Page:Thirty-five years of Luther research.djvu/124

80 (Breslau, 1883). This amply characterizes the importance of this publication. Next to Burdach and Pietsch the brief but carefully weighed and splendidly instructive dissertation of Neubauer demands special consideration. It contains so splendid a characterization of the language of the Reformer that we have appended it almost unabridged64a in the foot notes. And Risch enlarges on all of the pertinent questions, putting into bold relief the problems in questions and also detailing the work still to be undertaken.64b

That Luther did not newly create the language which he used as far as its externals, its grammatical cloak, is concerned, is evident. He himself also says so. In this sense a single individual can not create a language. He meant to be understood by the German people and this conditioned the existing language as his starting point. And he studied it, if ever it was studied. The spoken, written, and printed language of his people was ever during his lifetime the object of his closest observation and study. As late as 1536 he instructs Linck to purchase everything of "German pictures, rimes, songs, books, master-songs" to be had in Nuernberg, and send it to him for the purpose of study. He compiled a collection of German adages for himself, which was first edited for us by E. Thiele. He listened and learned from the German people what was to be learned.64b

Modern research has ever more shown how much of German literature was in existence prior to Luther. Of course the lifted treasures have not yet been carefully sifted and studied. Yet Kluge, Pietsch, Daumer, Schuett, Boehme, and others have begun to study this field. The limits of this research work, however, must ever be more extended. The question, just in how far the various Ger-