LANGUAGE HISTORY

English and German are related languages. The following information ives some idea of how they are related and some of the changes have made them different. Remember though, that many words have shifted meanings even though they are clealy related. For example, German Hund is related to (is cognate with) the English word "hound", although the German word means "dog". Students should be cautious guessing what words mean because they simply "look alike". German Gift and English "gift" are alike, but the German word means "poison"!

CLASSIFICATION

INDO-EUROPEAN

Germanic

ggw group (ggw developed from ww and ddj or ggj developed from jj)

East

North

 ww and jj group:(ww and jj maintained)

West
High (or Upper) German (Southern, mountainous Germany)

Allemanic (SW)
Bavarian (SE)
Yiddish

 Franconian

Dutch,
Flemish
Afrikaans

 Ingvaconic

Old Saxon => Low German
STANDARD GERMAN (developed as a written form and not a regional dialect as such

 Frisian

ENGLISH

 Several sound changes have caused German and English to separate. Here are some indications of what happened as a result

Shift English German
p => ff ship Schif
pf=>f pipe Pfeife
t=>ss eat iss
t=>ts tongue Zunge
k=>ch make machen
d=>t middle Mittel
th (both θ and ŏ)=d through, brother durch, Bruder