The Man Who Invented The German Language
Summary
TLDRThis video dives into the evolution of the German language, focusing on Martin Luther's significant contribution through his translation of the Bible. Luther’s work not only shaped modern German but also spread his religious reform ideas, laying the foundation for Protestantism. The video highlights how Luther's Bible translation unified various Germanic dialects into one coherent language, accessible to the common people. Additionally, it explores the historical context, Luther’s motivations, and even touches on his connection to Martin Luther King Jr., while also discussing constructed languages like Esperanto.
Takeaways
- 📚 The video is sponsored by Audible, promoting their audiobook platform.
- 🗣️ The video focuses on the development of the German language and Martin Luther's significant influence on it.
- 🌍 Language is described as a defining feature of humanity and communication.
- 🏛️ Martin Luther is introduced as the person who greatly influenced the modern German language, although he did not create it from scratch like Tolkien's Elvish or Klingon.
- ✝️ Luther is more famously known for his role in the Protestant Reformation, but his translation of the Bible into German was critical in unifying the German language.
- 📜 Luther’s translation of the Bible helped establish a standardized German language, which did not exist at the time as Germany was made up of many different dialects.
- 📖 The Bible was originally only available in Latin, and Luther's goal was to make it accessible to the common people by translating it into a more understandable version of German.
- ⚒️ Luther’s bilingualism in both High and Low German allowed him to blend elements from various Germanic dialects to create a unified language.
- 🔨 His translation also simplified the language of the Bible, making it more relatable and easier to read, including common German phrases and sayings.
- 📜 The printing press played a significant role in spreading Luther’s Bible translation, leading to its wide distribution and lasting impact on the German language.
Q & A
What is the main topic of this video?
-The video discusses the creation and evolution of languages, particularly focusing on Martin Luther's role in shaping the modern German language.
How does the video define the importance of language for humans?
-The video explains that language is a defining feature of the human race, enabling detailed communication and distinguishing humans from other animals.
What examples of fictional constructed languages are mentioned in the video?
-The video mentions Tolkien's Elvish languages and Klingon as examples of fictional constructed languages created by individuals.
Who created Esperanto, and what was its purpose?
-Esperanto was created by Polish physician Ludwig L. Zamenhof with the hope of becoming an international language to be spoken across the globe.
Who is credited with having a significant influence on the modern German language?
-Martin Luther is credited with having a major influence on the modern German language by translating the Bible into a form of German that people could widely understand.
How did Martin Luther's name influence Martin Luther King Jr.?
-Martin Luther King Jr.'s father, Michael King Sr., was inspired by Martin Luther during a trip to Germany and changed both his and his son's names to honor the German reformer.
Why did Martin Luther decide to translate the Bible into German?
-Luther wanted the Bible to be accessible to the common people in Germany, most of whom could not read Latin, the language in which the Bible was originally available.
How did the German language exist during Martin Luther’s time?
-At the time, there was no unified German language, but rather a collection of Germanic dialects spoken across different regions such as Saxon and Bavarian.
What was Martin Luther's strategy for translating the Bible into German?
-Luther combined elements from various Germanic languages to create a unified version of the German language that could be understood by people across different regions.
What was the significance of the printing press in relation to Luther’s translation of the Bible?
-The invention of the printing press allowed Luther's version of the Bible to be mass-produced and widely distributed, which helped spread his translation and ideas throughout Germany.
Outlines
📚 Audible Sponsorship & Language Introduction
The video begins with an advertisement for Audible, offering a free audiobook, two Audible Originals, and a 30-day trial. The speaker shifts focus to the importance of language in human development, mentioning that it defines humans as a species. Unlike organic languages that evolve over time, some languages, like Tolkien’s Elvish or Esperanto, were artificially created. The speaker hints that the video will explore a constructed language used in unifying people, leading into the focus on the German language.
👨🏫 Martin Luther’s Role in Shaping German
The speaker reveals that the video will focus on Martin Luther and his contribution to the German language. Luther didn’t 'create' the German language but significantly influenced its development. His most famous accomplishment is not linguistic, but religious, as he reformed Christianity. A comparison is drawn between Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr., whose names are linked due to the admiration King Sr. had for the German reformer.
⛪ Martin Luther's Early Life and Religious Influence
The video covers Martin Luther’s early life in Saxony, Germany, where he was raised by his parents, who had peasant ancestry. His father pushed him toward a legal career, but Luther's path dramatically changed after a life-threatening storm. Luther promised to become a monk if he survived, which he did, leading him to a religious life. However, Luther's faith was tested after witnessing the corruption in the Catholic Church, eventually motivating him to challenge the church’s practices.
