The German Language and Martin Luther

1. The German Language and Martin Luther By Paige Adams 3rd hour

2. The History Of German

3. Descended from the proto-Germanic branch. Proto-Germanic itself is a branch of the Indo-European branch. • Has three main periods: Old German, Middle German, and Modern German • The first piece of written German was written around 750 A.D.. • It is said that Martin Luther began the development of standard German when he translated the New Testament of the Holy Bible from Greek to German. • The Holy Bible helped spread the language. The Guttenberg printing press allowed many copies to be made in a short amount of time. • During the 1700’s, German authors gave standard German the structure it has today.

4. http://savageminds.org/2008/02/10/around-the-web-2102008/indo-european-language-tree/http://savageminds.org/2008/02/10/around-the-web-2102008/indo-european-language-tree/

5. The Structure of German

6. Uses the Roman alphabet with the addition of the letter β. • Used the Fraktur alphabet until 1945, when the Roman alphabet was adopted. • “Low German” is spoken in the low coastal plains of Germany (north) • “High German” is spoken in all of lower Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. • Standard German is called “East Middle German.” It is similar to all of the German dialects. • Many dialects differ from standard German in both pronunciation and grammar. Standard German is understood by everybody.

7. http://rakeshchintha.110mb.com/linguistics/german.html http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Roman+alphabet Can you guess which alphabet is which?

8. German Statistics and Interesting Facts • German is spoken in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, northern Italy, eastern Belgium, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein • There are over one hundred million speakers of German throughout the entire world! • In Germany alone, there are thirty five different dialects

9. Martin Luther

10. Born on November 10th, 1483 in Eisleben, Germany. • Became a priest in 1507. • Wrote and posted the Nintey Five Theses in 1517 on the door of the Wittenberg church. They demoted many Catholic beliefs. • In 1521 he was outlawed by Emperor Karl V and was sheltered by Duke Frederik in Castle of Wartburg. Here he translated the New Testament of the Holy Bible from Greek to German. • In 1525 he set out to bring all of the churches and schools together that believed in the Reformation. After this, they were adopted in Germany, Scandinavian & Baltic countries, and Finland. • In 1525, he married Katharina von Bora. They had six children together. • Died on February 18th, 1546, in Eisleben, Germany. He was sixty two years old. http://www.sspx.ca/Communicantes/Sep2005/Pope_of_Wittenberg.htm http://www.covenanter.org/Luther/martinluther.htm http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Katharina-von-Bora-05.jpg

11. The Reformation • Started when Martin Luther nailed the Nintey Five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg church in 1517. • It re-created the Catholic religion. • This was the birth of denominations. goodtimesdelgadostyle.blogspot.com

12. Review

13. Who translated the New Testament of the Holy Bible from Greek to German? • Answer: Martin Luther • How many different dialects of German are spoken in Germany? • Answer: thirty five • What alphabet does German use? • Answer: Roman alphabet • What is the re-creation of the Catholic religion called? • Answer: the Reformation