel,
etc. By the other, the two ideas are marked as unequal
in rank, one being regarded as essential, the other as un-
essential or qualificative ; the essential word designates
the class or genus to which the whole belongs, the quali-
fying word the sub-class. The proper order is to place the
less important term first, and the more important last.
Gartenbaum means a tree that grows in a garden. So
steamboat is a boat propelled by steam. In such cases
the task of the hearer is not as simple as in the former
sort of compounds where the mode of composition of two
equajly plain representations easily furnished the key to
the intended unity. It is necessary to consider to what
extent the areas, so to speak, indicated by the two sepa-
rate words overlap each other, or what the relation existing
between them. There is 'a wide difference between
Gartenbaum and Banmgarten; that is, between a tree
growing in a garden, and a garden full of trees, an orchard.
The relation between the two parts of Goldmensch and
Goldgr'dber is not the same ; neither is it in Konigstiger

A History of the German Language 175

as compared with Komgssohn and Konigsmorder; between
Feuerwasser, on the one hand, and Feuertaufe or Feuer-
schein on the other ; nor between Hollenstrafe and Hollen-
Idrm. Still we may say that there is addition even in
such examples. Butterbrod is made of bread and butter ;
an Altmeister is not only old but he is also a master ; and
a Mannweib unites the qualities of a man and a woman —
we might even say she was man and woman in one and
the same individual. But the addition is of a different
sort and leads to a real unity, a perfect fusion. Werwolf
means a wolf that could assume a human form, or a man
that had been temporarily transformed into a wolf, Wer
being the Latin ' vir,' but such a being would be quite
different from a wolf and a man. In the course of time
the sense of unity produced by a word often grows
stronger. So long as the two parts of a word can also be
used separately, a compound into which they enter will
produce the impression that the amalgamation is not en-
tirely complete. Examples, however, occur where two
words have so completely coalesced that their separate
existence has ceased. When the first part of a compound
has reached such a state it is generally called a prefix, as
un-, be-, ent-, ge-, ver-, etc. Though these prefixes no
longer exist by themselves they can be employed in the
formation of new compounds, or at least, of new combi-
nations, for it is not strictly correct to speak of composi-
tion in such cases. The German does not add together
un- and orthographisch to form unorthographisch, or er-
and kapern to make erkapern, but because such words as
unschon and unhold exist alongside of schon and hold, or
because the language already contains erjagen and
erstreben as well as streben and jagen, analogy sanctions un-
orthographisch no less than orthographisch, or erkapern as a
sort of derivative of kapern. It can be readily seen that
the English furnishes a large number of parallel exam-
ples.

176 A History of the German Language

When the second part of a compound word ceases to-
exist as a separate entity it is usually called a suffix. The
syllable -heit, Eng. -hood, and -head was originally an in-
dependent word meaning form, figure, condition, so that
Schonheit was the equivalent of schone Gestalt (beautiful
form). The adjectives ending in -Itch were probably sub-
stantives in prehistoric times since this suffix is the old
substantive -lick (body) and is still extant in Leiche and
Leichnam. The original meaning of feindlich, freiindlich
was accordingly Feindesleib, Freundesleib . This suffix,
which is common to all the Teutonic tongues, appears in
Eng. as -like and -ly, either being sometimes admissible
as courtlike or courtly, saintlike or saintly, Godlike or
godly, though the shorter form seems to be gradually dis-
placing the longer. ' Like ' is substantially the A.-S. lie,
dative or instrumental, lice, so that saintly means etymo-
logically, with or in the form or body of a saint. ' Like >
has a separate existence in Eng. ; not so the Ger. -lick,
which in its modern form is gleich. We know further that
-haft, -schaft and -turn were likewise independent words at
an early stage of the language, and there is little doubt
that the same is true of all words used in the formation of
derivatives. This -schaft is A.-S. scipe, and -turn is the
Eng. -dom found in such words as ' friendship ' and ' Christ-
endom.' If, then, syllables like the foregoing, that no
longer exist independently continue to be used in the for-
mation of new words, these can hardly in strict justice be
called mere derivative appendages, but the words into
which they enter are in a certain sense compounds formed
according to existing models. There is then, in reality,
no radical difference between composites with prefixes and
such derivatives as have just been considered : in both
cases a self-existent word, at least in external appearance,
is combined with part or parts of another. But it is not
necessary to the formation of new words that they be com-
posed of such as already exist, although there is no doubt

A History of the German Language 177

that the coinage of entirely new vocables destined to gen-
eral recognition is comparatively rare. Children not un-
frequently invent names for objects with which they come
in contact. Besides the words thus purposely coined
there are others produced almost unwittingly in the ef-
fort to imitate the speech of older persons, and these
often continue to be used by them after they have learned
to use their mother-tongue with a considerable degree of
correctness. If a group of children were isolated for sev-
eral years there is no doubt that they would invent a lan-
guage of their own. But words, in order to make them
worthy of permanent preservation, must supply a felt
want, in which case they will secure a more or less gen-
eral recognition. Many a word coined in the spirit of in-
novation on the spur of the moment to suit the occasion
is soon forgotten even by its author, because he hears no
one else repeat it. There is an exceedingly slight de-
mand for new words, simply because the stock on hand is
amply sufficient for almost every actual and imaginary
use. We have apparently in the English word " dude,"
that has gained remarkable currency within the last half
dozen years, an example of spontaneous coinage, as it has
no discoverable origin or traceable ancestry. " High-
falutin '' is a somewhat similar instance, though here the
model was probably at least in part the compound ' high-
flying,' to which it is allied in signification. " Boom '*
came into prominence several years ago, and seems to
have gained a permanent place in the English vocabulary.
The history of these words is similar to that of many in
the German and in all other civilized languages.

It is probable that within the historic period of the
German new words have been coined in imitation of
existing ones and endowed with related significations.
Such a vocable as trippeln probably gets its initial sound
from traben, trappen, treten, with which it is also connected
in meaning. The termination was most likely patterned

178 A History of the German Language

after such a word as zippeln. Zupfen suggests both ziehen
and rupfen, and is related in meaning to both ; schwirren
and klirren seem to have been influenced by girren, and
knarren by schnarren. Randal is modeled after Skandal. It
is not necessary that we be able to account for each sep-
arate sound and syllable in a new word that may occur, or
that it has been previously used in a word having a like
meaning. A large number of words are still formed, as
they have been continuously throughout the past, in the
same manner and in obedience to the same impulse that
called words into existence thousands of years ago ; it is
the voluntary imitation of sounds occurring in nature, the
so-called onomatopoiesis. For example, bammeln, bimmeln,
patschen, plumpsen, klatschen and many more, are quite
recent creations. Often, however, it is difficult to deter-
mine in any given case whether a word is an intentional
specimen of fresh coinage or merely the modification of
existing materials. Eng. ' clap,' ' clash ;' French ' cla-
quer, claque,' the Teutonic root of which is also repre-
sented in klatschen above, are doubtless entirely onomato-
poetic, plus the various terminations, while such a word as
" highfalutin '' is only in part original. In the case of new
words that have no relation of form to others in use the hearer
has generally no difficulty in divining their meaning, for
the reason that they are a sort of word-painting. But if
new material is added or used that has no evident connec-
tion with or relation to that already in existence and there
is no similarity of sound to suggest the meaning to the
speaker or hearer it is not easy to discover it ; the new
word must be learned as a child learns a language from
the beginning. The German, like the English, has re-
ceived a very large increment of this sort in the shape of
borrowed and adopted words from other languages. But
new life and vigor have been imparted to the classic lan-
guage from pure German sources. This has been brought
about in part by the introduction of words from the dia-

A History of the German Language 179

lects : Haller, Lessing and Goethe, of set purpose, trans-
ferred many vocables from this source into their writings.
In some cases, too, these and other writers reintroduced
into the language words that had become obsolete.
Romanticism — the recurrence to the study of mediaeval
times — and the historical study of German have also had
considerable influence. The stories of knight-errantry
written toward the close of the last century and the his-
torical novels of our day, particularly those of SchefFel
and Freytag, have contributed their part. Sir Walter
Scott's writings likewise exercised an important though
indirect influence toward the same end. In this way such
antiquated terms as Fehde (feud), Gau (district), Ger (jave-
lin), Hain (copse), Halle, Hort (hoard), Kampe (champion),
and Minne, came into use again as a part of current
speech. The boldest innovator was Richard Wagner
(died in '83), whose style is otherwise often difficult on
account of the extent of his vocabulary, and is made still
more obscure by the introduction of such words as freis-
lich (schrecklich), Friedel (husband, lover), glau (bright,
stirring, joyous), neidlich (neidiscli), Nicker ("Old Nick")
and more of the same sort.

This genesis and decay of words ; the gradual changes
in their signification and the various modes of word-for-
mation by composition, together with the transformation
in sound and appearance that words undergo in the course
of their history exhibit to us the different aspects which
the German language presented in the different periods of
its existence. But the transitions from phase to phase are
very gradual, so that it can never be said, one period ends
here and another era begins with this date. Every abso-
lutely new word is from the nature of the case, an instan-
taneous creation. There are a number of words and
phrases to the genesis of which a tolerably definite date
can be assigned. Yet this only means that certain ex-
pressions are used for the first time in the writings of a

180

given author ; but these may have been in oral use long
before it occurred to any one to write them down. The
number of periodicals and the multifarious interests and
tastes represented by them is so great in our day that al-
most all words and expressions orally used soon find their
way into print. Strictly speaking, a definite birth-year
can be assigned to a word only when it is given to a new
discovery or invention by the discoverer or inventor, and
such words are generally adaptations from some other
language, as telephone, phonograph, cablegram, etc. The
modern word ' gas,' is a good example of new coinage in
the true sense. Its discoverer, Van Helmont, says he will
call the newly discovered compound ' gas,' though he has
furnished no clue to the name. It is probable, however,
that he had in mind some form of the word Geist, ghost,
or geest. With the introduction of the thing into the dif-
ferent countries of the civilized world the name also made
its way. Luther designates beherzigen, ersprieszlicJi and
tugendreich as new words in his day. Gehen zvir, nehmen
wir'vn. the sense of wir wollen gehen, zvir wollen nehmen came
into use in the last century. Lessing seems to have first
employed empfindsam and weincrlich; Jahn, turnen, volkstum
and volkstiimlich ; abrilsten is of still more recent origin.
Durchblilhen was coined by Uhland. But the decay and
ultimate extinction of words is a gradual process, just as
new words gain currency step by step. In some cases not
all the parts of a compound word pass out of use at the
same time. The English auxiliaries are now more or less
defective, yet it is almost certain that at an early period of
the language they were as complete as any other verb.
Most of the missing parts can still be supplied from the
A.-S. In German the participles of a number of verbs
still exist as adjectives, though the verbs themselves have
become obsolete : among these are aufgedunsen, abgefeimt
and entruckt. Sometimes substantives live on in certain
combinations with prepositions, as tn die Irre, in der Irre

A History of the German Language 181

gehen, zu Ruste gehen. In the second part of Brautigam, the
Eng. ' bridegroom ' where the r is sporadic, we have the
Gothic ' guma,' later ' gomo,' Latin 4 homo ;' in Karjreitag,
there is preserved an old ' kara,' complaint, pain ; and
durchblauen (drub) has no connection with blau, but has as
its verbal part an obsolete bleucn (beat).

But again, there is no uniformity in the manner and
rapidity with which the changes in the different depart-
ments of a language take place. Words and mean-
ings that in one locality or in one class of society have
long fallen into desuetude continue in current use in
others. Sailors, for example, still use the term Wanten to
designate knit gloves, an old German word preserved in
' gant,' ' guanto,' the modern French and Italian designa-
tion for gloves. Many archaic words are also found in the
language of the chase ; as, for instance, abprosseh, means
to bite off buds. Here we have a reminiscence of the M.
H. G., broz (bud). RaJimen means iiberholen, and is from
the M. H. G. ramen (strive after), while w'olfen is the same
as gebaten and is related to M. H. G., welf, Eng. • whelp.'

THE INFLUENCE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES ON THE GERMAN.

The language of a people mirrors not only its intellect-
ual and spiritual development, but also, in a large measure,
its civilization and political history. By using language
as a guiding thread we may find what intercourse a nation
has had with other nations ; what influence it has exerted
on them, and to what influences it has in turn been sub-
ject ; for there is probably no language in existence that
has not taken up and assimilated foreign elements to a
greater or less extent. It was not the privilege of the
German people to work out their own destiny free from
foreign interference, and their language bears abundant
traces along the course of its entire history of the influence
exerted upon it by the various nations with whom they
came in contact. Notwithstanding this fact there is

182 A History of the German Language

reason to believe that no language of Western Europe
contains so large a proportion of words of native stock as
the German. Still the question is one to which it is at
present impossible to give a definite answer. Two lan-
guages may come into contact with each other in one or
more different ways. There may be a direct intercourse
between two nations speaking different languages but liv-
ing in territorial contiguity ; or one nation may conquer
the lands of another ajid settle upon them, or a country
may be invaded by a foreign army but which comes with
no intention of remaining permanently. Instances of the
first are common ; the conquest of Gaul by the Romans
and of England by the Normans are familiar instances of
the second, while the various military expeditions of the
French into Germany and Italy furnish examples of the
third case. Under such circumstances the number of
foreign words introduced will be few and generally of a
kind that designate thoughts and things with which the
borrowers were hitherto unacquainted. They belong for
the most part to the class of substantives ; borrowed verbs
and adjectives are comparatively rare. It lies in the nature
of the case that almost every portion of the earth possesses
objects not found elsewhere and that the name of these
objects will spread hence to the surrounding nations. But
new qualities and new modes of action will rarely be met
with.

The contact of one language with another is not
necessarily the result of intercourse between individuals
and through the medium of the ear ; it may be purely in-
tellectual resulting from the perusal of the printed page.
When contact takes place in the way first indicated only a
few persons are generally participants and the number of
languages is necessarily limited to two or at most to three.
But their reciprocal influence will be much greater than in
the second case. Here the appropriation of foreign words
is conscious and intentional, usually the result of a fair

A History of the German Language 183

knowledge of the language from which the appropriation
is made. It may therefore happen that persons will intro-
duce into their native speech along with some foreign
words that are a real gain others that are entirely superflu-
ous. As a foreign language is always of later acquisition
than the mother tongue and is, moreover, the result of an
effort of will, some of its words and phrases enter so readily
into one's consciousness as to take the place of native
words that are adequate and equally expressive. Then
too, a pride of knowledge often leads to the use of foreign
words. Not only are occasional substantives introduced
but even verbs and adjectives. Now and then the mode
of inflection shows traces of a foreign model ; the interior
life of the language has been affected. This is more likely
to be the case when words of native stock have for some
time been exposed to the corrupting influence of a foreign
tongue and retain in their form the traces of that influence.
In both English and German there are a number of pure
Teutonic words that have been reintroduced from the
French but which still bear the marks of their sojourn
among foreigners. A word may be coined in a more or
less close imitation of a foreign word to express a concept
for which no native word exists, or at least is known ; or
a native word may undergo a gradual change of meaning
under foreign influences ; or compounds may be con-
structed according to foreign models of sentence-composi-
tion. The various ways here spoken of, in which the
language of a people has been instrumental in modifying
that of another are for the most part impersonal and con-
fined to the higher classes. Words acquired from for-
eigners through direct personal intercourse are not usually
the result of conscious effort or intelligent adaptation. In
this case the influence of the individual counts for less
than in the former. In the one case foreign words are in-
troduced by the educated and in the other, appropriated
by the illiterate in the spirit of imitation. The earliest

184 A History of the German Language

borrowings are those that result from the contiguity of
settlements of two nations speaking different languages
and the later acquisitions — that is, those that grow out of
the systematic study of a foreign tongue, are made after a
higher degree of civilization and a more advanced stage
of culture has been attained.

The German language has taken up foreign elements
from the earliest period of its existence — or at least from
the earliest period accessible to historical research. But,
of course, the nearer we approach its origin, the less the .
confidence with which we can assert the extraneous origin
of words that have an un-German appearance ; and the
difficulty is the greater because in many cases it is impos-
sible to discover, in regard to certain words, who were the
borrowers and who the lenders ; or to express the fact
otherwise, when the essential parts of a word are common
to two languages, it is often difficult to decide which is the
older when we have no other means of determining the
relative age of the languages.

The oldest words adopted by the German are names of
metals and cultivated plants. We are in position to assert
with reasonable confidence that silver and hemp do not
bear native German designations, but from what people
they were borrowed it is as yet impossible to say. We
can form only more or less plausible conjectures. Their
adoption must have taken place long before the division
of the primative German into the later Germanic dialects.
Somewhat subsequently, but nevertheless still in the pre-
historic period, the Germans came in contact with Finns
and Kelts. That there must have been considerable
intercourse between Finns and Germans is evident from
the unmistakable traces of their language in that of the
former. Some of these adopted words have undergone
such modifications that their original form can be inferred
only from the application of the phonetic laws of the
Teutonic. The influence of the Finnish upon the German

A History of the German Language 185

has left but faint traces ; from which we may safely
assume that their civilization during the period of contact
was of a lower type. The relations between the Kelts and
Germans were more intimate and of longer continuance ;
in fact, it was Keltish territory upon which the Southern
and Western Germanic tribes planted their settlements.
The Keltic background is plainly seen in proper names.
Rhine, Main, Danube, Melibocus, Vosges, Mainz, Worms,
of which the Latin forms are Rhenus, Maenus, Dan-
ubius, Maguntia, Vogesus, Borbetomagus, are names
that have a clearly discernable Keltic ancestry. Keltic
names are likewise of frequent occurrence in England,
almost every river bearing an appellative that still retains
traces of the nomenclators in spite of subsequent Roman
and Teutonic invaders. Isaac Taylor, in his " Words and
Places," says : " Over the greater part of Europe — in
Germany, France, Italy, Spain — we find villages which
bear Teutonic or Romance names, standing on the banks
of streams which still retain their ancient Celtic appella-
tions. Throughout the whole of England there is hardly
a single river-name which is not Celtic."

One of the most remarkable items of evidence testifying
to Keltic influence is the German word retch. Its present
meaning is 'rich,' but it originally meant 'mighty' or
powerful; a trace of this signification is still present in
the noun Reich, meaning ' realm ' or ' empire.' The word
is related to the Latin rex, reg-num, but phonetic laws
prove that it can have come only from the Keltic into the
German. Its root is found in such proper names as
Dumnorix, Vercingetorix, from which it would appear
that even in political matters the ancient Germans were
not entirely outside the pale of Keltic influence. The
words Dime, Falke, Habicht and Pferch are likewise sup-
posed to be of Keltic ancestry, and have their living
English representatives in 'down' (a plateau), 'falcon,'
' hawk ' and ' park.' The influence of the Latin upon the
13

186 A History of the German Language

German may likewise be traced to prehistoric times. It
can be noticed as early as the beginning of the Christian
era and continues still. But it differed greatly at different
times, and it is not always possible to determine whether
a given word was transferred into the German directly
from the Latin, or indirectly, by way of a Romance
language. The earliest loan-words aie popular in form,
and have come in partly through the early intercourse
between Germany and Italy, and partly by way of the
Roman settlements in the Southern and Western por-
tions of Germany. It was through the Romans that the
Germans first made the acquaintance of a number of
animals and plants. Among these were the elephant, the
pea-cock (Pfau}, the fabulous dragon (Drachen}, the
pear (Birne), the fig (Feige), the cherry (Ktrsche), the
cole or caul (Kohl\ the gourd (Kiitbis), the lily (Lilie),
the almond (Mandel), the mulbeny (Maulbeere}, pep-
per (Pfeffer), the radish (Rettich}, the rose (Rose}, etc.
Pflanze, Frucht and Marmor are also from the Latin.

NOTE.— It may be well to remind the reader that in placing to-
gether several words because they are related it is not intended to in-
dicate anything as to the nearness of their relationship. For example,
dragon and Drachen mean the same thing and were originally the
same word, though the former is only indirectly derived from the
latter through the medium of the French. A direct descendant of
Drachen is found in the obsolete drake-fly. In like manner Latin
calx, Ger. kalk and Eng. ' chalk ' are the same word, but chalk and
calx do not mean the same thing. The resemblance of chalk to
lime evidently led to the confusion of terms. The study of etymol-
ogy reveals many similar mistakes. Nothing can be affirmed with
certainty about the etymology of a word until it has been carefully
studied by the light of established phonetic laws. Mere external
resemblances are entirely misleading. Of the above words it may
be well to trace briefly a few through some of the changes through
which they have passed. The original of Kwbis is cucurbita, the
French forms of it being coourde, gohourde and others with initial c
and g. In the early English it is likewise spelled several different
ways but they all have the initial g showing that in the dialect which
was its prototype this letter prevailed. Whether the Germans them-
selves shortened the Latin form or received it after it had already

A History of the German Language 187

been so changed is not yet established. Knrois and ' gourd ' are not,
however, exactly equivalent in meaning. The Latin marmor, which
is also the German form though the gender is different, appears in
the Romance languages as rnarme, marmo, marmore, marmel,
marbre, etc., and in English as 'marbre,' 'marbel,' marble,' usage
finally settling upon the last as the normal form. Mandel and al-
mond were originally the same word. Its earliest Latin prototype is
amendela. In the Romance tongues it appears as almendela, ale-
mandle and alemandre. The O. H. G. form is mandala, correspond-
ing to the Italian mandala, but other languages, among them the
English, have retained the initial syllable. The interchangeable 1
and r in the final syllable is the same phenomenon that we see in the
final syllable of marble.

The higher civilization of the Romans made its impress
upon the German language in three different directions :
in architecture, in viticulture and horticulture, and in the
culinary art. Under the first head belong such words as
Kalk, Pflaster (Lat. plastrum, Eng. plaster, later, a paved
way), Strasze (Lat. strata, Eng. street), Platz (platea),
Mauer (murus), Pfosten (postern), Pforte (porta), Kerker
(career, retained in the Eng. incarcerate), Keller (cel-
larium), Turin (turrem), Pfalz (palatium), tiinchen (related
to tunica) Ziegel (tigillum), Schindel (scandula and scin-
dula). Under the second head we have to place Wein
(vinum), Most (mustum), Winzer (vinitorem), keltern (cal-
citrare) , /n?/>/<?« (propago), imp fen 2&&pelzen. To cookery
and the art of preparing food in general belong Kochen
(coquere), Speise (spesa and expensa), Butter (butyrutn),
the pure German name of which is Schmer or Anke, Essig
(acetum), Kdse (caseus), Oel (oleum), PJeffer (piperem),
Semmel (semola) and Sen/ (sinapem). Weiher comes from
the Latin vivarium, a fish-pond. The names of many
utensils are likewise derived from the Latin, among which
are Anker (ancoria) and Kette (catena), Kopf (cuppa). (See
ante p.). Schussel (scutula), Kiste (cista) and Sack (saccus),
Tisch (table) the English 'dish' is etymologically related to
the Latin discus; the pure German word which designates
this article of furniture being biut. The borrowed names

for objects of personal adornment are noticeably few ;
among them are Purpur, Krone (corona) and Spiegel (spec-
ulum). The word Kaiser (Caesar) is the only word belong-
ing to the sphere of political life. As would be inferred,
the number of loan-words relating to fighting is small, the
Germans being in early times much given to war. Almost
the only ones are Kampf (campum, the place of muster or
combat) and Pfeil (pilum). On the other hand the words
relating to peaceful occupations borrowed by the Germans
from the Romans are tolerably numerous ; among them
are Markt (mercatus), Miinze (moneta), Pfund (pondo),
Zins (census) and Zoll (telonium). Some of these words
the Romans in their turn had borrowed from the Greeks.

Writing, as a practical art, came to the Germans through
the Romans, and the chief word (schreiben] is a modified
form of the Latin scribere. The pure German word writan
is preserved in the English ' write. ' Brief ( an epistle )
is from brevis libellus, ' a little book,' and is preserved in
our law-term 'brief.' Siegel, a seal, is from the Latin
sigillum. It may be inferred from the nature of the case
that the arts and sciences of the Romans would not, during
the earlier period of their contact with the Germans,
make much impression on them. They were regarded as
encouraging effeminacy. A few terms relating to the
healing art are borrowed, such as Arzt (archiator), Bilchse
(pyxem) and Pftaster (plastrum). The meaning of the
last named word as here given is the earliest, while that
above noted is a subsequent development ; their relation
to each other is, however, plainly evident.

A mightier power than that wielded by the Roman
empire was necessary to make a permanent impression on
the intellectual and spiritual life of the Germans. This
was found in Christianity. The new faith came to them
from three different directions : on their east it was
preached by the Greeks ; Irish and Roman apostles
brought the Gospel to the western and interior tribes.

A History of the German Language 189

But Irish Christianity seems to have made no impression
upon the German language, owing, perhaps, to the fact
that the Latin had so thoroughly permeated this form of
it as to leave but faint traces of the native language upon
it when it was brought by Irish missionaries into Germany.
Of the German tribes, the Goths were the only ones who
had much intercourse with the Greek empire, or more
definitely, with its capital, Constantinople, and they dis-
appear early from history, having been in part extermin-
ated, and in part merged with other tribes. Nevertheless,
it was through them that one of the most important
ecclesiastical terms was introduced into the German, and
indeed into all the languages belonging to the Germanic
stock; this is the word Kirche, the Scotch 'kirk,' Ice-
landic kirkja^ English ' church.' Pfaffe (TOT™?), Pfingsten
(TrevTe/coo-Tiy), and Teufel (Sia/3oAos) also came in by way
of the Gothic, but it is probable that Papst, ( Pope, Latin
papa) was not introduced till a later period. In fact,
with the exception of these and possibly a few other words,
all the ecclesiastical terms in the German come from the
Latin directly, though the originals are generally Greek.
In the nature of the case, the influence of the Roman
heirarchy was powerful, a condition of things that be-
comes more plainly evident as we come into the historical
period of the German language — or, more accurately, to
the O. H. G. Most of the names used to designate
buildings and utensils for religious worship are directly
from the Latin. To this class of words belong Klause
(clausa, Eng. close, an enclosed space), Kloster (cloister),
Miinster (minster, west-minster), related to the Latin
4 monasterium ' and the English ' monastery,' Schule
(schola), Altar, Kanzel (chancel), Kreuze (cruc-em), Oblate
(oblata) and Orgel; likewise the names of ecclesiastical
officers and offices, such as Abt (abbot), Kilster (custor,
custorius), Messner (mansionarius), M'onch (monachus),
Nonne, Pries ter (presbyter, prester), Probst ( Praepositus )

190 A History of the German Language

and Siegrist (sacristanus). The same may be said of
ecclesiastical ceremonies and customs, among which are
Ferien (feriae), Mette (matutina), Vesper, Messe ( missa),
Segen (signum), almosen (Greek eAe^/xoo-w?/), and Spende
(from Latin spendere, expendere). Of like origin are
opfern and predigen ( Latin ofFere and praedicare), Engel,
Marter, Pein (poena), Plage and verdammen. Many of
these words do not occur in classical Latin, and have the
exact signification in German that they have in the Latin
of the same period. Many of them, too, are popular in
origin and meaning and came into the German with the
introduction of Christianity ; but besides these a large
number were brought in through literary channels and are
found only in translations from the Latin.

In the M. H. G. period we are face to face with entirely
new linguistic materials. The crusades drew the Germans
out of their isolation into the current of European life.
Most important of all, these expeditions brought them into
communication with their Western neighbors, whose
higher civilization, the result of a longer and more direct
subjection to the power of the Roman empire, made a deep
and lasting impression on them. The French language
and French literature became the chief intellectual food of
the higher classes. M. H. G. lyric poetry received a new
and strong impulse from the French and was for a long
time patterned after French models. Nearly all the epic
court-poetry of this period consists of more or less free
translations from the works of French authors. Godfrey
of Strasburg and others of his kind go so far in the spirit
of imitation as to insert entire verses from French origi-
nals into their poems. Toward the latter part of the
twelfth century a broad stream of French words begins to
flow in upon the German language. The technical terms
relating to the tournament and the chase, to play and
dance, to music and poetry are borrowed from the West.
A large number of articles of luxury was introduced from

A History of the German Language 191

the same country into Germany and with them their desig-
nations. The same is true of words relating to the cere-
monial of court-life and to courtly manners. Many of
these were but short-lived and disappeared with the death
of chivalry. A like fate befell those that passed into the
English and other European languages. Some however
have continued to the present day and are become an in-
tegral part of many European tongues. Among these are
Abenteuer (adventure), Banner, blond, fehlen (Fr. faillir ;
Eng. fail). Fei,fein, Komtur, Palast, Plan, Preis, turnieren.
That French influence penetrated to the very blood and
life of the German is evident from the fact that not a few
words of pure stock were modified after the manner of
French derivatives. Words like vilanie, partie were taken
as a pattern for M. H. G. jegene, rouberie,vischerie,Q{
which the N. H. G. equivalents oxz. J tiger ei, Rtiuberei and
Ftscherei. The ending -leren in words like halbieren,
marschieren, stolzieren is derived from the French infini-
tives in -ter, which in the M. H. G. was pronounced with
the accent on the i; and finally -lei'm mancherlei, vielerlei,
einerlei and their like is the French word lot which in this
earlier time was pronounced lei, and signified also mode
or manner. The influence of "the Latin continues along-
side the French throughout the M. H. G. period, without
however equalling in force that of the French. The
nearer we approach the Renaissance and the age of
Humanism the more does the Latin come into prominence
again. Beginning with the second half of the fifteenth
century a great deal of attention is given to translating
from the Latin, and to some extent from other languages.
In the sixteenth century scholars speak the language of
ancient Rome in preference to their own, a statement that
is true not only of the Germans, but to a greater or less
extent of all Europe. The mother-tongue has become an
object of contempt to such an extent that the head of the
Holy Roman Empire was willing to speak German to his

192 A History of the German Language

horse only. The force of Humanism is not yet wholly
spent and scholars, especially philologists, are continually
introducing into their native language words taken from
the Latin. The Greek has likewise been brought into
pretty intimate relation with the German.

