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| {{Infobox Language | | {{subpages}} |
| |name=German | | {{Image|West Germanic dialect continuum (according to Wiesinger, Heeroma & König).png|right|350px|A map of the West Germanic dialect continuum circa 1945.}} |
| |nativename=Deutsch
| | Although many '''German dialects''' exist, when people speak of the [[German language]] today, they are likely thinking of 'standard' German (sometimes known as ''[[Hochdeutsch]]'', or ''Standarddeutsch'' <ref name="Standarddeutsch">{{cite web|url=http://wortschatz.uni-leipzig.de/cgi-portal/de/wort_www?site=208&Wort_id=84903351|title="Deutscher Wortschatz" © 1998-2007. All rights reserved.|publisher=University of Leipzig| |
| |familycolor=Indo-European
| | year=2007|accessdate=2007-05-08}}</ref>), the official language of [[Germany]], [[Austria]], and some neighbouring areas. Collectively, [[Dialect continuum|these varieties of German]] form one of the world's major [[Language|languages]] (ranked tenth by number of speakers), spoken natively (as of 2000) by more than 100 million people, only 80% of whom actually live in [[Germany]] <ref name="TheWorldAlmanac2000">{{cite web|url=http://www.amazon.com/World-Almanac-Book-Facts-2000/dp/0886878489/ref=sr_1_1/103-5349826-6571825?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175731974&sr=8-1|title=The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2000|publisher=World Almanac Books|date=November 2000|accessdate=2007-04-02}}</ref>. |
| |pronunciation=[dɔʏ̯tʃ]
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| |states=[[Germany]], [[Austria]], [[Switzerland]], [[Liechtenstein]], [[Belgium]], [[Italy]], [[France]], [[Luxembourg]], [[Argentina]], [[Brazil]], [[Netherlands]], [[Czech Republic]], [[Denmark]], [[Namibia]], [[South Africa]], [[Mexico]], [[Canada]], [[USA]] and 35 other countries.
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| |region=[[Central Europe]], [[Western Europe]] | |
| |speakers=Native speakers: 100 million<br>Second language: 22 million
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| |rank=11 | |
| |fam1=[[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] | |
| |fam2=[[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
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| |fam3=[[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]
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| |fam4=[[High German languages|High German]]
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| |script=[[Latin alphabet]] ([[German alphabet|German variant]])
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| |nation=[[Germany]], [[Austria]], [[Liechtenstein]], [[Switzerland]], [[Luxembourg]], [[Belgium]], [[European Union]].
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| Regional or local official language in: [[Denmark]], [[Italy]], [[Poland]] (co-official language of [[Namibia]] until 1990). |iso1=de|iso2b=ger|iso2t=deu|iso3=deu|sil=GER|map=[[Image:GermanSpeakingWorld.png|center|315px]]<br><center><small>Major German-speaking communities</center></small>}}
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| {{redirect|Deutsch}}
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| '''German''' (''{{Audio|de-Deutsch.ogg|Deutsch}}'') is a [[West Germanic language]]. It is a member of the [[West Germanic languages|western group]] of the [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] branch of the [[Indo-European language family]] and one of the world's major languages. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 110 million native speakers and another 18 million non-native speakers [http://www.languagetrav.com/german/].
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| Worldwide, German accounts for the most written [[translation]]s into and from a language (according to the ''[[Guinness Book of Records]]'').
| | Standard German has largely replaced the use of dialect in northern Germany, where the original Low German dialects have declined rapidly. However, in other parts of Germany, dialects remain very important. Many families tend to speak one of several regional, not mutually intelligible, [[dialect|dialects]] among themselves at home. Only when they begin elementary school are children in German-speaking countries required to learn the official language. |
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| Historically, the [[Dutch language]] is considered as a German dialect. Over the last few centuries, however, Dutch developed a high degree of autonomy and is considered as a seperate and independent language today. Despite this fact, it is counted as a German dialect on various maps, and although its spoken form is hard to understand for a standard German-speaker, written Dutch is comprehensible for most Germans.
