the writings of adelung are voluminous. by means of his excellent grammars, dictionary, and various works on german style, he contributed greatly towards rectifying the orthography, refining the idiom, and fixing the standard of his native tongue. his german dictionary "grammatisch-kritisches wörterbuch der hochdeutschen mundart" (1774–1786) bears witness to the patient spirit of investigation which adelung possessed in so remarkable a degree, and to his intimate knowledge of the different dialects on which modern german is based.