✍️ Luther's 95 Theses & the Protestant Reformation
Luther’s frustration with the Catholic Church culminated in the posting of his 95 Theses, challenging practices like selling indulgences. He rejected the idea that salvation could be bought and argued that faith alone was sufficient for redemption. This challenge led to his excommunication and the birth of Protestantism. Luther believed that everything needed for salvation could be found in the Bible, which became central to his religious ideology.
📖 Translation of the Bible and Creation of Modern German
One of Luther’s significant contributions was translating the Bible into German so that common people could read it. At the time, the Bible was only available in Latin, which most people could not understand. Luther faced the challenge that there was no single 'German' language; instead, there were many dialects. Drawing from various Germanic languages, Luther essentially created a unified version of German to make the Bible accessible to all German speakers.
🔧 Luther's Unified German Language
Luther used his knowledge of both High and Low German, gained from his childhood experiences, to merge elements of different Germanic dialects into one language. His translation was not just a literal version of the Bible; he also made it more relatable by incorporating common sayings and making the language simpler. The timing of the printing press's invention helped Luther’s Bible become widely distributed, and over time, his version of German evolved into the modern German language spoken today.
🎧 Audible Promotion and Closing Remarks
The video closes with another promotion for Audible, encouraging viewers to try the service and listen to books such as 'Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World' by Eric Metaxas. The speaker emphasizes how Audible fits into their daily life, from chores to car rides. They also thank patrons for supporting the channel and highlight the importance of small monthly donations to keep the content running.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Language
💡Martin Luther
💡German language
💡Protestantism
💡Bible Translation
💡Latin
💡Printing Press
💡Esperanto
💡Indulgences
💡Reformation
Highlights
The video is sponsored by Audible, offering a free audiobook, two Audible originals, and a 30-day free trial.
Languages are essential to human communication, setting humans apart from animals due to their ability to communicate in detail.
Artificially constructed languages like Tolkien's Elvish and Klingon are created by individuals, as opposed to natural languages which evolve over time.
Esperanto was created by Polish physician Ludwig Zamenhof with the hope of becoming an international language, spoken by millions but not achieving its global potential.
The German language, in part, owes its development to Martin Luther's efforts in translating the Bible, unifying various Germanic dialects.
Martin Luther, while more famous for his role in Christianity, had a profound impact on the German language by translating the Bible into a common dialect.
Martin Luther King Jr. was originally named Michael King Jr., but his father renamed both of them in honor of Martin Luther after a trip to Germany.
Martin Luther was born in 1483 in Saxony, and initially studied to become a lawyer, but a life-altering experience during a storm led him to become a monk.
Luther was disillusioned by the corruption in the Catholic Church, particularly the selling of indulgences, which led him to nail his 95 Theses to the church door.
Luther's new ideas about Christianity centered on faith alone and the Bible as the sole authority, which contrasted with the Catholic Church's practices at the time.
At the time, the Bible was only available in Latin, and Luther's goal was to make it accessible to common German people by translating it into a unified German language.
Germany in the 1500s was not a unified country but a collection of states with different dialects, and Luther's translation helped unify these dialects into a common language.
Luther's Bible translation used a combination of Upper and Lower German dialects, creating a version of German that was accessible to a wide audience.
The printing press played a crucial role in spreading Luther's translation of the Bible, leading to its widespread adoption.
Luther's translation continued to evolve, and his efforts were instrumental in shaping the modern German language still spoken today.
The video encourages listeners to explore Martin Luther’s biography, 'Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World,' on Audible.