| | ==Dialect Divisions== |
| | The [[German language]] is part of a [[dialect continuum ]] of continental [[West Germanic]] which includes the dialects of [[Dutch language|Dutch]]. However, despite mutual intelligibility between neighbouring Dutch and German dialects on the border, it is not customary to include the Dutch dialects in a description of German dialects, except where this is pertinent to discussions of cross-border linguistic phenomena. That this is a hot political topic which engenders strong feelings can be seen from this article's [[Talk:German dialects|Talk page]]. Leaving aside political considerations, Dutch dialects were historically an extension of the German [[Dialect continuum]]. Out of consideration for political boundaries, Dutch dialects are thus treated separately later in this article. |
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| ==Geographic distribution==
| | There are twenty-seven regional dialect families within the language area of Modern German, including some local dialects restricted to single villages. The regional dialect families may be considered different languages since they are often not [[mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]]. The main division in German dialects is between Low German and High German. The latter grouping of dialects underwent an additional sound change around AD 500 known as the [[Second Consonant Shift|Second or (High) German Consonant Shift]] that other West-Germanic dialects and languages (including Low German, Dutch, [[Afrikaans language|Afrikaans]], [[Frisian language|Frisian]] and [[English language|English]]) did not. Modern Standard German (or ''Hochdeutsch'') derives largely from High German dialects. |
| German is spoken primarily in [[Germany]], [[Austria]], [[Liechtenstein]], [[Luxembourg]], in two-thirds of [[Switzerland]], in the [[South Tyrol]] [[province of Italy]] (in German, ''Südtirol''), in the small [[German speaking community in Belgium|East Cantons]] of [[Belgium]], and in some border villages of the [[South Jutland County]] (in German, ''Nordschleswig'', in Danish, ''Sønderjylland'') of [[Denmark]].
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| In [[Luxembourg]] (in German, ''Luxemburg''), as well as in the French ''[[régions]]'' of [[Alsace]] (in German, ''Elsass'') and parts of [[Lorraine (région)|Lorraine]] (in German, ''Lothringen''), the native populations speak several German dialects, and some people also master standard German (especially in Luxembourg), although in Alsace and Lorraine [[French language|French]] has for the most part replaced the local German dialects in the last 40 years.
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| Some German-speaking communities still survive in parts of [[Romania]], the [[Czech Republic]], [[Hungary]], and above all [[Russia]] and [[Kazakhstan]], although the ethnic cleansings after World War II and massive emigration to Germany in the 1980s and 1990s have depopulated most of these communities. It is also spoken by German-speaking foreign populations and some of their descendants in [[Portugal]], [[Spain]], [[United Kingdom]], [[Netherlands]], [[Scandinavia]], [[Siberia]].
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| Outside of Europe and the former [[Soviet Union]], the largest German-speaking communities are to be found in the [[United States|U.S.]], [[Brazil]] and in [[Argentina]] where millions of Germans migrated in the last 200 years; but the great majority of their descendants no longer speak German. Additionally, German-speaking communities are to be found in the former German colony of [[Namibia]], as well as in the other countries of German emigration such as [[Canada]], [[Mexico]], [[Paraguay]], [[Uruguay]], [[Chile]], [[Peru]], [[Venezuela]] (where [[Alemán Coloniero]] developed), [[South Africa]], and [[Australia]]. See also [[Plautdietsch]].
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| In the USA, the largest concentrations of German speakers are in [[Pennsylvania]] ([[Amish]], [[Hutterites]] and some [[Mennonites]] speak [[Pennsylvania German language|Pennsylvania Dutch]] (a [[West Central German]] variety) and [[Hutterite German]]), [[Texas]] ([[Texas German]]), [[Kansas]] ([[Mennonites]] and [[Volga Germans]]), [[North Dakota]], [[South Dakota]], [[Montana]], [[Wisconsin]] and [[Indiana]]. Early twentieth century immigration was often to [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]], [[Chicago]], [[New York]], and [[Cincinnati]]. Most of the post-[[World War II]] wave are in the [[New York]], [[Los Angeles]], and [[Chicago]] [[urban area]]s, and in [[Florida]]. In Brazil the largest concentrations of German speakers are in [[Rio Grande do Sul]] (where [[Riograndenser Hunsrückisch]] was developed), [[Santa Catarina (state)|Santa Catarina]], [[Paraná (state)|Paraná]], and [[Espírito Santo]]. Generally, German immigrant communities in the USA have lost their mother tongue more quickly than those who moved to South America, possibly because for German speakers, English is easier to learn than Portuguese or Spanish. But mainly, it was due to fervent [[anti-German sentiment]] in the [[United States|US]] before and after the [[World Wars]], and the fear it caused in German-speakers of being attacked.
