thumb|right|Extent of Middle Low German in red and as literary language (black lines tilted right)

Middle Low German is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in writing since about 1225–34 (). During the Hanseatic period (from about 1300 to about 1600), Middle Low German was the leading written language in the north of Central Europe and served as a lingua franca in the northern half of Europe. It was used parallel to medieval Latin also for purposes of diplomacy and for deeds.

Terminology

While Middle Low German (MLG) is a scholarly term developed in hindsight, speakers in their time referred to the language mainly as (Saxon) or (the Saxon language). In contrast to Latin as the primary written language, speakers also referred to discourse in Saxon as speaking/writing , i.e. 'clearly, intelligibly'. This contains the same root as 'German' (cf., High German: , Dutch (archaically N(i)ederduytsche to mean the contemporary version of the Dutch language) both from Proto-Germanic "of the people"; 'popular, vernacular') which could also be used for Low German if the context was clear. Compare also the modern colloquial term (from 'plain, simple') denoting Low (or West Central) German dialects in contrast to the written standard.

Another medieval term is (lit. 'East-ish') which was at first applied to the Hanseatic cities of the Baltic Sea (the 'East Sea'), their territory being called ('East-land'), their inhabitants ('Eastlings'). This appellation was later expanded to other German Hanseatic cities and it was a general name for Hanseatic merchants in the Netherlands, e.g. in Bruges where they had their (office; see Kontor).

In the 16th century, the term (lit. 'Lowland-ish, Netherlandish') gained ground, contrasting Saxon with the German dialects in the uplands to the south. It became dominant in the High German dialects (as ENHG , which could also refer to the modern Netherlands), while remained the most widespread term within MLG. The equivalent of 'Low German' (NHG ) seems to have been introduced later on by High German speakers and at first applied especially to Netherlanders.

History

thumb|The title of this passage reads , which translates as 'A prologue about this book of [[Reynard the Fox'. The typeface is typical for the blackletter used in MLG printing.]]Sub-periods of Middle Low German are:

  • Early Middle Low German (Standard High German: ): 1200–1350, or 1200–1370
  • Classical Middle Low German (): 1350–1500, or 1370–1530
  • Late Middle Low German (): 1500–1600, or 1530–1650

Middle Low German was the lingua franca of the Hanseatic League, spoken all around the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. It used to be thought that the language of Lübeck was dominant enough to become a normative standard (the so-called ) for an emergent spoken and written standard, but more recent work has established that there is no evidence for this and that Middle Low German was non-standardised.

Middle Low German provided a large number of loanwords to languages spoken around the Baltic Sea as a result of the activities of Hanseatic traders. Its traces can be seen in the Scandinavian, Finnic, and Baltic languages, as well as Standard High German and English. It is considered the largest single source of loanwords in Danish, Estonian, Latvian, Norwegian and Swedish.

Beginning in the 15th century, Middle Low German fell out of favour compared to Early Modern High German, which was first used by elites as a written and, later, a spoken language. Reasons for this loss of prestige include the decline of the Hanseatic League, followed by political heteronomy of northern Germany and the cultural predominance of central and southern Germany during the Protestant Reformation and Luther's translation of the Bible.

Phonology and orthography

The description is based on Lasch (1914)

Some features: Umlaut is more productive, occurring before -ich and -isch (e.g. 'Saxon, Low German') and shifting also e to i (e.g. stidde for stêde 'place'). Diphthongised short is rarely marked as such, contrary to other dialects. Before , e and a are frequently interchanged for each other. Unstressed o (as in the suffix -schop) frequently changes into u (-schup). The modal verb for 'shall/should' features , not (i.e. schal). The past participle's prefix was commonly spoken e- but mostly written ge- under prescriptive influence. The local form ek ('I' (pron. 1.sg.)) competed with "standard" ik; in a similar way the oblique form mik ('me') with "standard" mî. Unusually, there is also a dative pronoun (1.sg. mê). Lexically, close connections with Nordalbingian. Unusual plural menne ('men').

(South) Brandenburgish (HG: (Süd-)Brandenburgisch) and East Anhaltish (HG: Ostanhaltisch): Roughly between the middle Elbe and the middle Oder, and along the middle Havel, bordering old Sorbian territory to the Southeast. Main cities: Berlin, Frankfurt/Oder, Zerbst. A colonial dialect strongly influenced by settlers speaking Low Franconian. Also strongly influenced by High German early on.

Some features: Old long ê and ô were diphthongised into and , written i and u. Old Germanic coda is restored, contrary to Ingvaeonic sound changes, e.g. gans 'goose'. Present plural of verbs features the suffix -en. Lack of negative determiner nên ('no' (attr.)), instead: keyn, similar to High German. The past participle retains the prefix ge-. Lack of gaderen ('to gather') and tőgen ('to show'); instead of them, forms close to High German, i.e. and . In East Anhaltish, distinction of dative and accusative pronouns (e.g. mi vs mik, cf. HG mir and mich).

Notes

Literature

  • Bible translations into German
  • The Sachsenspiegel
  • Reynke de Vos, a version of Reynard
  • Low German Incunable prints in Low German as catalogued in the Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke, including the Low German Ship of Fools, Danse Macabre, and the novel Paris und Vienne

References

Further reading

  • Schiller-Lübben in the
  • Mediaevum
  • Project TITUS, including texts in Middle Low German
  • Middle Low German influence on the Scandinavian languages
  • Middle Low German corpus. Still under construction, but the website contains a very concise sketch of MLG grammar also based on Lasch