Worksheet for Waterman, History of the German Language, Chapter 4, Pp
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Worksheet for Waterman, History of the German Language, Chapter 4, pp. 83-97. 1. 1. Wann war die frühmittelhochdeutsche Periode? 1. 2. 1. What is the significance of Das Ezzolied (= Ezzos Gesang ) in German cultural history? 2. What language was it written in? 1. 3. What is the content of a/the “Mementô morî ” 1. 4. What is a Landschaftssprache? 1. 5. Was there such a thing as a “standard German language” then? 1. 6. Who wrote most of the Early Middle High German documents whether religious or occasionally even already more secular in content/theme? (p.88) 1. 7. What language were those documents modeled after? (p.96) 2. 1. What do linguistic and literary historians call the period that lasted roughly from 1170-1250. a) ______________________________________________________ b) ______________________________________________________ c) ______________________________________________________ d) the Golden Age of _______________________________________ 2. 2. What type of literature was produced then? 2. 3. In terms of phonology (study of speech sounds), what are the two principal/major differences between Old High German and Middle High German? 1. 2. 2. 4. Whose language was Classic Medieval German / High Middle High German ....... 1. in terms of speech 2. in terms of writing 2. 5. Why did the language of the knights have a certain first standardizing influence on the German regional languages / dialects of the time? 2. 6. Waterman writes that “the language of the knight had above all else to be socially acceptable.” What does that mean? 2. 7. In which country was the model of all knighthood and chivalry created? 2. 8. When and how did the German nobility first come into contact with the nobility from there? What was the result? 2. 9. Linguistically speaking, the results of this close contact and the German admiration for the French courtly culture was that .................. 1. many French words were _____________________ = came directly into the German language; we call them loan-words. Try to find the modern German equivalent of these words: âventiure banier palas rîm (p.91) Give further examples of such loan-words: Most loan-words pertained to what areas of knightly life? a) b) To what degree do we still use this specialized vocabulary today? 2. several French suffixal elements were borrowed that we still use today. Name the suffixes and give at least two modern German example to illustrate the significance of this suffixal borrowing. (p. 90) 3. several French words were translated/transliterated into German. We call such words ______________________________ . So, what is the modern German word for polite (dictionary!)? What is its origin? (p. 90!!!) French: Middle High German: 4. the idea/phenomenon of formal address came into German. What was the German formal address pronoun then? To what degree is that still so today? 2. 10. Which two cities were the most direct points of entry of French courtly culture and language into the German speaking areas and why? (Be able to find them on a map, too!) 2. 11. 1. Which other area was a significant point of entry/influence? 2. Which words that we still use today came into German as loan- translations from the French via that area? 2. 12. Medieval knights ideally had to cultivate four virtues. Explain them briefly. -- hövescheit -- tugend -- mâze -- zuht 2. 13. How are/were these ideals of knighthood reflected in the language of the nobility / knights of the time? 1. Whose parlance was to be emulated? 2. What was to be avoided? 3. Sometimes words were used in redefined meanings. Discuss the change in the meaning of the word edel that occurred then. Discuss the change in the meaning of the usage of the words Weib (wîp ) and Frau (vrouwe ) that occurred then. 2. 14. 1. What is the German term for the language of the court poets of the Classic Medieval / High Middle High German period. 2. Was their language a) completely uniform and standardized or b) did they show a marked tendency to use speech forms of maximum acceptability. 3. During the time of the full flower of medieval literature the prevailing literary language took on features of these two regional dialects: (Locate them on Map No. 2 in the Appendix of the book.) Why? 4. It was important for singers/minstrels/poets of the time to use the contemporary standard because a) the works were meant to be read silently b) the works were meant to be sung out loud c) dialects other than the standard would have interfered with the rhymes being considered beautiful, and indeed rhymes, by anybody other than those in the audience who were from the same area as the poet d) would have seriously interfered with the ability of a minstrel to make a living / or gain prestige by moving from court to court. 2. 15. 1. Whose death marked the end of the Classic Medieval Period? 2. The language of which linguistic and cultural forces predominated thereafter in literature? 1. 2. 3. 3. Were the writings that emerged from these groups supra-territorial in terms of the language used or regional in linguistic coloration..