Ah, Germany, where they speak everything but German...
Actually, Germany is a prime example of the blurred line between a language and a dialect. Most Germans do actually speak "German." But what kind of German?
You see, the German language is actually a general term for the West Germanic branch of the sub-family Germanic (the other branch is covered in Scandinavia). This branch forms the core of what is often considered to be Nuclear German, and aside from obvious offshoots like Dutch and English, all West Germanic languages are pretty much widely seen as one German language. This is not the case.
Western Germanic, according to my source Glottolog 3.0 (other sources will vary) contains 91 languages, of which 38 are considered to be part of a broad "German" language. This German language is split into three main groups: North Sea Germanic (Northern Germany), Franconian (Central Germany), and Upper German (Southern Germany). This may be a good time to clarify that the use of the terms "upper" and "lower" in most European languages refers to elevation, not cardinal points. Anyways, now to learn about the groups:
- North Sea Germanic: this is the home to the English language and its sibling, the trio of Frisian languages (Northern Frisian and Saterfriesisch can be found in Germany). Aside from these distractions, we come across those 7 languages in northeastern Netherlands. Believe it or not, these languages are considered to be German, along with Eastern Low German, Eastern Frisian (which isn't related to the other Frisian languages, oddly enough), and Westphalien.
- Franconian: the German that most foreigners such as myself would learn is known as Nuclear German, and it can be found in this group, specifically around Berlin. We'll get to that later, but first let me list the other Franconian languages: Lower Silesian, Luxembourgish (often considered its own language separate from German, despite being more closely related then the North Sea Germanic languages, for instance), Mainfrankisch, Kolsch and Limburgan (depending on who you ask, these two may be considered as one "Ripuarian" language), Pfaelzisch and Upper Saxon. Dutch and its associates can also be found here, but they aren't considered to be "German."
- Upper German: this is sometimes considered different from everyday "German," but as usual in cases like this, the debate rages on. They contain Swabian, Swiss German and Bavarian (as well as a few others that will be covered in the next few updates).
So, okay, the list is over. But what's the answer? Is there one German language or many more?
Well, that is a tricky subject, and it depends entirely on who you ask. If you ask the German on the streets what language she or he speaks, they are most likely going to say "German." This is despite the fact they may actually be speaking Westphalien or some such language to you. This is because in Germany, unlike most European nations, the mental distinction (keyword there) between the different linguistic, and thereby cultural groups, was eradicated between the World Wars.
Before WWI, Germany was split into several kingdoms and republics who all gave fealty to the Prussian King, the last of whom was Kaiser Wilhelm II. To an outsider, one might think that Germany before 1918 was united, but such was never really the case. People thought of themselves as Prussian, Bavarian, Saxon or Limburgan before they thought of themselves as German. After WWI, these disparate states of the German Empire cast aside their autonomy and fully united to form the first German Republic (the German Reich). The disposal of their partial-independence, coupled with the rise of German nationalism through the 20s and 30s, pretty much erased the lines of distinction between Silesian and Brandenburger, and every other group in between.
Today, these national identities that where so clear cut barely a hundred years ago can only be found on a linguistic map, where to this day the first language of most Germans remains the language spoken in that area in a time long past. To a person in Germany, it has been ingrained in their mind that they speak German, not some relative of German. But from a linguistical standpoint, they do indeed speak another language. And it isn't German.
What we know today as Nuclear German is actually the language of the once autonomous kingdom of Brandenburg, who's seat of power was Berlin (hence the Brandenburg Gate). Being the language of the capital has gained it particular fame, being the national language of Germany itself, and thus becoming confused with the other languages of Germany.
Which reminds me, there are a few other languages in Germany:
- Jutish has a small finger into Schleswig, and Danish is predominately spoken on the island of Fehmarn. Much of the Jutland Peninsula was given from Germany to Denmark after WWI (yes, WWI, not WWII), so I'm not sure why these two areas didn't join Denmark back then.
- Upper and Lower Sorbian can be found near Berlin. They are the language of the Sorbs, Germany's only native Slavic peoples.