In the seventeenth and in the eighteenth century the
Latin gradually loses its prestige as the language of cul-
tivated society — Professor Thomasius began to deliver lec-
tures in German at Leipzig in 1688 which were the first
in this language given at a German university — and its
place is in a measure taken by the French. This was in
part owing to the spirit of Humanism the prevalence of
which had accustomed the Germans to look upon their
own language with contempt. To French influence upon
the German now beginning to revive that of the Italian is
also joined ; it furnishing a number of terms relating to
music and commerce. The words coming from this source
are however comparatively few and the influence of the
Italian is much less potent than that of the French.
Finally, there has been in progress during the present
century a considerable influx of words from the English,
chiefly such as relate to politics, to social life generally,
and especially to field-sports. The Germans have also
borrowed a small number of words from their eastern
neighbors, the Slavs, among which are Dolch (dagger),
Droschke (cab), Hallunke (scoundrel), Knute (knout),
Kutsche (coach, a word that probably has a singular his-
tory), Peitsche (whip), etc. There are likewise a few
words in the Middle and Low German dialects that are
traceable to the same source. Besides these, there are
still a few others borrowed from the Dutch, Danish and
Swedish. The Thirty Years War brought many Swedish
soldiers and camp-followers into Germany of whom a con-
siderable number did not return at its close, but settled in
different parts of the country. Most of the Swedish words
were probably introduced in this way and at this time.

A History of the German Language 193

All the influences exerted upon the language of the
German nation as above described were external; in
marked contrast thereto has been that of a single people
dwelling in their midst, the Jews. The Romance nations,
the English, the Greeks, the Slavs have always been and
still are foreigners, from the standpoint of the German ;
their influence was extraneous and readily discernible.
The case is different with the people who dwell in all
parts of the land and who 'can not properly be called
foreigners. Not many are the words which the Jews have
unintentionally added to the German vocabulary, but a
few of them have become an integral part of it. To this
source we may trace Gauner (a cheat, trickster), Kummel-
bldttchen (three-card monte), Schdcher, schdchten, and
others. But in the dialects the Jewish contingent is much
larger. We find acheln for essen; beduch for niederge-
drilckt; ganfen for stehlen ; kapores iorcaput; koscher for
recht; Makkes for Schldge; Moos for Geld; and many more.

The above enumeration embraces all the nations who
have directly contributed to increase the German vocabu-
lary from their own ; but the number of languages repre-
sented in the German is much greater, because many have
not only given their own linguistic material, but also a
portion of that which they themselves had borrowed from
foreign sources. A considerable list of Arabic words came
into the German through the medium of the Romance
languages, as for example Alchymte, Almanack, Algebra,
Alcohol, Admiral, Diwan, all of which belong likewise to
the English language and have in it substantially the same
form they have in German.

To this list is also to be added the names of new plants
and new fabrics brought into Germany from all parts of
the earth, chiefly through the medium of commerce. Be-
side those contributions made directly by foreign lan-
guages, others were made indirectly, that is, through inter-
mediary languages, as when Greek words which had first

194 A History of the German Language

been naturalized in the Latin were thence transferred into
the German, or Romance words introduced by way of the
English.

An examination of the history of quite a number of
German words reveals the curious fact that they were at
one period borrowed from the Germans by the Romance
nations and subsequently reclaimed and reintroduced into
the language to which they had originally belonged.

It thus happens that the German now has in a few
words two different forms, one the original word, the other
as it appears after undergoing the phonetic changes inci-
dent to its pilgrimage in foreign lands. As might be ex-
pected these last are greatly changed by their sojourn
abroad, invariably as to form and in some cases in both
form and meaning. For example, Balkon (balcony), and
Balken were originally the same word; so were Fauteuil
a.n.&Feldsfuhl, formed through a popular misconception of
derivation from Faltstuhl. Gage and Wette, Garde and
Warte, Ltste and Leiste, Rang and Ring are the same
words. Biwak (bivouac) is derived from the old German
biwaht (by-watch); eqmpieren is related to schtff, this verb
like the English * equip ' meaning originally ' to provide a
ship with necessary articles.' Garniren is connected with
warnen of which the primitive meaning is to ' prepare ' or
' equip,' and Loge (lodge) with Laube. Foreign influence
is much more subtile and difficult to discover in cases
where the genius of a foreign language has made its im-
press on words that have remained purely German in
form. At different periods in the history of the High
German, words were formed, partly with the object of at-
taining greater definiteness of meaning, and partly, in re-
cent times at least, with the conscious purpose of opposing
foreign influence and of supplying the place of foreign
with native German words meaning etymologically the
same thing. In some instances the new word is an accu-
rate translation of the foreign word it is intended to sup-

A History of the German Language 195

plant ; in others it is designed to give only the spirit of
the foreign word. In the O. H. G. period a compound
gomaheit was coined after the pattern of the Latin human-
itas (see Brdutigam ante); similarly misericors was ren-
dered by armherzi, a term that is connected with barm-
herzig although the b is not yet fully accounted for.
Missa (mass) that which is sent, was translated santa, and
propheta,forasago; apostolus called into existence zwelf-
bota, one of the twelve messengers, while bibliotheca be-
came buohfasz, andjungzro is probably a free rendering
of disctpulus. The O. H. G. translators used wahrlich and
gewisz for the Latin particles autem, ergo, igttur, itaque,
pro fee to and vero, a use of these words which, however,
did not become popular. Again, the Latin words eman-
atio, objectum, subjecium and their like were rendered iiz-
ftu2,gegenwttrfor widerwurf "and under stoz. More recent-
ly alumnus became Pfleghng ; Volkherrschaft and Frei-
staat are pure German for Demokratie and Republik.
Telegram becomes Drahtbericht, reconnaissant, erkennt'.ich,
Karrikatur, Zerrbild, and incident^ Zwischenfall. On the
other hand many German words, while not newly coined,
have assumed new meanings under foreign influence, or
even lost their original signification entirely. It is prob-
able that Heide, derived from Heide, a heath, used to
designate a person who lives in the country, gets its pre-
sent meaning under the influence of the Latin paganus ;
in like manner taufen may have meant untertauchen, and
Jiinger, a younger person, then a disciple, a follower. In
the sixteenth century the word burger Itch has the meaning
of hoflich, anstandtg, and there is little doubt that this
meaning had originally some relation to ' civiliter ' or ' civ-
ilement.' Zerstreut got its present signification (distracted)
in the time of Lessing, without doubt as an equivalent of
distrait; einem den Hof machen is a literal translation of
faire la cour ; antworten sometimes used by scholars in the
sense of entsprechen, shows the influence of the Latin

196 A History of the German Language

respondere. The English word ' answer ' is often similarly
used. In cases where a foreign language becomes the
model for the structure of the German sentence it is gen-
erally the Latin, but sometimes the French. The Accus-
ative with the Infinitive is a construction that is often im-
itated, occurring to some extent in the O. H. G. transla-
tions, rarely in the M. H. G. period, but very frequently
both in original writings and translations, since the second
half of the fifteenth century. For example in Theuer-
dank — a historical allegory in verse written during the
fore-part of the sixteenth century — we find, " nym zu dir
den Gesellen dein, den du weist verschwiegen zu sein," and
"der Held antwortt, ich red on spot, mich gewesen sein in
grosser Not" This form of expression is found far along
in the eighteenth century. It is met with occasionally
even in Lessing, as when he says, "die Theater stiicke, die
er so vollkommen nach dem Gcschmacke seines Parterres zu
sein urteilte" literally, ' the dramas which he so thoroughly
believed to be ' etc. In the German of to-day this con-
struction has entirely disappeared. Ich sehe ihn kommen,
was originally perfectly correct. But there is faintly visi-
ble the desire to represent literally a foreign construction
in such expressions as, " dein Bruder, von dem ich urteile,
dasz er sehr reich ist." A very convenient construction is
the so-called Ablative Absolute. The German originally
had something similar but lost it early, and for this reason
we find throughout the entire H. G. period an effort to re-
store it. The O. H. G. translators often make use of it. In
the N. H. G. period the Latin prototype is reinforced by the
example of the French. The language shows an evident
effort in two directions to attain this exotic form of expres-
sion. One is to employ a sort of Accusative Absolute, as
when Schiller says, "dieses Geschdft berichtigt, eilen alle
Stadthalter nach ihren Provinzen" and Dahlmann, "das
geschehen, hdnge die Entscheidung von dem Konige ah."
The other is the use of the preposition nach, which how-

197

ever generally produces a very disagreeable stylistic ef-
fect, as when Goethe says, "nach aufgehobenem Klosterf1
and Schiller, "nach genommenem Abschiede von seinem
Freunde" or Grimm, "nach dem abgeschilttelten Joch der
Romer" All these constructions ought to be avoided.
Two other vicious collocations of words found in modern
German are to be traced to the Latin use of the relative
pronoun : the first is the use of a relative clause introduced
by welcher followed by a substantive, as "auf die bayrischen
Lande richtete er sein Hauptaugenmerk, welche Lande bisher
vom K'onige nicht gelitten hatten" ("Erant omnino itinera
duo, quibus itineribus domo exire possent." — Caesar).
The second is the joining of a relative to a principal clause
when the former does not limit or explain the latter, but
adds a new thought, as, "der Redner schloss mil einem Hock
auf seine Majestdt, welchem der Gesang der Nationalhymne
folgte, worauf dann eine grosze Anzahl patriotische Toaste sich
anschlasz."

It is safe to say that the influence of the Latin has
been in general detrimental to the grammar of the Ger-
man. The strong tendency of the N. H. G. toward the
use of subordinate clauses and toward involved construc-
tions is attributable to the influence of the Latin. The
German of diplomacy and the German of scholars, both a
highly artificial mode of speech — the language of persons
who understood Latin better than their mother tongue —
were the channels through which the various un-German
and semi-German constructions found their way into the
language of the people. Many peculiarities of the Latin
have at different times been imitated by German writers
which did not however take deep root. So late as the be-
ginning of the present century a professor, in the preface
to a book which he had written in his vernacular, felt
called upon to apologize to his readers for employing a
language that was less familiar to him than Latin. It is
evident that under a system of education that aimed

198 A History of the German Language

mainly at securing proficiency in a foreign language, a
correct and elegant use of the native tongue was almost
impossible even for those who made this an object. There
are a goodly number of minor peculiarities of the Latin
which were at different times imitated by German writers
without, however, taking deep and permanent root. This
statement is probably more applicable to the last century
when German began to be the language of science, than
to any other period. It is not difficult to understand why
the influence of the French was less marked than that of
the Latin; its genius is much more nearly akin to Ger-
man than either is to the older language. The French
does not contain much that the German could appropriate
and be manifestly the gainer. It is to the influence of
this language, however, that it owes a mode of expression
with sein, as, ' ' von hier aus ist es dasz man den weitestcn Blick
iiber Paris hat. " It is uncertain whether in imitation of
the Latin or the French there arose the mode of express-
ing quality with sein von, as, '"Friedrich V. war von einem
freien und aufgewecktem Geiste, vieler Herzensgiite, einer ko-
niglichen Freigebigkeit." Similarly we say in English, he
was a man of, etc. French prototypes may often be rec-
ognized in the German of newspapers, but not much of
this has become a recognized portion of the language, as
Gefahr laufen (courir risque), von langer Hand (de longue
main}. In southwestern Germany one frequently hears es
macht schon Wetter (il fait beau temps). A number of isolat-
ed French words are also used with slight modifications,
such as Bude I (bouteille), Kurasche (courage), Schossee
(chaussee), blessiren (blesser). In Austria one not infre-
quently notices forms of speech that betray the proximity
of the Slavic languages.

We may once more, in passing, call attention to the
fact that the old language now and then exercises a dis-
turbing influence on that of to-day, tho' this phenome-
non is found chiefly in the writings of leading German-

A History of the German Language 199

ists among whom Jacob Grimm easily holds the first
place.

These various points of contact with foreign languages
enumerated above have been instrumental in drawing
upon the German a veritable flood of foreign elements.
The number of exotic words in it has been estimated by
some at seventy thousand and by others much higher, or
about one-eighth of the entire vocabulary.

This is the statement of Professor Behaghel. It does not seem to
be in accord with what has been previously said regarding the com-
parative purity of the language. The question is one upon which it
is not easy to obtain accurate data. According to the estimate here
given the number of words in the German would considerably exceed
half a million. To extend the list to such an enormous length it
would be necessary to include many words that have little claim to
be regarded as properly a part of the German vocabulary. No Eng-
lish dictionary, so far as I am aware, professes to embrace so many
as one-third this number of words, yet the English language is nearly
or quite as copious as the German. A large number of words used
by German writers are known to be foreign and are not entitled to a
place in a German dictionary. Their place is in an encyclopedia or
polyglot lexicon.

There is no sphere of life that has kept itself free from
them, though perhaps the higher culinary art, medicine
and military affairs have fared the worst. All social classes
and conditions have done their part in bringing about this
speech-mixture, though the share of each is not equal. A
slight difference is noticeable between the language used
by men and that used by women, provided, of course, that
their education is virtually on the same level. The em-
ployment of Greek and Latin words is confined chiefly to
the male sex ; while women have greater facility in the
use of English and French words and phrases. The dif-
ferent classes of society regard the French with diverse
sentiments. The aristocracy and the court-circles inter-
mingle their German with a variety of French words
which an educated person readily recognizes : such as an-
tichambre, menagieren, soignieren. On the other hand there

200 A History of the German Language .

lives in the speech of the uneducated and partly educated
a large number of foreign words that are obnoxious or un-
known to the cultivated classes, — they are such as Budel
and Bi'idel; Gilet, caressieren, Plaisir, caput, Kamin. The
first of these, from bouteille, illustrates a mode or rather
a defect of pronunciation peculiar to South Germany,
the failure to distinguish between the surd mutes p
and t on the one hand and the sonant b and d on the
other. So just as 'bouteille ' becomes Budel, Pudel'is like-
wise pronounced Budel. On the whole the educated mid-
dle classes speak a German that is least intermixed with
foreign elements.

This remarkable condition of affairs is not hard to un-
derstand when we take into account the causes that lead
to the frequent employment of foreign words. They are
in part the same that have been laid before the reader in
a former chapter as leading to the coinage of new words.
It is well known that language is constantly calling into
existence new vocables, so to speak, because those in use
do not, for various reasons, supply all the needs of men.
It is a familiar fact that the new objects, new discoveries
and inventions, the new concepts that are introduced
from foreign lands bring with them new names. Even in
cases where objects and ideas are our own creations we
are fond of using foreign designations because it is more
easy and convenient to adopt words already in existence
than to coin new ones. Occasionally we employ alongside
of each other a native and a foreign word, as a convenient
variation of style. Sometimes foreign words are called
into requisition because they afford an easy means of con-
cealing a poverty of ideas and obscurity of thought. Per-
haps the hearer is good-natured enough to believe that it
is his own ignorance which makes the words of the
speaker enigmatic and unintelligible in their foreign garb.
Formally at least foreign words admit of a greater variety
in their use than native. How few people are disagreeably

A History of the German Language 201

affected on hearing hybrid compounds of Greek and Latin,
or the senseless mutilation of terms belonging to a lan-
guage which they do not thoroughly comprehend.

Vanity is often associated with mental indolence. Half
educated persons like to get credit for more knowledge
than they possess, and one way of gaining this credit is by
the use of such foreign words as they may have at com-
mand. Often this number is so limited and their use so
injudicious as to miss entirely its object and only to
awaken the feeling of the ludicrous in the mind of the
hearer. The aristocrat is fond of showing his superiority
to the common herd by the use of words that are not a
part of every-day speech. It is evident then that the
strong inclination to employ uncommon vocables is to be
found in an unfortunate but very general and wholly in-
eradicable trait of human nature. Nevertheless, we are in
duty bound, for reasons elsewhere given, not to yield with-
out a struggle to this prevalent tendency. The frequent
use of foreign words interferes seriously with the object
for which speech exists, namely, the communication of
thought. It is a hindrance to the easy intercourse be-
tween the different classes of society and leads to misun-
derstandings that are often ludicrous enough. Educated
persons and scholars are sometimes at a loss, when brought
face to face with an exotic word and are compelled to re-
sort to the dictionary in the hope that it may not, as fre-
quently happens, leave them no wiser than they were be-
fore. But even after foreign words have become fully
naturalized among the educated they will not, in the main,
be so thoroughly comprehended and be used with the same
definiteness as those of pure native stock — in fact they can
hardly attain the same definiteness of signification. They
lack the firm hold upon the language that grows out of
their etymological connection with other and well known
words of whose meaning there can not easily be a doubt.
This absence of supports for the memory is the more dis-
14

202 A History of the German Language

tinctly felt for the reason that in the living vernacular,
words of foreign origin are more liable to mutilation than
native ones, quite apart from the unavoidable uncertainty
of their orthography. The educated man must always be
more or less in doubt about the pronunciation of foreign
words. Shall the German accent the penult or the ante-
penult in Barometer, and shall he give the second /in Arista-
kratie its German or French sound ? The laws of French
accent on the one hand and of English and German on
the other tend in opposite directions ; and until a word
transplanted from one language into the other has secured
full naturalization its accentuation is uncertain. Is Cceli-
bat masculine or neuter? Is the plural of Thema, Themas,
Themen, Themata, or Thematen? Exactly the same thing
is true of the English, and it can not be said that one is
sure what is the plural of ' index,' or ' memorandum,' or
' cherub,' or ' bandit.' Our best lexicographers disagree
about the plurals and the pronunciation of a long list of
words ; and they are probably all such as are not yet fully
naturalized. In many cases, the coiners of new words,
generally compounds, out of materials taken from foreign
languages, do not themselves venture to indicate their
pronunciation. It sometimes happens that words incor-
porated from one language into another receive a modifi-
cation of meaning that makes them unintelligible to the
people from whom they were originally taken. This may
lead to vexatious misunderstandings. The German term
Eisenbahncoupe' is equivalent to the French compartiment.
Coupe' in this sense is thus bad German and worse French.
Gourmet and Gourmand are often confounded by both Eng-
lish and Germans. The former means, a man of keen pal-
ate ; the latter, a great eater. It will be readily understood
that the difficulty of getting at the meaning of words is
not equally great in every instance. Many loan-words
have become so completely an integral part of the Ger-
man that the casual observer does not distinguish them

203

from home-grown product. With most words this is,
however, not the case : they contain sounds that it is diffi-
cult or impossible for German vocal organs to produce, or
their accent is not in harmony with that obtaining in the
native tongue. The French, for example, uniformly place
the accent on the final syllable, except in the case of the
mute e ; the Germans, on the radical part of the word,
which is usually the first or second syllable from the be-
ginning. These conflicting tendencies are constantly
cropping out in the use of French words by English-speak-
ing people. It may be observed in such familiar words as
debut, depot, ennui, etc. Even when the accent is rightly
placed it is not the French accent. The difficulties in the
way of acquiring the correct pronunciation of foreign
words are so great as to be well nigh insurmountable.
There is evidently, then, a sort of stylistic antagonism be-
tween the purely native and the loan-words that enter
into a sentence. On aesthetic grounds such a mixture is
highly objectionable. There is perhaps no modern lan-
guage that is so little in need of aid from external sources
as the German. The readiness with which it forms com-
pounds makes it an easy matter to express in this lan-
guage nearly or quite every possible concept of the human
mind. There is at present a marked tendency among the
Germans to substitute words of native origin for those of
foreign parentage that have acquired domicil among them.
There is no excuse but the gratification of vanity for call-
ing in foreign aid to assist in doing that which can in most
cases be done just as well out of native resources. Where a
language is largely composite, like the English, the case is
somewhat different. Writers of equal ability differ consider-
ably in the relative proportion of pure Saxon words and
loan-words, chiefly Latin, that enter into their working vo-
cabulary. A good rule to follow is never to use a word of
foreign origin, if one of native ancestry equally appropri-
ate and expressive exists. On the other hand, it is well to

204 A History of the German Language

avoid carrying purism in language to a pedantic and ridic-
ulous excess. The difficulty of keeping the German free
from alien elements is not so great as it may seem at first
sight. In a countless number of instances it possesses
good native words alongside of those of foreign origin be-
tween which the speaker or writer has the privilege of
choosing. When there is no existing word to express a
new concept it is easy to coin one. Generally speaking
the Germans have taken rather kindly to the formation of
new words. Often the mere translation of words is not
sufficient to make their meaning clear. This fact is illus-
trated in the cases where the same words have been in-
troduced into the language at different periods, and which
now have divergent meanings. Theismus literally trans-
lated would be rendered by the same word as Deismus, yet
they do not mean the same thing any more than do the
English ' theism ' and 'deism.' Spital and Hdtel are both
from the Latin ' hospitale,' yet they differ widely in signi-
fication. The former means ' hospital ' and the significa-
tions of the latter are not very different in French,
German and English. Many similar cases might be
cited.

In other ways also purism may fail of its object and be-
come ridiculous. It would be unwise, to say nothing of
its utter impracticability, to attempt to banish from any
language all those words that careful investigation has
shown to be of alien origin, as, for instance those that
came into the German from the Latin, during the earliest
contact of these languages with each other. Not a few
words of recent importation have become indispensably
German and may therefore be justly regarded as fully nat-
uralized. On the other hand, dogmatic assertion as to the
permanence of words is equally unwise, for some fortunate
stroke of genius or the happy inspiration of a moment may
call into being a new term that will fitly take the place of
an old one. In the year 1815 a newspaper declared that

A History of the German Language 205

no word could ever take the place of Madame and Demoi-
selle, and every suggestion looking to such a consumma-
tion would be dealing with the impossible. What a deter-
mined purpose may yet accomplish is best judged by what
has already been done. The strife that has been carried
on since the beginning of the N. H. G. period, by patriotic
Germans, against the mania for foreign words has not
been in vain. The greatest zeal and activity in this
respect was shown by J. H. Campe. He was the subject
of frequent attacks and not a little ridicule, and in truth
was not free from fanaticism ; yet on the whole his influ-
ence was salutary. Campe was a clergyman, an educator
in the true sense of the term, a lexicographer and a volu-
minous writer of books chiefly for youth some of which
are still in demand. He died in 1818 at the age of seventy-
two. It can be shown that he exerted more or less influ-
ence on Goethe, Richter, Schiller and others, while a num-
ber of the best German words in use to-day were coined
by him to take the place of loan-words. Among these are
sick eignen for qualificieren, Kerbtier for Insekt, Gefallsucht
for Koketterie, Fallbeil for Guillotine, Zetrbildior Karrikatur.
Subsequently Robert Schumann showed the Germans
that the musical art has no need ot Italian words, and that
German terms may fitly take the place of the current alle-
gro, grazioso, moderate, poco piil mosso, vivace, etc. In our
day the establishment of the new German empire, the ex-
traordinary growth of national feeling among the Germans,
has given an increased impetus to the movement against
the introduction and use of foreign words. The German
penal code, the postal department, the official report of
the war of 1870-71 by the department of military affairs,
and certain influential newspapers, notably in South Ger-
many the Landeszeitung of Baden, have inspired the na-
tion with a commendable zeal for purity of speech, and
have coined apt, pure German words for foreign ones in
current use.

206 A History of the German Language

The terminology of medicine has perhaps been least
influenced in this respect. There is some excuse for this.
Not unfrequently the physician finds it advisable to dis-
cuss with a brother physician the condition of the patient
in his presence in a language that he does not understand.
Systematic botany and zoology can not easily dispense
with a terminology that is largely of foreign origin, not
because appropriate German terms do not exist but for
the opposite reason : the same object is designated by a
number of different names, each peculiar to a particular
district, but not understood elsewhere. Some examples
have been previously given. Many of the so-called scien-
tific terms are the common property^of science. They are
in large part formed of material existing in the ancient
Greek and Latin, and can not be said to belong properly
to any one modern tongue rather than to any other.

It remains for us to consider the fate of loan-words as
individuals both directly after they have been introduced
and when they have become in a measure a part of the
German vocabulary. They have, in the course of time,
fallen into two general classes. Into one may be put all
those that have assumed a German garb and may there-
fore be said to have become fully Germanized ; in the
other belong all those that have retained very nearly their
original form. In effect, however, no fixed line can be
drawn between the two classes for the same word has in
some instances undergone both kinds of treatment. The
former proceeding is more common in the earlier history
of the language, and the latter, in its subsequent develop-
ment. The words that were naturalized in the O. H. G.
period were so manipulated as to present in every respect
the appearance of native words. It is now difficult to
recognize these as exotics, and it would be neither possi-
ble nor advisable to extradite or outlaw them. The accre-
tions that took place during the M. H. G. period are rarely
much changed in form or appearance and still bear evident

A History of the German Language 207

traces of their foreign origin. The explanation of this
phenomenon is not to be found in the fact that the assimil-
ating power of the German had become weaker, but rather
in the circumstance that the borrowing in one case was
done by scholars and in the other by the people. In the
latter we have an example of the popular treatment of
foreign words, while the former exhibits the method of
the literary class.

When the literary class acquire the knowledge of a for-
eign word they learn it by sight rather than by hearing.
Met with again and again as a part of the sentence its
original form is frequently reimpressed upon the mind of
the reader. On the other hand when an exotic becomes a
part of the living and spoken language of a people they
intuitively shape it into conformity with the phonetic laws
of their own tongue. This modification takes place just
as readily now as at any period in the past. These state-
ments are not only true of the relation of German to for-
eign words, but the facts are in conformity with a univer-
sal law of speech. The Latin furnished a large number of
words to the Romance languages that appear as doublets :
one form representing the original word as modified by
the natural action of the vocal organs of the unlettered
populace ; the other, the form given to it by the literary
class.

The most striking contrast between pure German words
and a large number of loan-words from the Greek, Latin
and French, lies in the accent. The German generally
places the chief stress on the first syllable of a word, while
the Greek and Latin have no such rule of accentuation.
In French the accent is on the ultima owing to the
fact that when Latin words became fully Gallicised they
lost all that part which followed the accented syllable.

In the O. H. G. age the native accent was transferred to
the foreign loan-words, and the result was that such words
as ' monasterium,' ' mondta ' and ' palatium ' became in

208 A History of the German Language

German Miinster, Mi'mse and Pfalz. The English accent
corresponds in the main with the German ; where such is
not the case it is usually owing to the disturbing influence
of the French, from which however the language is grad-
ually emancipating itself. Thus, from the French monas-
tere, monndie and palAce, we get ' monastery,' ' money '
and ' palace,' all accented on the first syllable. In the M.
H. G. period we find both the German and French accent
on the same syllable. The French la baniere appears both
as bdnier and banter; whence we get the N. H. G. doublets
Banner and Panzer. At the present day the foreign accent
is generally retained on loan-words which results in pro-
ducing a shifting accent, as, Professor and Professoren,
A' Has and Atl&nten. It needs to be remarked, however,
that many words did not come into the German directly
from the language of which they originally formed a part,
but through the medium of another in which their accent
had undergone some modification. The names Menelaus.
Themistokles and Oedipus are accented according to the
Latin and not the Greek or we should have Menelaus,
Themistokles and Oedipus. In such terms as Katholik,
Musik, Protestdnt the accent remained where it is in the
French. In some cases a word may be accented either
according to the analogy of the French or the German
and we may pronounce Phaenomen or Phaenomen, Arith-
metik or Artthmeiik, Metaphy'sik or Metaphysik, a fact to
which, as far as it bears upon English pronunciation, we
have already called attention. The Germans say Anti-
pathie, Politik, Mathemathik, but in the derivative adjec-
tives the accent falls on the penult making antipdthisch,
Politisch, mathemdthisch. In cases of double accent such as
we find on Stdtue and Statue, Physik and Phy'sik, it is
doubtful whether the accent on the first follows the anal-
ogy of the Latin or the German as they here coincide.
Other similar examples are Kdrneval, Liei'itenant, O'cean,
Schdrlatari. In such words as Adjectiv, Infinitiv, Kaval-

A History of the German Language 209

lerie the accent is sometimes heard on the first and some-
times on the last syllable. The same can be said of the
dissyllables Bureau, Diner, Souper, the tendency in North
Germany being to accent the final and in South Germany
the radical syllable. In Switzerland one may even hear
Cousine, Hotel, Parterre. It may be stated as a general
truth that more attention is paid in the North to correct
pronunciation than in the South. For this reason, the
foreign, which is the correct, pronunciation of these and
like words, is retained as nearly as possible. The actual
result however comes far short of what is aimed at, for the
heavy stress placed on the final syllable of French words,
by the North Germans, is as ijar from the intonation of the
native French as the misplaced accent of the South Ger-
mans. When one learns a foreign language from the
printed page, that is by sight rather than by ear, he is
likely to pronounce a letter or combination of letters as
they are pronounced in his own language. Hence the
Germans frequently pronounce Toast as a dissyllable, be-
cause oa does not occur as a digraph in their language,
though it is common in English. Most languages have
sounds peculiar to themselves which can only be learned
by long practice begun when the vocal organs are still in
a plastic condition. It is a rare thing for an adult to learn
correctly the pronunciation of any other tongue besides
his vernacular, but the ability to hear and reproduce for-
eign sounds accurately differs considerably in different in-
dividuals, and is not wholly a matter of education and
training.

NOTE.— One of the most careful observers in this field lays down
the following propositions :

1. " Whenever a foreign language is perfectly acquired, there are
peculiar family conditions. The person has either married a per-
son of the other nation or is of mixed blood.

2. When a foreign language has been acquired (there are instances
of this) in quite absolute perfection, there is almost always some loss

210 A History of the German Language

in the native tongue. Either the native tongue is not spoken cor-
rectly or it is not spoken with perfect ease.

3. A man sometimes speaks two languages correctly — his father's
and his mother's, or his own and his wife's— but never three.

4. Children can speak several languages exactly like natives, but
in succession, never simultaneously. They forget the first in acquir-
ing the second, and so on.

5. A language can not be learned by an adult without five years'
residence in the country where it is spoken, and without habits of
close observation a residence of twenty years is insufficient." — P. G.
Hamerton.

