The Man Who Invented The German Language

Summary

This 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

00:00

📚 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.

05:01

👨‍🏫 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.

10:02

⛪ 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.

Keywords

💡Language

Language is presented in the video as one of the defining features of humanity, allowing complex communication and interaction. The narrator highlights how languages typically develop over time but also explores how some are created, such as fictional languages like Elvish and Klingon, or constructed languages like Esperanto. The focus on language underpins the video's exploration of Martin Luther's role in shaping the modern German language.

💡Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a German monk whose influence extended beyond religion to language. In the video, he is credited with creating a standardized form of the German language by translating the Bible into a form of German that combined elements of various regional dialects. His work unified different linguistic groups and made religious texts accessible to a broader audience, impacting both German culture and Christianity.

💡German language

The German language, as we know it today, was shaped in large part by Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible. The video explains how Luther combined elements from different regional dialects, such as Upper and Lower German, to create a unified language that could be understood by speakers across the German-speaking regions. This standardized version of German continues to influence the language spoken today.

💡Protestantism

Protestantism is a branch of Christianity founded by Martin Luther after he broke away from the Catholic Church. In the video, Luther’s religious reformation is discussed alongside his linguistic contributions, showing how his beliefs about direct access to God and the Bible led him to translate religious texts into German. This movement fundamentally changed Christianity and contributed to the spread of his language reforms.

💡Bible Translation

Luther's translation of the Bible is a key event in the video. He translated it into a form of German that could be understood by everyday people, making religious texts accessible to the masses. His translation not only spread religious ideas but also helped unify the fragmented German dialects, contributing to the development of a standard German language.

💡Latin

Latin was the primary language of the Bible and the Church during Luther’s time. The video explains that the common people could not understand Latin, which restricted their access to religious texts. By translating the Bible from Latin into German, Luther broke this barrier, enabling a broader population to engage with religious teachings directly.

💡Printing Press

The printing press, a key technological innovation of the time, played a crucial role in the success of Luther's Bible translation. The video explains how the printing press allowed Luther’s German Bible to be widely distributed, helping his translation reach many people quickly. This accelerated the spread of both Protestant ideas and the unified German language.

💡Esperanto

Esperanto is a constructed international language, created by Polish physician Ludwig L. Zamenhof, mentioned in the video as an example of a language that was artificially created with the hope of uniting people. The video draws a parallel between Esperanto and Martin Luther's efforts to unify different German dialects through his Bible translation, though Esperanto did not achieve widespread success like Luther's work.

💡Indulgences

Indulgences were a practice in the Catholic Church where people could pay to reduce their sins or time in purgatory. The video discusses Luther’s outrage over this practice, which led him to write his famous 95 Theses. This critique of the Church’s corruption was a pivotal moment in the Reformation and played a part in his decision to break away and start the Protestant movement.

💡Reformation

The Reformation, initiated by Martin Luther, was a movement aimed at reforming the Catholic Church's practices and beliefs. The video highlights how Luther’s criticism of indulgences and other corrupt practices led to his break from the Church. The Reformation not only changed religious practices but also influenced cultural and linguistic developments in Germany, as seen through Luther’s Bible translation.

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

today's video was a leading provider of

premium douche to spoken audio

information and entertainment online and

it's a service I use pretty much every

day

in fact most my videos are made while

listening in to an audiobook from

audible dialogue and fits around your

life I listen to audio books while doing

chores around the house why don't want

car rides and like I said while I'm

working on these videos there are so

many stories I wouldn't have been able

to enjoy and facts I wouldn't have

learnt if it weren't for audible order

will have an unmatched selection of

audiobooks for you to enjoy and there

are so many I want to recommend to you

however I'll stay on topic and suggest

Marcin loofah the man who rediscovered

God and changed the world by Eric

Metaxas

a wonderful biography that goes into

detail loofas life in more ways than

this video ever could if this video

piqued your interest in martin luther

they're not seriously recommend heading

over to audible and giving this one a

lesson as an audible member every month

you get to choose one audiobook and two

audible originals you can't hear

anywhere else your audible credit is

good for any audiobook you got a

surprise and unused credits of all over

to the next month and if you're paranoid

like myself that you're going to get an

audiobook you don't enjoy and be stuck

with it forever

wasting your precious credits then fear

not audiobooks can be exchanged of

no-questions-asked with audible you own

your audiobook so they'll stay on your

audible account even if you cancel your

membership you can get a free audiobook

two free audible originals and a 30-day

free trial by going to

audible.com/veritasium explained to 500

500 so seriously what's he waiting for

discover the amazing world of audible

for free right now by visiting

audible.com slash name explained or by

texting name explains 500 500 thank you

once again to audible for sponsoring

today's video and of course thank you to

all my patrons who support name it's

very on a monthly basis name explained

really does depend on small monthly

donations from fans like you to help

keep the channel running just a small

amount of two dollars a month helps in a

huge way

grants you patron exclusive name explain

extras and gets your name here with all

these awesome people thank you

you