Historic Colognian
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Historic Colognian or Old Colognian was the spoken and written language of the city of
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
from the 12th century to the 18th century, before the development of Modern Colognian. The German name for it is ''Altkölnisch''. This classification is primarily based on the research and publications, including a dictionary by Dr. Adam Wrede (1875-1960), a linguist at the
University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...
. He also published a dictionary of Modern Colognian, which is still reprinted today.


History

Since the middle of the 5th Century, Cologne was under the rule of the
Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
, who took over after almost 500 years of
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
rule. The Franks brought their own language, which gradually replaced
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
as the common language of the residents. The Old Colognian language developed later than the 12th Century, evolving from a mixture of the then old fashioned Ripuarian and
Low Franconian Low Franconian, Low Frankish, NetherlandicSarah Grey Thomason, Terrence Kaufman: ''Language Contact, Creolization, and Genetic Linguistics'', University of California Press, 1991, p. 321. (Calling it "Low Frankish (or Netherlandish)".)Scott Shay ...
dialects and
Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
. Old Franconian developed into a huge variety of dialects, including most of
Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. Hig ...
and later
Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. As a standard form of th ...
, while
Old Low Franconian In linguistics, Old Dutch (Dutch: Oudnederlands) or Old Low Franconian (Dutch: Oudnederfrankisch) is the set of Franconian dialects (i.e. dialects that evolved from Frankish) spoken in the Low Countries during the Early Middle Ages, from arou ...
developed into
Middle Low German Middle Low German or Middle Saxon (autonym: ''Sassisch'', i.e. " Saxon", Standard High German: ', Modern Dutch: ') is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented i ...
,
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
,
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
and others.
Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
developed into
New High German New High German (NHG; german: Neuhochdeutsch (Nhd.)) is the term used for the most recent period in the history of the German language, starting in the 17th century. It is a loan translation of the German (). The most important characteristic o ...
and
Modern German New High German (NHG; german: Neuhochdeutsch (Nhd.)) is the term used for the most recent period in the history of the German language, starting in the 17th century. It is a loan translation of the German (). The most important characteristic o ...
. So Old Colognian was already influenced by High German in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
.Wrede: ''Neuer Kölnischer Sprachschatz''. Volume 3, page 332, top. Old Colognian was not a mere dialect. It was the language of the Electorate of Cologne, spoken and written every day by both the ecclesiastical and secular authorities as well as the residents of the city and its surrounding area. So it was very well preserved through the Middle Ages and into the Modern times, with a rich variety arising from everyday use. Contemporary literature was written and later printed in Old Colognian. Beginning in the first half of the 16th century, even mundane literary sources exist.One of them, written in the 16th Century, is the so called “Weinsberg Book” (''Buch Weinsberg''), a kind of diary of a son of a Colognian patrician,
Hermann von Weinsberg Hermann Weinsberg, also known as Hermann von Weinsberg (1518–1597) was a city councillor in Cologne and a diarist whose autobiographical writings, long obscure, are now considered to be of historical importance. Life Weinsberg was born in Colog ...
, who wrote about his own life from youth to adulthood. Most remarkably, with his writings, he placed himself with the kings and queens of his time, usually the only ones whose lives are documented by existing records, letters and reports.
During the 16th century, the influence of the
New High German New High German (NHG; german: Neuhochdeutsch (Nhd.)) is the term used for the most recent period in the history of the German language, starting in the 17th century. It is a loan translation of the German (). The most important characteristic o ...
language increased in Cologne and along the
Rhine River ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...
, changing the way of writing used by the monasteries, authorities, and printers. But it did not affect the spoken language of the ordinary citizens. This is evident from the written accounts of the 18th Century, when Colognian was revived for the literature, and they show the development of Old Colognian into Modern Colognian, at least in its spoken form. Towards the end of the 16th century, the Low Franconian writing system was gradually abandoned by printers and offices in favor of the developing New High German writing system. Since then, spoken and written languages diverged in Cologne, and documents written in Old Colognian have grown scarce.


References

{{Reflist Extinct languages of Europe Electorate of Cologne Languages of Germany German dialects Ripuarian language City colloquials Languages attested from the 12th century Languages extinct in the 18th century