The effort to produce the sounds of a foreign language
generally results in giving the native sound that ap-
proaches most closely to it — in the uneducated this is al-
ways the case. For example the Latin ' feria ' becomes
vira in the earlier German, in the later Feier; ' creta' be-
came crida then Kreide. The same procedure may still
be observed. The mute e of the French is generally rep-
resented by the German e, in spite of the fact that the
sounds of the two letters differ considerably. The French
nasal sound is often represented by a simple n or m, or by
ng, as in Mansarde, Rang, Tambur. This is true both of
German and English. Both nations have great difficulty
in producing graphically as well as phonetically the
French liquid sounds. In German we generally find gn
represented by nj and so pronounced. The German 1
often stands as the representative of the French liquid 1,
so that in South Germany botttezlle is pronounced Budel or
JBudel and fauteuil Fotohl. Sometimes Ich performs the
same office in North Germany and we get Budelch and
Fotolch. The final -il in detail, email is pronounced in
South Germany so as to rhyme with Heil and Teil.

Notwithstanding these variations, it is possible in most
instances to discover what particular sound of the foreign
tongue is represented in a loan-word, and therefore, to de-
termine at what stage of development, speaking broadly,
the foreign word was taken into the German. By a com-
parison of sounds it is usually not difficult to decide at

A History of the German Language 211

about what time the borrowing must have been done.
The Latin c, for example, before e and i was pronounced
like k until about the seventh century of our era; subse-
quently it gradually took the sound of z (ts). Hence we
know that the German words Keller (cellarium), Kerbel
(cserefolium), Kirsche (cerasus), Kiste (cista) are loan-words
of earlier date than Kreuz (crucem) and Zms (census).
Such words as Pamer and Rappier must have come into
the German at a time anterior to Bariere and Lisiere be-
cause the French pronunciation -iere was preceded by -iere,
i. e., the accent shifted one syllable nearer to the end of
the word. Sometimes we may draw conclusions as to the
mode of inflection in a foreign language from the form
loan-words have taken in German. These words shaped
themselves according to the analogy of the native words
which they most nearly resembled and with especial ref-
erence to the current inflectional endings. When substan-
tives, they generally took the gender of the class that oc-
casioned their change of form. In this way the Latin
words ending in -arium were classed with the German
words ending in -art and incorrectly became masculines.
Kellari (O. H. G. chellari) is the oldest known form of
Keller and wiari (vivarium) of weiher, and correspond in
form and gender with such words as Icrari (Lehrer), scri-
&zrz'(Schreiber), etc. The French words le groupe, le role,
and all substantives in -age, however, became feminine in
German after the analogy of Bitte, Gabe and their con-
geners. It is therefore ridiculous pedantry to insist on
der Rhone, as some teachers do, simply because the Latin
Rhodanus is masculine. But not merely the formal anal-
ogy between loan words and native words has had an im-
portant influence upon the former: the relation between
the concepts has likewise been a determining factor.
Kadaver, though neuter in Latin is masculine in German
because Leichnam is of this gender. Mauer and Nicmmer
are feminine while the Latin murus and numerus are mas-

212 A History of the German Language

culine because Wand&&& Zahtare masculine. Libell takes
the gender of Buck, Pferd (late Latin paraveredus} that of
Ross. In Vienna Tramway is feminine for the reason that
Pferdebahn is. In a number of cases, however, there were
no words in the German that corresponded exactly to
the loan-word. This led to an uncertainty in the gender
and it is not easy to discover any definite rule of procedure.
In fact there is a rather long list of words that have dif-
ferent genders in the different Germanic dialects. The
French noun, in spite of the fact that it is generally at-
tended by the article, has not always decided the gender
of nouns lent to its eastern neighbors. During the M. H.
G. period the masculine is represented more frequently
than in later times. Compare, for example, Harnisch
(harnais), Palast (palace), Preis (prix), etc., with the mod-
ern Bankett, Bataillon, Banquett, Dejeuner, Filet and many
others, all of which are masculine in French and neuter in
German. Some difficulty was probably experienced by
the Germans, who were accustomed to a language with
three genders, in grasping the genius of a language which
like the French has but two. This difficulty would be the
greater when both languages were written but little and
their contact chiefly oral. In later times, especially among
the lettered class, the reason may be assumed to have
played a part denied to it in the earlier periods when the
growth of languages is chiefly instinctive. Though the
originals of Bankett, Bataillon, Journal and Palais are mas-
culine, they designate neuter objects and would naturally
be assigned to that gender if the judgment had any part
in the decision, which unfortunately it has not in the Ger-
man nor in some other languages.

A number of words are of two genders. Chor is both mas-
culine and neuter, as are likewise Konsulat and Patriarchal,
though in the latter cases it is the result of scholastic ped-
antry. The German language in its instinctive stage made
all words ending in -at neuter, according to the analogy of

A History of the German Language 213

the Latin words the stems of which ended with the same
letters. As soon as loan-words became thoroughly nat-
uralized in the German they were subjected to the same
phonetic laws as native words. They underwent the
same phonetic variations, and by a careful study of this
fact we obtain some chronological aid in determining the
date of incorporation. The Latin l parochus,' ' planta,'
' porta ' appear in German as Pfarrer, Pflanze and
Pforte. These words have, therefore, undergone the
second stage of consonantal shifting and must have
been borrowed before it took place. On the other hand
Peek (picem), Pein (prena), Pilgrim (peregrinus), came
into German subsequent to this change. It is evident
from many German words that those who used them fre.
quently modified their form in order to bring them into
closer harmony with the genius of the language ; that is,
they exhibit the effects of an evident effort so to change
their structure as to draw them into etymological relation
to other and more familiar words, for the purpose of mak-
ing them more easily intelligible. This is the case in Bi-
belbuch, Dammhirsch, Grenzmark, Maulesel and their like,
where the two parts of the compound mean substantially
the same thing. In other cases, what may be called a folk-
etymology has brought about the entire transformation of
a word, so that Arcubalista became Armbrust, Agrimonia
Odermennig, and cold cream, Gold creme.

This tendency of the human mind has brought about a transfor-
mation of a large number of place-names and given rise to many
local legends. Familiar instances are the change from Pileatus to
Pilatus, the latter name then becoming the nucleus about which
grew the legend of the sojourn and death of the well known Roman
governor upon this mountain ; the metamorphosis of the name
Mautturm into Mausturm and the story of bishop Hatto who was
devoured by swarms of rats and mice ; and the change of the name
of Martyrerkapelle near Bonn into Mordkapelle.

It will be readily understood that the meanings no less than the
forms of words undergo a change, a statement that is equally true of

214 A History of the German Language

native and loau-words. ' Dictare ' and Dichten are related to each
other as ancestor and descendant, hut they are far from signifying
the same thing. The same may be said of ' poena ' and Pein, ' puteus '
and Pfutze, etc.

The best English work known to me on popular etymol-
ogies is, Folk-Etymology, by Rev. A. S. Palmer, London,
1882. Taylor's Words and Places contains some interesting
matter of the same subject.

SPECIAL PART.

THE NEW HIGH GERMAN ORTHOGRAPHY.

IN ORDER to represent adequately, by means of graphic
signs, all the sounds of a language there would be
necessary as many characters as there are sounds. Each
sign would need to stand for one and the same sound, at
all times and for no other. The German language is a
considerable distance from such an ideal, though it ap-
proaches more nearly thereto than the English does. Dif-
ferent letters and diphthongs are used to designate the
same sound : for example, (Sie) waren is pronounced ex-
actly like (die) Wahren and (die) Waaren, or Waren. Voll
has the same initial sound with its primitive fiillen, and
so has vor with the related fur. On the other hand, the
same graphic sign or signs represent different sounds.
For example, ch in Bach, Loch, erlaucht, must not be
sounded as in Bdche, Locher, erleuchtet, Milch, mancher;
after a, o and u it is formed further back in the throat than
after e, i, o, u and consonants. In words like Wachs, Dachs,
seeks, the ch is pronounced like k. The combination ch is
also evidence of the fact that in some cases two letters are
employed to designate a single sound. The same is true
in those instances where ie is used to represent the simple
long z, while ng in lang, Gang, and sch, are always used
as simple sounds. The converse is likewise found. The
single letters 2 and x each represents the double sounds
t-Vs and k+s. It will be evident from what has just been
said that it is important to distinguish between the letters
of a language and the sounds for which they stand.

The lack of congruity between the letters and sounds
of the German language arises from the manner in which

(215)

216 A History of the German Language

the latter came to be graphically represented. Every
person learns to write from another who in turn has learnt
the art from a third ; and so on. In this way the orthog-
raphy of a language gains a considerable degree of fixed-
ness while the spoken language undergoes changes. A
person may therefore write as his father or his grandfather
wrote, but he will talk like his contemporaries. In a cen-
tury the changes are generally few and unimportant, and
usually affect but a small number of words ; but in the
course of several hundred years the divergence is some-
times quite marked. The invention of printing was an
important event not only in so far as it affected German
orthography but that of all modern languages. By means
of the printing press it was in the main fixed, as it now
stands, three or four centuries ago notwithstanding the
fact that during this period many phonetic changes have
crept into the language. The Germans write ei and pro-
nounce ai or rather ae. In such words as lieb, Dieb, the e
was originally pronounced though it is now silent except
in some dialects. Such words as steif and spitz are no
longer pronounced as written, but schteif and schpitz.
The graphic change did not keep pace with the change in
pronunciation. In the words Ratte, Vetter, Himmel, Don-
ner, and their kind, a double consonant is written and a
single one pronounced. This is easily verified by an ex-
periment that any one can make. Because double letters
are hardly ever necessary the advocates of spelling reform
discard them in most cases. The reason of the doubling
is as follows : in the M. H. G. there were real double con-
sonants, or rather, consonants pronounced long, as is still
the case in modern Italian. During the transition from
the M. H. G. to the N. H. G. nearly all short sounds were
lengthened where they stood before single consonants, but
the vowels before double consonants remained short. In
the spoken language the double consonants were in many
cases dropped, but retained in writing, and the impression

A History of the German Language 217

gradually prevailed that a short vowel was necessarily as-
sociated with a double consonant. The result was that
consonants were frequently duplicated in writing where
they had never been so pronounced, if a short vowel hap-
pened to be conserved before a single consonant. Thus
the M. H. G. himel and doner came to be written Himmel
and Donner, because the older stimme and sonne are now
pronounced Stime and Sbne.

These defects of the N. H. G. orthography are not with-
out significance for the language. Written speech reacts,
among the- educated, upon the spoken language and mod-
ifies it. Many persons see a radical difference between
the words slets, bestatigen, leer, schwer, erklaren, gefahr-
lich and their like, when, in truth, the diphthong ^ is
common to them all. The Esthonian Germans pronounce
Haide, Kaiser, Maid, as diphthongs of which the first part
is an a, but Heide, Kemer, Meineid, with a distinct e in the
same place. In the M. H. G. all these words had ei as the
radical vowels, but in contemporary German dialects no
distinction is made between them.

THE ACCENT OR INTONATION OF THE GERMAN.

The syllables that constitute a word or a sentence may
be distinguished from one another in one of two ways : a
difference may be made in the pitch of the tones, or in the
force with which they are uttered. As regards the former,
the variation in a single word is but slight, and therefore
unimportant ; but the case is different when we take into
account an entire sentence. There is a wide difference in
the manner in which affirmative, interrogative and horta-
tory sentences are uttered. In a simple, affirmative sen-
tence the inflection is, in general, the falling. If we
were to set Er geht fort to the notes of the musical scale
we should place the last word on about the fifth below the
15

218 A History of the German Language

key-note. In interrogative and hortatory sentences the
melody naturally rises, — in the former usually to the ex-
tent of an octave. In the sentence Er geht fort? the last
word would thus be placed on the eighth note above the
other two, while in Er geht fort! (go away, betake your-
self off!) it would be placed in the fourth above. When a
sentence is incomplete in form or sense by reason of some-
thing yet to follow that is not expressed it ends with the
rising inflection. The first part of a compound or com-
plex sentence usually closes with the rising inflection. It
can hardly be said that the cause of these various inflec-
tions is as yet well understood, but it probably lies in the
general character of the tones themselves. However, as
this is not a question that concerns the German alone, but
is treated in every Manual of Elocution it need not detain
us further here.

In the second place, the tones that enter into a sentence
are distinguished from each other dynamically ; and it is
to this distinction that we have reference when we speak
of accent. It is well to remember, too, that accent in a
word and emphasis in a sentence are not two radically
distinct things. The Germans speak of Hochton (high
tone) and designate syllables as hochbetont as if accent was
concerned only' with the pitch or elevation of sounds and
not with their force. The reason of this is that the force
or stress with which a tone is uttered generally has some
connection with its pitch, not only in German but in most
other languages. The different words of a sentence are
usually uttered with a stress proportioned to their impor-
tance in it, viewed from the standpoint of logic. It is also
true to a considerable extent that the most important syl-
lable of a word is pronounced with the greatest stress. In
accordance with this principle, almost any syllable of a
word may receive the accent under particular circum-
stances. We might say of a person, er ist bekleidet, mcht
bem&lt; or, er ist bekleidet, nicht entkletdet ; bekleidet, mcht

A History of the German Language 219

bekleidend. Except in cases of marked antithesis the
German, like the English, in distinction from the Latin
and especially the Greek, has the accent on the same syl-
lable of a word under all circumstances, a fact that has al-
ready been briefly adverted to. For example, ein, einig,
Einigkeit, Einigkeitsbestrebungen all have the accent on the
first syllable, though the words differ greatly in length.
The syllable that regularly takes the accent is in all sim-
ple words the radical or first syllable. The apparent ex-
ceptions offered by such words as Jagerei, Biiberei, han-
tieren, stolzieren have been caused by French influence.
These and other similar words are not pure German.
See also page 191.

But, as we have seen, there is a tendency to change the
accent of foreign words to the first syllable during the
process of naturalization in German. The English lan-
guage, too, furnishes many examples of this gradual re-
cession of the accent. In compound words the rule for
the accent is not so simple. Of great importance in such
cases is the logical relation which the first part of the com-
pound bears to the second.

In the majority of examples the first member of the
compound defines or limits the second. When in such
cases the first member is a noun, adjective, or verb, — that
is, a word that expresses a complete concept, the accent falls
upon it, as Mondschein, Griinspecht, Tretrad (tread-wheel).
This rule also holds good for those cases where adjectives,
prepositions, or particles are used to form compounds
with nouns or adjectives, as Wiedertaufer, Anlwort, Ueber-
flusz, Variant, Missetat (misdeed).

When compounds are constituted of a particle and a
verb they may be combined in one of two ways : if the
prefix is inseparable the radical portion of the verb takes
the accent, but if it is separable the accent falls upon the
prefix. It is thus that we get belehren (instruct), enlnehmen
(take from), erfdhren, mis) 'alien (displease), verrathen (be-

220 A History of the German Language

tray), zerreiszen (tear in pieces) ; but beistehen (assist), f6rt-
fallen, weggehen. A considerable number of particles
may be either separable or inseparable parts of a com-
pound : the two words though spelled alike do not have
the same meaning and are pronounced differently, as
ctitrchbrechen (intrans.) and durchbrechen (trans.), hinter-
treiben (drive behind) and hintertreiben (thwart), ubersetzen
(cross) and iiberst'tzen (translate), nmgehen (deal with) and
umgehen (avoid).

The laws governing the accentuation of words that are
compounded with particles as prefixes, as above enun-
ciated, seem in a number of cases to conflict with each
other.

Such words as Bescheid (advice), Ewberung (conquest),
Verl&ger (publisher), seem at first sight to have a prepo-
sitional prefix; which according to the rule above laid
down would require the accent. In fact, however, there
are no such words as Scheid, Oberung^ and L&ger; their
apparent compounds are not formed of prefix and substan-
tive but are derivatives of beschkiden, erobern, and verlkgen.
They, therefore, rightly receive the accent of verbal com-
posites. On the other hand words like antworten, urkun-
den and iirtheilen are not at variance with the rule for the
reason that they are derived from Antwort, Urkunde and
Urtheil (judgment).

But it sometimes occurs that the second member of a
compound is not materially, or not at all, changed in
meaning by its prepositional or adverbial prefix. In such
cases the second member receives the accent, or the accent
oscillates between the first and second member of the com-
posite. Such is the case with the prefix ge- in leiten and
geleiten, streng and gestreng, Wasser and Gewasser, be-
tween which couplets there is but a slight shade of differ-
ence. The same is true as to the prefix voll- in vollenden,
vollfiihren ; as to all- in attgiitig, allmachtig, and others.
Sometimes the prefix in composites merely intensifies the

A History of the German Language 221

radical meaning of the word as in groszmachtig, klein-
winzig, mittendrinn, &c.

The German also possesses a number of words which
when occupying the place of prefix, may either cause a
change of meaning or be merely intensive : compare
st&nreich (stony) with steinreich (" mighty " rich) blutdrm
(very poor) with btiitarm (exanguious), bombenfest and bom-
benfest. It is to be noted, however, that both compounds
are sometimes accented alike, in which case the sense
must determine which of the two is meant.

Of still less importance is the first member of a com-
pound when the speaker is not conscious of the relation
existing between its two parts. This is usually the case
when the second member no longer has a separate exist-
ence. Notwendig is sometimes pronounced with the chief
stress on the first syllable and sometimes on the second,
because there is no such word as wendig. The same re-
mark applies to leibhaftig, and leibhaftig, willkommen
and willkommen, wahrscheinlich and wahrscheinlich, with
a number of others. This fact will also explain the
pronunciation of Forelle (trout) and lebendig (living). In
the M. H. G. these words were accented on the first
syllable and were simply derivatives. But as there are in
the N. H. G. no analogous words with the termination
-endig and -elle, these vocables came to be regarded as
compounds and to be accented according to the rule ap-
plicable in such cases. In adjective compounds that have
the prefix un- the accent rests on this when the second
part also exists as an independent word ; when not, then
the accent is upon the second part of the word. We say
schon and imschon, freundlich and imfreundhch, fruchtbar
and unfrMchtbar, but unbeschreiblich, unermeszlich, unsag-
lich, nnzahlich, because there are no such words as be-
schreiblich,ermeszlich, etc. In the examination of compound
words it is likewise of importance to note the syllable that
has the so-called secondary accent. It is true, in general,

222 A History of the German Language

that this accent would falls upon that syllable of the simple
word that enters into the compound if it stands independ-
ently. We say Sommerarbeit, hinterltsttg, Unemigkeit,
placing the secondary stress on -ar-, -list-, and -ein-, be-
cause the words Arbeit, listig and Einigkeit, when standing
alone, have the accent on these syllables. This rule,
while true in general, is however subject to two excep-
tions : if the first member of the compound is a monosyl-
lable with a strong secondary accent, and if the second
member, a syllable with a strong secondary stress, follows
directly upon that having the primary accent, there is an
evident tendency to conform to a general law of the N. H.
G., namely, to pronounce successive syllables with an al-
ternating strong and weak accent. By pronouncing the
words that constitute a sentence in this way, the sentence
itself moves forward with a sort of rhythmic or wave-like
motion that gives pleasure to the ear. For this reason we
say Jinabsichtlich, imvorsichtig, in spite of the fact that
absichtlich and vdrsichtig vxe. correct. In the same category
fall such words as Amtsmisbrauch, Voranzeige, Vorurtheil,
unfruchtbar, etc.

THE DOCTRINE OF SOUNDS IN GERMAN.

A knowledge of the laws of accent is not only important
in itself, but also for the additional reason that the relation
of accented to unaccented syllables in a word has much in-
fluence upon its form. The changes which in process of time
take place in strongly accented syllables are usually of a
quite different kind from those occurring in syllables that are
habitually uttered with but a slight stress. When, therefore,
it is proposed to consider the morphology of the German
vowels it is important to distinguish carefully between those
that are accented and those that are unaccented. It is in the
former, as has been before indicated, that the most impor-
tant changes have taken place, and here lies the chief dif-
ference between the Old and the New German, First and

A History of the German Language 223

foremost, attention needs to be called to the long M. H. G.
vowels i, u and ii (written iu) which appear in the N. H. G.
as ei, au and eu, that is, as diphthongs. This transforma-
tion began in the Bavaro-Austrian dialect and appears as
early as the twelfth century. In its progress it gradually
embraced the dialects of Central Germany, South and
East Franconia and Swabia ; but the Alemanian and Low
German remained unaffected. We find, therefore, that the
N. H. G. mein, dein and sein are represented by the Ale-
manian, Low German and M. H. G. min, din and sin. The
M. H. G. hus, mi'is, hiuie correspond to the N. H. G. Haus,
Matis, heute. In unaccented syllables the original simple
vowel has in some cases remained, probably for the reason
that it had been shortened before diphthongs began to ap-
pear in the language. Consequently we have reich along-
side of Heinrich, Friedrich, Gdnserich together with Leiche,
Leichnam and their derivatives in -lick. See p. 176.
The N. H. G., however, contains a tolerably long list of
words with a single vowel in the place of a former diph-
thong. These are, for the most part, loan-words from the
Old German, the Low German and the Alemanian. For
this reason we have both Schweiz and Schwys, Neid and
Nithart, Auerochs and Ur, taunen and Runen, Gertrud and
traut, Bruno and braun, Hnne and Heune.

The three phonetic tendencies above pointed out are all
due to the same law, — they indicate the influence of the
vowel sound represented by the letter a : in fact Germans
even to-day pronounce mein and heute as if written main
and halite. The same tendency began to manifest itself
in the three diphthongs that existed in the Old German ;
the M. H. G. ei also passed into at\ so that keiser, for ex-
ample, became Kaiser in Modern German ; the M. H. G.
ou passed into au, so that for bourn we now have Baum ;
and the M. H. G. ou likewise was changed into au (-au),
that is, bourne into N. H. G. Bdume. It will be seen that
the N. H. G. ei pronounced, and occasionally written, at,

224 A History of the German Language

represents an older I and £/, that is, the N. H. G. aii in
sound, but written eu and du, and au have each absorbed
two sounds of the M. H. G. The process may be repre-
sented thus :

N. H. G. ei — M. H. G. I and «,
N. H. G. eu= M. H. G. iu and ou,
N. H. G. au = M. H. G. d and ou.

The pronunciation is, however, not quite uniform
throughout Germany. The Middle and Low Germans,
when speaking the N. H. G., no longer make a distinction,
but the South Germans make a slight difference either in
the character or in the length of the tones. The M. H. G.
wide (willow) becomes We;de and wise (manner), Weise;
as the M. H. G. weide and weise became Wcride9&& Waise
(a+i), and the M. H. G. tube is pronounced Taube, but
taub (deaf) represents the M. H. G. toube. In like manner
reuen (pronounced raiien) represents an older nuwen and
streuen (pronounced straiten) an earlier strouwen. To re-
peat in other words what has been said above : in South
Germany the diphthong ei has two slightly different
sounds ; and the statement is true of au and <?#, while in
Middle and North Germany, the two couplets of sounds
are alike. This is to be explained by the fact that the people
of the former section maintain in pronunciation though not
in print a distinction that formerly existed throughout Ger-
many, while those of the latter have lost it. But there is like-
wise a tendency in the German to separate the old single
vowels into diphthongs. The M. H. G. sounds represented
by />, «0, and tie appear in Modern German as /, u, and z/, that
is, //^/"becomes lief^ guot becomes^/ and grtiesen becomes
gruszen. This process of simplification begins to show
itself at the close of the M. H. G. period and seems to have
started in Central Germany. The Bavarian and the Ale-
manian, however, retain the old diphthongs to the present
day, with here and there a slight change in the second
yowel, though the variation is not quite the same in the

A History of the German Language 225

two dialects. In the Alemanian the words Bube, Blut,
Gut, Hut, of the N. H. G. are Bueb, Bluet^ Guet, and Huet,
but in the Bavarian, usually, Buab, Bluat, etc. In view
of the fact that the long i-sound of the Modern German
generally originated from ie, it is easy to understand how
this diphthong comes to be written for every long /, in-
cluding even those cases where it has a different origin.
Such instances are numerous. It is easy to observe that
in the same word the radical vowel sound is sometimes
pronounced long and sometimes short, either because cer-
tain words exhibit a long, others a short vowel ; or because
the same vowel is at one time pronounced short and at
another, long. We have, for example, wir nehmen, ihr
nehmt, but er nimmt, du nimmst, nimm, where the double
consonant is the sign of a short vowel; geben, wir geben,
but du gibst, er gibt, gib or giebst, giebt, gieb. The pronun-
ciation of des Gldses, des Tages, des Weges is universal ; but
the South Germans say Glas, Tag, Weg, while in North
Germany one often hears Glas, Tag and Weg. In like
manner we get Herzog and Hersog, jenseits and jenseits.
How are these variations to be explained? The reply is
that where the same word exists in two forms that have
but a single signification it is probable that one represents
the regular process of phonetic development, but that the
other is due to the force of analogy, a process that has
been briefly explained on p. 122. Applying these principles
to the cases just cited we find that the North German pro-
nunciation exhibits the original, that is, das Glas, des
Gldses. Going back to the M. H. G. we find glas, glases,
in conformity with a law according to which a short vowel
in the M. H. G. always appears long in the N. H. G. when
it stands before a single consonant followed by another
vowel. In closed syllables the radical vowel remains short
except that the presence of an r makes an exception to
this rule. This lengthening process first appears in Mid-
dle Germany and in the M. H. G. period. In the case of

226 A History of the German Language

closed syllables that contain a long vowel contrary to the
law here laid down, the phenomenon is to be attributed to
the influence of those forms which contained an open rad-
ical syllable : that is, the reflex influence of Glases pro-
duced Glas and of wir gaben modified er gap into er gab.
In the same manner the primitive weg became Weg
through influence of Weges ; the adverbial weg (away) is
simply the accusative of this noun which has maintained
its original short vowel because its connection with the
substantive ceased to be felt. It is true there are excep-
tions to the law that the vowel of an open syllable is al-
ways long. If the simple consonant following the radical
vowel is in turn followed by e\-l, e+n or e+r the radical
vowel may be either long or short. We accordingly find
both Makel and Makel, gesotten, M. H. G. gesoten, but^v?-
boien though the M. H. G. is geboten, wider, the M. H. G.
form also, and wieder, besides Vater, with the dialect form
V&tter and its derivative Vetter. These apparent irregu-
larities have not yet been satisfactorily explained.

The same vowel sounds that have in some cases re-
mained short have in others become short though orig-
inally long. We find nie alongside of nimmer, the old
form being niemer, that is, me mer. That Putter and
Mutter were once Filter and Muter is shown by the
Alemanian and Bavarian forms Fiteter and Mueter. That
the ancestors of Blatter and Jammer are blAter andjdmer
is proven by the wide spread dialectic forms Bloter and
Jomer ; for in many dialects still current the vowel 6 rep-
resents not only the 6 of older words, but is not unfre-
quently a development of an original a. The literary
High German contains a number of words taken from dif-
ferent dialects that exhibit this change from long a to long
o. Thus, we find existing alongside of each other Atem
and Odem, Wahn and Argwohn, Magsamen and Mohn, etc.
Mond is mane in M. H. G. and the ancestor of Wage is
wac. Further back in the history of the German Ian-

A History of the German Language 227

guage than all these variations we find the process taking
place which the Germans call Umlaut. This is a modifi-
cation of the radical or root vowel. It is thus that Krafte
is formed from kraft, mochte from mochte, Hduser from
haws, trdumt from traum, filhre from fuhr. In all cases
the unmodified vowel is the original. It will thus be seen
that the same root, though not the same form of it, con-
tains both the shorter and less open vowels a, o and n, as
well as their variants « , o and ii. Now it can be shown
by the history of the German as well as by that of other
languages that a is more primitive than «, o, than o, etc.
The N. H. G. furnishes some hints on the origin of the
unmodified vowels : we have, for example, Kraft and
kraftig, Rom and romisch, Thor and thoricht, Ruhm and
ruhmltch, kosten and kostlich, Graf and grcifin, with a host
of others. It will be seen that in all these instances the
modified vowel is followed by an i in the next syllable ;
and the fact is that as long ago as the O. H. G. period it
was this i that brought about the change in the preceding
vowel : for even those words from which it has now dis-
appeared once had it. In the O. H. G. period krafti cor-
responded to the modern Krafte, mochti to mochte, husir to
Hduser, troumit to trdumt, fuori to filhre. We may, there-
fore, define Umlaut as the modification of a vowel by the
influence of a subsequent i.

There are some words in German which seem to have a
modified vowel in the root form and a primitive vowel in
some of the derivative forms. This is sometimes called
Rilckumlant on the supposition that the second change is
simply a return to the original form. Examples are bren-
nen, preterite brannte; rennen, preterite rannte; senden,
preterite sandte ; schon and schbn, fast and fest. In fact,
however, appearances are here deceptive. It is the cus-
tom of grammarians to designate certain words or sylla-
bles as radical, or primitive, and others as derivative.
The base of the verb is usually found in the present tense,

228 A History of the German Language

that of the noun in the singular number, and that of the
adverb in the adjective. But the theory does not always
correspond with the facts, and does not in the above ex-
amples, since brannte, schon and fast exhibit the primi-
tive, unmodified vowel, while brennen is derived from
brannian, fest from fasti, and schon from sconi.

The sound represented by e in the N. H. G., of which
the ancestor is a, is written in two ways, either as a or e ;
in like manner the Umlaut of au, as du or en. The modi-
fied a (a] is employed when there is a real or fancied con-
nection between it and the original or radical #, as Band
and Bander, Wahl and wdhlen, Haus and Hauser, Traum
traumen; on the other hand, e is used where the connec-
tion has been forgotten, as streng, O. H. G. strangi; leugnen,
M. H. G. lougnen, O. H. G. louginon. These are cases in
which the same radical vowel exist in a number of deriva-
tives, in some of which it is felt and in others not. For
example, faJire is the ancestor not only of Fdhrte and
Fahrmann, but also of Ferge ( ferry-man ) and fertig; to
Schlacht belong not only Schldchter, but also Geschlecht,
which originally meant the same with Schlag, as may be
seen in MenscJienschlag (race, type of men).

In the study of these and similar phenomena the reader
needs to keep constantly in mind that the spoken lan-
guage preceded the written by a long interval, and that
even after writing had come into vogue to some extent
there were thousands who used their native speech orally
only. When words began to be put on parchment and
paper their pronunciation had been in the main fixed, and
could rarely be modified. Besides, most languages are
written a long time before the etymological relations of
words are understood, and the efforts of scholars, where
they have tried to represent these relations, have for the
most part remained without permanent results.

