how exactly did the changes from Old High German to Middle High German during the 11th century actually happen and how aware were the people about these things?

Question

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?

In: 54

Answer 1

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 ).