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| In [[Canada]] there are people of German ancestry throughout the country and especially in the west as well as in [[Ontario]]. There is a large and vibrant community in the city of [[Kitchener, Ontario]].
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| In [[Mexico]] there are also large populations of German ancestry, mainly in the cities of: [[Mexico City]], [[Puebla]], [[Mazatlán]], [[Tapachula]], and larger populations scattered in the states of [[Chihuahua]], [[Durango]], and [[Zacatecas]]. [[Plautdietsch]] is a large minority language spoken in the north by the [[Mennonite]] communities, and is spoken by more than 200,000 people in [[Mexico]], while standard German is spoken by the affluent German communities in [[Puebla]] and [[Mexico City]].
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| German is the main language of about 100 million people in Europe (as of [[2004]]), or 13.3% of all Europeans, being the second most spoken native language in Europe after [[Russian language|Russian]], above [[French language|French]] (66.5 million speakers in 2004) and [[English language|English]] (64.2 million speakers in 2004). German is the third most taught [[foreign language]] worldwide, also in the [[United States|USA]] (after [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[French language|French]]); it is the second most known foreign language in the [[European Union|EU]] (after English; see [http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_237.en.pdf]) It is one of the official [[languages of the European Union]], and one of the three [[working language]]s of the European Commission, along with English and French.
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| According to Global Reach (2004), 6.9% of the Internet population is German.[http://global-reach.biz/globstats/index.php3][http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/november/internetLanguages.htm] According to Netz-tipp (2002), 7.7% of WebPages are written in German, making it second only to English. They also report that 12% of Google's users use its German interface. [http://www.netz-tipp.de/languages.html]
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| Older statistics: Babel (1998) found somewhat similar demographics.[http://alis.isoc.org/palmares.en.html] FUNREDES[http://funredes.org/lc2005/english/L3.html] (1998) and Vilaweb[http://www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/demographics/article.php/408521] (2000) both found that German is the third most popular language used by websites, after English and Japanese.
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| ==History==
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| {{main|History of German}}
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| [[Image:Christlicher-Adel-de.jpg|thumb|[[Frontispiece]] of [[Martin Luther|Martin Luther's]] 1520 work ''An den Christlichen Adel deutscher Nation'' ("To the Christian nobility of the German nation")]]
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| The history of the German language begins with the [[High German consonant shift]] during the [[Migration period]], separating [[South Germanic]] dialects from common [[West Germanic]]. The earliest testimonies of [[Old High German]] are from scattered [[Elder Futhark]] inscriptions, especially in [[Alemannic]], from the [[6th century]], the earliest glosses (''[[Abrogans]]'') date to the [[8th century|8th]] and the oldest coherent texts (the ''[[Hildebrandslied]]'', the ''[[Muspilli]]'' and the [[Merseburg Incantations]]) to the [[9th century]]. [[Old Saxon]] at this time belongs to the [[Ingvaeonic|North Sea Germanic]] cultural sphere, and [[Low Saxon]] should fall under German rather than [[Anglo-Frisian]] influence during the [[Holy Roman Empire]].
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| As Germany was divided into many different [[state]]s, the only force working for a unification or [[standard language|standardisation]] of German during a period of several hundred years was the general preference of writers trying to write in a way that could be understood in the largest possible area.