Different from, and yet closely related to the umlaut, is
the breaking or splitting of a vowel. In many cases the

229

same radical vowel contains both e (a) and /, as in gebdren
and gebiert, Erde and irden, Herde and Hirte. These
changes have likewise been wrought by the influence of
the final vowel. In the O. H. G. the words above given
were phonetically represented by gaberan gabirit, erda irdin,
Jierta hirti. In all cases the radical vowel of the stem is *-,
as may be seen in the corresponding Latin and Greek
words fero and <£epw; the e remained when followed by #,
but was changed to i when succeded by the same letter.
This law has been deduced by the examination of so large
a number of words that it is safe to assume when, for in-
stance, we find Gebirge existing alongside of Berg, and
Gefilde alongside of Feld, that we have in Feld and Berg
the influence of an a. This modification of e before i into
the latter took place in prehistoric times. Until recently
philologists were generally of the opinion that the origi-
nal vowel was /, and that this letter had passed ( or broken )
into e. This e corresponds to the primitive Indo-European
*-, and should be carefully distinguished from the same
letter when it is the representative of a modified a. Sev-
eral German dialects have preserved, in their pronuncia-
tion, the distinction between the two sounds. Here, as in
many other cases, the Alemanian and Swabian have ad-
hered most tenaciously to the archaic forms, the broken e
being pronounced somewhat like # , and the modified e with
a nearer approach to i.

The views regarding the influence of the a-sound upon
e and i which have proved to be erroneous, are correct with
reference to u and 0, or rather it and 0, since the old u was
modified in the O. H. G. period by a subsequent i. The
forms wir wurden and geworden, ich wiirfe and geworfen^
fur and vor take us back to the O. H. G. wurdun-gawor-
dan, wurfi-gaworfan, fun-fora. Here the original u per-
sisted before i and u in the final syllable ; in other words
when it occurred before /it afterward changed into ii\ but
it was later broken to o by the influence of a subsequent

230 A History of the German, Language

a, — a phenomenon which likewise took place in the Gen-
eral Germanic stage of the language. This breaking did
not take place when u was followed by a nasal consonant ;
so that we have gefunden, gesungen, in spite of the fact
that the O. H. G. forms TN^Z gafundan, gasungan. It will
be readily seen that if the law had been universal in its
application we should have gefonden and gesongen, just as
we have geworfen and geworden. This u has not only
undergone the breaking process when it stood alone but
also when it formed a diphthong with z, that is iu. In the
older N. H. G. we find the inflections du fleugst, er fleugt,
ihrflieget, to which correspond the M. H. G. in older forms
du fliugest, er fliuget, ihr flieget, and the O. H. G. or still
older du fliugist, er fliugit, ihr fliogat. We see, therefore,
that iu stands in the same relation to io that u does to o.
It will thus be evident that we have here in the change
from u to o and from iu to io (ie] the data for determining
with almost absolute certainty what the final syllable must
have been originally. Fiille alongside of voll points to an
older fulli, and voll must have lost a final a; similarly siech
and Seucheare. evidence of an older siuhhi, the intermediary
M. H. G. being siuche (sick). The M. G. dialects exhibit
some apparent examples of breaking which are, however,
not genuine, u being sometimes modified to o, and u to 0,
which is not due to the influence of a succeeding a. For
example, the N. H. G. Sommer and Sohn are in the M. H.
G. sumer and sun. Other examples are Sonne and sunne,
Konig and kiinic, M'onch and munch.

To the phenomena of umlaut and breaking are largely
due the variety exhibited by German phonology. Aside
from these two factors all the variations are referable to
ablaut (or vowel gradation). This influence may be noticed
in Grab, Grube (M. H. G. gruobe), grubeln (O. H. G. gru-
bilori); Binde, Band, Bund; Sitz, Satzung ; fir ec her, Brack-
land, Bruch; Schneide, Schnitt; flieszen, Flosz, Flusz. This
variation of the radical vowel is wholly independent of the

A History of the German Language 231

subsequent vowel and was fully developed in the far dis-
tant prehistoric period of the Indo-European language.
To the English reader his own language will readily sug-
gest many examples ; and they are equally numerous in
Latin and Greek. Cf. pello, pulsus ; tollo, tuli ; semen,

satUS J.ayw, tryov, T/3€7ro), TpoTros; AeiTrco, eXiTrov, A.OITTOS; <^€vya), <f>vyij.

At the basis of these changes lie the general principles
of vocalization common to the entire stock of Indo-
European languages : the accented syllables have for the
most part stronger vowels and the unaccented weaker
and thinner vowels. The underlying causes we do not
understand, and they will doubtless remain forever impen-
etrable. All we can say is that human thought and feel-
ing are wont to manifest themselves through speech in
this way. There is in man an inherent dislike of monot-
ony, and variety is produced by running up and down, or
by touching now this and now that note of the vowel
scale. In order to avoid repetition the general subject of
vowel gradation will be more fully discussed in the chap-
ter which treats of the inflection of the verb.

When we compare German substantives and adjectives
with their cognates in Latin we at once notice the ab-
sence of endings in the former compared with the latter.
We have Halm but calamus, Wind but ventus, Fisch but
piscis, Haul (M. H. G. Mi) but cutis, Jock (Gothic juK) but
jugum, Hals but collum, collus and colsum, Horn but cornu.
This difierence did not exist in the remotest times ; but
after the general Germanic tongue had broken up into its
various branches, we find, even earlier than the existence
of any literary monuments, a tendency to neglect, in pro-
nunciation, the final syllables. First final s and m began
to be dropped ; and later the vowels shared the same fate.

We have already mentioned that the weakening of the
ultimate syllables characterizes the transition from the
O. H. G. to the M. H. G. Similar phenomena are again
observable in the development of the N. H. G. from the

232

M. H. G. We have des Tages or des Tags, dem Tage or
Tag, Werkes or Werks, Wcrke or Werk; but usually des
Landtags, dem Landtag, Handwerks and Handwerk, but not
Landtages or Handwetke. Des Konigs, dem Konig are used
in preference to des Koniges, dem Konige. Alongside of
Friede we have its derivative friedlich ; alongside of Heide,
nieder and Himmel, the relative words heidnisch, niedrig and
himmlisch. In nearly all cases we observe apocope of final
e in unaccented syllables. In those words where this let-
ter has been suppressed in the middle of a word it was
likewise unaccented. The German present participles are
almost always traceable to fuller forms, as, for example,
lebend to lebende. Wirtinn represents the M. H. G. wir-
tinne, Weisung M. H. G. wisunge, Hetzog herzoge, Hduslin
hiuselin. In N. H. G. dissyllables an unaccented e is
sometimes retained, and sometimes suppressed or apoco-
pated, a fact that may be explained by the place of this
letter in connected discourse. As a further illustration of
the tendency to abbreviate, it may be stated that in the
German dialects which have not attained the dignity of
literary rank many words are still more abbreviated than
in the written speech. Nearly all those words which have
come from the A.-S. into English have been shortened
unless they were monosyllables, where abbreviation was
impossible. In like manner the French, which is hardly
more than corrupt Latin, is almost entirely made up of
words that have lost one or more syllables in their passage
from the ancient to the modern language.

In some cases syllables that were originally but feebly
accented suffered mutilation even when their vowel was
full-toned. Jungfer and Junker are referable to older
Jungfrau and Jungherr ; Nachbar (neighbor) may be traced
to the M. H. G. nachbure, one who abides near, the modern
German words Bauer and bauen having developed a some-
what different signification. The doubles Schultze and
Schultheisz take us back to the M. H. G. schultheize. Zwei-

A History of the German Language 233

tel, Drittel contain the word Teil in the final syllable, while
Urteil and Vorteil are also found as Urthel and Vorthel.
These last double forms resulted either from their receiv-
ing a heavier or lighter accent, as the case might be, in
connected discourse ; or they for a time followed the gen-
eral law above enunciated until with the spread of intelli-
gence it began to be perceived that -thel is really a sepa-
rate word, when it was restored to its original form. The
latter is the most probable explanation, as illiterate per-
sons still use the lighter syllable. In general the dialects,
especially those of South Germany, carry the process of
abbreviation and lightening farther than the literary lan-
guage. Hebel, a native of Basel, who wrote largely in the
Alemanian uses Arfel, Hampfel, Mump/el, for Armvoll,
Handvoll and Mundvoll. Wingert signifies Weingarten,
while Rechnig and Zitig mean Rechnung and Zeitung. The
most important phenomenon noticeable among the conso-
nants is due to what is known as the law of the rotation
of mutes. We have been constrained to examine this part
of our subject earlier because the division of the German
language into its various dialects is chiefly dependent
thereon. Apart from this single fact the changes which
the consonants have undergone are far less important and
far reaching than those through which the vowels have
passed. The influence of this law may be traced back to
that early stage of the language when it had not yet
broken up into its various dialects. Here, for instance,
we find that t can stand only after a spirant. In this way
we can explain the relation Imogen to Macht, of pflegen to
Pflicht, of tragen to Tracht, of geben to Gift (originally the
same as Gabe, as may be seen in Mitgift. Cf. for a similar
development of meaning our word dose, from Socris) and
of treibe to Trift. It is true we have klagte, sagle, liebte and
lobte, but this is owing to the fact that in former times
there was a vowel between the g and the /, which was
dropped long after the law had ceased to be operative. In
16

234 A History of the German Language

the earliest Germanic period, when the language was still
in a stage of which no records have come down to us,
there was in force a law which did not permit the use of a
w at the end of a word. Where this letter happened to be
final it was changed into o, rarely u. The nominative
milo (Eng. meal) makes its genitive melwes. The final
vowel was first weakened to e and this was in some cases
dropped, but medial w was changed to b after / and r. In
this way we get Mehl alongside of Milbe (older form milwe,
the insect that makes meal) and Melberei, the Bavarian
designation of a flour-store ; likewise gat with gerben which
originally meant ' to make ready.' Sometimes medial /
was transferred to the end of a word, in which cases we
have usually doublets, as fahl and falb, or gelb alongside
of the dialectic gehl. The O. H. G. forms were falo, Gen.
falwes, gelo Gen. gelwes, the Eng. equivalents being ' fal-
low' and ' yellow.' In the M. H. G. we meet with many
cases where the consonant is different according as it
stands in the middle or at the end of a word. In the N.
H. G. the influence of analogy has generally obliterated
these differences, but some isolated instances remain which
show the effects of the law. In the first place, every me-
dial sonant in M. H. G. is changed into a final surd : tac
has for its genitive tages, sane sanges, liet liedes, lop lobes.
In the N. H. G. the medial consonant is transferred to the
end, that is, we have, by the force of analogy Tag, Lied,
Lob, because the genitives have the form above given.
When we examine the endings -ng and -nk we find that in
Northern Germany the old forms have to some extent per-
sisted, which gives such pronunciations as Gesank, though
written Gesang, Gesanges, ich gink, wir gingen. In isolated
cases the final letter or letters of a word have taken the
place of the medial. We have, for instance, the N. H. G.
Mark Markes while the M. H. G. is marc marges, and in
ausmergeln the original g is retained. Der Wert, des Wertes
belongs to the same category with wurde and was wert

A History of the German Language 235

werdes in the M. H. G. In like manner Welt Welien points
to M. H. Q.iventiverlde. In those cases where in the Low
German initial g was pronounced as a spirant it was
changed into final ch, and it is by this law that we can ex-
plain such forms as Menge alongside of manch mancher for
the older manech maneger, M. H. G. manec maneger.

In the second place, medial h of M. H. G. corresponds
to ch final, as sehen, ichsach, schuoch schuoches. But in the
N. H. G. this h has taken the place of ch so that we find
not only sehen, but also ich sah and der Schuh. The older
relation remains only in hoch ho her am hbchsten, and partly
in nah with the superlative ndchst and in the adverb nach.
Alongside of schmahen we have Schmach; the M. H. G.
form of rauh was ruch which persists in the modern Rauch-
werk, a collection of furs. The old nominative is main-
tained in the proper name Schuchardt, which in M. H. G.
was schuoch worhte, that is, ' shoe-worker.' There is evident
in the M. H. G. as in the N. H. G. a tendency to pro-
nounce contiguous consonants with the same vocal organs,
or rather, with the vocal organs in the same position, in
order to greater ease of utterance. In this way the two
consonants are brought as near together as possible. In
ordinary conversation we do not say anbeiszen or einbrechen.
but ambeiszen and eimbrechen; but in deliberate discourse
generally, and almost always in spelling, this phonetic
tendency is neutralized by the influence of analogy in
words whose prefixes are maintained in their integrity, as,
for instance, anhalten, anlaufen, anstoszen, einatmen, einlegen,
eintranken, etc. Assimilation, however, takes place in
some cases where the etymological relation of the prefix
has been forgotten. For this reason empfangen and emp-
finden used for entfangen and entfinden ; empfehlen for entfehlen,
Imbisz for Inbisz, Himbeere for Hindbeere (berries which
the hind likes), Hamburg for Hohenburg, Schaumberg for
Schauenberg, Wimper for Windbraue (the brow that moves),
cf. the Eng. wend, move, turn about. Complete assimilation

236 A History of the German Language

has taken place in Eilanthr Einland (the land that is alone) ;
in Grummet for Griinmahd (grass that is mowed while
green, aftermath); in Hoffahrt for Hochfahrt, and in some
other instances. The law of assimilation as we see it ex-
emplified in German is of wide-spread application. In
Latin and Greek a number of prepositional prefixes are
accommodated to the initial sound of the word with which
they are joined, among them the same prefix ' in ' or ev we
have been considering above. There are two other phon-
etic peculiarities of the German that are to be noted.
First, final r was dropped before a consonant and presisted
before a vowel. We have thus da but darin and darum;
wo, but worin and warum (dialectic woruni}, and alongside
of ehe and hie we find eher and hier. This final r is retained
in the English cognates there, where and ere, the A.-S.
equivalents being aer, hwaer and thaer respectively. Sec-
ond, the combination ag and eg are sometimes changed to
ei. In the M. H. G. occur both Magd and Maid, Vogt and
Voit, Hag and Hain. Getreide is related to tragen and sig-
nifies that which is carried, clothing, baggage, etc. (M. H.
G. getregede). Verteidigen is derived from the M. H. G.
tagedinc (Gerichtstag], its older form being vertagedingen, to
bring before a court of justice or arbitration. Reinhard
and Reinecke have no connection with the adjective rein,
but the first syllable is a shortened form of regin, an
old Germanic word which was nearly equivalent to Rat.
Partly in the M. H. G. and partly in the N. H. G. we find
a tendency in » and s, when at the end of a syllable, to
generate a succeeding d which under some circumstances
is changed into f. Though we have gelegen and offen we say
gelegentlich and bffentlich; entzwei and entlang are traceable
to enzwei and enlang, which are simply in zwei and in lang,
or ' in two ' or ' along.' Jemand and Niemand are in full
je(eiri)Mann, and nie(ein) Mann; zusammt is equal to zusa-
ment which in turn is zusamen; einst, mittelst and
selbsl represent an older eines, mittels and selbes, and

A History of the German Language 237

are adverbial genitives of ein, Mittel and selb. Papst
is in M. H. G. babes from the Greek Trc^-as, while
the dialectic jez(ie ze) corresponds to the H. G. jetzt.
Another phonetic change that began in the M. H. G. stage
of the language in Middle and Lower (or Northern) Ger-
many and afterward spread over Upper Germany is the
disappearance of an h between two vowels which then
coalesced. It is owing to this phenomenon that h came to
be used to lengthen the preceding vowel. The Germans
write Stahl, zehen, Buhl, because M. H. G. exhibits stahel,
zehen and buhel. The change of an older rs into rsch is
confined to the H. G. The Low German Bars is repre-
sented by the South or H. G. Barsch, Kng. barse or bass.
The Lombard word verza, a kind of cabbage, reappears in
the modern German Wirsching. A peculiarity of the L. G.
is the assimilation of h before s, so that Ochsen becomes
Ossen, while Fucks and* wachsen are pronounced Vosz and
wassen. The M. H. G. tw was sometimes doubled. In
South Germany it appears as zw and in Middle Germany
as kw or qu. Quer reappears in Zwerchfell and in uber-
zwerch, M. H. G. twerch; qudngeln is related to
H. G. twingen.

THE INFLECTIONS OF THE NEW HIGH GERMAN.
THE SUBSTANTIVES.

The N. H. G. noun exhibits great variety in its inflec-
tions. This is particularly noticeable in the cases of the
singular and in the relation that exists between the singu-
lar and the plural. The latter is, on the other hand, sub-
ject to but little variation : either its cases are all alike, or
the nominative corresponds to the genitive and accusa-
tive and the dative takes an additional -n. In the first
category belong those words that form the nominative

238 A History of the German Language

plural in -n or -en, such as Drachen, Ochsen, Bauern, Wur
zeln, etc.; in the second such words as Nom. Plur. die Tage,
Dat. den Tagen;die Worter, Dat. den Wortern. Taking the
genitive singular and the plural as bases we have, in mod-
ern German, the following types :

1. The genitive singular ends in -es or -s, the plural
ending in -e:

(a). Der Tag, die Tage,
(b). Der Cast, die G'dste,
(c). Das Ding, die Dinge ;

or in -er,
(d.) Das Huhn, die Hiihner;

or in -n,
(e.) Das Ende, die Enden;

or is without a characteristic ending,
(f ). Der Eber, die Eber ; der Wagen, die W'dgen,
(g). Der Kdse, die Kdse,
(h). Das Gebirge, die Gebirge.

2. The genitive has no inflection, as in all feminines,
the plural ending in -e:

(a). Die Kraft, die Kr'dfte ; die Kuh, die Kuhe ;

or in -« or -en,

(b). Die Klage, die Klagen; die Katze, die Katzen,
(c). Die Saat, die Saaten ; die Insel, die Inseln;

or is without a characteristic ending,
(d). Die Mutter, die Mutter, die Tochter, die Tochter.

3. All other cases of the singular and plural have an
additional -n as compared with the nominative sin-
gular :

(a). Der Bote, die Boten; der Knabe, die Knaben,

(b). Der Graf, die Graf en; der Mensch, die Mcnschen.

These paradigms differ from those of the M. H. G. in

two respects : first, the N. H. G. exhibits a greater variety

of forms ; and, second, diverse forms have coalesced into

one. The types marked above 1. (a), (b), (d), (g), (h) ;

2. (a), and 3. (a), are the only ones represented in the

A History of the German Language 239

older language. It will be seen that the modern forms
are twice as numerous as the more ancient.

The types represented by Tag and Cast date from the
M. H. G. stage, and we have before stated the reason why
words of one syllable and words of more than one are dif-
ferently inflected. But when we go back to the O. H. G.
stage we find a divergence in the plurals. The words tac
or tag (day) and gast (guest) are thus declined in the
plural : Nom. taga, gestt,

Gen. tago, gestio,

Dat. tagum, gestim,

Ace. taga, gesti.

Here the forms of the second word show the reason of
the umlaut in the plural of Gast. In a still older stage of
the language, one of which no monuments have come
down to us, but about which many conclusions may be
drawn by inference, there was also a difference in the end-
ings of the singular. Der Tag, den Tag were once tagos
and tagom; der Gast, den Gast were gastis and gastim,
where we have terminations corresponding to the Latin
'lupus' and 'lupum,' 'turns' and ' turrim.' It may be
well to call attention to the fact that in the above examples
only -s and -m can properly be regarded as case-endings.
What remains after the removal of these is the stem (or
root), and since one of them ends in -o and the other in -i
they belong to the class of vowel stems. They may be
still further differentiated by being classed as o-stems and
i-stems. It is also to be observed that the Latin ' lupus '
was ' lupos ' in an earlier stage of the language, just as the
German tagum was tagom and taga was tagons. Moreover,
the final o of the German stems was pronounced with a
close approximation to a ; indeed, it may have passed en-
tirely into the sound of this letter before it dropped off.

Now, since the two types had become alike in the M.
H. G. stage, except the stem vowel of the plural, it is easy
to see that the paradigms would sometimes be confused.

240 A History of the German Language

It has happened that the M. H. G. umlaut was dropped in
the N. H. G., as where lehse and liihse have become
Lachse and Luchse. A great majority of the o-stems
have followed the same course with the word Cast G'dste.
Hof Hofe was in M. H. G. hof hove, and in O. H. G. hof
hova; the old form without umlaut is latent in the names
of places like Adelshofen and Konigshofen, which are in
fact datives plural. The same is true of the names end-
ing in -%on} occurring so frequently in the the vicinity of
Lake Zurich, such as Pj'dffikon, Sissikon, Zetzikon, where
the final syllable is a contraction of -ichofen. Doublets
like Schachte and Sch'dchte, Drucke and Abdriicke and Ein-
driicke, are due to the permanence of an older form and
the creation of a corresponding modernized new one. In
some instances the dialects exhibit forms with umlaut
where the literary language has retained the vowel with-
out change, as, for instance, the Alemanian Arm for
Arme, and Franconian Dag for Tage. The type der Eber
die Eber is in a sense a transformation of the type repre-
sented by Tag Tage. The older forms of the latter word
tac tages, Plur. tage, represents the M. H. G. declension of
eber eberes, Plur. die ebere; himel, himeles, Plur. die himele;
wagen wagenes, Plur. die wagene. But since in these
words the final was preceded by an unaccented syllable,
its vowel was suppressed in the N. H. G. in accordance
with a phonetic law explained on p. 232, and the older
forms were shortened into Eber Ebers, Plur. die Eber.
Since, now, the nominative and accusative plural had be-
come identical with the same cases in the singular it was
natural to make a distinction in some way. This was
done by introducing the umlaut which was a character-
istic of the i-stems. Compare Hafen Hafen, Hammer
Hammer, Nagel Nagel, Ofen Ofen, Vater Vater, Vogel
V6gelvi\\h the older havene, nagele, etc. In this category
we have likewise both old and new forms still existing
alongside of each other, but only among words terminat-

A History of the German Language 241

ing in -en, as die Bogen and die Bogen, die Laden and die
Laden, die Wagen and die Wagen. In the older language
the type represented by the neuter das Ding die Dinge
was closely related to the masculine o-stems represented
by der Tag die Tage. The only points of divergence
were in the nominative and accusative plural where one
had die tage and the other diu dine — in other words, the
neuter lacked final e. A tendency to bring these two
types into harmony begins to manifest itself in the M. H.
G. stage, and by the time the language has reached the
N. H. G. period but very few words remained unaffected:
such are Lot, Mass, Pfund, Stuck, and others used in con-
nection with numbers. This usage became a type to
which both masculines and feminines in the course of
time conformed. Accordingly we not only say zwanzig
Pfund, zwanzig Stiick, but also zwanzig Fusz, zwanzig
Zoll, zwanzig Ohm (Eng. aam, awm) or Saum and Last.
As we have shown above, some neuters form their plurals
in -er : the M. H. G. of huon is hiiener. In the older lan-
guage this type embraced a smaller number of examples
than now come under it. Many of its modern representa-
tives belonged to other categories in the O. H. G., or at
least had the alternate ending without -er; for example,
Haupt had the M. H. G. plural diu houbet only, but the
modern form is Hdupter. The older form survives in
proper names, such as Berghaupten and Roshaupten, both
datives plural. The same statement applies to Feld, Plur.
die Felder, but in the M. H. G. diu velt is represented by
such modern names as Degerfelden and Rheinfelden. Die
Hduser corresponds to M. H G. diu hiuser and diu hus.
It is represented in names of places like Rheinhausen,
Schaffhausen, Sangershausen, etc. An occasional word
has retained a double plural to the present day, but in
every case it is evident that the ending -er is regarded as
preferable ; the other is either archaic or belongs to the
elevated style. Compare, e. g. Bande and Bander, Dmge

242 A History of the German Language

and Dinger, Lande and Lander, Worte and Worier. A
few masculines have taken the termination -er in the
plural of the N. H. G. Examples are der Gets I die
Geister, der Leib die Letber, der Wald die Walder, of
which we have the archaic form in Unterwalden, i. e.,
'unter den Waldern.' Some additional plurals similar in
form are found in several dialects. The primitive Ger-
manic neuter in the singular was represented by thingom
or wordom, which latter corresponds to Latin 'verbum,'
older 'verbom' for verbhom. In this case the true termi-
nation is -m, and as it is preceded by -o- these words must
be classed among the o-stems. Just as the Latin exhibits
words of which ' odium ' and ' exordium ' are a type, so there
are in German words in which the final o of the stern was
preceded by an i. This type is represented above by das
Gebirge die Gebirge, which has remained unchanged from
the M. H. G. stage, the O. H. G. being daz gabirgi diu
gabirgi, and before the loss of the final letter gabirgiom-
gabirgio. It is thus, evidently, an io-stem. In the N. H.
G. but few nouns belong to this class, and all are com-
posites with the prefix ge-, such as Gefilde, Gebilde, Gefiige,
Gewolbe. As they are all to a greater or less extent col-
lective nouns, it was of small importance to distinguish
the singular from the plural. The two words, Gelage,
older form gelac, and Gestade, older form gestat, have been
drawn into this class by the force of analogy, in spite of
the fact that they belong to the a-stems. The absence of
the umlaut is sufficient evidence that there was never an i
in the final syllable.

A large number of words belonging to this class have
been confounded with that represented, by Ding since the
two paradigms correspond externally except in the nomi-
native and accusative singular. In the older N. H. G. a
considerable number of the original forms in -e are retain-
ed and are still occasionally used. We find both Gliick
and Glucke, Gemiite and Gemiit, Kreuze and Krenz, Stiicke

A History of the German Language 243

and Stuck. The plural of Gemut follows the type represent-
ed by Hiihner and is Gemiiter; the dialectic plural Stilcker
is common. The latter plural is not used in the familiar
phrase "etn Stiicker seeks'1'1 in the sense of "etwa seeks"
but is a mutilated contraction of "ein Stuck oder seeks"
In the earlier stages of the language there were a few mas-
culine stems ending in -io, but of these only a single one
still exists in the modern German, viz., der Kase die Kdse
(A.-S. cese, Eng. cheese). It is, however, not originally a
Germanic word, but is a modification of the Latin ' caseus.'
All the rest have taken their places under other types. A
different kind of stems from those hitherto considered is
represented by type 3. (a) der Bote die Boten, above. The
M. H. G. inflection corresponds exactly with the N. H. G-
which is Sing. Plur. The O. H. G. was Sing. Plur.
Nom. Bote Boten bofo bolun

Gen. Boten Boten bo tin botono

Dat. Boten Boten botin botun

Ace. Boten Boten botun botun.

But before the force of the phonetic law had wrought
comparative uniformity in the final syllables the paradigm
was probably as follows :

Sing. Nom. boto, Gen. botonis, Dat. botoni; Plur. Nom.
botones, Ace. botonas; which corresponds pretty closely to
the inflection of homo, hominis, homini, etc., in Latin. If
we remove the terminations -is, -i, etc., there remains a
series of stems ending in the consonant -n, which gives a
paradigm closely akin to our number 3, above. These
n-stems are often spoken of by grammarians as representing
the weak declension as distinguished from those ending
with a vowel which is called strong. In the N. H. G. the
type represented by Bote split into two general classes, the
final e of the nominative falling off in some cases. This
took place in accordance with a phonetic law already set
forth, after an unaccented syllable, in such M. H. G. words
as schultheisze, steinmetze, truhsaeze which became in N.

244 A History of the German Language

H. G. Schultheisz, Steinmetz, Truchsesz. Words employed
as titles of honor were often used before the proper name
of persons bearing them and, therefore, but slightly ac-
cented. Thus it came about that final e was generally
dropped even when it came after an accented syllable-
Fiirst, Graf, Herr were in M. H. G. fiirste, grave, herre;
whence arose our type 3. (b). The number of nouns be-
longing to this class is considerably smaller than in the
older language. The type represented by Graf formerly
corresponded with those represented by Tag and Gast;
which resulted in confounding the two and the vowel
stems taking the place of the consonant stems in the para-
digms. In some cases double forms are equally correct,
and we may say des Bauer s or des Bauern, Plur. die Bauern;
des Nachbars or des Nachbarn, Plur. die Nachbarn. We
find des Marzes, dem Marz, alongside of the archaic des
Marzen, im Marzen, the latter form also appearing in such
compounds as Marzenbier, Marzenschnee, Marzenstaub.
Some words have, however, passed completely from one
class to the other, as der Herzog des Herzogs, Plur. die
Herzoge; der Mond des Afondes, Plur. die Monde; der
Schwan des Schwans, Plur. die Schwdne. The old geni-
tives corresponding to the nominatives herzoge, mane and
swane may be still seen in the compounds Herzogenbuch-
see, Herzogenstand, Mondenschein, Schwanenhals. To the
type represented by Wagtn that represented by Boten cor-
responds in all its parts except the nominative and geni-
tive singular. Compare

Nom. Gen. Dat. Ace.
Sing. Wagen Wagens Wagen Wagen Plur. Wagen

with Sing. Bote Boten Boten Boten Plur. Boten.

