A curated list of resources for studying the evolution of the German language from Old High German to contemporary usage.
Read this in other languages: English, Deutsch, 日本語
- Introduction
- Historical Periods
- Core Resources
- Digital Resources
- Linguistic Features
- Research Institutions
- Communities
- Related Topics
Historical linguistics of German traces the fascinating evolution of the German language through various stages, from its Germanic roots to its modern standard form. This list compiles essential resources for students, researchers, and enthusiasts interested in understanding how German has changed over more than a millennium.
Resources focusing on the earliest documented stage of the German language.
- Dictionary of Old High German - Comprehensive dictionary project documenting OHG vocabulary.
- Althochdeutsch in St. Gallen - Digital resources from St. Gallen monastery manuscripts.
- The Online Textbook of Old High German - Free online learning resource for OHG.
The classical period of medieval German literature.
- Mittelhochdeutsche Begriffsdatenbank - Database of Middle High German concepts and terms.
- Mittelhochdeutsche Wörterbücher im Verbund - Network of MHG dictionaries.
- Nibelungenlied Manuscript - Resources on the famous epic poem.
Period of standardization and the Lutheran Bible translation.
- Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch - Early New High German dictionary online.
- Luther Bible Digital - Resources on Martin Luther's translation.
- Printing Revolution Resources - Impact of printing on language standardization.
Modern standard German and its contemporary variations.
- DWDS - Digital Dictionary of German - Comprehensive modern German dictionary with historical references.
- Atlas zur deutschen Alltagssprache - Atlas of everyday German language variations.
- IDS Mannheim - Institute for the German Language research portal.
- Geschichte der deutschen Sprache by Wilhelm Schmidt - Comprehensive overview of German language history.
- Deutsche Sprachgeschichte by Peter von Polenz (5 volumes) - Authoritative work on German language history.
- A History of the German Language by John Waterman - English-language introduction to German historical linguistics.
- Althochdeutsch by Wilhelm Braune / Ernst Ebbinghaus - Standard reference grammar for OHG.
- Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik by Hermann Paul - Classic MHG grammar.
- Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur - Leading journal for older German language and literature.
- Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur (PBB) - Premier journal for historical German linguistics.
- Journal of Germanic Linguistics - International journal covering Germanic linguistics.
- Old High German Course - University of Vienna - Free online materials for learning OHG.
- Middle High German Summer School - Intensive courses in medieval German.
- Coursera - Germanic Languages - Various courses on Germanic language history.
- German-English Dictionary App - For scientifically-efficient modern learning.
- Wörterbuchnetz - Network connecting numerous historical German dictionaries.
- Lexer's Middle High German Dictionary - Classic MHG dictionary online.
- Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm - The Grimm Brothers' monumental dictionary.
- Referenzkorpus Mittelhochdeutsch - Reference corpus of Middle High German.
- Referenzkorpus Althochdeutsch - Reference corpus of Old High German.
- DWDS-Kernkorpus - Core corpus of 20th century German.
- Deutsches Textarchiv - German Text Archive (1600-1900).
- Medieval Germanic Studies - Portal for medieval Germanic language resources.
- Germania Latina - Resources on Latin-German language contact.
- Althochdeutsch Portal - Database of Old High German glosses.
- Second Germanic Sound Shift Resources - Videos explaining consonant shift.
- Umlaut Development - Studies on vowel mutation across German history.
- Diphthongization - Resources on MHG to NHG vowel changes.
- Strong vs Weak Verbs - Historical development of verb classes.
- Case System Evolution - Changes in nominal declension.
- Gender Assignment - Historical shifts in grammatical gender.
- Word Order Development - Evolution from SOV to V2 patterns.
- Subordinate Clause Formation - Historical development of hypotaxis.
- Article Development - Grammaticalization of definite articles.
- Lehnwortportal Deutsch - Portal for loanwords in German.
- French Influence - Resources on French borrowings (17th-18th centuries).
- Latin and Greek Influence - Classical borrowings in German.
- English Influence - Modern English loanwords (Anglicisms).
- Institut für Deutsche Sprache (IDS) Mannheim - Leading German language research institute.
- Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften - Major dictionary projects and historical linguistics.
- Ludwig Maximilian University Munich - German Linguistics - Leading research in historical German.
- University of Vienna - Germanic Studies - Strong focus on historical linguistics.
- Medieval Germanic Studies Mailing List - Academic discussion forum for medieval Germanic linguistics.
- Reddit - r/linguistics - General linguistics discussions including historical German.
- Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung - German Language Academy.
- Germanic Languages - Comparative studies with Dutch, English, and Scandinavian languages.
- Indo-European Linguistics - Broader context of German within IE family.
- Medieval Literature - Literary works as linguistic sources.
- Paleography - Reading historical German manuscripts.
- Historical Sociolinguistics - Social factors in language change.
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a pull request with additional resources or improvements.
Note: This is a curated list maintained by the awesome-german community. Resources are selected for their scholarly value and accessibility.