Standard German originated not as a traditional dialect of a specific region but as a written languagedeveloped over a process of several hundred years in which writers tried to write in a way that was understood in the largest

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In German, Standard German is generally called Hochdeutsch, reflecting the fact that its phonetics are largely those of the High Germanspoken in the southern uplands and the Alps

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Standard German is pluricentric with different national varieties, namely: German Standard German, Austrian Standard German and Swiss Standard German.

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In most regions, the speakers use a continuum of mixtures from more dialectical varieties to more standard varieties according to

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Features
Standard High German is written in the Latin alphabet. In addition to the 26 standard letters, German has three vowels with an

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Several organisations promote the use and learning of the Standard German language.
Goethe Institut
The government-backed

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While the three principal national varieties are recognized as three distinct standards, the differences are few, perhaps comparable to the difference between British and American English. Duden does codify the standard pronunciation for German Standard German,

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