German Today
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The origin and the changes of the German language area:
In the High Middle Ages parts of today's Belgium and to a large extent the Netherlands belonged to the German speaking area. This language area was extended over Pomerania, Silesia, Bohemia and Moravia because of the German colonization of Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages. Other German colonies were established in Transylvania, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia. Today the German language area covers several states and nations: Germany (about 10 million native speakers), Austria (7 million), Liechtenstein, Luxemburg (300 000) and the German speaking part of Switzerland (4,1 million). It also stretches out to other countries: South Tyrol/Italy (280 000), Alsace/France (1,5 million), East Belgium (65 000). Furthermore there are linguistic enclaves in Hungary, Russia, Romania, Pennsylvania (USA), Western Canada and Ontario (330 000), Brazil (550 000), Argentina (250 000) and South Africa. Including about 100 million native speakers German is the sixth biggest linguistic group in the world.
Influences from other languages
German, like any other language, has always been influenced by other languages. In the early period this influence came from Latin. Words such as Fenster (lat. fenestra), Mauer (lat. murum) and Wein (lat. vinum) show this. Later on many words were borrowed from French (e.g. Mode, Möbel, Adresse). In the 20th century American English began to influence German - an influence it still maintains. Many words were adopted from areas such as economy, pop culture and fashion. Examples for English words in the German language are: Joint-venture, Manager, Human Resources, Marketing, Holding, Ticket, Business, Musical, etc.
Frequently used English terms are sometimes Germanized like taff(tough) or abturnen. Other words change in meaning (c.f. beamen in Young People's language)
As in many western countries advertisements have a strong influence on colloquial language, e.g. the word unkaputtbar (modelled on unzerstörbar) which was first used in a television commercial and then taken over as a colloquialsm. Apart from many (mostly English) words from the world of fashion (Hipsters, Goatee,etc.) more and more vocabulary is borrowed from computer jargon(chatten, bouncen, crunchen). Sometimes new expressions are also coined like DAU (dümmster anzunehmender User) and HAU (Hirnamputierter User).
As a consequence of Germany's division in 1945, some characteristics of the German spoken in the Federal Republic (BRD) and the Democratic Republic (DDR) started to differ: West Germany adopted more and more English words whereas East Germany enlarged its vocabulary by borrowing Russian words such as Soljanka, Kolchose, Datscha. Also within the German language itself both communities developed different terms:
West Germany/East Germany
Plastik/Plaste
Seniorenheim/Feierabendheim
Supermarkt/Kaufhalle
Astronaut/Kosmonaut
Brathähnchen/Broiler
Distinctive features of German
German is an inflecting language. This means that the verbs are conjugated and the nouns declined. Since the ending of each word marks its grammatical function, the German word order is much more flexible than in other languages. For instance the subject and object can be switched round in a sentence which is not possible in English. Ex.: Der Mann (Nom.) schreibt einen Brief (Acc.). (The man writes a letter.) Einen Brief (Acc.) schreibt der Mann (Nom.). ('A letter writes the man.')
The rules of German word-formation allow a nearly infinite number of compound words. This means that two or more separate words can be connected (Garten + Zaun = Gartenzaun; Garten + Haus + Fenster = Gartenhausfenster).
Dialect
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In Switzerland Swiss German is spoken or to be precise various Swiss German dialects. Austria also has its own dialects. The many different dialectal words for roll and potato show how much the dialects differ from one another. Apart from the High German term Brötchen (roll) one will also find Schrippe, Semmel, Weckle, Rundstück, Mitsch, Mutschle, Laabla, Kipfel and Weckerl. A Kartoffel (potato) can also be called Knolle, Erdapfel, Erdbirne, Erbern, Tüffel, Potacke, Grumber and Patätsch.
The purest form of High German is spoken in Hannover.
Austria
The influences of Yiddish, Czech and Hungarian on the Austrian dialects made them very distinct. Their vocabulary often differs strongly from the High German:
High German/Austrian
Tomate/Paradeiser
Mut/Schneid
Blumenkohl/Karfiol
Aprikosen/Marillen
Ärger/Gefrett
Klebstoff/Pick
Switzerland
From the late Middle Ages until the modern age Switzerland had its written language which in the end was displaced. Today the German written language is used in the German speaking part of the country. The Swiss people's colloquial language however is the so-called Schwyzerdütsch (Swiss German) which is considerably different from High German and belongs to the Alemannic dialects.
Yiddish
Yiddish originated in Germany in the 13th/14th century and derived from the middle German dialects. The persecution of the Jews led many German Jews to emigrate to eastern Europe. They held on to German as lingua franca: The syntax is as it is in German, the vocabulary is up to 70-75% German. The remaining 25-30% include Hebrew, Romance and Slavonic words.
Yiddish already had a standardized writing system in the 13th century. Today there are about 3 million native speakers of Yiddish, the majority of which live in the USA, Israel and the CIS (Community of Independent States in the former USSR)
The young people's language
Young people, in order to distance themselves from the older generation, like to talk differently and develop their own language, the so-called young people's language. Some of ist words from the 80s derive from Yiddish, e.g. Zoff (trouble), Zaster (money) and schofel(wretched, mean). The young people's language also includes new coinages like Schwachfug (a compound of Schwachsinn and Unfug) and changes in meaning like Sultan (describing a man who loves to boast about his money). Also many English words can be found, as there are: outfir, look, fashion victim, functional wear, trunks, tattoo, date, etc.) Sometimes the German words have a different meaning than the English ones, as for example the word "beamen". In an expression like Die Fete beamt brutal the word beamen means to succeed. Further examples of new coinages are: Stino (Stinknormalo=boring person), Oliba (man with a moustache=conservative person), Platte machen (having no fixed abode).
Generally speaking also the young people's language differs locally. To describe someone who talks a lot without saying anything of interest you say he had
- ätzend rumgesülzt (North Germany)
- rumgenölt (Middle Germany)
- rumgerüsselt (Leipzig)
- Larifari dazöhlt (Vienna)
Technical terminology
The poetic and philosophic vocabulary as well as the scientific and technical terminology are very distinct in German. In a general sense technical terminology describes a vocabulary an average speaker would not understand. Doctors, lawyers, scientists, etc. use this kind of terminology.
From time to time single technical terms found their way into colloquial German, e.g. Retortenbaby, Genpool, Rezession, Fusion, Interaktion, etc. Several German expressions derive from technical expressions: Sand im Getriebe haben (a flaw in the system), eine lange Leitung haben (being slow on the uptake), auf gleicher Wellenlänge liegen (being on the same wavelength).
Common German loan words
Many words from the surrounding languages were adopted by the German language. However, some German words were also taken over by other languages, for instance, Nudel, Bretzel, Wiener/Frankfurter/Nürnberger(-Wurst), Sauerkraut, Schnitzel, Schnaps, Angst, Weltschmerz, Zeitgeist, gemütlich, Kitsch, Wanderlust, Wunderkind, Doppelgänger, Rucksack, Kindergarten, Leitmotiv, Hinterland, Realpolitik, abseilen.
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