| including nord-meissnisch... west-meissnisch... süd-meissnisch... ost-meissnisch, meissen + dresden ➤ a key area in the historical development of formal and generalised German (see Hochdeutsch-F. and Hochdeutsch-G. below). ; as settlers speaking northern, central and southern idioms of German (see Deutsch-N., Deutsch-C., Deutsch-S.) converged in Saxony during the eastward colonisation of Slav-speaking areas, the Elbe valley around Meissen and Dresden became a focal-point for the development of a compromise written and spoken form of the German language in the late Middle Ages. ⊕ Mulde valley (Grimma... Lunzenau)... Elbe valley (Meissen... Dresden... Pirna) |