Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics
1 In the sociolinguistic sense, the (supraregionally valid, normed, codified) standard language, in contrast to the colloquial language, which differs regionally, or to the dialects, which are restricted to smaller regions.
2 In the dialect-geographical sense (
dialect geography), all dialects that underwent the second sound shift ( Old High German consonant shift), in contrast to the Low German dialects, which did not take part in this sound shift. The border between High German and Low German (with High German-Low German interference especially in the West (Low Franconian) and East (the Brandenburg dialect, Upper Saxon) runs along the so-called ‘maken/machen’ line (the ‘Benrath line’ between Düsseldorf and Cologne). Within High German, there is a further subdivision into Middle German and Upper German, depending on the intensity with which the sound shift occurred.
References
dialectology, German
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