From what i read it seems like people at least during the first three or four decades of the 11th century still communicated in Old High German, while a early form of Middle High German, that was already very different compared to OHG, was already established around 1060 AD.
What exactly happened during all these years that made the language change so much and how did people that were alive all these years perceive these things?
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Might be a good idea to crosspost on the Ask Historians sub?
You seem to already have a foundational knowledge of German linguistic history, but are looking for further specifics. Not that I can help… Whoever does, however, should explain like you are a grad student, not like you are 5.
Without any knowledge of German linguistic history, I can only offer the analogy to the sound shifts we witness today and have good records of. Here’s an example of rhoticity change in English over 60 years: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/70ci16/do_you_pronounce_the_r_in_arm_england_1950_vs/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
Basically….pronunciations shift, and people accept (or not) them – the more people accept them, the more common it is, the easier to accept they get. Sometimes they are motivated politically, sometimes they become fashionable, sometimes they are enforced (I’m looking at you Academie Francaise) and sometimes people are just lazy (I’m looking at ‘pen/pin’ equalizer speakers here ).
Go find a recording of English speech from 100 years ago and listen to it. Does it sound different to today’s speech? Now see if you can find recordings from 75, 50, and 25 years ago. You’ll see that while there’s a perceptible change over a century, it’s pretty small when you get to the 25 year gap.
How aware are you right now that the English you speak is transitioning from early 21st century English to mid-22nd century English?
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