page_title: Early New High German
section_title: Diphthongisation
hierarchical_section_title: Early New High German / Phonology and orthography / Vowels / Diphthongisation
caption_attribution_description: English: The diphthongisation of long vowels in Early New High German, distribution and chronology. This map is based on Map 35 in Theodor Frings, Grundlegung einer Geschichte der deutschen Sprache (1957), which is itself based on an original map by Kurt Wagner in Deutsche Sprachlandschaften (1927). Wagner's distribution mapping draws on the data map from the Deutscher Sprachatlas for Haus, which can be seen at Regionalsprache.de.
context_page_description: Early New High German is a term for the period in the history of the German language, generally defined, following Wilhelm Scherer, as the period 1350 to 1650.
  The term is the standard translation of the German Frühneuhochdeutsch, introduced by Scherer. The term Early Modern High German is also occasionally used for this period.
context_section_description: The long high vowels /iː/, /uː/ and /yː/ (spelt ⟨î⟩, ⟨û⟩ and ⟨iu⟩) are diphthongised to /aɪ/, /aʊ/ and /ɔʏ/, spelt ⟨ei⟩, ⟨au⟩ and ⟨eu/äu⟩. In many dialects they fall together with the original MHG diphthongs ⟨ei⟩, ⟨ou⟩ and ⟨öu⟩ /øy/, which are all lowered.
  Examples:
  MHG snîden ("to cut") > NHG schneiden
  MHG hût ("skin") > NHG Haut
  MHG liute ("people") > NHG Leute.
  This change started as early as the 12th century in Upper Bavarian and only reached Moselle Franconian in the 16th century. It does not affect Alemannic or Ripuarian dialects, which still retain the original long vowels. The map shows the distribution and chronology of this sound change. In Bavarian, the original diphthongs are monophthongized, avoiding a merger with the new diphthongs.
caption: The diphthongisation of long vowels in ENHG
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