Where does “Hochsprache” come from?

Hochsprache (German) comes from German hōch, from Middle High German hōch, from Old High German hōh, from Proto-West Germanic hauh, from Proto-Germanic hauhaz, from Proto-Indo-European ḱewk- — flare up, glow; white; to glow, burn, lighten.

Hochsprache (German): standard language; high-level language, HLL

Definitions

  1. standard language; high-level language, HLL

Ancestry of “Hochsprache”, step by step

Hochsprache traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German hōch

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanhōch
2Middle High Germanhōch
3Old High Germanhōhhigh, tall, elevated
4Proto-West Germanichauhhigh
5Proto-Germanichauhazhigh
6Proto-Indo-Europeanḱewk-flare up, glow; white; to glow, burn, lighten

via German sprāche

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germansprāchelanguage body of words, and set of methods of combining them
2Middle High Germansprāche
3Old High Germansprāhha
4Proto-West Germanic*sprākuspeech, language
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ḱewk-Every word from Proto-Germanic hauhazEvery word from Proto-West Germanic hauh