A Middle High German Primer

Wright, Joseph, 1855-1930Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 362K words
Chapters: 37

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Middle High German Primer by Joseph WrightAuthor: Wright, Joseph, 1855-1930,Language: English, Class: PF: Language and Literatures: West Germanic, Release Date: Sep 16, 2007

Editor's review

This is an introductory primer to Middle High German compiled by Joseph Wright and written in English, falling under West Germanic language and literature. Wright was a British philologist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and his grammatical readers for German, Gothic, and other languages circulated widely in linguistic circles; this book continues the empirical style of such textbooks: it takes phonology, morphology, and syntax as its framework, supplemented by specimen texts from Middle High German documents and a vocabulary, helping readers build an overall understanding of German forms in this period. Its value lies not in literary appreciation but in providing a practical introductory path—first mastering sound changes and inflectional rules, then practicing interpretation with annotated texts. For researchers of German language history or medieval German literature, or learners who wish to read the original language of works such as the Nibelungenlied, this is a practical reference-type reader. It is best read chapter by chapter in sequence, learning rules while doing textual exercises, and consulting the vocabulary at the back when encountering lexical obstacles; it should not be read straight through as a general history or literary reader. As a public-domain e-book, it is convenient to search and suitable for repeated consultation alongside paper notes.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Undergraduates and graduate students studying the history of German who need an introduction to Middle High German
Readers researching medieval German literature who wish to read the original language
Self-learners with some German who wish to extend their knowledge of historical linguistics
Teachers of philology who need a basic grammar reader for reference

Not a good fit for

Complete beginners with no German who wish to study modern German directly
Readers who only want to know the stories of Middle High German literature and are unwilling to study grammar
General readers expecting a systematic literary history or literary appreciation

Reading tips

First read through the chapters on phonology and inflection to establish a framework of rules, then move on to the specimen texts.
After finishing each grammar section, immediately do interpretation exercises with the accompanying selections, translating while consulting the vocabulary.
Keep a notebook organizing sound-change patterns and common word forms for cross-reference and review.
Read the same text alongside a modern German or English translation to check whether your understanding is accurate.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What language background is needed before using this book?

The book is written in English and explains Middle High German, so readers should preferably have English reading ability and some foundation in modern German. Readers with no German will face two obstacles at once; it is advisable to study some modern German grammar first before using this book, which will make understanding the inflectional changes much easier.

Is it a grammar book or an anthology of literature?

It is primarily a grammar primer, systematically introducing the phonology, morphology, and syntax of Middle High German, and is equipped with specimen texts from documents of the period and a vocabulary for practice in interpretation. The texts in the book are learning materials serving instruction, not a selection for literary appreciation; readers should use it as a reference book.

What level can one reach after finishing this book?

It provides an introductory framework of rules and practice materials; after finishing it, one can usually, with the help of a dictionary and notes, begin to interpret simpler Middle High German texts and understand basic word-form changes and syntactic structures. To read longer works further, one still needs to continue building vocabulary and consult more specialized grammars and annotated editions.

Comments

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About the author

Wright, Joseph, 1855-1930 Author · British · 1855–1930

Joseph Wright (1855–1930) was a British linguist. He devoted himself to the historical and dialectological study of English, compiled The English Dialect Dictionary, and wrote grammars of Gothic and Old English, exerting a lasting influence on historical linguistics and dialectology. The work held in this library is A Middle High German Primer, an introductory textbook of Middle High German for beginners, which reflects his practice of bringing knowledge of Germanic historical grammar to teaching and writing; it is concise in exposition and focuses on grammatical essentials and examples. Public information about the details of his life is limited, so this brief introduction relies only on his confirmed writings and works.