This general similarity led to a confusion of the two
types and they were made alike in all the cases, the nomi-
native in -e receiving an additional -«, and the genitive in
-en an additional -s. Consequently, many words that
originally belonged to class 3. (a) (Bote) passed into the

A History of the German Language 245

class represented by Wagen. Der Balken, der Bogen, der
Braten, der Brunnen, der Daumen, der Garten, were in M.
H. G. balke des balken^ boge des bogen, brate, brunne, dume
^(thumb), garte. In many compounds the old forms have,
however, been conserved : IVildbret (M. H. G. wildbrat} is
simply Wildbraten; the South German Winger t (M. H.G.
wingarte) means Weingarten, and in Schonbrunn (a royal
villa near Vienna) we have an older form of Brunnen.
Three modern doublets Franken Frank, Lumpen Lump,
Tropfen Tropfe are peculiar for the reason that they have
arisen from the M. H. G. forms franke, lumpe and tropfe.
The three former have the characteristic in common that
they designate things while the latter are applied to living
beings. We have thus three words signifying respectively
a coin (franc), a rag, and a drop having the same origin
with words signifying a Frank, a good-for-nothing fellow,
and a poor devil (as in armer Tropf}. The peculiar fact
here noted is of pretty wide application. In all cases where
the modern nominative ends with -en it relates to things,
while, on the other hand, almost all words where this case
without -n persists they designate persons or animals
without reason such as Affe, Ahne, Bote, Buhle, Surge,
Jude, Fink or Finke, Falke, Hase, etc. A probable expla-
nation of this fact is that one class has been used as a sub-
ject-nominative much oftener than the other ; and the
more frequently a word is used the more it is exposed to
mutilation through the influence of analogy. As a com-
pensation for the losses which type 3, has sustained in
favor of type 1. (f ), it has also received various increments.
Many words represented by the types Tag and Gast have,
besides their original plurals in -e, another plural like the
type represented by Graf Grafen. To this class belong
die Maste die Masten, die Sinne die Sinnen, die Sliefel die
Stiefeln, and alongside of Manner, which forms its plural
like das Wort die Worte, we find die Mannen. Der Hirte
belonged originally to the type represented by Kdse — its

246 A History of the German Language

form was hirti. Many words in -o, or -io have transiently
belonged to type 3, and subsequently passed into the type
represented by Eber or Wagen. Der Riicken is in M. H.
G. der riicke des ruckes, which is the type represented by
Kdse ; the next step was der Riicke des Riicken, then the
present form. The original is preserved in Hundsruck (a
plateau in western Germany) and also in hmterriicks,
zuriick, archaic zurucke. In like manner Nutzen comes
from the M. H. G. der nutz des nutzes, the old inflection
being preserved in Eigennutz, sich zu Nutze machen, zii
Nutz und Frommen (for use and advantage). The conso-
nant stems were not originally confined to masculine
nouns but were spread over the neuter and feminine n-
stems as well. To the first belonged, in the M. H. G.,
das herze, das ore, das ouge, the last of which was declined,
in the four cases of the singular, das ouge, des ougen, dem
ougen, das ouge, Nom. Plur. diu ougen, Dat. den ougen.
This paradigm corresponded in part with that of Gebirge
and ran thus, e. g. with such words as Ende, Erbe or
Hemde : daz ende, des endes, dem ende, daz ende, Plur. dtii
ende, Dat den enden. The result was that a number of in-
flections grew up like the modern das Auge des Auges,
Plur. die Augen;das Ende, des Endes, Plur. Dat. den Enden.
Herz has retained the old dative form, but makes its geni-
tive like Wagen.

We come next to the consideration of the feminine con-
sonant stems. The word die Zunge ( tongue ) was declined
in M. H. G. with final -en in all cases except the nomina-
tive singular, but in O. H. G. it ran as follows:

Nom. Gen. Dat. Ace.
Sing, zunga zungun zungun zungun
Plur. zungun zungono zungon zungun

But even here the real case-endings have nearly all
dropped off and -un represents the stem-ending. Along-
side of this there was another feminine, as follows :

A History of the German Language 247

Nom. Gen. Dat. Ace.

Sing, klaga ' klagd klagu klaga

Plur. klaga klagono klagon (ni) klaga

Here, as may be easily seen, we are dealing with a vowel
stem, and it will be noticed that it corresponded to the
Latin mensa and the Greek \u>pa. ^n the M. H. G. these
two paradigms corresponded in several points, as may be
readily seen on placing them side by side :

Nom. Gen. Dat. Ace.
Sing, zunge zungen zungen zungen
Sing, klage klage klage klage
Plur. zungen zungen zungen zungen
Plur. klage klagen klagen klage ; whence re-
sulted the modern declension of Klage Klagen. That the
forms of Klage have persisted in the singular but not
those of Zunge is easily understood when we notice that
they exhibited a difference between the genitive and da-
tive and the corresponding forms of the plural. On the
other hand, the forms of klage in the singular were
yielded in favor of zungen because klage was the form of
the nominative and accusative in the singular. Remnants
of the consonant declension of the feminine are still fre-
quently met with, as "unser lieben Frauen^ "Festge-
mauert in der Erden" (Schiller's Song of the Bell), Er-
denleben, Erdensohn, Gassenbube, Harfenton, Hollenthal,
Muhlenbach, Sonnenlicht. In view of the fact that two
older types have united in the one represented by Klage
it has become very copious. But it has been still further en-
larged from various other sources. One has been those words
whose nominative likewise ended in e. This type is rep-
resented in our list by Gebirge. Old forms were daz grilize,
das wette, das nppe. We may still hear the phrase, "das
alte Ripp" (the old rip), to designate a contentious wo-
man. Another has been the masculine stems in n belong-
ing to the type Bote ; the M. H. G. was der grille, der

248 A History of the German Language

imbe (die Imme), der slange, etc. In many words the
South German spoken language still retains the mascu-
line gender where the literary language together with the
Central and North German dialects have yielded to the
force of analogy and changed to the feminine. Hence
have arisen the doublets in gender der Backen and die
Backe, der Schneck and die Schnecke, der Trauben and die
Traube, and der Zacken and die Zacke, der Butter and die
Butter, der Schurz and die Schiirze, together with many
others. Even in the literary language we find der
Schnupfen alongside of die (Stern} schnuppe, the latter a
survival from the Low German : it being assumed that the
stars snuff themselves. But further, the masculine
vowel-stems also end in e ; die Tage is exactly parallel
with die Klage. Such plurals were accordingly treated
like the singular of the feminine and a new plural in -n
created : to take the place of the M. H. G. der slaf we
now find die Schldfe, the old form being not yet wholly
obsolete. Die Socke was in M. H. G. der soc, in South
Germany, der Socken; die Tilcke is the M. H. G. der tuc,
and the South Germans still say, "einem einen Tuck anthun"
"sich einen Tuck thun" (to injure another or one's self).
Die Woge is the M. H. G. der wdc. In addition to those
words that have been transferred from one gender and
from one declension to another because of their similarity
in the nominative singular, there are others where a trans-
fer was brought about by the likeness of the plurals, die
Wagen, e. g., corresponding exactly to die Klagen. The
modern die Waffe (weapon) was in the M. H. G. daz wafen;
"em gute Wehr und Waff en" occurs in Luther's famous
hymn, and das Wappen (coat-of-arms) is a survival of the
Low German.

It yet remains to consider the types 2. (a) and (c), Kraft
Kr'dfte and Saat Saaten. The former only is primitive and
its modern inflection is found in the M. H. G. The plural
in the O. H. G. is declined thus : krefti, kreftio, kreftin,

A History of the German Language 249

krefti. In the M. H. G. there are alternate forms of the
genitive and dative singular, viz., der kraft and der krefte,
but only one nominative, kraft. In the O. H. G. krefti is
-the sole form. How, then, are we to explain the M. H. G.?
The Germanic originally possessed not only consonant
stems ending in n, but also in other letters. Among the
most common of these was the word Nacht. In the O. H.
G. it inflected as follows : Sing, naht, naht, naht, naht, all
the cases being alike ; Plur. naht, nahto, nahtun, naht,
where only the genitive and dative vary from the singular
form. Compare with this the four cases of the Latin nox,
noct-is, noct-i, noct-em. Diu naht, Gen. der naht came to
be taken as patterns for the genitive and dative of diu
kraft, der kraft in the singular ; and, conversely, a plural,
die Niichte, came into use after the model of die krefte.
Eventually der kraft was employed to the exclusion of der
krefte, doubtless because the latter was exactly like the
plural and could not easily be distinguished from it when
unaccompanied by the article ; but even with the article
this was not possible in the genitive of both numbers.
Remnants of the e-forms are seen in Br'dutigam for Br'du-
tegam ( bride-g(r)oom, man of the bride), M. H. G. der
bnute ; in Biirgemeister the archaic form of Bur germeis-
ter, and in Magdesprung. Behende is the modern form of
M. H. G. bi hende, at hand, although Hand did not origi-
nally belong to the i-stems, as may be seen in the datives
plural without the umlaut, zu Handen, von Handen gehen,
abhanden kommen, vorhanden (vor den Handen}, but was
an u-stem. That Nacht was not originally an i-stem may
be seen in the current Weihnachten, zu den wihen nahten
(in the holy nights). The type Kraft exhibits points of
contact with that of Klage. In the case of some words
belonging to the latter, final e had dropped off. For ex-
ample, Frau Frauen corresponded in the singular with
words like Kraft, and plurals were formed in -en, as
Bur gen M. H. G. die biirge, Fahrten M. H. G. die verte,

17

250 A History of the German Language

Thaten M. H. G. die taete. But plurals in -en might
arise from two forms of the singular, one with e and the
other without e. In consequence of this, the type Kraft,
Burg was sometimes confounded with that of Klage.
E. g., the modern Blute was bluot in the M. H. G., and
Etche, Leiche, Stute were respectively etch, tick, stuot.

The type 2. (d) is solitary, for to it belong only the
two words above given. These were originally consonant
stems and had the same endings as Bote ; that is, they
were without umlaut. By a false analogy they were
classed with words like Acker Aecker, Bruder Bruder, etc.

THE PRONOUN.

Pronouns differ from nouns not only in their endings
but also in several other respects. In the primitive Indo-
European language there were three numbers, the singu-
lar, the dual, and the plural. The ancient Greek affords
the most familiar instance of the frequent use of the dual
number. In the general Germanic the dual forms of the
nouns early became extinct ; but they were preserved in
the pronouns after this had split up into several dialects.
' We two ' is wit, ' ye two ' git, in the Old-Saxon poem
called the Heliand (composed probably in the ninth cen-
tury). The corresponding words in the O. H. G. were
probably wiz, iz. In the Old-Saxon, ( to us two ' is unk
and ' to you two,' ink, the Dat. and Ace. being alike. The
dual of the second person plural is still in use in the
modern Bavarian and has even displaced the regular
plural, es or os taking the place of ihr and enk that of
euch. The German pronoun like the English, the Greek
and the Latin, forms the singular and the plural in great
measure from different stems. Compare meiner, mir (my,
me) with wir, unser (we, our), and deiner, dir (thy, thee)
with ir (ihr], euer (you, your). But the language in the
course of its development tended more and more to
obliterate these distinctions. We accordingly find in

A History of the German Language 251

widely divergent dialects mir and mer alongside of wir,
as likewise dir and der alongside of ihr. Here again we
see the influence of analogy : the initial sounds vimeiner,
mir, mich and diener, dir, dich were transferred to the
plural number. In some cases the final syllables are made
alike. Meiner, deiner are formed, at least in part, after
the pattern of unser, euer, the older words being mein, dein.
These, though archaic, are by no means obsolete. After
mein and dein had assumed the additional syllable, sein
followed suit and became seiner. The German pronoun
exhibits the somewhat remarkable phenomenon of having
in part obliterated the distinction between the dative and
the accusative. In English, on the other hand, the dative
has displaced the accusative entirely. As long ago as its
earliest stages the Low German had but a single form each
for the dative and accusative plural of the two persons :
uns representing both nobis and nos, while iu is either
vobis or vos. The dative singular is mi and thi, corre-
sponding to the current mir and dir, where the final r is a
development of s which dropped off in Low German;
this branch of the Teutonic being in nearly all cases
nearer the English than the German proper. The accu-
sative was probably mik and thik. This distinction was
obliterated very early : in some dialects of the L. G. mi
and thi, in others mik and thik are employed for both cases,
these following the analogy of the plural and becoming
alike. Owing to the habit of neglecting to make a dis-
tinction between the two cases it is easy to understand
why the native Low German constantly fails to distinguish
between mir and mich, dir and dich when he uses a H. G.
dialect. The influence of analogy extended yet farther.
After it had become a matter of usage to make no distinc-
tion between the first and second person, it was natural to
follow the same course with the third, and accordingly we
find the dative ihm, em used for the accusative ihn. While
in the M. H. G. we still have the dative and accusative

252 A History of the German Language

uns, but dative in, accusative -inch, we find that in the
N. H. G. the accusative euch has completely displaced the
dative. Owing to this coalescence of the two cases the
illiterate frequently make a curious blunder in the lan-
guage of civility : as Sie has no existence in any dialect
they are unable to distinguish between the dative and the
accusative of the third person. We, accordingly, hear
such expressions as, "ich habe Ihnen (Sie) ja gar nicht
erkanntj' and " Se (Ihnen} kann dat goa (gar) nicht feh-
len." But even the modern sich was originally an accu-
sative like mich and dich, the older language using in its
stead the regular personal pronoun. I/uther says, "unser
keiner lebt ihm selber, unser keiner stirbt ihm setter" where
in modern German we should use sich selber or sich selbst
for ihm selber. It may be remarked that in general the
distinction between the reflexive and the non-reflexive
pronoun is not carefully observed. The Germans say
gedenke sein, geniesze sein, where the older language pos-
sessed a genitive es for the nominatives er and es (M. H.
G. ez). Traces of this fact are still found in certain
stereotyped formulas like " ich bin es satt, ich bin es su-
frieden," for, as is well known, the verb sein can not take
an accusative after it.

It remains yet to consider a few peculiar isolated forms
of the pronpun. Alongside of ihr the N. H. G. exhibits
the archaic ihro, which corresponds exactly with the O.
H. G. iro. It is used almost exclusively in addressing
royal personages and other members of the nobility.
That the modern German has two words where the older
language had but one is doubtless due to the difference in
accentuation in the latter : iro naturally becomes ir and
iro remained unchanged. The same remark holds good
as to the relation of dero to der. As to the pronouns er,
der and wer, we generally find two forms in current usage,
dessen and des, deren and der, denen and den. The shorter
forms are the only ones existing in the M. H. G. as may

A History of the German Language 253

be seen in deshalb, deswegen, " Wes Brod ich ess, des Lied
ich sing." The possessive pronoun ihr was originally a
variant of the personal pronoun — the genitive singular of
the feminine, or the genitive plural of all genders. It ac-
cordingly forms a doublet with the later ihrer and corre-
sponds to the French d'elle, d'eux, d'elles (of her, of
them). The younger forms probably developed under
the influence of the dissyllabic pronouns like dieser,jener,
and similar adjectives may have aided their growth.

THE ABJECTIVE.

When we come to consider the adjectives we find that
some are inflected and some entirely without endings.
Of the latter such as gut, ode, and their like, correspond
exactly to the nominatives and accusatives of nouns hav-
ing vowel stems : compare Tag, Kdse, etc. In both cases
the primitive ending dropped off, the German lang having
once been precisely equivalent to the Latin ' longus.' The
inflected adjectives have, in their turn, a two-fold set of
endings — one used with the definite article, the other
without. The former, der gute, des guten, dent guten, den
guten, show consonant stems. The masculine, in this
case, is exactly like the substantive declension represented
by the type Bote, Boten, above. In the feminine and
neuter of the adjective the O. G. types of the consonant
declension are preserved, which have been lost in the M
H. G. substantive. The modern die gute, der guten, are
exactly like M. H. G. die zunge, der zungen ; and das gute,
des guten, like M. H. G. das ouge, des ougen. Thus far
there is, accordingly, no radical difference between the ad-
jective and the substantive. This likewise represents the
primitive relation of these two parts of speech to each
other in the original Indo-European, as may be seen by
an examination of the L/atin and Greek. But the Ger-
man adds inflectional terminations when the adjective is
not preceded by a word that clearly marks the case, as

254

A History of the German Language

guter Wein, gutes Weines, gutem Weine, guten Wein, etc.;
but der gute Wein, des guten Weines, dem guten Weme,
den guten Wein.

The former mode of inflection grew out of the tendency
to make it conform to that of pronouns of the third per-
son singular. Compare, e. g., the O. H. G. paradigms of
the two classes of words':

Nom.
Sing, der
Plur. die

Sing, diu
Plur. dio(d)

Sing, daz
Plur. diu

Sing, guoter

Plur. guote

Sing, guotiu

Plur. guoto

Sing, guotaz
Plur. guotiu

MASCULINE.

Gen. Dat.

des

dero

FEMININE.

dera deru

dero dem

NEUTER.

des demu

dero dem

MASCULINE.

guotes guotemu guotan(en)
guotero guotem guote

Ace.

den
die (diu}

die (did)
die (did]

daz
diu

FEMININE.

guotera
guotero

guoteru
guotem

guota
guoto

NEUTER.

guotes guotemu guotaz
guotero guotem guotiu

There are but few points of divergence except the
weakening of all unaccented vowels to e, and the changes
which the pronoun has undergone since the O. H. G.
period have been steadily followed by similar changes in
the adjective. The nominative of the Fern. Sing, diu
guotin^ which would regularly have become den guten in

A History of the German Language 255

accordance with German phonetic laws, has been displaced
by the Ace. die gute ; and in like manner the Plur. of the
neuter diu guotiu has been superseded by the correspond-
ing form of the Mas. and Fern, die gute.

Jacob Grimm (born 1785), who published the first
scientific grammar of the Germanic languages, designated
the pronominal declension of the adjective as u strong ;"
the other, as also that of the substantive, he called
" weak." His reasons were purely fanciful, but the terms
have been retained by all subsequent grammarians on ac-
count of their brevity and convenience.

THE VERB.

In German, as in English, verbs are usually divided into
two classes distinguished from each other by their mode
of forming the preterit (or imperfect) tense. The one class
makes the preterit by means of final -te, the other by a
change in the vowel or vowels of the radical syllable, — in
other words by means of vowel-gradation. For example,
ich lehre, ich lehrte, corresponding in the main to the Eng-
lish ' I learn,' CI learned,' may be compared with ich gebe,
ich gab and ' I give,' ' I gave.' The first class which requires
external aid in order to express the past has been called
" weak," by J. Grimm and the latter, which requires no
such aid, he called "strong." It will be readily seen that
the weak verbs correspond to the regular verbs of the or-
dinary English grammar, and the strong verbs to the irreg-
ular. English grammars are however coming more and
more to adopt the German terminology. A suffix is also a
characteristic of the past participle ; in the weak verbs -/
or -£/, in the strong -en. Here again the English furnishes
parallel forms in ' learned ' and ' given.' The weak verbs
in German as in English comprise much the largest class
and their mode of inflection is the simpler of the two. The
radical vowel of the present tense undergoes no change
in any part of the verb, the apparent exception in frage

256 A History of the German Language

fragstfragt, alongside tffrage fragstfragt being due to
the influence of the strong verb, and both frug and fragte
are correct preterits. There is a slight difference in the
preterits of the weak verbs, some having final -ete and
others -te only — for example lehrte, hebte, fragte, but bil-
dete, fiirchtete. In general -ete is attached to all stems that
end in a /-sound. The M. H. G. likewise exhibits both
forms, but the longer would in obedience to a phonetic
law previously explained, be shortened to -te by the sup-
pression of the unaccented medial e. In the case of words
like bild-te, fiirch-te, that is, where the final sound of the
stem is substantially identical with the initial sound of the
suffix, it would be difficult to pronounce both without the
intervention of another vowel. But the parallel forms, -te
and -ete, of the M. H. G. have a different origin. In place
of the monotonous uniformity exhibited by the weak verbs
a greater variety prevailed. The O. H. G. possessed three
classes of weak verbs, distinguished from each other by
the final -6, or -^, or -i, of the stem. To illustrate by ex-
amples, there were salbon which has become salben, fragen
which is now fragen, and legian or lerian that are still in
use as legen and lehren. Similarly we have in Latin
1 amare,' tacere ' and ' andire.' The preterits of salbon and
fragen were salbota &&&frageta, which in the M. H. G.
became salbete andfrage/e. A distinction must be made
in the case of the i-stems between those in which this
stem was short and in which it was long. In the case of
the former the stem-ending in the preterit remains ; the
O. H. G. legita became legete in the M. H. G. In case of
the long stems, the i of the preterit was suppressed in
obedience to a phonetic law that need not be considered
here, while in the present tense it remained somewhat
longer: lerian, lerta became M. H. G. lerte. In conse-
quence of this difference between the i-stems with long
syllables, a difference also arose between the present and
the preterit tenses, which does not occur in the other

A History of the German Language 257

groups of verbs. If the stems of verbs contained an a or
an o or an u, these vowels would necessarily take the um-
laut in course of time in the present teuse where an i fol-
lowed in the next syllable ; but in the preterit they would
remain unchanged. For example, brannian, branta be-
comes brennen, branta and later brante. Besides this verb
the German contains kannte, nannte, rannte, sandte and
wandte, that appear to have been modified by umlaut, but
which were in fact not so modified, as has been pointed
out on a preceding page. In like manner we have gebrannt,
gekannt, etc., because substantially the same phonetic
changes took place in the preterit participle which the
preterit of the verb proper underwent. In the M. H. G.
what the German grammarians call Riickumlaut — a sort
of reversed umlaut — affected a much larger number of
words than it does at present. Compare decken dacte,
smecken smacte, beswaeren beswarte, loesen loste, hoeren horte
with the modern preterits deckte, schmeckte, loste, horte, etc.
In these and a number of other examples the radical
vowel of the preterit has been modified so as to conform
to that of the present, and only a few participial adjectives
remain as evidence of the former state of affairs : for ex-
ample, die gedackten Pfeifen der Or gel simply means die
gedeckten, etc ; getrost is an old participle of trosten; wohl-
bestallt recalls bestelle, bestalte, bestalt. In the last series
we have an example of a new verb formed under the in-
fluence of the participle, viz., bes fallen. Similarly erboesen
erboste erbost has led to the formation of a new verb sich
erbosen (grow angry). A like relation exists between lehren
and gelahrt, and durchlaucht, erlaucht and durchleuchten,
erleicchten. The singular feature of this change of the
principal vowel lies in the fact that the participle, though
derived from the verb, afterward brought about a modifi-
cation of the latter ; or to use a slightly mixed metaphor,
but which answers the purpose very well here, the ances-
tral type was conformed to that of the descendant.

258 A History of the German Language

We find in the strong verbs a greater variety of vowel
changes than in the weak ; here we see exhibited the ef-
fects of the three phonetic influences before designated as
Umlaut, Brechung (breaking) and Ablaut (vowel-grada-
tion). In the weak verbs the stem of the present tense al-
ways ended with the same vowel and it could not therefore
effect any change in the radical vowel. But in the strong
verbs different vowels immediately followed the final con-
sonant of the radical syllable, and it was these that char-
acterized the various subclasses. For example, the indic-
ative present of tragen in the most ancient O. H. G. was
thus inflected: Sing. 1. tragu, 2. tragis, 3. tragit, Plur. 1.
bagames, 2. traget, 3. tragant. In the natural course of de-
velopment of the language the a of the second and third
person singular would receive the umlaut, thus becoming
a. This is the present state of all similar verbs excepting
du haust, erhaut and du kommst, er kommt, though even here
we find the variants du kbmmst, er k'ommt. A considerable
number of the dialects have however dropped the umlaut
under the influence of the verbs that never had it, as trage
tragsch, tragt; laufe, laufsch, lauft, etc.

The diversity of endings which produced umlaut is
likewise the cause of breaking in so far as it applies to
the verb. We find a uniform interchange between the
vowels e and i ; the latter occuring in those verbs that are
capable of taking the umlaut, the former in those which
are not. Accordingly, we have wir geben, ihr gebt, sie
geben ; e also occurs regurlarly in the subjunctive, the
infinitive and the present participle. But the second and
third persons of the singular are giebst, giebt, (or gibst and
gib£) and the imperative is gieb. In the first person sin-
gular where the H. G. has tch gebe, the South German
dialects exhibit ich gib, ich Us (lese], ich nimm (nehme),
and so on. This represents the status of both the O. G.
H. and M. H. G. i. e. gibu, lisu, nimu. These forms,
however, point to the earlier existence of gebu, nemu, lesu;

A History of the German Language 259

but the first person was changed to conform to the second
and third. In the N. H. G. the original status has
unconsciously been restored : under the influence of the
first person Plur. geben, the M. H. G. ich gtbe has become
ich gebe, and similarly giebst, giebt was made to conform
to the type trage, tragst, tragt. But here again the South
and Middle German dialects have gone still farther, so
that we find du gebsch, er gebt; du nemsch, er nemmt. The
interchange between e and i does not occur in verbs whose
stem ends in a double nasal or in a nasal in combination
with a mute. In such cases e had been changed to i in
prehistoric times even when an a followed. We have,
accordingly, ich beginne, wir beginnen ; ich finde, wir finden.
Exactly parallel with this interchange between e and i is
that between iu and ie in the M. H. G., or iu and io of the
O. H. G. which has already been pointed out. The M.
H. G. has ich fliuge, du fliugest, er fliuget, but wir fliegen, ir
flieget, sie fliegent. The German of Luther's Bible con-
serves many remnants of unbroken verbal forms, such as
fteucht, kreucht, leugt, zeucht; but in the current literary
language the unbroken forms have carried the day every-
where, so that we have ich fliege like wir fliegen. The
archaic forms are still occasionally used in poetry. The
perfect tense of the strong verbs was originally formed in
two ways. The first was by means of a reduplicating
syllable prefixed to the stem : in other words a syllable
was formed by means of the initial consonant or conso-
nants together with the vowel e, and placed before the
word as a prefix. In the second, vowel-gradation was
employed. Reduplication is a familiar phenomenon in
Greek and Latin, as may be seen in such examples as
Tpe<f>(o, rerpo^a ; pello, pepuli. The examples, however, in
which these two processes are plainly evident in the Ger-
manic languages are very few. Even in the Gothic traces of
reduplication are rare and in the majority of cases vowel-
gradation has been obscured or wholly obliterated by the

260 A History of the German Language

influence of phonetic laws. We find in letan (let) lelot,
both reduplication and vowel-gradation, but haldan, hehald;
haitan, hehait; hlaupan, hehlaup. In consequence of con-
traction and other transformations these perfects were so
changed that they uniformly exhibit the diphthong ie in
the M. H. G. and i (or ie) in the N. H. G. no matter what
the vowel of the present tense may have been. The pre-
terit participle, which in the strong verb is generally
subject to vowel-gradation, has the same vowel as the
present in most of these reduplicated verbs. Compare,
e. g., the Latin pello pulsus, vello vulsus, sero satus.
The following types of N. H. G. verbs belong to this class :

(1) halten hielt gehalten and fallen fiel gefallen,

(2) blasen blies geblasen,

(3) rufen rief gerufen,

(4) heiszen hiesz geheiszen,

(5) laufen lief gelaufen and hauen hieb gehauen.

Very few Germanic verbs show reduplication proper
even in the oldest forms accessible to modern research ;
but, perhaps, owing to this fact vowel-gradation has been
the more fully developed, and is, therefore, the more
clearly marked. Many verbs exhibit not merely two tones
or letters of the vowel scale, but even three, though the
latter are greatly in the minority. Or, to illustrate the
statement by modern examples, we have about four times
as often the gradation bleiben blieb gebleiben as singen sang
gesungen. In the latter case we always find in the O. G.
a different vowel in the preterit singular from that in the
plural of the same tense. This variation is not accidental,
and not every vowel can be substituted for any other.
An a, e. g., may not occur in the same stem with certain
others, ei for instance. Those vowels that regularly suc-
ceed each other in the same stem constitute what is known
as a gradation series (Ablautsrethe}. This series is in the
M. H. G. as follows :

A History of the German Language 261

Class I., containing a in the present tense,

Pres. Pret. Sing. Pret. Plur. Pret. Part.

trage truoc truogen getragen

Class II., containing e or i in the present tense, sub-
class (a),

Pres. Pret. Sing. Pret. Plur. Pret. Part.

ich binde bant bunden gebunden

wir binden

ich wirfe warf ivurfen geworfen

wir werfen

On the change from e to i, or from u to o, see page 230.
This class no longer exists in its purity in the N. H. G.,
the variation between the different forms of the preterit
having been suppressed. In a majority of cases the sin-
gular has gained the mastery : compare fand fanden,
gelang gelangen, half halfen, sprang sprangen, but which
were in M. H. G. fant funden, half hulfen, etc. Alongside
of sangen an older form has been preserved in the familiar
proverb, Wie die Alien sungen,

So zwitschem diejungen,

through the influence of the rime demanded by Jungen.
In other cases the vowel of the plural remains, though
not in its M.'H. G. form as #, but in its M. G. transforma-
tion as o. See ante p. 230. Examples are ich glomm wit
glommen, schwoll schwollen, schmolz schmolzen, which were
M. H. G. glam glummen, swal swullen, smalz smulzen. In a
single case only does the modern German exhibit a and u
in parallel forms, ich ward and ich wurde wir wurden, M. H.
G. wart wurden. The reason of this exception is not clear.
Class II., sub-class (b), in which the stem-vowel is fol-
lowed either by a liquid or a nasal or the combination of a
stopped consonant with a liquid,

ich nime nam ndmen genomen

wir nemen

ich spriche sprach sprdchen gesprochen

wir sprechen

262 A History of the German Language

To this type a few verbs of the older language conform
whose stem contains no liquid, as fichte gefochten following
flihte geflohten, sleeken gestochen following brechen gebrochen
and sprechen gesprochen. In the N. H. G. the diversity
which formerly existed between the singular and the
plural has been eliminated, so that the older ich sprach,
wir sprechen has become ich sprach, wir sprachen. In a con-
siderable number of verbs even the difference between the
preterit tense and the preterit participle has disappeared,
as may be seen in

ich schere schor schoren geschoren

M. H. G. ich schire schar scharen geschoren

ich pflege pflog pflogen gepflogen

M. H. G. ich pflige' pflac pflagen gepflogen

In the N. H. G. schworen has conformed to the type
scheren and heben to that of pflegen. Both verbs originally
belonged to the type tragen.

ich swere swuor geswaren

ich hebe huop gehaben

The anomalous present tense is due to the fact that their
historical antecedents were swarm and habiu; there was,
therefore, an external correspondence to the present tense
of the i-class. See ante p. 256. We still have in the ad-
jective erhaben an old participle of the erheben, which
was subsequently displaced by the analogical form
erhoben.

Class II., sub-class (c) in which e (i) is followed by a sin-
gle consonant which is neither a liquid nor a nasal, pro-
vided no combination of such a consonant with others
precedes.

Pres. Pret. Sing. Pret. Plur. Pret. Part.
ich gibe gap gaben gegeben

wir geben

The M. H. G. gdp gdben has become gab gaben, but the
L,. G. has in many cases conserved the original quantity.
The verbs bewegen and weben now follow the type of

A History of the German Language 263

pflegen, heben though originally they were inflected like
geben.

ich bewige bewac bewagen bewegen
ich wibe wap waben geweben.

