Since the end of the Second World War, however, High German has largely superseded it.

Old High German had five phonemic long vowels and six phonemic short vowels.

Middle High German had two numbers, singular and plural, and three persons.

Middle High German was the language spoken at the time and, indeed, pearls were often used in coats of arms.

Middle High German is not a unified written language and the term covers two main dialect areas:

Middle High German had no standardised spelling.

Old High German had a number of indefinite pronominal forms.

In Old High German a few relics of reduplication remain:

Old High German had a cognate, dregil, meaning "servant, runner".

During a reannexation by Germany (1940-1945), High German was reinstated as the language of education.