Speech practices in the German-speaking Society during the Reformation in the aspect of linguocentricity

Abstract

The article discusses some of the phenomena and processes associated with speech and written texts in the German-speaking society of the Reformation (early 16th century) when it received wide access to a printed text in the national language. In the absence of a unified German language this has contributed to the variability of speech communicative practices in a wide range, covering from elite to vulgar audience, as the former shifted from academic forms to “people’s” vernacular and the latter was introduced to the written language culture as a means of public communication.