The Colonialist Connotations of the Term “German Language”

Abstract

Linguistically speaking, the family of West-Germanic languages contains English (Englisch/Engels), Hoch-Deutsch (Duits/German) and Nederlands (Dutch/Niederl ä ndisch). All of them have Germanic roots to a certain degree but each one differs a lot from the languages spoken by any German tribesman in Ancient Roman times. The list shows at once that the terms “Deutsch”, “Duits” and “Dutch” seem to be derived from the same root, while the attributes “hoch”, “nieder” and “neder” refer to geographic distinctions in terms of altitude, i.e. “hoch” or “high” meaning the language spoken in mountainous regions and “neder” or “low” meaning its counterpart of the coastal areas. In this article the process is analyzed in which one of these three languages came to be singled out and referred to as “German” in the early 18 th century, while its correct name “High Dutch” was all but completely replaced by the year 1800. This process coincides with the political doctrine of the British Empire as heir to the Roman Empire being developed. The article argues that nothing precludes us now from once again using the correct terminology after the end of this temporary political entity.