Class III., containing long i in the present tense.
Pres. Pret. Sing. Pret. Plur. Pret. Part.

ich schribe schreip schriben geschriben

The diphthong in the preterit singular of the N. H. G.
has been dropped entirely and its place taken by the vowel
of the preterit plural and the past participle. To this class
belong also the modern verb scheiden which was originally
inflected like the reduplicating verbs, M. H. G. scheide,
schiet, gescheiden. The adjective bescheiden is a remnant of
the older inflection, it being a participle of bescheiden.

Class IV., interchanging iu with ie in the present tense.
Pres. Pret. Sing. Pret. Plur. Pret. Part.

ich fliuge flouc flugen geflogen

i<jir fliegen

The N. H. G. development of this series corresponds
throughout with the preceding except that as in Class II.
(a), the u of the preterit plural does not prevail but appears
as o. To this class belongs also saufen soff, saugen sog,
of which the present tense was different from that of fliuge
in the earliest period of the language, though the other
forms were similar. Closely connected with the variations
produced by means of vowel-gradation, a number of verbs
exhibit a change of consonants due ultimately to a differ-
ence in accent. It has been previously shown, when
speaking of Verner's Law, that the accent determines
whether an Indo-European tenuis shall be represented in
the Germanic by a spirant or a medial mute, — whether h
or g, e. g., should take the place of primitive k, and th or
d that of t. Thus the root ' duk ' (Lat. due) would give in
the O. H. G. the verb ziohan (Eng. tug and tow), in the
M. H. G. ziehen and ich ziuhe, wir zugen, gezogen, N. H. G.
ziehen, zog, gezogen. Similarly snide, sniten, gesniten gives

264 A History of the German Language

schneiden, schnitt, geschmtten. This shift has also been
preserved in the N. H. G. leiden and sieden, where we find
leiden, litt, gelitten and sieden, sott, gesotten, respectively.
In the M. H. G. we likewise find slake, sluogen, geslagen;
but the N. H. G. has assimilated this verb to the type rep-
resented by tragen and formed a new present, schlagen, ich
schlage. The M. H. G. has also ich gedlhe (gedeike), wir
gedigen, gedigen; but the N. H. G. adjective gediegen is the
only part of the verb that has been able to resist the level-
ing process, and we have now only ichgedeihe. In some
of the dialects g has occasionally displaced h and we find
ziege instead of ziehen.

Parallel with the substitution h:g and d:t is that of s:r.
This is shown in the N. H. G. erkiese, erkor, erkoren, and
war, ivaren, gewesen. We find it too in the M. H. G.friuse,
ivirfruren, gefroren^ and verliuse, wir verluren, verloren. With
these examples we may compare the Eng. ' lose ' and ' for-
lorn.' A few other German words still retain the original s.
The tendency of s to become r is seen in other Indo-Euro-
pean languages. In Eng. we have ' I was ' but ' we were ; '
throughout this verb the interchange of s and r is traceable
to the Anglo-Saxon period. Similarly in Latin we have
es, est, esses, esset, but eras, erat, eris, erit. The weak
verbs, likewise, show some instances of interchange be-
tween consonants ; which have, however, no connection
with those just set forth. We find, e. g., bringen, brachte
and denken, dachte in accordance with a phonetic law pre-
viously set forth : viz, that in German only a spirant can
stand before /. The n occurring before the spirant h was
dropped. The M. H. G. exhibits the forms mich diinket,
mich duhte (methinks, methought). Here too there has
been assimilation or leveling. In the first place the um-
laut of the present was carried over to the preterit which
became dduchte. Subsequently a new preterit dilnkte was
created for the present di'mken, and for the preterit dduchte
a new present dducht and even dduchtet. The O. H. G.

A History of the German Language 265

predecessor of diinken is dunchan. and that of denken is
denchan, the two words being represented in A.-S. by
' thencan ' and ' thincan ' respectively. Both have become
blended in the modern English ' to think,' a process that had
already begun in the A.-S. period. A reminiscence of the
original difference is preserved in the archaic ' methinks,'
but ' seem ' has almost entirely usurped its functions.

In German, as in English, a number of verbs have both
the strong and the weak inflection. For example, ich
salze, ich salzte has for its participle gesalzen (not gesalzt).
This mixture does not exist in the earliest stage of the
verbs, and may have been brought about by one of several
causes. Some strong verbs may have followed the anal-
ogy of weak verbs in the imperfect or the participle, or
both. In the M. H. G. we find ich salze, ich sietz,gesalzen,
and instead of the modern ich spalte, ich spaltete, gespallet
or gespalten only ich spalte, ich spielt, gespalten. Fallen and
schaben shared a similar fate, as evidences of which the ad-
jectives gefalten and abgeschaben remain^ The influence
of the strong system of inflection upon the weak is much
more extensive than vice versa, and many verbs originally
weak have become strong. Thus fragte is older than
frug, which has doubtless been influenced by the type
tragen trug, schlagen schlug. Ich steckte is more primitive
than ich stack, which now conforms to the type erschrecken
erschrack. The same is true of ding en gedingt as related
to dang gedungen, which has yielded to the influence of
singen sang or springen sprang. The dialects exhibit
many more examples of transition from weak to the strong
conjugation. A number of older verbs had both strong
and weak inflections, and two or more of these being
often nearly alike in the present, came in the course of time
to be confounded. It occurred quite frequently that a
strong verb with intransitive and a weak verb with transi-
tive signification were developed from the same stem.
The M. H. G. contained two verbs, leschen or erleschen
18

266 A History of the German Language

(to cease to burn) and loschen (to extinguish). Of the
former the imperfect was erlasch, of the latter erlaschte.
But the N. H. G. has made of the one erlische erlosch er-
loschen^ and of the other erloschen erloschte erloscht.
Similar doubles are erschrecken erschrack erschrocken ( be
frightened) and erschrecken erschreckte erschreckt (fright-
en ) and schwellen schwoll geschwollen and schwellen
schwellte geschwellt. The plural number of the present
tense of both verbs, as also the subjunctive together with
the infinitive present, have always the vowel e in the M.
H. G., with this difference, however, that this e in the
strong verbs, which sometimes appears as i, was a broken
vowel, while in the weak it was modified {umgelauiet\
and, therefore, differently pronounced. The older N. H.
G. possessed two imperfects, lud and ladete, that are often
taken to be interchangeable. In this case two verbs have
been confounded which were originally identical neither
in form or meaning. In the O. H. G. hladan hluod
gehladan meant^f load,' and ladon ladota giladot ' invite.'
A singular mixture of strong and weak inflections is ex-
hibited by the auxiliaries ich musz, ich kann, ich darf, tch
mag, ich sol/, ich weisz, though they do not all, strictly
speaking, perform the same office in German as in En-
glish. • It is noticeable, in the first place, that they lack
the endings in the first and third person of the singular of
the present tense which all the other verbs have. This
occurs elsewhere only in the preterit of the strong verbs ;
and this fact furnishes us the key to the solution of the
enigma : these six verbs now used as presents were origi-
nally preterits and are accordingly called preterit-presents.
The loss from disuse of the present tense of verbs and the
substitution of the perfect with a present signification is
met with in both Greek and Latin and in other languages.
E. g. coepi ( I begin ), novi ( I know), odi and 0*180. are verbs
of this type. The German weisz corresponds exactly to
the Greek. Weiss at first, doubtless, meant ' I have seen/

A History of the German Language 267

and is probably referable to a present ich wize of type III.
ante. It is the only remnant of the old preterits of this
ablaut-series since meit, treip, schreib, etc., have been dis-
placed by analogous forms, viz., mied, trieb, schrieb. Ich
musz, M. H. G. muoz, belongs to the type tragen. We are
probably correct in assuming the former existence of pres-
ents kinnan, derfan, megan, skelan, to which the modern
ich kann, darf, mag, soil (O. H. G. skal, A.-S. sceal, Eng.
shall ) are preterits according to our types II. (b) and (c).
When the original signification as a past tense had been
forgotten, from whatever cause, and these forms had come
to be used for present time a new series of imperfects was
formed after the pattern of the weak verbs.

The L. G. gahn and stahn are explained by the long a,
as also the South German goh and stoh. The preterit of
gehen is formed as if from a present gangen (cf. fangen,
fieng], which in fact once existed and is conserved in some
of the dialects, not only of Germany but also of England
and Scotland. The mediaeval preterit of st£n was stuont,
which is likewise referable to a still current dialectic
standen. It followed the type trage, truoc. Ich stund, wir
stunden is occasionally used, but is archaic. It was first
inflected after the type bant bunden and became ich stand
wir stunden; when, subsequently, the plural of this series
was modified to conform to the singular in the preterit ich
stand, wir stunden followed suit and became ich stand wir
standen. On L. G. territory the influence of analogy pro-
duced a different phonetic change : stan stunt became the
pattern after which the imperfects gung and /ting were
formed to gan and fangen. The case of thun, that is some-
what different. The O. H. G. preterit of tuon was teta.
Here te is a reduplication of ta, both the preterit and the
present stem having probably once been identical. The
difference, doubtless, grew out of the fact that in the pret-
erit the stem was unaccented and its vowel accordingly
weakened. The O. H. G. teta appears in M. H. G. as tete,

268 A History of the German Language

which is virtually the that, met with in popular songs and
in the poems of Uhland, a Swabian. The plural of teta
is tafun, a verb-form hard to explain, which became N. H.
G. thaten. The singular number that is a new creation
after the model of the plural. The German verb sein, like
the verb 'to be,' is made up of three different roots or stems.
The first had an initial b which is represented by the Latin
f in ' fui,' ' fore,' ' futurum esse,' that is ich bin du bist,
which is also found in the Eng. ' be ' ' been ' ' being.' The
second is ' es ' and occurs in Lat. ' est ' ' eram ' for ' esam,'
i. e., er tst (he is, etc.). An abbreviated form of this same
root occurs in the subjunctive er set, the indicative sind,
and in the Lat. 'sunt' 'sim.' The third is 'wes,' Eng. 'was,1
' were,' which has no corresponding form in Latin. Here
belongs the M. H. G. preterit ich was, wir waren, the in-
finitive Wesen now used only as a substantive, and the old
participle found in abwesend, anwesend, etc.

It yet remains to consider one point in the structure of
the preterit participle. We find both gezeugt and bezeugt,
er ist alt geworden, but er ist geschlagen warden, how shall
we explain this prefix ge-? The participle had originally
no prefix, as may be seen in the Gothic binda (I bind)
bundans (gebunderi). But the older Germanic possessed a
large number of verbs in pairs formed from the same
stem, one of which had the prefix ge, while the other was
without it. To this class belong bieten and gebieten,
brauchen and gebrauchen, leiten and geletten. The differ-
ence in meaning was hardly more than one of degree, the
prefix serving merely to intensify or to designate the com-
pletion of the action. From the nature of the case the
composite form would be frequently used as a preterite
participle, and the syllable ge- came in the course of time
to be regarded as the essential characteristic of this part
of the verb. A long list of verbs, however, remained free
from this prefix owing to the fact that they were already
provided with an inseparable prefix. The German is nat-

269

urally averse to the use of a second prefix before a word
that is already provided with one, and we could hardly
expect to find gebeleben alongside of beleben, geverstehen
and verstehen, or gezerreiszen and zerreiszen. Plainly,
then, there would be no such participles as gebelebt or ge-
verstanden. But few uncompounded verbs form their par-
ticiple without ge- except warden, which has already been
mentioned. Among these we find rechtschaffen as well as
geschaffen, trunken as well as gelrunken, and also lassen
alongside of gelassen. In these instances the old partici-
ple, owing to the absence of the prefix ge-, is commonly
regarded as an infinitive. In the folk-speech of some
parts of South Germany the omission of ge- is still
common.

WHAT IS ANALOGY IN LANGUAGE ?

Owing to the fact that the law of analogy plays a very
important part in the morphology of all the languages of
the Indo-European stock it may be well to consider this
part of our subject a little more fully. It is a well known
fact that all these languages exhibit the fullest and most
varied vowel system in the oldest specimens that have
been preserved. Ante-classical Latin had a number of
diphthongs that were subsequently fused into single
vowels, and this process went still farther in its deriva-
tives the Romance languages. Modern Greek gives the
same sound to a number of vowels and diphthongs that
were differently pronounced in the ancient Greek, 77, i, v,
«, 01, and vi all being sounded like the long e ( or i as in
machine) in English. The Gothic of which we possess
long specimens by several centuries older than any other
Germanic dialect has a much more fully developed vowel
system than the later German. In short there is a univer-
sal tendency toward simplification, both in vowels and

270 A History of the German Language

consonants. A sound that was frequently used began to
modify others until in the course of time several sounds
were blended into one and the same sound, or a certain
form of the noun or verb was taken as a general type and
all similar words used in the same sense conformed to this
type. In Latin, for example, the nominative plural of
words ended in -ae, or -i, or -es, or -us. But in the French
nearly all plurals end in -s or an s-sound. A large num-
ber of words from the first, second, and fourth declension
of the Latin passed into the French, yet their plurals
nearly all end like the plurals of the third. It is evident
that the plurals of this declension became the type of all
plurals in French and words that originally formed their
plurals differently were made by analogy to conform to it.
The A.-S. had also a number of different endings for the
Nom. Plur. and the Gen. Sing. The former with few ex-
ceptions have become -s or -es and the latter 's which is
our modern English possessive case. 1 In other words, the
prevalent type in the course of time became almost uni-
versal. The Italian for various causes was less simplified
than the French, yet even here some of the Latin plurals
were given up and the ending -e became the general type
for feminine plurals and -i for the masculine. The influ-
ence of analogy may be daily observed in the speech of
children and uneducated persons. At a certain stage in
its mental development the child will form the incorrect
preterit " I thinked '' and the like, because many preterits
are formed in this way and it is misled by analogy. The
incorrect " brung '' is formed after the analogy of ' sing,'
' sung.' For the same reason we hear persons say
" sheeps," " memorandums," " cherubims," because they
have not observed that these and many similar words have
a peculiar plural and they are misled by the general law
of English plurals. It will be readily seen from these few
examples that at a period when languages have not yet
acquired a degree of stableness by being embodied in a

A History of the German Language 271

written literature such changes might in a comparatively
short period of time effect a complete revolution in this
phonetic system.

THE SYNTAX OF THE NEW HIGH GERMAN.

The syntax of a language, except so far as it relates to
the order of words and the arrangement of sentences or
parts of sentences, is, in the last analysis, nothing more
nor less than a department of the general subject of the
meaning of verbal signs, or sematology. What case is to
be used with a preposition depends upon the significance
of the case. Whether I am to use ' in ' with the accusa-
tive in Latin or German, with the dative in German or
the ablative in Latin must be determined by the meaning
I intend to convey to the hearer or reader. Whether the
indicative or the subjunctive mood is to be used in a sub-
ordinate sentence depends upon the difference in meaning
between these two forms of the verb. That the Germans
say etne fromme Frau and not eine frommer Frau is solely
due to the fact that they have from time immemorial been
accustomed to associate the notion of masculinity with the
nominative frommer. The signification of the different
forms of the same word varies according to its endings ;
it would not therefore be much amiss to designate that
part of grammar which is usually called syntax, the doc-
trine of the meaning of the flectional syllables. In this
book we have thus far discussed hardly any changes in the
meaning of words, except those that have taken place in
the radical syllables. But even here we are, at least in part,
within the domain of syntax so far as it concerns those
variations in the signification of words, which take them
out of the class to which they naturally belong in a gram-
matical system. When an adjective is used as a noun, as
when, for example, the word Fiirst, which is simply the
superlative of vor (Eng. fore) and literally means the first

272 A History of the German Language

or foremost, is used to designate a prince, the procedure
is exactly parallel to the use of Korn (corn) to designate a
particular cereal. We do not generally think of a noble-
man as a noble man, nor of a gentleman as a gentle man,
any more than the uneducated German sees any necessary
connection between ein Edelmann and ein edler Mann, yet
we have here the assumption, by a particular class, as a
sort of mental escutcheon, of an attribute that is equally
applicable to some men in all classes. The indefinite man
is no more nor less than a faded and generalized Mann,
just as the French 'on ' is a remnant of the Latin ' homo :'
both are used in the same sense. Here we have a process
analogous to that through which schetnen passed ; for
while it is cognate with ' shine ' and meant originally to
emit rays of light it is now frequently used in the sense
of ' seem.'

THE PARTS OF SPEECH.

All the primitive words in a language are divisible into
four classes and four only: nouns and adjectives, numer-
als, verbs, and pronouns. Our present knowledge does
not justify a further reduction, though it is maintained by
some writers on language that all parts of speech were
originally derived from two — the verb and the pronoun.
Nouns, or substantives, and adjectives form but one class ;
for at first every noun designated but a single quality of
an object. New nouns are still frequently formed from
adjectives. The converse process, that is, the formation of
adjectives from substantives, is of much rarer occurrence.
The substantival origin is plainly recognizable in the few
examples found in the N. H. G — fetnd, noth, schade,
schuld — from the fact that they can not be used attribu-
tively and do not admit of comparison. There seems to
have been no transition from the verbal class into any of

'

A History of the German Language 273

the other three classes, nor vice versa. It is probable,
however, that a few pronouns are derived from other parts
of speech ; man has already been cited ; jemand and
niemand are compounds of the adverbs/^ and nie with the
same word. Jeghcher is a combination of je and the ad-
jective gleich. In the earlier N. H. G. the adverb so is
often used as a relative pronoun. Not all pronouns proper
are equally primitive : welcher, wer, and was have an in-
definite as well as an interrogative meaning, and are equiv-
alent to etwelcher, etwas. Both the Greek ns and the
Latin ' quis,' as well as the English ' who ' can be used in
either sense. There are reasons for believing that these
words acquired an interrogative signification sometime
after they had been otherwise used. If we address a per-
son with du suchsl etwas (lit. thou seekest something), we
plainly indicate to him that we should like to be informed
as to the object of his search ; and we use an interrogative
sentence. Neither are relative pronouns traceable to the
roots of languages. In the ordinary speech of every-day
life comparatively few subordinate sentences are used ; the
information to be communicated is conveyed to the hearer
in a succession of independent, co-ordinate sentences.
This is a characteristic of speech in its most primitive
stage, and it is safe to assume that all words now used to
connect sentences were originally employed for a different
purpose. The relative pronoun der, die, das, was at first
purely demonstrative. Such a sentence as " es zvar der,
der gepredigt hat " was in O. H. G. iz was, der bredigota,
and in a still earlier stage of the language it must have
been es war der — er hat gepredigt. In that stage of the
language when the pronoun was not regarded as a neces-
sary accompanist of the verb we would have had, das war
der — hat gebredigt, iz was der — bredigota, for the pro-
noun must have been placed originally at the end of the
first and not at the beginning of the second sentence.
Subsequently, when it had become necessary to express

274 A History of the German Language

the subject of the verb, it looked as if der belonged to the
following verb. A sentence like das tst der Mensch, der
mich geschlagen hat, must at one stage of the language
have been used in the form, das ist der Mensch, der hat
mich geschlagen. In Eng. this would be equivalent to ' this
is the person, this one has beaten me.' Here, it is plain, the
relative pronoun belonged in the first instance to the sen-
tence in which we now find it, and we have accordingly to
assume two points of origin for the relative der. In a some-
what different way the relative pronouns wer, was and
welcher have been developed from the interrogative pro-
nouns during the N. H. G. period.

The adverbs are, in so far as they can be traced to their
source, for the most part fossilized or stereotyped case-
forms, and in many instances they have conserved such
significations as no longer attach to these cases in the
nouns and pronouns as at present employed. There is a
concealed genitive of way and manner in einst ; in the M.
H. G. it is ernes, the regular genitive of ein. Plugs
( quick ) is properly fluges, im Fluge ; mittelst takes the
place of mittels, and is, therefore, the genitive of Mittel.
The form of the dative plural is latent in allenthalben i. e.
allenhalben, the substantive portion of this compound be-
ing the O. H. G. halba, die Seite (side), and occurs in the
Eng. be-half. Weiland is traceable to the older form
wilen, the Dat. Plur. of wile (time), and is the same word
as the Eng. while (a little while, -between whiles), of
which the older authors have the dative whilom, whilome,
with the exact meaning of weiland. We have in ' whilst '
the excrescent / found in mittelst, allen-t-halben, etc. Je
and me are concealed accusatives, the O. H. G. forms be-
ing io and nio from ni-io, of which 10 (older eo) corre-
sponds to a Gothic aiw, the Ace. Sing, of aiws (time,
Eng. aye). Compare the Gr. dtw v and Lat. aevum. The
German nicht, O. H. G. mowiht, is compounded of nio and
the accusative (or nominative) wiht (Eng. wight). A

A Ifistory of the German Language 275

trace of the substantival character of mht is preserved in
the phrase, hier ist seines Bleibens mcht, in which Bletbens
is an old partitive genitive. The history of ' naught' has
several points in common with that of nicht ; its older
form is ' nawiht,' i. e., no whit, no thing. It is still
further contracted in ' not,' the o of which has led to the
spelling ' nought.'

Closely counected with the adverbs are the prepositions ;
and it is probably true that " all prepositions were origi-
nally adverbs." The German, like the English, has a
long list of words that belong to both of these parts of
speech : for example, durch, hindurch, durchgegangen;
um, darum, umgef alien ; wider, dawider, widerreden, etc.
If we trace backward the course of development of these
words we find that the adverbial signification is always
the most primitive. In the earliest periods of the Indo-
European languages there was no need of prepositions :
the case-endings were in themselves sufficient to indicate
the different relations in which words were used. A
transition stage between adverb and preposition is pre-
served is such expressions as den Tag itber, die Nacht
durch. The current forms of many prepositions still bear
evident traces of their origin in other forms of speech.
The preposition zu was in the ninth century used exclu-
sively as an adverb. Kraft, laut, wegen and others have
developed their adverbial uses since the M. H. G. period,
the starting point being such datives as tn Kraft, nach
Laut, von — Wegen, the last being the dative plural of der
Weg. On the other hand, many prepositions have, in
combination with certain case-forms, aided to form ad-
verbs. Entlang, entzwei were originally in lang, in zwei;
neben is in eben; iiberall is equivalent to iiber Alles, and
sintemal takes us back to stnt dent mat, i. e., sett dem Mai,
seit der Zeit.

The introduction of the class of words now known as
conjunctions was likewise a gradual process ; in the earli-

276 A History of the German Language

est stage of the language no need of them was felt. Even
at the present day the illiterate have comparatively little
use for this part of speech. The same may be said of
poetry and of language intended to produce lively emo-
tion, which is by a sort of atavism a partial recurrence to
the primitive type of speech. The modern German Sie
stand und weinte could be expressed in O. H. G. stuont,
weinota. Caesar's famous " veni, vidi, vici " is a good ex-
ample of the effect produced by a series of sentences
uttered in rapid succession without connecting words.

Those conjunctions that stand at the head of subordi-
nate sentences have been developed from pronouns or ad-
verbs. Their office is either to introduce the sentence
which is to follow or refer back to a preceding sentence.
Many* conjunctions perform both of these functions. So is
a word of this class. When we say, "So ist die Sache vor
sich gegangen " we may intend to speak of an occurrence
yet to be related or of one that has already been told.
The pronouns der, dieser and jener have, likewise, this
character. Their original use was to designate objects to
which attention could be called by a gesture ; now they
are often employed to refer mentally either to what pre-
cedes or to what follows. Some particles point both for-
wards and backwards at the same time ; for example,
those that imply concession or contradiction or limitation.
All these are words that in the first place conveyed the
idea of acquiescence or solemn assurance, such as gewisz,
allerdings,ja, wohl, freilich, ja freihch and zwar, M. H. G.
ze ware, i. e., in Wahrheit. Entweder and weder refer
only to what follows : the former is developed from ein
weder, ' one of two.' If we say, "er wollte entweder siegen
oder sterben" we imply a choice between victory or death.
Weder is referable to ne-weder: " weder heisz noch kalt"
originally signified ' neither of the two, hot or cold.' The
third personal pronoun, er, sie, es, refers exclusively to
what has gone before; in German its office is always

A History of the German Language 277

conjunctive except when it takes the place and performs
the functions of the first and second personal pronoun.
Aber and sondern also point in the same direction. The
former originally meant nochmals. It often occurs when
one person repeats the act of another or when he speaks
after another has spoken, that he is moved by the spirit
of opposition. This idea is prominent in a number of
words and phrases ; entgegnen (go against or toward) is
equivalent to antworten ; Wortwechsel (exchange of words)
is simply Zank. Similarly, we sometimes hear the re-
mark in English, " I do not wish to have any words with
you," meaning, " I do not wish to quarrel with you," while
altercate and altercation differ little etymologically from
alternate and alternation. Sondern is plainly related to
besonders and signifies ausgenommen, which is precisely
' excepted,' i. e., except. It is probable that these words
did not originally indicate opposition or contradiction in
its full sense, but rather a denial of the general validity of
a judgment, while admitting its applicability to certain
cases: nur das ist richtig (only this is correct) and das aber
istrichtig (but this is correct) mean about the same thing.
It is, accordingly, from words of this class that the great
majority of subordinate conjunctions has been gradually
evolved. If we trace dasz to its origin we shall find that
it primarily belongs, not to the subordinate sentence which
it introduces but to the principal sentence to which it is
attached. Ich weisz dasz er lebt really means Ich weisz
dasz : er lebt. Putting this into English, ' I know that he
lives ' is equivalent to ' I know that : he lives ;' so the fact
above given is equally true of both languages. The con-
junction ehe was originally used as a reflexive adverb in
subordinate clauses, at least when it follows a negative
clause. Ich kehre ntcht heim ehe ich ihn finde points to an
earlier stage of the language when this expression meant,
ich kehre mcht heim: ehe (yorher] finde ich ihn (lit. I return
not : ere I shall find him). The situation is somewhat difier-

278 A History of the German Language

ent in the case of an affirmative sentence. In the older lan-
guage it was followed by a subordinate clause having its
verb in the subjunctive. Christ's address to Peter is du
lougenst niin, e danne der han kraeje (du verleugnest mich,
ehe dann, etc.). Subordinating one sentence to the other
we should probably have du verleugnest mich vorher, dann
wird (or dann mag) der Hahn krdhen. We have already
called attention to the fact that it is reasonable to assume
a twofold origin for the relative pronoun der. The trans-
formation of independent sentences into subordinate ones
will be more readily understood if we bear in mind that
the order of words now characteristic of the latter was, at
one time, also admissible in the former. The develop-
ment of certain conjunctions can not be comprehended if
we start from sentences consisting of two members ; they
must have required three or more. "Da Herodes sah, dasz
er betrogen war, ward er zornig," (Matt, ii., 16) would
have been stated co-ordinately, da sah Herodes, dasz er
belrogen war; er ward zornig, in which case da at the
beginning pointed to what had just previously been re-
lated. The causal nun may be similarly explained. Nun
dem so ist, so wollen wir, must have originally been nun ist
dem so, so wollen wir ; in which case nun must have been
preceded by another sentence. A similar origin must be
assigned to sett, indent, nachdem, the last two having been
evolved so recently as the N. H. G. period.

There is, nevertheless, a class of conjunctions now used
to introduce subordinate sentences that were never used
with such as were co-ordinate. In fact they can hardly be
called conjunctions at all and perform the office of connec-
tives owing to the somewhat fortuitous circumstance that
they were used to introduce sentences that were afterward
relegated to a subordinate relation. Here belong pri-
marily the pronouns employed to introduce subordinate
clauses. Er fragt was vorgeht has grown out of er fragt:
was geht vor. The conjunction ob (Eng. ef, if) was em-

A History of the German Language 279

ployed in the older German, not only to introduce an in-
terrogative clause, but also in the sense of wenn. Both
meanings have been developed from the same primary
concept : ob was, probably, in the first place an adverb
with the sense of vielleicht, etwa. Wenn du Gott bist, so
sage es uns ( M. H. G. obe du got bist) is substantially
equivalent to vielleicht bist du Gott ; so sage es uns, which
in turn does not differ much from, sage uns, ob du Gott bist
( tell us if thou art God ). On the other hand ob in the
compounds obgleich, obschon, obwohl do not refer directly to
the meaning of the adverb, but their concessive significa-
tion has been gradually evolved out of the conditional. A
similar course of development can be traced in auch wenn,
wenn auch, wenn gleich and wenn schon. The conjunction
geschwetge dasz is unique. Geschweige is, in the first in-
stance, an entire sentence represented by the first person
singular of the obsolete verb geschweigen and ich schweige
davon, dasz, etc. (lit. I am silent thereof that). In like
manner we hear the colloquial " let alone '' used, as, " I
am not able to keep myself, let alone pay my debts."

The latest of all the parts of speech to develop its cur-
rent use was the article. During the Indo-Eur. period it
had no existence ; nor is it found in the Latin, or the
older Greek, or the Anglo-Saxon. The Gothic has a defi-
nite but no indefinite article, or rather, the demonstrative
pronoun is often used as a definite article ; and we see
here as in the Greek the intimate relation between the
two classes of words. The O. H. G. uses the indefinite ar-
ticle, but it does not occur earlier. Det Mann was at first
equivalent to jener Mann ( iste homo ) who was either
spoken of before or who is soon to be mentioned. Grad-
ually it came to be used to designate some object well
known to the hearer or reader. The indefinite article is
no more and no less than the numeral ein and does not
differ much from it in usage. There is one sense, how-
ever, in which the article came, in the course of time, to

280 -A History of the German Language

be employed which it did not have originally, and that is
as a disjunction, if it be admissible to coin a word upon
the model of conjunction and meaning its opposite. It
often indicates that the object to which it relates has no
connection with what has just preceded.

Grammarians usually place the interjection last on the
list of the parts of speech. They are, in fact, not so much
single words as entire sentences. Au! means 'you hurt
me' and ah! is equivalent to ' how fine that is.' Interjec-
tions are, accordingly, to be regarded as on a par with cer-
tain important words which are often taken out of a sen-
tence to represent the whole sentence. This is done
when the remainder may easily be supplied. Endlich,
still, traun (M. H. G. triuwen, in treuen, in Wahrheit) , ja and
nein are of this kind, fa (Eng. yea) probably meant at
first nothing more than das (ist so), just like the Proven£al
oc, an abbreviation of the Latin hoc, which is used in the
same way. Nein is equal to ni ein (not one), a compound
the first part of which is widely represented in the Indo-
Eur. languages with substantially the same meaning it
has in German.