Transcripts
this video is sponsored by audible go to
audible.com slash name explain or text
name explain to 500 500 to get a free
audiobook to free audible originals and
a 30-day free trial hey so this video
isn't actually about a specific name or
group of names but rather about a
language as a whole if that's okay of
everyone I don't know if this going to
be a thing on the channel going forward
or if this is just a one-off but I found
out about this fact and want to turn
into a video so here we are now cool
cool anyway languages they're pretty
important things perhaps the defining
feature the human race if you ask me our
language and the ability to cue me
without language and the ability to cue
me without language and the ability to
communicate in so much detail evidently
that's something I can't do right now
with other humans would most likely be
just another animal on this planet at
the very least I wouldn't be here
blabbering away to you right now if it
wasn't for language and something as
important as a language normally takes a
long time to develop in fact the
language is never really done developing
I've mentioned proto-indo-european in
the past the reconstructed language that
trickled down and evolved into a variety
of different languages that exists on
our planet today over many many years
however this isn't always the case
sometimes languages don't develop like
this and can simply be created by one
person or a group of people take
fictional languages like tokens elvish
tongues and even Klingon these are
languages that didn't develop with
groups of people but were artificially
created by a single person and yes while
these languages are primarily for nerds
like myself to get excited about
there'll be more serious attempts of
constructing a language to be used by
many Esperanto was constructed by Polish
physician Ludwig L salmon Hoff out of
various romance and Germanic languages
it was created in hope that it will
become an international language spoken
across the globe there was spoken by
around 2 million people
though I've also read 10 million and
while yes there's quite a lot of people
I don't think it took off in the way
people hoped it would while Esperanto
may have not achieved was intended to do
if we look through history we actually
come across an instance where language
was constructed by just one person with
the intention of unifying a group of
speakers of different languages and
actually worked out perhaps most
impressive however is the fact that this
language is still being used to this
very day with that language being German
as you
already no obviously as it's in the
title of the video so who is this
mystery man that single-handedly
constructed the German language
well that's actually a bit of a lie he
didn't really create the language in the
same way talking crazy elvish or
anything like that though he had a huge
impact on the language as you will see
and well you fell for my clickbait title
and you're here now so you might as well
stick around anyway that man was none
other than Martin Luther you may already
be familiar with martin luther somehow
despite more or less creating the modern
german language that isn't what he is
most famous for he is most known for the
changes he made to christianity and his
founding of a new form of the religion
all together but that we will talk about
a little bit later on and even if you
didn't know these actions that martin
luther did then there's still a chance
you've heard his name even though when
you've heard it it might not be while
talking about him in modern times the
name Martin Luther is more commonly seen
with the extra names of King and jr.
attached at the end of it it's safe to
say that Martin Luther and Martin Luther
King jr. definitely not the same person
but the similarities in their names is
no coincidence Martin Luther King jr.
was born the name Michael King jr. named
after his father Michael King senior
King senior was a Baptist minister and
in 1934 he was chosen along with nine
other ministers to visit the Christian
holy land and then Germany it was in
Germany King senior started to
understand the works of Martin leaf or
more and out of admiration for the man
Michael King senior changed his name and
his five year old son's name to Martin
Luther King senior and Martin Luther
King jr. respectively and that's the
story as the white German monk in the
1500 are know it's important figures of
the civil right movements have the same
name anyway let's look into the life of
that German monk he was born on the 10th
of November 14 83 in Islip in Saxony
which of course is now part of the
modern nation of Germany what exactly
Germany was at this time however we'll
go into in a bit his parents hands and
Margaret - a peasant ancestry his father
was a miner and/or smelter mining was an
extremely tough job and 100 enjoy or too
much he disliked his career as a miner
so much he wanted to make sure his son
wouldn't fall into this line of work to
say the family mooted a nearby town of
manse fella - where Martin Luther went
to school his father hoped you become a
lawyer in school and university he said
he
grammar rhetoric and logic which is
something he really didn't enjoy but
nevertheless it was what he needed to
learn to fulfill his father's hopes for
him to become a lawyer he graduated from
university 1501 over the green grammar
logic rhetoric and metaphysics which is
apparently the skills required in dos on
to become a lawyer however his
aspirations of becoming a lawyer came to
a crashing halt in 1505 when luffa went
for a life-changing experience it was in
this year aloof was caught in a
torrential thunderstorm fearing for his
life it was here he shouts out the saint
and saved me Saint Anne and I'll become
a monk and I was after uttering display
for help that the storms faded away so
staying true to his word Leifer went on
to become a monk
in modern times however he saw into fear
that this wasn't quite a spontaneous
decision and it seemed at first many
finger Leifer wanted to become a monk
for some time and his plea in the storm
as well as his growing fear of Hell and
God's wrath spurred him on to follow
this life at first he struggled with
life in the monastery religious
enlightenment simply wasn't coming to
him a mentor told him to focus his life
solely on Jesus his teachings and
