What does the Adjective German Mean?
The origins of the German language are quite manifold as various peoples have influenced it throughout history. Conversely, there is an impressive variety of expressions for the meaning of the adjective German in those languages. • The German deutsch or (ancient) teutsch, has developed through history in several stages, referring first to the language, then to the people and finally to the territory. It stems from the old German word thiutisk or theudisk, which the West Franks used since the 9th Century to refer to their language, the common language, as opposed to the educated language Latin. Karolus Magnus (Karl der Große, Charlemagne, Charles the Great, 742-814 AD) took it to name his multilingual and multicultural empire as deutsch because this did mean just the people and had no specific reference to any particular nation living in his empire. Other derivations from theudisk found their way into a number of other languages, as well: • Scandinavian: Tysk • Italian: Tedeschi • Dutch
