▁of ▁the ▁German ▁language , ▁past ▁and ▁present , ▁and ▁claim ing ▁for ▁it ▁the ▁status ▁of ▁a ▁' card inal ' ▁language ▁( H aupt sp rache ) ▁alongside ▁Latin , ▁Greek ▁and ▁Heb rew . ▁One ▁key ▁argument ▁here ▁was ▁the ▁German ▁language ' s ▁rich ▁lex ical ▁product ivity , ▁its ▁ability ▁to ▁combine ▁root - words ▁( W urt z eln , ▁St amm w ör ter , ▁mostly ▁mon os yll ab ic ) ▁and ▁aff ix es ▁( H aupt end ungen ) ▁in ▁ways ▁which ▁gave ▁it ▁unique ▁and ▁infinite ▁powers ▁of ▁expression . ▁To ▁dep ict ▁nature ▁in ▁all ▁her ▁variety , ▁it ▁had , ▁for ▁example , ▁the ▁means ▁to ▁name ▁hundreds ▁of ▁different ▁colours , ▁as ▁Sch ott el ius ▁showed ▁in ▁some ▁detail . ▁ ▁Se ek ing ▁to ▁demonstrate ▁that ▁the ▁German ▁language ▁had ▁a ▁rational ▁basis , ▁Sch ott el ius ▁based ▁his ▁grammar ▁partly ▁on ▁the ▁Class ical ▁principle ▁of ▁anal ogy , ▁ident ifying ▁( and ▁sometimes ▁even ▁artificial ly ▁creating ) ▁patterns ▁of ▁regular ity ▁or ▁similarity ▁in ▁sp elling ▁and ▁gram mat ical ▁inf lection . ▁But ▁as ▁a ▁grammar ian ▁he ▁also ▁acknowled ged ▁count less ▁anom al ies ▁or ▁irregular ities ▁in ▁the ▁language , ▁and ▁he ▁respect ed ▁written ▁usage ▁in ▁what ▁he ▁regarded ▁as ▁its ▁most ▁exempl ary ▁forms . ▁In ▁the ▁ 1 7 th ▁century , ▁German ▁was ▁still ▁in ▁the ▁long ▁and ▁difficult ▁process ▁of ▁becoming ▁standard ized ▁or