nothing else to find the guidance you're
seeking this idea of solely focusing on
Jesus were coming to play later in his
life however his face of side that wants
a game when on a trip to Rome loofa
realize how corrupts on the Catholic
priest had become it seems that their
parties were making money to build huge
churches when he arrived back in Germany
Luther went on to study and form his own
ideas or Christianity should be he came
to the idea that God should not be
feared and all that was needed was faith
in the Lord and everything else was a
distraction in 1517 came the breaking
point for luffa as the Pope that time
wanted more money to build a new some
Peters over in Rome the church acquired
this money by doing something they
called selling indulgences which meant
that people could pay the church more
money so their sins could be forgiven
Lew was shocked by this angry at the
Catholic Church was scaring vulnerable
people into giving their money over and
angry that people fought Godfrey for
giving mercy could be brought leuf
responded to this by naming his 95
theses letter to Dorf his local church
this letter highlighted the crutch from
the church and the Pope making people
pay for forgiveness so he could build
some new churches this led to luffa
being as communicated from the church
and him setting of his own formal
Christianity
Protestantism and of course his namesake
allure ISM but what were these ideas
that Luther had the two key factors in
Luther's new ideas for Christianity
where they should only be faith and
nothing else as they just distracts on
God and the other big idea Luther came
to was the only words from God were
those found in the Bible if it wasn't
mentioned in the Bible then it wasn't to
be feared or concerned for an example of
this as we mentioned he wasn't happy
that Catholic priests were charging
people money telling them the more money
they would give the less time they were
spending purgatory however purgatory
isn't even mentioned in the Bible we can
see from this that leaf replaced huge
importance in the writings of the Bible
and to gain more followers for his ideas
of what religion should be he wants as
many people in his nation of Germany as
possible to read the words of the Bible
however he had a slight issue at this
time the Bible was only really available
in Latin for Germany and only the more
learn I'd like priests and monks were
able to read Latin
the common man would definitely not be
able to so that the masses could
understand the message of the Bible for
themselves it needed to be translated
into German however this is where he ran
into another issue the language of
German didn't exist at the time in fact
the Germany as a country didn't really
exist at all in this time Eva Germany as
a nation only really started to come
into existence in 1817 around 300 years
after this story before 1817 Germany was
just a collection of state of different
but somewhat similar Germanic languages
such as Saxon and Bavarian though it
seems to most popular of the languages
spoken in this onion fide collection of
German states were upper German and
lower German this is the state that
Germany was in when leuf wanted as many
Germans as possible to read the Bible
for themselves yet of course he faced
the issue that there wasn't just one
language all these German people read
and spoke on top of this it seems that
the Bible was not widely available at
any of these aforementioned Germanic
languages loofa had a pretty big
challenge on his hands but nevertheless
he got to work on translating the Bible
this translation what took place when he
was hiding from the church yeah at one
point in Luther was hiding out in a
course of a guy named Frederick the wise
it's a Baathist story that we don't
massively need to look into in too much
detail but yeah it was here that he
started translating the Bible however he
didn't translate it into every
possible German language that would have
been way too time-consuming
instead he did something quite
remarkable he used elements of various
Germanic languages to create a new
singular German language that all the
various Germanic speakers were to read
and understand like I said this really
is quite an amazing thing he did and it
reminds me so much with the
aforementioned
Esperanto in which various elements or
languages were put together to create
one language that in theory could be
understood by many though how was Martin
Luther able to do this
well his childhood played a large role
in this as I mentioned Leif was born in
Saxony his hometown is pretty much on
the language border of Germany and his
family moved across this border several
times while he was still young all this
access to high and low german from young
age allowed him to easily become
bilingual in both the languages and was
such a good grasp on both of them when
it came to translating the Bible into a
language or German and people could
understand
he could easily intertwine the language
together on the page however this
version the Bible was more than just the
same old book but in German instead of
Latin in Latin the Bible was a pretty
dense book definitely not page-turner
the version of German Luther created
transformed the Bible into a book with a
more common everyday language and many
more people at the time could real
understand this was no word-for-word
translation of the Bible but one made
far easier to read leave even added
common German sayings and phrases into
it just to make it more accessible
certainly to the Germanic people Jesus
wasn't this all-important figure that
priest had told him about he was now
just a simple carpenter and the people
could easily read his stories for
themselves now it was also fortunate for
Lou for his new version the Bible came
out at a time when the printing press
was a pretty new invention this led to
his version of the Bible selling like
hotcakes
and as it's so more he updated it and
tweet the version German using it with
newer publications and of course this
United German language that Martin
Leifer created continued to evolve over
time even after his death becoming the
German language still spoken to this
very day a huge fan key has to go to
audible who very kindly sponsored
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God and changed the world by Eric
Metaxas
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