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Comment by jgilias | Hacker News Reader

Well, if it comes to that. German is not _really_ a single language. It’s a dialect continuum consisting of sometimes barely mutually intelligible variants. And yes, if you continue following that continuum, you get to the languages you mention.

A language is a dialect with an army and a fleet. As they used to say.

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'A language is a dialect with an army and a fleet ' --> I hadn't heard this before, love it! For the curious: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_language_is_a_dialect_with_a...

A bit of relevant context: the quote is from Yiddish, which is primarily Germanic with significant admixture from Hebrew, Aramaic, and Slavic languages.

(One of my current favorite party tricks is speaking Yiddish to German speakers, and cranking up the other aspects to see where the intelligibility breaks down.)

I took a trip to Germany with my Dad, who grew up with Yiddish-speaking parents, and it was amazing to watch people's eyeballs pop out as they began to understand him and then realize what they were hearing.

zaftig.

זאַפטיג איז יא אַ גוט װאָרט :-)

> A language is a dialect with an army and a fleet. As they used to say.

I usually say "A dialect is a language that lost a war", but this one might be better :)

And the continuum has two big groups: High and Low German (High and Low here being z-coordinates, High German dialects because they come from the more mountainous Southern areas and Low German from the lower-lying Northern parts). Modern day Standard German is a High German variant, whereas Dutch (and thus Afrikaans) are Low German.

Sorry, got nerd sniped: Isn't it usually the y coordinate that stands for the vertical axis? At least that's how I know 3D coordinate systems, with the z axis either increasing towards or away from the center, left handed vs right handed coordinate systems.

In GIS parlance, elevation is typically z coordinate. Which of x and y correspond to east-west and north-south varies from coordinate system to coordinate system, and is a bountiful source of stupid bugs (at least for me). But yeah, in 3D graphics z is usually distance from the camera I think.

Probably z pointing upwards is more common.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-dimensional_space

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartesian_coordinate_system#Th...

https://www.google.com/search?udm=2&q=3d+coordinate+system

I see, fascinatingly inconsistent :D I somehow have the urge to popularise a coordinate system where the x axis represents elevation now.

Towards or away from the center is the height, no? As in, you’re the bird at height Z observing the x-y plane under you, and the Z axis goes into you. Or away from you if you happen to be a mole under ground.

Then just to muddy things you also have the Low Lands, which aren't in Germany, but they do speak a Germanic language there. ;)

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