High German languages

The High German languages, often referred to as High German dialects, include the German varieties found south of the Benrath and Uerdingen isoglosses. This area covers central and southern Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and eastern Belgium, plus adjacent parts of France, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Poland. Diaspora communities also speak them in Romania, Russia, Canada, the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Namibia. What sets High German apart from Low German and Low Franconian (which includes Dutch) in the West Germanic dialect continuum is the High German consonant shift. The label "high" points to the upland geography of central and southern Germany, contrasting with the lowland regions where Low German is spoken.

As a technical term, "High German" refers geographically to the dialect group that gave rise to Standard German, Yiddish, and Luxembourgish. This group spans the Central Uplands and Alpine areas of central and southern Germany, along with Luxembourg, Austria, Liechtenstein, and most of Switzerland. It is split into Upper German and Central German (the latter includes Luxembourgish, now a standard language in its own right). These varieties are defined by their participation in the High German consonant shift, which began around AD 500 and affected different dialects to varying degrees. For instance, in the southernmost High Alemannic dialects, the shift goes further: the word *Sack* (like English "sack" or Low German *Sack*) is pronounced [z̥ak͡x], with [k] becoming [k͡x].

Old High German emerged around AD 500. By about 1200, Swabian and East Franconian varieties of Middle High German became dominant as court and poetry languages (used in Minnesang) under the House of Hohenstaufen. The term "High German" for the speech of central and southern Germany (Upper Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, Bavaria) and Austria was first recorded in the 15th century. From the Early Modern period onward, these varieties gradually pushed back Low German variants. The East Central German of the Luther Bible, in particular, became a key foundation for Standard German.

Subfamilies within Germanic are rarely neatly divided, as most form continuous clines where neighboring dialects are mutually intelligible but distant ones are not. There was never a single "Proto-High German" language. For this reason, many linguists cauti