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| When [[Martin Luther]] translated the [[Bible]] (the [[New Testament]] in 1522 and the [[Old Testament]], published in parts and completed in 1534) he based his translation mainly on this already developed language, which was the most widely understood language at this time. This language was based on Eastern Upper and Eastern Central German dialects and preserved much of the grammatical system of Middle High German (unlike the spoken German dialects in Central and Upper Germany that already at that time began to lose the genitive case and the preterit tense). In the beginning, copies of the Bible had a long list for each region, which translated words unknown in the region into the regional dialect. [[Roman Catholics]] rejected Luther's translation in the beginning and tried to create their own Catholic standard (''gemeines Deutsch'') — which, however, only differed from 'Protestant German' in some minor details. It took until the middle of the 18th century to create a standard that was widely accepted, thus ending the period of [[Early New High German]].
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| German used to be the language of commerce and government in the [[Habsburg Empire]], which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire. It indicated that the speaker was a [[merchant]], an urbanite, not their nationality. Some cities, such as [[Prague]] (German: ''Prag'') and [[Budapest]] ([[Buda]], German: ''Ofen''), were gradually [[Germanization|Germanised]] in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain. Others, such as [[Bratislava]] (German: ''Pressburg''), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. A few cities such as [[Milan]] (German: ''Mailand'') remained primarily non-German. However, most cities were primarily German during this time, such as Prague, [[Budapest]], Bratislava, [[Zagreb]] (German: ''Agram''), and [[Ljubljana]] (German: ''Laibach''), though they were surrounded by territory that spoke other languages.
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| [[Image:GermanDialectsPre-1945.png|thumb|left|300px|After the [[Second World War]] the distribution of the German language drastically changed due to the [[Expulsion of Germans after World War II|expulsion of ethnic Germans]] from eastern [[Europe]]. This map shows the spread of the German language before WWII.]]
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| Until about 1800, standard German was almost only a written language. At this time, people in urban northern Germany, who spoke dialects very different from Standard German, learnt it almost like a foreign language and tried to pronounce it as close to the spelling as possible. Prescriptive pronunciation guides used to consider northern German pronunciation to be the standard. However, the actual pronunciation of standard German varies from region to region.
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| Media and written works are almost all produced in standard German (often called ''Hochdeutsch'' in German) which is understood in all areas where German is spoken, except by pre-school children in areas which speak only dialect, for example [[Switzerland]] and [[Austria]]. However, in this age of television, even they now usually learn to understand Standard German before school age.
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| The first dictionary of the [[Brothers Grimm]], the 16 parts of which were issued between 1852 and 1860, remains the most comprehensive guide to the words of the German language. In 1860, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the ''[[Duden Handbook]]''. In 1901, this was declared the standard definition of the German language. Official revisions of some of these rules were not issued until 1998, when the [[German spelling reform of 1996]] was officially promulgated by governmental representatives of all German-speaking countries. Since the reform, German spelling has been in an eight-year transitional period where the reformed spelling is taught in most schools, while traditional and reformed spellings co-exist in the media. See [[German spelling reform of 1996]] for an overview of the public debate concerning the reform with some major newspapers and magazines and several known writers refusing to adopt it.
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| After the spelling reform of 1996 led to so much public controversy and some of its changed rules introduced new ambiguities or were simply perceived as "ugly", the transitional period (initially scheduled to end on Dec. 31, 2005) was extended until at least the end of 2006, and some parts of the reform were changed again in March 2006. This new "reform of the reform" tries to remove the ambiguities introduced in 1996. To date (April 2006), it is yet to be accepted by all German-speaking countries.
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| ==Classification and related languages==
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| [[Image:German dialectal map.PNG|right|thumb|350px|By the [[High German consonant shift]], the map of German [[dialect]]s is divided into [[Upper German]] (green), [[Central German]] (blue), and the [[Low German]] (yellow). The main isoglosses, the Benrath, and Speyer lines are marked black.]]
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| German is a member of the [[West Germanic language|western branch]] of the [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] family of languages, which in turn is part of the [[Indo-European language family]].
