Spoken by a total of over 130 million people, German is the most spoken native language within the European Union. German is also widely taught as a foreign language, especially in Europe, where it is the third-most taught foreign language (after English and French), and the United States. Language has been influential in the fields of philosophy, theology, science and technology. It is the second most commonly used scientific language and among the most widely used languages on websites. The German-speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of annual publication of new books, with one-tenth of all books (including e-books) in the world being published in German. German is the world’s sixth most widely spoken language, after Chinese, English, Hindi-Urdu, Spanish, and Russian.
The basis of the German language, Proto-Germanic, is believed to have evolved in around 2000 BC, as people began to settle in western areas of the Baltic Sea. One of the earliest records of the German language date back to the 1st-century b.c., when the Romans came into contact with Rhine-Danube area residents during their occupation.
The modern German we know today is unlikely to be recognisable from the language first observed by the Romans. It has evolved from Old High German (circa 700 AD to the eleventh century), Middle High German (circa 1050 to 1350), Early New High German (1350 to 1600), and New High German (from about 1600 to the present). German, like many other languages, has evolved with society, and numerous sociopolitical factors have shaped the language into what it is today. German speakers have adopted new words from other languages. Others have entered the German language as a result of increased interaction with foreigners, whether through migration, trade, war, or the development of new technology ranging from cinema to the Internet.
German is an interesting language because of the dominance of dialects that arose as a result of the lack of a cultural centre, such as Paris in France. By the end of the Middle Ages, attempts were being made to develop a “Standard German language,” so that the various independent regions could communicate more easily with one another. Remember that Germany did not exist as a political entity until the nineteenth century. Martin Luther’s Bible translation into German from the original Hebrew in 1522 had a significant impact on the standardisation of German. The Hebrew translation was aimed at an “East Middle German” audience. That “style” was heavily influenced by the language used at the Saxon court. This evolved into what we know as German today. Modern German is frequently referred to as “High German,” or Hochdeutsch. Hochdeutsch is a language used in administration, higher education, literature, and the media. German also has other dialects such as Low German, also known as Plattdeutsch or Niederdeutsch, which is still spoken in many homes in northern Germany’s lowlands.
Alemannic, which differs significantly from standard High German in sound system and grammar, is primarily spoken in Switzerland, western Austria, Swabia, and Liechtenstein, as well as the Alsace region of France. Yiddish, the language of Ashkenazic Jews (Jews with ancestors who lived in Germany during the European Middle Ages), evolved from High German as well.
