neuhochdeutsche

Neuhochdeutsch, or New High German, is the stage of the German language that followed Middle High German and continues to the present. In linguistic usage, it denotes the form of German used from roughly the 17th century onward and serves as the basis for the modern standard language. The term is sometimes used in the plural as Neuhochdeutsche to refer to the varieties and phases within this period. It is distinguished from Old High German, Middle High German, and Early New High German (Frühneuhochdeutsch).

Development: The move toward a more uniform written form accelerated from the 17th century, aided by the printing press, increasing literacy, and centralized administration. The Luther Bible (translated in the 16th century) contributed to standardizing pronunciation and spelling, while 18th-century scholars such as Gottsched promoted normative norms. In the 19th century, orthographic and grammatical codifications—culminating in the later Duden standard—solidified the modern written language used across German-speaking regions.

Characteristics: Neuhochdeutsch encompasses a broad spectrum of varieties, from the standardized Standard German used in education, media, and government, to regional High German dialects. The period saw the consolidation of a relatively fixed word order, the ongoing simplification of some inflectional endings, and extensive borrowing from other languages, especially French and English, with continued regional variation in lexicon and pronunciation.

Significance: Neuhochdeutsche forms the linguistic core of modern German as used in Germany, Austria, and parts of Switzerland. It continues to evolve through media, education, and communication, with ongoing debates about spelling reforms, vocabulary, and regional variation.