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| ===Neighbouring languages===
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| In these modern days Germany is surrounded by [[language border]]s, in the north by the [[Frisian language|Frisian]] and [[Danish language|Danish]]; in the east [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Sorbian language|Sorbian]], [[Czech language|Czech]], [[Slovak language|Slovak]], and [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]; in the south [[Slovenian language|Slovenian]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Friulian language|Friulian]], [[Ladin language|Ladin]], and [[Romansh language|Romansh]]; in the west [[French language|French]] and [[Dutch language|Dutch]]. Except for Frisian and Dutch, none of these languages are West Germanic, and so they are clearly distinct from German. Frisian, which after [[Scots]] is the closest related living language to English, and Dutch, the closest related living language to German (after [[Yiddish]]), are not [[mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]] with German. Although a [[dialect continuum]] still exists at certain places along the Dutch-German language border this is rapidly fading away because of centuries of standardisation in both countries, today limited to only a few villages.
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| ===Official status===
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| [[Image:D-A-CH Flag.svg|thumb|left|230px|[[D-A-CH]]-flag, flag of the three dominant states in the German ''[[Sprachraum]]''.]]
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| Standard German is the only official language in [[Liechtenstein]] and [[Austria]]; it shares official status in [[Germany]] (with [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Frisian language|Frisian]] and [[Sorbian languages|Sorbian]] as minority languages), [[Switzerland]] (with [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]] and [[Romansh]]), [[Belgium]] (with [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and [[French language|French]]) and [[Luxembourg]] (with [[French language|French]] and [[Luxembourgish language|Luxembourgish]]). It is used as a local official language in German-speaking regions of [[Denmark]], [[Italy]], and [[Poland]]. It is one of the 20 official [[languages of the European Union]].
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| It is also a minority language in [[Argentina]], [[Australia]], [[Brazil]], [[Cameroon]], [[Canada]], [[Chile]], [[Croatia]], the [[Czech Republic]], [[Estonia]], [[France]], [[Hungary]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], [[Mexico]], [[Namibia]], [[Paraguay]], [[Poland]], [[Romania]], [[Russia]], [[Slovakia]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Togo]], the [[Ukraine]] and the [[United States|USA]], .
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| German was once the [[lingua franca]] of central, eastern and northern Europe and remains one of the most popular foreign languages taught worldwide, and is more popular than [[French language|French]] as a foreign language in [[Europe]]. 32% of citizens of the EU-15 countries say they can converse in German. [http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/lang/languages/index_en.html] This is assisted by the widespread availability of German TV by cable or satellite.
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| ==Dialects==
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| ''Main article [[German dialects]]''
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| ===German dialects vs. varieties of standard German===
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| In German [[linguistics]], ''German [[dialect]]s'' are distinguished from ''[[variety (linguistics)|varieties]] of [[standard German]]''.
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| *The ''German dialects'' are the traditional local varieties. They are traditionally traced back to the different German tribes. Many of them are hardly understandable to someone who knows only standard German, since they often differ from standard German in [[lexicon]], [[phonology]] and [[syntax]]. If a narrow definition of [[language]] based on [[mutual intelligibility]] is used, many ''German dialects'' are considered to be separate languages (for instance in the [[Ethnologue]]). However, such a point of view is unusual in German linguistics.
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| *The ''varieties of standard German'' refer to the different local varieties of the [[pluricentric language]] standard German. They only differ slightly in lexicon and phonology. In certain regions, they have replaced the traditional ''German dialects'', especially in Northern Germany.
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| ===Dialects in Germany===
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| [[Image:Continental West Germanic languages.png|300px|right|thumb|Distribution of the native speakers of major continental '''West Germanic dialectal''' varieties]]
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| The variation among the German dialects is considerable, with only the neighbouring dialects being mutually intelligible. Some dialects are not intelligible to people who only know standard German. However, all German dialects belong to the [[dialect continuum]] of High German and Low Saxon languages. In the past (roughly until the end of the Second World War), there was a dialect continuum of all the continental [[West Germanic languages]] because nearly any pair of neighbouring dialects were perfectly mutually intelligible. | |
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| The German dialect continuum is traditionally divided into [[High German languages|High German]] and [[Low German]].
