Re: [SL] [OT] Low and high language

[Markus S. <ma...@bl...>]

Hi,

Clemens Dorfner wrote:
>>> Moreover, ``High German'' and ``Low German'' refer to the altitude of
>>> the places they are spoken in. 
> As I am a German: thats plainly wrong!

I'm Swiss, and I can assure you Clemens is 99.999% right.

> but Hochdeutsch simply names the german, which is taught in school and 
> is understood by the 99% of german speaking people. This has nothing
> to do with quality!

That's where I don't quite agree. I got the impression, that High German 
is called so because the High Society prefers to speak it. So as to 
distinguish itself from the plebs, who speaks dialects, which does not 
sound as international and commonly understandable.

Anyway, we Swiss have a very schizophrenic attitude towards High German, 
so I'm certainly biased.

Regards

Markus