The German Language : Germany

German is one of the large group of Indo-Germanic languages, and within that one of the Germanic languages. It is thus related to Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch and Flemish, but also to English. The emergence of a common High German language is attributed to Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible.

The Federal Republic of Germany has a wealth of dialects. It is usually possible to determine a German’s native region from his or her dialect and pronunciation. If a Frisian or a Mecklenburger and a Bavarian were to carry on a conversation in their respective pure dialects, they would have great difficulty understanding each other.

Moreover, while the country was divided the two German states developed a different political vocabulary. New words were coined which were not necessarily understood in the other part of the country. Nevertheless, the common language was one of the links which held the divided nation together.