THE NOUN.

The Indo-European language had the four cases which
at present belong to the German, but in addition to these
a vocative and ablative, still existing in the Latin, a loca-
tive and an instrumental. The two last disappeared dur-
ing the primitive Teutonic stage and the remaining cases
assumed their functions. The instrumental, though not
found in the Gothic, has left some traces in the singular
number of the West Germanic dialects. When this case
also disappeared the remainder had to bear an additional
burden. Of these, however, none were put on the accus-
ative ; the genitive may have received a small portion of
the ablative ; but the dative became a sort of huge reser-
voir in which a great variety of meanings collected. An

A History of the German Language 281

original dative exists in " einem etwas geben;" it has taken
the place of an earlier ablative after the prepositions aus
and von; that of the locative in connection with auf and
bet, and that of the instrumental, which was originally
used with mit. But while the functions of some of the
cases were enlarged in one direction they were curtailed in
another. The greatest vicissitudes befell the dative and
accusative. By means of the dative it was possible dur-
ing the Indo-European stage to express various local rela-
tions without other auxiliary words. But as the several
relations indicated by the cases became more numerous,
and therefore more liable to confusion, it was found nec-
essary to employ local adverbs in connection with them in
order to mark their significance more sharply ; and these
adverbs in the course of time became prepositions. In
the oldest accessible records of the German language this
process was nearly completed, the instrumental being
virtually the only case that could be used without the aid
of a preposition. We find, for example, in the Heliand
(see p. 250) the phrases frostu bifangen (with frost encircled),
and thurstu endi hungru bithwungen (with thirst and hunger
overcome). The accusative occasionally serves a similar
purpose. We find so late as the M. H. G. er fuor wald
unde here (fared through forest and mountain). So far as
we are able to follow the phenomenon in existing records,
it is chiefly the genitive that has suffered curtailment of
its functions. The genitive of way and manner fell into
desuetude and left only a few traces in certain adverbial
phrases that have already been spoken of. While in
Luther's time it was still correct to say " gebet dem Kaiser
was des Kaiser s tst, und Gott was Gottes ist " (Matt, xxii., 21),
we should now have to render the same passage with was
dem Kaiser, was Gott zukommt, gehort; but the older phras-
eology is preserved in such expressions as *' sind Sie des
Teufels?" Another remnant of an earlier stage of the lan-
guage is conserved in "sick Rats erholen," and in poetry
19

282 A History of the German Language

this construction is still now and then found, as, ' 'es schenkte
der Bohme des perlenden Wezns," where the genitive is used
partitively. We recognize an archaic coloring in the use
of the genitive after ermangeln (lack), erwahncn (mention),
geniessen (partake of, enjoy), instead of the accusative. In
current usage the German says ein Glass Wasscr, ein Stuck
Brod (or Brot], but the M. H. G., almost like the Eng of
to-day, has ein glas wassers. ein stuck brotes (a piece of bread,
though we cannot say a piece bread's). The older Eng. is
like the N. H. G. and we find in Chaucer, " Gif us a
busshel whet, or malt, or reye." In both these cases the
syntactic transition may be traced to a well marked cause,
as has already, in part, been explained. The modern pro-
noun es was once ez. Its genitive was es, so that ich bin cs
Salt, es miide (tired of it) corresponded exactly to the cur-
rent Eng. usage. In like manner etw as gutes, nichts gutes^
represent a genitive construction, the M. H. G. being
etewaz guoles. niht schoenes, the nominative being guotez and
schoenez. Toward the close of this period the two sounds
s and z coalesced in pronunciation. The genitive and ac-
cusative cases looked and sounded alike, besides being
identical with the nominative which led to their ultimately
being regarded as one. There were other circumstances
under which the genitive could not be distinguished in
form from the nominative and accusative. It thus came
about that such formulas as es genieszen, where the verb
seemed to require an accusative after it, were taken as
models for das Gluck genieszen, while etwas Brod, ein Stuck
Brod followed etwas gutes.

The genitive has almost disappeared from the modern
German dialects. The most important remnant is pre-
served in the apparent plurals occurring in such expres-
sions as Pfarrers or 's Pfarrers, Miilltrs or 's Mutters,
meaning the family of the pastor, the miller or Miiller.
In Eng. we likewise use proper names in the possessive
case, the word ' house ' or ' residence ' being understood.

A History of the German Language 283

Here belong also the apparent adjectives in such phrases
as Easier Leckerli, Munchner Kindl, Wiener Wiirste. These
are old personal genitives plural, and the above named
objects are in reality die Leckerli ( dainties ) der Easier, das
Kindl der Munchener, die Wiirste der Wiener.

These combinations take us back to a time when it was
admissible to place a word in the genitive case without
the article before the substantive which it limited. The
place of this Gen. has in most cases been taken by the
Dat. with the preposition von. This circumlocution, ex-
examples of which occur as early as the O. H. G., proba-
bly has its origin in the partitive genitive. Er izzet des
brotes and er izzet von dem brote differ but slightly, if at all.
After usage had come to regard the expressions as equiva-
lent the latter not only gradually displaced the former, but
the ablative mode came into vogue even where no action
was implied, as in the examples cited at the beginning of
this paragraph. The general tendency of all languages
toward the analytic construction may also have had its in-
fluence. The genitive was further displaced by a kind of
possessive dative like meinem Vater sein Haus, which
hardly differs from the English, " B. D. his book." This
is a genuine old dative, and it was originally placed close
to the verb, not the noun. Instead of "meines Vaters Haus
hat er gekauft" it is proper to say " meinem Vater hat er sein
Haus abgekauft" or with a change in the order of words,
" er hat meinem Vater sein Haus abgekauft^ in which case
the dative stands in close relation to the following sub-
stantive, because the collocation " meines Vaters Haus " is
in the mind of the speaker before he begins the sentence.
After the same model, then, such expressions as " er hat
meinem Vater sein Haus gekauftr were formed, where the
dative has no longer any relation to the verb.

Within the territory of the L. G. dialects there is evi-
dent a slight tendency to displace the dative and put in
its place the accusative with an. This is common in the

284 A History of the German Language

Dutch, and regular in the Romance languages, where the
case-endings of the noun have all been lost and their
place taken by a modification of the Latin ' ad.'

If we regard the endings of the noun with reference
to their case meanings there is no difference between the
substantive and the adjective. In the latter, however, not
only do the different endings correspond to the different
cases, but they also indicate certain special shades of dif-
ference in signification which are foreign to the noun.
The terminations of the adjective are divided into two
classes which, like those of the noun, are designated as
strong and weak respectively : besides which they are also
used without inflection. The weak endings have a defi-
nite signification — in other words they assign the quality
or property which they imply, to a definite object ; they
are accordingly preceded by the definite article or some
related pronoun. The strong endings, on the other hand,
designate qualities appertaining to an object which is not
definitely limited, and they are, therefore, used with the
indefinite article or some similar word. Guter Wein (good
wine), means wine possessing a certain quality, but leaves
it unlimited in every other way. "Du liast den guten Wan
bisher behalten," makes the quality or property of the wine
prominent in contrast with other wine then and there
present. The uninflected form is neuter and can be used
in either sense. At present it is only used as a predicate.
But this has not always been the case, and there was a
stage of the German language when the uninflected ad-
jective might be employed attributively : it could be placed
after the noun as is still done in archaisms like Roslein
rot, or between the article and the substantive, as ein guot
kind, ein wilt swln. This fact will explain why the Ger-
man language contains so many composites of which the
first member is an adjective, such as Gelbsc/mabel, Griin-
specht, Rundkopf, etc. Conversely, the strong form of de-
clension was also used in the predicate during the O. H.

A History of the German Language 285

G.. period, as das glas ist voiles, (das Glas ist volt), and as an
attributive when it followed the noun : ein Glas voll Was-
ser might be put ein glas voiles wazzers in the M. H. G.
This condition of things seems to explain the singular M.
H. G. phrase, eine schiissel voller kirschen, and the like.
Here voller is the original nominative of the masculine sin-
gular, so that it would have been quite correct to say ein
tisck voller kirschen (plenus cerisiaram). When this postpo-
sition was no longer admissible, the idea began to prevail
that such words as voller -in combinations of this kind were
genitives and they are accordingly at present used after
substantives of all genders, and in both the singular and
the plural. The same fate befell the old nomitives halber
and selber, both of which are now employed adverbially in
nearly all cases.

THE VEKB.

When we come to a study of the forms of the verb we
find the most important to be those which designate the
time and mode of action or being. We discover here the
same phenomena to which we called attention in the dis-
cussion of the noun : expansion and contraction of mean-
ing go hand in hand in the two parts of speech. The
Indo-European tongue had not less than four or five differ-
ent tense-forms, present, future (or imperfect), aorist, and
perfect. The German, however, has and always had but
two tenses to represent the variety exhibited in the parent
speech, the present and the preterit. In its earliest stage
the present united the significations of the present and
the future ; though it could not, as is now the case, be
employed in historical narration. As early as the O. H.
G. period the need began to be felt of some method by
which the future could be more distinctly marked. The
verb sollen in connection with the infinitive was accord-
ingly employed for this purpose : ich seal lesen being equiv-
alent to ich werde lesen. This mode of indicating futurity

286 A History of the German Language

is still used in the English which has retained it from
Anglo-Saxon times where zc sceal Jesen is the exact formal
equivalent of 'I shall read.' An event that was about to
happen was designated by a mode of speech that indicated
its desirability ; as a rule the cause was put for the antici-
pated effect. At the close of the M. H. G. period there
came into use another circumlocution that, to some extent,
embodies the element of futurity, that is, werden was used
in connection with the participle. It was just as proper to
say er wirt sehende as er wirtalt. Hence arose the modern
mode of speech. But it did not grow out of abscission of
the participial ending, for other conditions had led to the
belief that the participial and the infinitive could properly
be employed, one for the other. There is hardly a dis-
tinguishable difference between er gat suochende m er kumt
bitende and er gat suochen or er kumt biten (he goes, comes
to seek, in order to seek, for the purpose of seeking).
When the present tense, after passing through this course
of development, had come to be somewhat familiarly em-
ployed to designate futurity, it was easy to extend its newly
gained elasticity still further and use it in reference to past
events. We, accordingly, find it in the service of histor-
ical narration from the fifth century onward, when the
writer's object is to bring an occurrence before the mind
of the hearer with the greatest possible vividness. And
it may be remarked that the German shares this use of
the present in common with most other cultivated lan-
guages. The preterit, which in respect of form, corre-
sponded to the Indo-European perfect, represented in the
earliest stage the imperfect, the aorist and the perfect of
the Indo-European. But ever since the earliest period it
began to lose the signification which it had originally, and
combinations of sein and haben with the preterit participle
are used to designate the present perfect, i. e., the comple-
tion of an action. The circumlocution with sein is entirely
clear : ich bin gekommen (I am come) is equivalent to ich

A History of the German Language 287

bin ein gekommener (I am one who has come). That with
haben, as we find it to-day, is not in all cases equally prim-
itive. At first haben could only be used with verbs that
might be put in the passive voice. Er hat ihn gefunden
meant er hat ihn, besitzt ihn als ein gefundener (he has him,
possesses him as one who has been found) — the reason of
the possession being generally an antecedent act of finding.
It thus came about that er hat gefunden might be regarded
as substantially equivalent to erfand and upon this model
might be framed er hat geschlafen like erschlief. Modern
German dialects have still further limited the use of the
preterit : in all those belonging to South Germany it is
found only in the subjunctive mood. In the indicative
the compound forms with sein and haben are exclusively em-
ployed. Accordingly, the illiterate do not say ich ging\>\&
tch bin gegangen, nor ich asz but ich habe gegessen. The be-
ginning of this usage is about coeval with that of the his-
torical present and must be assigned to the second half of
the fifteenth century. So far as the use of the different
tense-forms is concerned it makes no difference whether
the verb is in the principal or the subordinate clause. But
the case is different when we come to consider the moods
of the verbs as they are at present employed. It will be
remembered that the subordination of one sentence to
another is, in a sense, a modern innovation and that in
the primitive state of language co-ordination alone pre-
vailed. It would accordingly be supposed that the signifi-
cation of a mood would be the same in either the princi-
pal or the subordinate clause. The facts are, however*
against this theory. In the first place, certain usages that
prevailed in independent sentences have passed out of
currency in dependent sentences ; and in the second, we
find that now, as always, a certain mood may be used in a
dependent sentence where it was never employed in inde-
pendent sentences. It is probably owing to the force of

288 A History of the German Language

analogy that the subjunctive was sometimes used as a sign
of formal dependence in cases where the intent of the
sentence intrinsically required the indicative. Strictly
speaking, the German language has but two moods, the
indicative and the subjunctive ; for the imperative ought
properly to be classed with interjections while the infini-
tive and the participle are nouns. (See, for a full treatment
of this part of Grammar, Jolly, Gesch. des Infinitivs).
The subjunctive corresponds formally to the Greek opta-
tive : er grabe is grabai in Gothic, and ypd<J>oi in Greek ; but
it embraces in its application both the Greek subjunctive
and optative. As, however, the Indo-European optative
had two different significations, one of wishing and one of
supposition or expectation, the German subjunctive may
properly be said to have three. The optative of wishing,
however, corresponds very nearly to the hortative subjunc-
tive and may be regarded as one with it, more especially
as in German a well defined line of separation between
the two can not be drawn. Over against this we may
place as distinctly marked the optative of supposition.
The hortatory subjunctive and the subjunctive of wishing
may stand either in dependent or independent sentences :
er gehe (let him go), gebe Gott (God grant), kdme er dock (O
that he would come). Its most frequent use is with verbs
of wishing and commanding, ich befehle, dasz ergehe. Its
use in such cases was originally imperative without excep-
tion. Now, however, the indicative is frequently used,
especially in the present tense, ich iviinsche, dasz er geht;
ich wiinschte, dasz et ginge. We see here the influence of
analogy as exhibited in such constructions as ich hore, sehe,
weisz, dasz er kommt. We have shown how combinations
like ich wiinsche, dasz er gehe, where one sentence is sub-
ordinated to the other, have been developed from two sen-
tences that were originally co-ordinate : i. e., from ich
wiinsche das — er gehe (I wish that — what? he would go).
Again, those forms of construction that are without the

A History of the German Language 289

conjunction may be traced to the subjunctive of wishing
or exhortation. Kdme er, er ware willkommen points to an
earlier combination, kdme er (doc/i): er ware willkommen
(would he but come, he would be welcome). We have
also seen that conditioiiaj sentences are nearly related to
concessive as, sei dem auch so, icJi bleibe dabei, an expression
that might be divided into, sei dem auch so, ich bleibe dabci
(even if that be so, I stick to my statement). A remark-
able fact is thrust under our notice in the study of these
examples, viz., the slight difference existing between the
meaning of the subjunctive present and the subjunctive
past. One would naturally expect to find, in the first case,
some distinct reference to the present, and in the second,
to the past. But it seems probable that neither in the
Indo-European, nor in the Germanic was such a distinc-
tion of time made, between the present subjunctive (or
optative) and the perfect. The presumptive signification
of the potential optative is clearly seen in hypothetical
sentences. Here we find regularly the subjunctive preterit
with distinct reference to present time, not only in the
principal, but also in the subordinate sentence, as, ich
konnte es thnn; ich weisz, dasz er es thun konnte. Curiously
enough we find the hypothetical subjunctive also used oc-
casionally in sentences that contain no element of the con-
ditional. For example, the German will say, upon arriv-
ing at a certain place, "da wdren wir" In such cases the
underlying thought seems to be, "da sind wir ; es ware
schon, wenn wir schon weiter wdren ;" nevertheless it must
be confessed that this explanation is not entirely satisfac-
tory. The sentence in its entirety being in the mind of
the speaker or writer before he begins to express it, the
conditional part presses forward, as we may say, for utter-
ance, thus making its impress on the strictly affirmative
portion. We may notice a similar phenomenon in such
English expressions as " I don't think he will do it ; He
is not expected to live," where the thought plainly is, I
think he will not do it ; He is expected not to live.

290 A History of the German Language

The potential subjunctive in the present tense is now
employed only in conditional expressions — in dependent
affirmative and interrogative sentences. Er glaubt dass es
heisz set; er fragt ob es heisz sei may be traced to, er glaubt,
es sei wohl heisz ; er fragt — ist es vielleicht heisz f In the old-
est German er sei might be used in independent sentences
with the meaning, er ist wohl (he probably is). We, how-
ever, find the subjunctive of the present tense used indis-
criminately with that of the preterit without difference of
meaning. In the High German, the subjunctive of the
present is on the whole to be preferred : though that of
the preterit is always to be preferred where the present
subjunctive is not plainly to be distinguished from the in-
dicative, as is the case in all the forms of the plural. We
accordingly find er sagt or sagte, sie hdtten das Fieber, but
er habe das Fieber, more rarely er hdtte das Fteber. This
variation is not found in the dialects, the Low and
Middle German, as well as the Franconian and the
Austrian using the preterit subjunctive ; the Alemanian
and the Bavarian, the present. Both the variations in
High German and the more consistent usage of the dia-
lects are to be traced to an older invariable rule, the so-
called CONSECUTIO TEMPORUM which we still find in the
Latin : when the principal sentence is in the present tense
the subordinate sentence should be in the same tense,
but if the principal sentence is in the preterit the
subordinate sentence should be in the same — er waenet,
ez si, but, er wante, ez waere (putat sit, putavit esset). In
order to fully comprehend this rule one should keep in
mind the origin of independent sentences in general.
What is called ORATIO OBUQUA has no existence in popu-
lar speech. The unlettered rustic relates an occurrence
reported to him by another as if it were matter of his own
observation. And this is true not only of the German but
probably of all languages. When Paris is represented in
the Iliad as declaring his willingness to restore all the

A History of the German Language 291

treasures which he carried away from Argos, the message
which announces this to the Achseans reads : " Priam
directs me to announce to you the decision of Paris ; he
will restore everything that he has brought with him from
Argos.'' If we take a sentence like the following: er
bringt Botschaft, der Kaiser set tot, in M. H. G. it would
read, er bringet maere, daz der keiser tot si. Translated
into more primitive German we should have, er bringt
Botschaft; der Kaiser ist tot, putting the whole into past
time, er brahte maere, er waere tot (er brachte Botschaft;
der Kaiser war tot}. When, then, the content of the
message was expressed in suppositional form, the poten-
tial optative took the place of the indicative present, which
as we have seen might be used in independent sentences.
After the pattern er bringet maere, er s~i tot, the subjunc-
tive would naturally, in the course of time, assume the
notion of past time and er brahte maere, er was tot would
become er brahte maere, er waere tot. Such being evi-
dently the origin of dependent sentences we. are also fur-
nished with an explanation of the somewhat peculiar
shifting of the person as exhibited in the pronouns of
these sentences. Take, e. g., the statement er wuszte, ich
bin krank, which becomes er wuszte, er waere krank and
this in turn may be traced to er wuszte es, er war krank.
This fact may even be stated, er war krank; er wuszte es.
The old German rule for the sequence of tenses was in
vogue until the fifteenth century. The irregularity in its
use was caused by the historical present which came into
currency about the same time. Viewed externally, the
present must needs be here employed, but intrinsically the
preterit alone was correct. Though originating with the
historical present this variation in usage gradually passed
over to the ordinary present and from this again to the
historical preterit.

292 A History of the German Language

PROPER NAMES.

From the stand-point of pure theory the subject of
proper names has no claim to a separate chapter in the
history of a language. Every proper noun was once a
common substantive or adjective, and subject to the same
laws of formation and change with these. Underlying
the roots to which every word in the Indo-European lan-
guage can be traced are general concepts of which they
are the visible expression. By combination and by
means of various relational suffixes these roots have
undergone a continual limitation of meaning, and this
process is still in operation. While the number of gen-
eral ideas which the human mind is capable of conceiving
has increased little, if it all, since the earliest period of
language the number of words is increasing rapidly. It
is evident, therefore, each new word has a more limited
and therefore a more definite meaning than any that
existed before. It is estimated by competent authorities
that the half a million names found on the map of Ger-
many have been formed from about 500 roots by combina-
tions in various ways. The common noun in its transition
to a proper noun simply undergoes a restrictive process
like that explained on p. 1 56. But in the practical appli-
cation of these principles there are, however, certain
peculiarities that are more or less inherent in the nature
of proper names and which entitle them to be considered
as a special part of our subject.

NAMES OF PERSONS.

The modern custom of giving each person at least two
names, or rather of assigning to him a name in addition to
that which he gets by inheritance, is relatively recent.
The ancient Germans, as a rule, had but a single name ;
and this was somewhat peculiarly constituted in that it
was always a compound of two parts. This custom pre-

A History of the German Language 293

vailed among the ancient Greeks and may be safely as-
sumed to have originated during the Indo-European
period. Those qualities that were considered desirable in
a man or that graced a woman were given to the child
shortly after birth as a sort of amulet which it was to
wear through after life. Thus Albert or Albrecht, in its
O. H. G. form Adalbrecht, is, he who is conspicuous for
nobility ; Gerbert, designates one who is brilliant with the
spear ; Eckehart, him who is hard with the edge of the
sword, ecke meaning edge or sword. Friedrich means one
who is powerful in peace or in making peace ; Gottschalk,
God's knight or servant, and Notburga is the citadel, the
protection in time of need. We have here an expression
of the aspiration of parents and friends similar to that re-
corded in the earlier Old Testament names ; as when, for
instance, Jacob changed the name of his latest born,
called by his dying mother Ben-oni (son of my sorrow), to
Benjamin (son of my right hand). The names of Abram,
Sarai and Jacob are also exchanged for or transformed into
such as were of better omen. For we find the belief
widely prevalent in ancient times that the name borne by
an individual had more or less influence upon his subse-
quent destiny, a belief that the Romans embodied the
alliterative phrase " bonum nomen, bonum omen."

A certain class of persons profess to experience great
delight in discovering the vigor and poetic ring concealed
in many of the old German names. Yet it is doubtful
whether the Germans themselves were in any consider-
able number of instances conscious of the poetry in their
names — in fact it is well nigh certain that such could not
have been the case. Generally the words that became
component parts of names had already gone out of use in
current speech and could therefore have no significance
for the nomenclator. What was the meaning of the first
part of Ingeborg or of Ingraban was as much of a mys-
tery to the Germans of historic times as it to us ; nor did

294 A History of the German Language

they know that the part of such names as Anselm, Ansgar,
Oswald concealed the word "god." They were in precisely
the same relation that most persons of the present day are
to such names as Isra-el, Samu-el, Dani-el, Hanni-bal, in
which the name of the deity is never suspected. On the
whole it must be said, however, that the ancient Germans
were concerned to apply their names with some reference
to their sense.

The mode of procedure was probably similar to that
recorded as employed by the ancient Hebrews, where
such proper names as Eve (Chavah), Seth, Moses, and
many others, are said to have been given with direct refer-
ence to the ordinary significance of these words in the
vocabulary of the language. In German names, however,
which, unlike the Hebrew, are always compounds, we find
one part generally significant ; and the obscure portion is
much oftener in the first part of the composite than in
the second. The second part of a compound is always the
chief bearer of its meaning. It may happen that both
the component parts entering into a proper name are
words still current in the living language and yet their
signification be obscured by assimilation, vowel weaken-
ing, or some other change to which the simple words
have not been subject. A transformation of this kind
may be seen in the O. H. G. names whose first syllable is
Liut- or Leo-, as Liutpold {Leopold} and Liuthold (Leui-
hold\ in which it would not be readily noticed that they
are compounded of two words, meaning respectively
volkskuhn and volkswaltend. Such combinations as these
may properly be compared with Greek names, of which
the first element is Demo-, as Demosthenes, Democritus,
and others. It may happen, also, that even when the two
parts of a compound are etymologically plain, their fusion
will make no sense so far as we can discover. To this
list belong, e. g., Wolfram, O. H. G. Wolfraban, the
meaning of which would be Wolf-raven, and Htldegunde,

A History of the German Language 295

of which the first part signifies Kampf (combat), and the
second, the same thing. It is a difficult matter to dis-
cover any sense in such words. Here again we find
parallel instances in Greek in such names as Lykourgos
and Lykomedes. Rutland, that is, Roland, is equivalent
to Ruhmesland and Kunigund signifies Geschlectskampf ;
and while the compounds do not exactly make nonsense,
it is hard to see what applicability they could have to a
person. The only plausible explanation rests in the fact
already referred to, that the simple elements were no
longer clearly understood before they were made parts of
the compound. In this way no doubt the notion began
to be gradually developed that it was of little importance
for a name to be entirely significant, and that it was suffi-
cient when a new-formed name contained at least one
traditional term. But there was one thing more. No
doubt the custom existed in many places of giving the
child a name that represented in its component elements
both that of the father and the mother. It might happen
in this way, that the daughter of a certain Hildebrand,
' sword of battle or combat,' and of a woman whose name
was Gundrun or Gudrun, ' sorceress of combat,' would be
named Hildegund. Readers of Aristophanes will readily
recall the scene from the clouds which may be appropri-
ately cited here, in which the mother insisted on calling
her first-born son Chanthippos or Charipposor Kallipides,
while the father as stoutly held out for Pheidonides, until
the controversy is ended by adopting a name made up of
a portion of two, viz., Pheidippides. It is also evident
from an examination of the recorded names that a certain
degree of phonetic congruity was sought after in the
formation of compounds, and when this was attained the
necessary conditions of composition were supposed to be
fulfilled. In a mediaeval story a certain Engeltrut is said
to have preferred a suitor whose name was Engelhard to
one called Dietrich, for the reason that the name Engel-

296 A History of the German Language

hard and Engeltrut harmonized better than Engeltrut
and Dietrich.

The great majority of old German names were incon-
venient for daily use on account of their length. They
accordingly experienced the same fate which befell nearly
all words containing a considerable number of syllables.
In such names as Charlotte, Elise and Johannes or Niko-
laus, which in familiar usage have become Lotte, Lise,
Hans and Klaus, we see only those portions retained that
are made prominent by the accent. These abbreviated
forms which we may call pet-names or nick-names, orig-
inated in one of two ways : sometimes one of the com-
ponent parts, usually the second, was dropped entirely,
the remnant, then ending either with the vowel -o or -i.
In this way Ingraban became Ingo, Kuonrat Kuno, and
Volcwart Folko. When the first member of the name was
a derivative noun the nick-name likewise lost the suffix.
It is thus that Ebarhard becomes Ebaro, Ebo ; Irminrich
appears as Irmino, Irmo ; while Raginbald is abbreviated
to Ragano, Rago. The termination -i is still very common
where the Alemanian dialect is spoken, Conrad (or Kon-
rad}, the Greek ®pacru/3oiAos, appearing as Kuoni, Rudolf
(hruotwolf, Ruhmwolf) as Ruodi, both these names, together
with others of similar structure occurring in Schiller's
well known drama, Wilhelm Tell ; and Walther ( Waltend-
Heer) as Walti. It is not safe, however, to assert with
entire confidence that the last name represents Walther,
for the evident reason that the same nick-name may be an
abbreviation of one of two or three different names.
Gero, e. g., is a shortened form of either Gerbert (speer-
glanzend], or Gerhard (speer-gewaltig], or Gernot (speer-
no(), or Gerwig (speerkampf}, or Gerwin (speer-freund) ;
but it is not always possible to discover which. The ori-
gin of nick-names formed by the second process is less
ambiguous. Here the second part of the compound is
represented in the abbreviation. It is thus that Sigbald

A History of the German Language 297

and Sigbert become Sibo (from a longer form Stgbo) N.
H. G. Seib ; Sig fried appears as Sigfo, then Siffo, and
Sigimar or Sigimund is shortened to Simo. Into all these
compounds ' victory ' enters as the principal element. On
the basis of these abbreviations all sorts of derivatives are
formed, most of them probably having a diminutive sig-
nification. Those having the suffix -in and -ilo are dis-
tributed all over Germany ; those ending in -iko and -izo
or -zo are confined chiefly to Lower and Upper German
territory respectively. Double derivatives in -ilin, -ltkoy
-ikin, -ztlo, -ziko, and -zilin, also occur. The word diot
meaning 'people,' 'populace,' appears in many compounds
of which the most common modern representatives are
Diedel, Tilly, Tiedge, Tieck, Deecke, Dietze, Dietz, and
others. It will readily occur to the reader that many
abbreviated forms of proper names are still in daily use,
such as Fritz for Friedrich, Heintz for Heinrich, Kuntz for
Konrad, Utz for Ulrich, and many others.

The names we have thus far considered are easily trace-
able to a purely German source ; but with the introduc-
tion of Christianity came a flood of names of diverse ori-
gin. The appellations of the saints who appear in the
calendar — and it needs to be remembered that every week
day of the year was sacred to one or another of them —
undergo abbreviation like all others. Sometimes they
appear as diminutives, sometimes as nick-names. It thus
happens that a single name becomes the ancestor of a
numerous progeny, as, e. ^., Johannes, some of the descend-
ants of which are Johann, John, Jan, Hannes, Hans and
Hansel; while Jacob (Latin Jacobus) is represented by
Jack, Jaggi, Jock, Jockel, Kob, K'obel and Kobi. The two
names Johann Jacob which are often borne by the same
person, especially in S. Germany, are abbreviated in
Basel to Beppi.

