Zum Einfluss des Lateins auf die althochdeutsche

Abstract

On the Influence of Latin on Old High German

In this article I have given a historical overview of the influence of Latin on the German language at the different stages of its development. But, a special attention was given to Old High German, because both have common roots. At the beginning I explained the most important background about Latin and Old High German to better understand the development of the German language gradually. Then, I have explained the influence of Latin on Old High German through the relationship between Latin and Old High German from a religious perspective. At the end I explained the features and the different changes that affected the lexical items of Old High German, with a particular emphasis on linguistic and phonetic changes. Not only Latin influenced German, but also French, Greek, Ancient Greek, and English have had the greatest impact. We end up with a question to open other avenues for research: what would the German language be like if Latin had never existed? It is difficult to answer this question, but what is important is that Latin served the German language as a unified language and culture.