The custom of having but one name prevailed in Ger-
many until the Mediaeval period. The modern practice
20

298 A History of the German Language

of giving two or more names is closely connected with the
rise of cities, the growth of civil liberty, with the exten-
sion of trade and travel and the frequency of contracts
between buyer and seller. Double names appear first in
the cities, whence they spread into the surrounding coun-
try, first of all in the cities along the Rhine and in South
Germany. For it will be remembered that the cities of
Germany owe their existence primarily to Roman in-
fluence, the Germans themselves being naturally adverse
to living in close proximity. Accordingly where this
influence was but little felt the cities are of much later
growth. Within the first named territory we meet with
double names as early as the twelfth century, while in
Middle and North Germany they do not begin to occur
till the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In many
localities the serfs seem to have been content with a
single name until the sixteenth century. The Frisians,
who dwell in the northern Provinces of Holland, and the
Jews, were constrained by legal enactments so lately as
during the present and the last century, to conform fully
to modern usage in the matter of proper names. It is
owing to this fact that nearly all the Jews in the United
States, who are for the most part immigrants from Ger-
many, have German and not Jewish names. When the
custom of double names came into vogue the tradi-
tional German and foreign appellations were adopted as
baptismal names. What we now call family names are of
multifarious origin, and stand in some degree in contrast
to the other, earlier names. Those are for the most part
of native creation and given to the child by its relatives ;
these are in the main the creation of strangers. Within
the family circle there is even now little need of any other
than the baptismal name. The salient characteristic of fam-
ily names is the fact that they are inherited from generation
to generation. It is probable, however, that in former
times this inheritance did not follow so much as a matter

A History of the German Language 299

of course as is the custom in our day. Indeed, it is no
uncommon thing for people to change their family names.
This is of especially frequent occurrence among the
Germans who settle in the United States. Sometimes
the original name is translated, sometimes it is changed
outright by authority of the law-making power to one
more agreeable to the possessor, but more frequently it is
transformed into one more easily pronounced by those ac-
customed only to the use of the English language.

Among the causes, which contributed to make names
hereditary, that of location was perhaps the most potent.
In the Black Forest, for example, the possessor of an
estate is sometimes known by the name it bears rather
than his own. It may thus happen that two successive
occupants are called by the same name, when in fact they
are different. Proper names derived from locality are
formed in two ways: either a preposition is prefixed to
the designation of the place, or the termination -er is
added. By the first method we get such names as Amthor
(an dem Thor}, Aus* m Worth ( Wert signifying island,
peninsula, any low land ), Thorbeke (equivalent to am Bach},
Ambach, Ueberweg, von der Tann, etc. By the second, such
names as the following are formed : Steinberger, Bar en-
thaler, Sulzbacher, etc. To this class belongs the long
list of names ending in -backer, -hauser, -hauser, -hofer,
-roder, -renter, and many others. These terminations are
all significant in various ways, -r'dder, -reiter or -reuter sig-
nifying the dweller at a place where a clearing has been
made, and -hofer, one who occupies an estate. Some-
times the designation of the locality is simply applied to
the dweller in or on it, without prefix or suffix, whence
come such names as Steinthal, Berg, Stein, Bach, etc.
These have their exact equivalents in our English Hills,
Vales, Brooks, Stones and many others of similar origin.

If we look at proper names with reference to their
source we shall see that there may be as many different

300 A History of the German Language

classes as there are designations of localities. One of
these is easily misapprehended. It has always been the
custom in Germany to mark inns and drug-stores with
some sign or device by which each may be known from
every other. During the Middle Ages this custom pre-
vailed even more widely, and included dwelling-houses, as
is still the rule to some extent in Switzerland. These
legends were plants or animals, or some similar object.
The inventor of printing bore the name Gensfleisch from
the device on the house in which he lived or was born. A
person having the name Drach (Eng. Drake. See p. — ),
or Ochs would not be so called because such a designation
was suitable to his mental characteristics, but because his
house bore the legend of a dragon or an ox, or because he
was born in one so marked — for it must be remembered
that in the cities the dwellings were generally large enough
to contain several or more families, and built close to-
gether for purposes of defense. Another motive for trans-
mitting a name from father to son and grandson arose
from the fact that social position and occupation were like-
wise a heritage from generation to generation. To this
category belong the names of most frequent occurrence.
Such as Meyer (Latin major-domo), Mutter, Schmidt,
Schneider. We find the same fact in regard to the English
names, the most common of which are Smith, Carpenter,
Taylor, Miller and the like. Many names still survive
that once designated the users of trades now no longer in
existence, such as Bogner (Bowman), Falkner (Falconer),
Plattner (a maker of laminae for coats of mail,) and Pfeil-
sticker (one who made shafts for arrows).

But, it may be asked, how came a family to have such a
name » as Bischoff (Bishop), or Herzog (Duke), or Prince
and Pope? To this query we may reply that these names
are in part due to the devices before spoken of, and in part
to mediaeval dramatic performances and miracle-plays, the
chief performers in which would often continue to be

A History of the German Language 301

known during the remainder of their lives by the charac-
ters they represented. In other cases these epithets were
doubtless applied to persons for purely fanciful reasons,
and we find the name Rex in use among the early Romans.
See also Horace, Sat. I. 7.

Viewed in the light of modern usage the son would reg-
ularly inherit the name of his father to which his own
would be added. But in earlier times the new-born male
child received the name of the grandfather much more
frequently than that of the father, a custom that likewise
prevailed in ancient Greece. In this way accordingly
many of our modern baptismal names became family
names. Sometimes the name of the father was given to
the son, plus a suffix showing such relationship : a scion
of Matthias would be Matthtsson, contracted from Mat-
thiassohn ; of Hans or Jans, Hansen or Jansen. Or the
name of the son might be put in the genitive case — Ebers
would thus plainly be the son of one Eber, and Wilken the
son of Wilko, O. H. G. Wilhko, a nick-name for Wilhelm.
A similar procedure is exhibited by the large class of
English names ending in -s, such as Williams, Edwards,
Matthews, and the like. A large number of family names
are, as before indicated, simply baptismal names become
hereditary. It is thus that we get such combinations as
Robert Franz, Friedrich Frtednch and Hermann Paul.
Quite a long list of patronymics is formed by means of
the suffix -ing or -ung. Karol-ing-er, the Karolings, are
the descendants of Karl, and Wals-ung-er are the family
of Walse. At present, however, it is difficult to determine
how far this mode of forming derivatives was in vogue
when names so constructed first came into use. For ex-
ample, we can not tell whether a person bearing the name
Hartung or Henning was the son of a father called Harto
or Henno; or whether the parent, who may have been sat-
isfied with a single name, already had the name Hartung
or Henning. Occasionally we meet with an instance in

302 A History of the German Language

which the son's name comes from the mother, which may
have happened in the case of widows. We find the family
name Hilgard which doubtless has such an origin, and
Lieske was probably the son of a certain Elisabet.

In regard to many names it is clear that inheritance
would follow as a matter of course. This "statement will
apply to bodily characteristics which are often transmitted
and which probably account for such names as Kraushaar
(curly-hair), Krnmbein (Cruickshank), Lang, Kurtz, Weiss
and Rot(Ji). Generally, however, it is more probable that
the rule fixed in other cases gave the final decision here
too. It may be said in general that the principle followed
in the giving of names was the same that determined the
designation of other objects, and nearly all the different
kinds 'of metaphors underlie them, often much disguised,
that we find concealed or open, in other words. It needs
to be kept in mind that in nearly all cases names are not
given by those who bear them, but by others, and it was
important that such an appellation should be chosen as
would point out or fitly characterize the person to whom
it was applied. Only in those instances where a person
was in position to name himself would this principle be
left out of sight, and he would select such a name as
pleased his fancy. Such cases are most frequently met
with among the Jews, when they were compelled by law
to assume a second name. This is the probable source
of such names as Blumenthal, Rosenthal, Bernstein, Ru-
binstein, Goldmark, Saphir, etc. Not a few of the older
names are an uncomplimentary or even vulgar epithet, but
having once been affixed to an individual he could not get
rid of it, if he wished. Gradually it came to be regarded
as a matter of course. The origin of it was forgotten and
the appellation acquiesced in without further resistance.
It is evident from what has been said that the number of
possible roots from which proper names could be formed
is very large and very multifarious. But there are some

A History of the German Language 303

collateral elements that contribute to increase the variety
still more. One of these is dialectic variation in the words
themselves, several words meaning precisely the same
thing, but differing in form. We have a familiar in-
stance of this in the common English names Fox and
Tod(d), one being of southern, the other of northern
nativity. The man who exercised the potter's craft might
be called either Hafner or Potter or T'opfer, according to
the part of Germany in which he lived ; while the cooper
might be named Binder^ otBottche*, or Biittner, or Passer,
or Kiifer or Scheffler. Another is the peculiar relation in
which proper names stand to the rest of the sentence in
which they occur. We have already called attention to
the fact that the hearer does not take cognizance of every
sound or even of every word in a spoken sentence. It
only concerns him to note so many words or such portions
of longer words as will suggest to his mind what the
speaker intends to convey. The attentive mind involun-
tarily supplies and supplements what the hearing ear has
failed to catch. Now, proper names have no such mental
support ; they can not be used as integral parts of a
sentence, nor have they any etymological relation to ad-
jacent words, so that the hearer is unable to infer their
probable form from the way in which they are used. As
it is almost impossible to correctly apprehend a name by
the aid of mental suggestion there is a wide field open for
the play of fancy ; the result is likely to be etymological
vagaries of all sorts. Every one knows how difficult it is
to understand a name correctly unless it be some word
with which we have become familiar in other relations.
While therefore we might make no mistake with such
simple names as Hill or Berg, Stone or Stein, the chances
are at least ten to one that we would not be equally fortu-
tunate with Taliafero, or Mainwaring, or Bodenstedt, or
Willainowitz. We accordingly find here the converse to
be true of what has been mentioned before, — that names

304 A History of the German Language

are more conservative in their development and less sub.
ject to change than the other words of a language. It is
true we say Bruno, Otto and Hugo, though all other German
final 0's have been changed to e ; but these names have
been artificially fixed or stereotyped with the aid of Latin
documents. In popular speech they have long since been
transformed into Braun(e), Hauck and Oti(e). An inten-
tional metamorphosis of names is exhibited in the transla-
tion of those that were originally pure German into Latin
or Greek, or by the affixing of termination that would make
them declinable.

NOTE. — An investigation into the history of a family named
Rahmsauer that emigrated from Germany into North Carolina some
two hundred and fifty years ago revealed the fact that in about two
centuries the name was found in the following forms : Ramsauer,
Ramsaur, Ramsour, Ramseur, Ramser, Rarnsir, Sirram, Ram, Sheep,
Lamb. The United States offers a fertile field for the study of the
transformation and translation of family names. The French names
Du Bois, Boisvert, Boncoeur, De 1' hotel, Pibaudiere, Lemieux have
become Wood> Greenwood, Bunker, Doolittle. Peabody and Betters,
respectively. Loewenstein appears as Livingston, Loeb and Loew have
been transformed into Lyon, Koch into Cook, and so on. One in-
stance is recorded in which a German bearing the name of Feuerstein,
who settled in turn in the French and American quarters of New
Orleans, found himself called Pierre-de-feu, then Pierre, then Stone,
then Flint, and finally died as Peter Gun. I have found an instance
in which the modern name Rollfuss had undergone the following
evolutionary process. Its original form was Rudolf, which had been
abbreviated into Rolf. This, in tuj*n, had been Latinized into Rolfus,
then Germanized into its present form. Some years ago a German
whose family name was Pflaumbaum applied to the legislature of his
country for authority to change his name to Blei: He claimed that
this was the original name of his family, but that it had been trans-
lated into the Latin equivalent Plumbum. In the course of time his
Low German neighbors came to look upon this as the native word
Plumbom, and the next stage in the process was very naturally its
transformation into the High German Pflaumbaum, which means
the same thing, viz., plum-tree.

A good many names, have, like this one, a meaning in
themselves, but their applicability to persons can not be
discovered, at least in a majority of cases. Of this class

A History of the German Language 305

are the following, all of which are of actual occurrence :
Jerusalem, Casar, Breyvogel, Siisskind, Kussmaul^ Hopfen-
sack, Teufel, Hellwald, Viehoff, Dickhaut, Riibsamen, trans-
lated or transformed into Turnipseed or Ripsome, Butter-
sack, Rothauge, Kalbfell and Kalbfuss. It is by this method
that Sckwarzerd becomes Melanchthon, or Hdmmerlein is
transformed into Malleolus, while Kurtz and Heinrichs ap-
pear respectively as Curtius and Hennci. By a similar pro-
cess Schneider became Sartor and Schmidt, Faber; Fischer and
Goldschmidt were turned into Piscator and Aurifaber re-
spectively ; Baumann was translated Agricola and Grossman,
Megander. Weber appears as Textor, the maiden name
of Goethe's mother; Reuchlin as Capnio ; and Krachen-
berger as Gracchus Pierius. It will be evident from what
has thus far been said that names the most diverse in form
frequently sprang from the same root. And it is further
probable that in some cases several different roots have
produced identical names. Instances are quite numerous
where a name seems to be, and probably is, formed from
some familiar current adjective or noun, when if the real
facts were known it is a descendant of some old nickname
or pet-name. The familiar Rot(h) may have started from
the color of the hair; but it may also be a survival of
Rodo or Hrodo, a nickname of Hrodberl and Hrodget, hrod,
meaning 'fame.' Baerand Wo!/ may be Jewish names of re-
cent date, or they may be a reminiscence of the old German
Berwald and Berwin or Wolfgang, Wolfger, and Wolf hard.
There is small probability that such names as Dank, Eisen,
and Wald are recent ; it is, however, quite likely that they
take us back to O. H. G. Danko, Iso and Waldo, abbrevia-
tions of Dankwart, Isenhard and Walther. Plainly, then,
the interpretation of family names is uncertain and the
ground on which the investigator stands, insecure. When
we have no means of knowing the history of a family and
have no guide but the name in its modern form, it is gen-
erally impossible to reach any even measurably safe con-

306 A History of the German Language

elusion as to its origin. To enable one to do this written
records are indispensable.

NAMES OF PLACES.

When we come to the investigation of the names of
places we encounter difficulties not met with in the study
of the names of persons. In many cases these are to be
traced to a time when Kelts inhabited Germany, and our
knowledge of the ancient language of this people is still
very incomplete and fragmentary. Nor is it probable that
it can ever be much increased. For this reason a large
measure of uncertainty is likely always to attach to those
etymologies that are presumably or possibly Keltic. The
Keltic is frequent in the names of plains and running
waters, less frequent in those of towns, mountains and
rivers. In those countries which lie west and southwest
of Germany, Keltic names are very numerous, and it is
here first of all the rivers that have preserved these mem-
orials of the earliest inhabitants. It is claimed by some
writers that almost every river-name in England is of'
Keltic origin. Unquestionably Keltic are Rhine, Danube,
Main, Isar, and the names of many smaller rivers. The
root from which Rhein (Rhine) is derived is related to /Wo>
and is also found in Rhone, Reuss, Retnach, Rhadanau, Re-
gen, etc. We may also regard as Keltic Breisach (Brisi-
acum), Mainz (Moguntiacum), Solothurn (Solodurum) and
Worms (Borbetomagus). On the other hand the investi-
gation of place-names has an advantage that is lacking
when we are dealing with the names of persons. The lat^
ter, like those compounds which we find among the old
Germans, are for the most part given to children shortly
after birth, and could not therefore be founded on actual,
but only on hoped-for qualities. Even when proper names
were founded on actual characteristics we are rarely in po-
sition to know whether they really represented the pecu-

A History of the German Language 307

liarities of the persons who bore them. On the other
hand, in the case of place-names we generally have the
objects themselves before our eyes and can judge what pe-
culiar features gave rise to their designation. These des-
ignations may characterize the position of the place as
Hochhausen, Hochheim, or Berghausen, Bergheim, or
Thalhausen, Thalheim, or Wertheim (see Wert, ante),
Neckarhatisen and Rheinheim. Or they may indicate the
natural surroundings of the place, as Aschbach, a place
where ash trees grow ; Birkenau, a place abounding in
birches ; Buchenbach, Has(e)lau, Iben(Eiberi)bach, Seligen-
stadt or Salweide (O. H. G. salacha, willow), Auerbach,
Habsburg (Habichtsburg), Sfiessartor Spechtswald, Ziegen-
hain, etc. Or they may designate the uses to which a
place has been put. Many local names arose from mills
such as Miihlbach, Molenbeck, Miihlhausen and Miihlheim;
or from an older appellation of a mill, as Kernbach, Kehr en-
bach, Kirnbach, the O. H. G. quirn meaning mill. The
large number of names ending in -reut and -rode (Eug.
root) indicate that the place occupied by them had been
cleared of forest. In many instances the ancient name is
hardly recognizable in its modern form, Detmold e. g. be-
ing originally Thietmella, a word that is made up of thiot,
people, and mahal, harangue, or place of harangue. These
three categories of names — those having reference to the
configuration of the land, to the physical features of the
region, or to the use that was made of the locality — are
about equally old : while the names themselves may have
been formed and applied at different times the principle
underlying the nomenclature is in all cases of equal an-
tiquity. Much more recent are those names which desig-
nate the owners or inhabitants of a place ; and their rise
shows us how the bond between the owner and the soil
upon which he dwelt becomes closer and closer. Here
again we encounter the Old German names en masse, but
in somewhat different combinations. Bamberg or Baben-

308

berg, the hill of a certain Babo, is an abbreviation of one
of the common names beginning with badu and signifying
battle ; in Diedenhofen we have another form of the O. H.
G. diot, spoken of above and found also in Detmold; Hers-
feld is the property of one Hariulf or Heerwolf, Ruders-
heim, of a Rudolf ; while Witgenstein designates the stone
of Witiko, or perhaps Wttikind. The owner is sometimes
represented by his official title only, as in Bischofsheim,
Herzogenhorn, Kaiser sw'orth or Komgstein, Sometimes
the name is not a reminiscence of a single possesser or in-
habitant but of several, it may be of a whole clan as Sach-
senhausen and Groszsachsen. Not unfrequently a real or
mythical progenitor is commemorated in a name. This
is generally the case in those words ending in -ingen and
-ungen. Finally some occupation or trade may give rise
to a name, which is found chiefly in street designa-
tions. When we come to examine the names on the
map of England we are struck with their similarity to
those found in Germany, not only in general, but in par-
ticular. While it is true that Keltic influence has been
less obliterated, the Teutonic stratum is very plainly
marked. The second part of many compounds appearing
in Germany as -heim, that is, home, dwelling-place, be-
comes -ham in England, while -throp or -thorpe, which is
almost identical in meaning, is the German -dorf. Again,
the suffix -ing, dative plural -ingen, so common in south-
western Germany in such names as Reutlingen, Esshngen,
Tuebingen, appears in England in almost the same form,
sometimes alone and sometimes in combination with -ham,
as Basing, Hastings, Billingham, Issington. Town and
-ton, meaning an enclosed place, corresponds to the Ger-
man Zaun, which is occasionally found as a place name ;
its occurrence is rare, however, compared with its English
equivalent. In other parts of Europe occupied at various
times by Teutonic tribes but more particularly in France
both -ing and -ton are of frequent occurrence on the map,

A History of the German Language 309

under various disguises. The latter may, however, some-
times represent the Keltic 4 dun,' a hill-fortress from which
it is not always possible to distinguish it with certainty.
The German Burg, used both as a separate word and as
part of a place-name, e. g. Hamburg, Magdeburg is the
A.-S. burc(g), a fortified place. Its modern English rep-
resentative is '-burg,' '-bury,' '-borough,' etc., and is one
of the parts entering most frequently into the names of
towns. When we undertake to find the historical person-
age from whom the patronymics in -ing or -ung take their
rise our search usually ends in disappointment. Our ex-
perience is similar to that of the historian of Rome
who should undertake to trace the Julian, the Hor-
atian, or some other noble family to a real ancestor. It is
plain enough that Reutlingen or Esslingen is intended to
designate the place where the Reuthngs or the Esslings
were settled : these names mean ' at the Reutlings 'or 'at
the EsshngsJ but it is only in exceptional cases that we
are in position to learn anything at all approaching to
definiteness about these particular clans. Even in those
instances like that of the Karolings and Merowings where
a clan rises to distinction their origin remains obscure. It
is true in general that all names of places ostensibly
derived from persons generally lack a historical back-
ground. But even in the case of those names that were
originally given with reference to some peculiarity of the
place named we are often at a loss to discover their ap-
propriateness ; the general physical features of the locality
may have undergone a change. A place near a swamp
might properly be designated by some compound term
ending in -bruch, -moos or -ried; but after the swamp had
been drained and the land laid dry the appellation would
be unsuitable. Examples are on record of places bearing
names derived from the presence of the beech or the oak,
but which are now covered with conifers ; evidently here
the former were displaced by the latter. Now and then

310 A History of the German Language

the name itself may give expression to the contradic-
tion and such designations as Birkenacker, Birkenfeld or
Eichendcker and Eschfeld, though clearly inappropriate, at
least show what kind of forest trees must at one time have
covered the ground.

Many names have originated at points to which they
are no longer applicable. A name at first given with
special reference to some particular locality may, in course
of time, have been extended to neighboring places, whence
have most likely arisen the countless designations of vil-
lages compounded with -au, -bach, -feld, and -wald. The
deportation might even extend to a considerable distance
where new settlers wished to retain the familiar and be-
loved name of the place whence they emigrated. Frank-
fort-on-the-Oder has a very slender connection with the
Prankish tribe. This mode of transfer is exhibited on a
large scale in the names found on the map of the New
World almost from the North Pole to Cape Horn.

Names are often given to places just as they are to per-
sons, without regard to fitness or to the relation that ought
to exist between the sign and the thing signified. A mere
whim or fancy roaming free now and then lights upon an
abstract term and applies it to a place ; occasionally the
first impulse is given by the motto or the superscription of
a single house. There is a long list of names ending in
-lust and -ruhe, and such names as Aergernisz, Emtracht,
Gelegenheit, Miszgunst and Unverzug are not altogether un-
known.

A large majority of German place-names are compounds,
like the names of persons. But besides this class, single
words are not rare and among them are some of the old-
est names of places. In many cases, however, we are
liable to be deceived by appearances as in nicknames of
persons : we seem to have before us a single word, when
in fact it represents a compound : just as the son of one
Dietrich is frequently spoken of as Dietrichs, so his land or

A History of the German Language 311

his residence may also be called Die tricks, the second part
of the compound being omitted because easily supplied.
Another kind of ellipsis occurs. It is natural to regard
the designation of a place as a word in the nominative
case ; in fact, however, this is rarely so. Where we can
discover the original form of the word, it generally repre-
sents the answer to the question where ? and is in the dative
case, usually after the preposition zu. A few isolated exam-
ples of this procedure remain in such names as Andermatt,
i. e. , an der Matt ; Zermatt, i. e., zu der Matt, and in proper
names as already cited The Dat. Plur. is evident in such
endings as felden, -hausen, hofen, ingen -Ion O H. G.
lohun, Dat. Plur. of /J/z, a copse or grove, -stelten, -walden,
though without the preposition. The same case is seen
in the names of countries, such as Bayern, Franken, Hessen,
Sachsen and Schwaben, which are simply the plurals of
tribal names ; the full formula was ze den Baiern, ze den
Franken, etc. Occasionally the second member of the
compound is now a nominative, while the first member is
still the dative of an adjective, as Breitenfeld, Hohentwiel,
Hamburg for Hohenburg, Stolzenfels, Wittenberg, that is,
Weiszenberg, the L. G. for weisz being «////, Eug. ' white.'
It stands to reason that the names of places like the names
of persons are subject to the same phonetic laws as the
remaining words of the language. Particularly frequent
are the weakening and abbreviation of full compounds and
the assimilation of consonants — two kinds of phenomena
for which the conditions are much more rarely supplied
by the ordinary material of language. In addition to
these changes it often occurs that in ordinary compounds
those regularly developed are in turn displaced by the in-
fluence of indepedent words. For example, an old Ruitis-
rode or Ruotboldisrode has become the modern Ruperath;
Markberteshusun is now Merkshausen; and Alahmuntinga
has been abbreviated to Allmendingen. In cases where the
first part of the compound now ends in -ers we have before

312 A History of the German Language

us the alternative of two different compounds of names of
persons: Herbersdorf is the older Heribrehtesdorf ; Elfers-
hausen points to a former Adalf rides husum ; Liggersdorf is
an abbreviation of Luitcardisdorf ; Ollersbach is really
Adalgerisbach ; Volkersdorf may be traced to Folchardesdorf ,
Einersheim was formerly Einheresheim ; Drommersheim is a
shortened form of Truhtmaresheim ; Ballersheim is the same
as Baldrodesheim, Oggersheim the same as Agridesheim; and
Frankershausen was originally Frankwardeshuswn. The
ending -sen of a large number of place-names is generally
a weakened form of -husen, i. e., hausen, but it may also be
a remnant of the termination -es-heim. The names ending
in -ikon, spoken of before, represent an older -ic-hofen, which
in turn is a contraction of -inc-hofen. The first member of
the compound contains a patronymic in -ing.

Many places are known by two names, an older and a
younger, one of which is the official designation, the other
that in popular use. The former is generally that handed
down in legal documents from remote times ; but occa-
sionally it is a mere translation of a popular name and has
never had any actual existence. Dialectic differences are
much more conspicuous in the names of persons than in
those of places, for the reason that the latter were created
on the spot and to suit the local conditions where they are
used, while persons frequently migrate a long distance
from home. Characteristic of the Alemanian territory, are
the forms in steten, •«/«/ and weiler; the ending -wang may be
either Alemanian or Bavarian. The river Lech separates
the Alemanian termination -ingen from the Bavarian -ing.
Names in -lar belong to Middle and North Germany, those
in -scheid are Middle Franconian, while -ungen is generally
Hessian or Thuringian. Low German territory has al-
most a monopoly of names ending in -brink, -biittel, -fleth,
-hude, -koog and -kuhl.

A careful study of geographical names, based on accu-
rate statistics and made with special reference to the

A History of the German Language 313

methods according to which they are compounded, would
throw much light on the connection between the different
Germanic clans. A beginning has been made in this
direction by Dr. Isaac Taylor in his " Words and Places,"
which has yielded interesting and in some cases surpris-
ing results. It can readily be seen how the study of place-
names may be made subservient to that of history, as in-
deed language itself is often a valuable auxiliary to the
historian. These are, however, questions that lie outside
of the sphere of the present work.

APPENDIX.

I GIVE below four specimens of Dialect German for the
purpose of exhibiting some of the most important
variations from the literary language. The original of the
four is by Klaus Groth, and is in the dialect of a district
in Holstein. Dr. Groth has long been the foremost cham-
pion of the claims of the Low German to culture as a lit-
erary language. The humor of the poetry is well-nigh
inimitable, as is often the case with similar productions ;
but this delicate flavor is nearly all lost by translation.
To be appreciated, it must be understood in the original.
Nor can the pronunciation be represented with any near
approach to accuracy. Still, the reader may form some
idea of the spoken tongue from what is here given. These
specimens will do something toward showing how inade-
quate the conception most persons have of what is meant
by the " German language." Not only do most foreigners
have erroneous views on this subject, but the great mass
of the German people themselves have little idea of the
astonishing variety their vernacular presents.

What is, perhaps, the most interesting dialect to Ameri-
can readers, the Pennsylvania German, is not represented
here, for the reason that it has received a thoroughly
scientific treatment at the hands of Dr. Learned, of the
Johns Hopkins University. Specimens are, therefore,
easily obtainable.

MATTEN HAS'.

[In a dialect of West Holstein.]

Liitt Matten, de Has', De mak sik en Spasz,
He weerbi't Studeern, Dat Danzen to lehrn,
Un danz ganz alleen Op de achtersten Been.

A History of the German Language 315

Keem Reinke, de Vosz, Un dach: Das en Kost!
Un saggt: " Liittje Matten, So flink oppe Padden?
Un danzst hier alleen Oppe achtersten Been?"

" Kumm, lat uns tosam. Ik kann as de Dam!
De Krei de spelt Fitel, Denn geit dat canditel,
Denn geit dat mal schon Op de achtersten Been! "

Liit Matten gev Pot: De Vosz beet em dot,

Un sett sik in Schatten, Verspeis, de liitt Matten;

De Krei de kreeg een Vun de achtersten Been.

D'R HOS.

[ In the dialect of Nuremberg.]

An artlier Hos Macht Mandla in'n GrosjJ

Will e~* biszla schtudeiren, D's Tanzn probeiren,

Un tanzt ganz ella" Af 'n hinterstn Ba~.

Kummt pfiffi' der Fuchs, 'r glotzt woi e Luchs

Und sagt: " Du bist g'schwind Af n Banen, loibs Kind!

Wos tanzst ganz ella~ Af dein hinterst'n Ba~?"

41 Kumm, tanz m'r ze zweit! Ich mach dei" Dam g'scheid;
Doi Kraua tout geing'ng, Doi Fidl brav schtreich'ng;
Su tanzst ganz ella" Af dei hinterstn Ba"."

^in Hos'n g'fallt der Raut, D'r Fuchs beiszt 'n taud,
Tout— wer will's 'n wiern? 's Hesla verziern;
Doi Kraua kroigt's a.' Su e" hinteres Ba~.

DE HAS.

[ In the dialect of Zurich, Alemanian.]

's gumpet en Has Uf em griienige Gras,

'r ischt am Schtudire, Wott 'sch Tanze probire

Un hiippft ganz elei" Uf 'm hindere Bei".

De Fuchs kchunnd dezue Un lad em kei" Rue,

Seid: "TusigschSns Hasli, Wie schpringscht uf em Grasli!

Un tanzischt elei* Uf em hindere Bei"."

" Kchum, gib mer di" Hand, Mer tanzid mitenand.
I mache dir 'sch Meidli, D' Kchra giget is weidli,
Mer tanzid Drei — elei" Uf em hindere Bei"."

Er schtreckt em sis Kchapli, De Has gid em 's Tapli,
Hed's Tanze vergasse, De Fuchs hed en g'frasse,
Und Kchra die fligt hei Mit erne hindere Bei".

*The tilde" represents a nasal sound.

316 A History of the German Language

'ES KLASLA, DER HOS.

[ In the dialect of Coburg.]

'es Klasla, der Hos, Macht sich lust'g im Gros,
'r schtudirt derbei garn, Mocht's Tanz'n gelarn,
Und tanzt ganz ella Auf sei'n hinterst'n Ba.

Kiimmts Fuchsia abei Un denkt: Du bist mei!
Segt: " Klasla, Herrje! Wie kannsta gegeh!
Und danzst doch alia Auf dein hinterst'n Ba?"

" Kumm, ge har zu mir ! Ich danz sch5 mit dir;

Di Kraa geigt auf, No gehts erst hellauf —

Des sollst' emol sa Auf dein hinterst'n Ba." ,

D's Klasla schlegt ei: Mei Fuchs packt'n fei,
Tregt 'n hinter e Heck Un leszt sich wohl schmeck;;
Die Kraa kriegt a So e hinteres Ba.

THE END.

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