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| ===Low Saxon===
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| {{main|Low German}}
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| [[Low Saxon]] varieties (spoken on German territory) are considered dialects of the German language by some, but a separate language by others. Sometimes, Low Saxon and [[Low Franconian]] are grouped together because both are unaffected by the [[High German consonant shift]].
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| [[Middle Low German]] was the [[lingua franca]] of the [[Hanseatic League]]. It was the predominant language in Northern Germany. This changed in the [[16th century]]. In [[1534]], the [[Luther Bible]], by [[Martin Luther]] was printed. This translation is considered to be an important step towards the evolution of the [[Early New High German]]. It aimed to be understandable to an ample audience and was based mainly on [[Central German|Central]] and [[Upper German]] varieties. The Early New High German language gained more prestige than Low Saxon and became the language of science and literature. Other factors were that around the same time, the Hanseatic league lost its importance as new trade routes to [[Asia]] and the [[Americas]] were established, and that the most powerful German states of that period were located in Middle and Southern Germany.
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| The 18th and 19th centuries were marked by mass [[education]], the language of the schools being standard German. Slowly Low Saxon was pushed back and back until it was nothing but a language spoken by the uneducated and at home. Today, Low Saxon could be divided in two groups: Low Saxon varieties with a (''reasonable/large/huge'') standard German influx, and varieties of standard German with a Low Saxon influence ([[Missingsch]]).
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| ===High German===
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| '''High German''' is divided into [[Central German]] and [[Upper German language|Upper German]]. Central German dialects include [[Ripuarian]], [[Moselle Franconian]], [[Hessian language|Hessian]], [[Thuringian]], [[South Franconian]], [[Lorraine Franconian]] and [[Upper Saxon dialect|Upper Saxon]]. It is spoken in the southeastern Netherlands, eastern Belgium, Luxembourg, parts of France, and in Germany approximately between the River [[Main]] and the southern edge of the Lowlands. Modern Standard German is mostly based on Central German, but it should be noted that the usual German term for modern Standard German is ''Hochdeutsch'', that is, ''High German''.
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| The Moselle Franconian varieties spoken in [[Luxembourg]] have been officially standardised and institutionalised and are therefore usually considered a separate language known as [[Luxembourgish language|Luxembourgish]].
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| Upper German dialects include [[Alemannic German|Alemannic]] (for instance [[Swiss German]]), [[Swabian German|Swabian]], [[East Franconian German|East Franconian]], [[Alsatian]] and [[Austro-Bavarian language|Austro-Bavarian]]. They are spoken in parts of the [[Alsace]], southern Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, and in the German-speaking parts of Switzerland and Italy.
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| [[Wymysojer]], [[Sathmarisch]] and [[Siebenbürgisch]] are High German dialects of Poland and [[Romania]] respectively.
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| The High German varieties spoken by [[Ashkenazi Jew]]s (mostly in the former [[Soviet Union]]) have several unique features, and are usually considered as a separate language, [[Yiddish]]. It is the only Germanic language that does not use the [[Latin alphabet]] as its [[official script|standard script]].
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| The dialects of German which are or were primarily spoken in colonies or communities founded by German speaking people resemble the dialects of the regions the founders came from. For example, [[Pennsylvania German language|Pennsylvania German]] resembles dialects of the [[Rhenish Palatinate|Palatinate]], and [[Hutterite German]] resembles dialects of [[Carinthia (state)|Carinthia]], while [[Venezuelan]] ''[[Alemán Coloniero]]'' is a [[Low Alemannic]] variant.
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| In Brazil the largest concentrations of German speakers ([[German Brazilians]]) are in [[Rio Grande do Sul]], where [[Riograndenser Hunsrückisch]] was developed, especially in the areas of [[Santa Catarina (state)|Santa Catarina]], [[Paraná (state)|Paraná]], and [[Espírito Santo]].
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| In the [[United States]], the teaching of the German language to latter-age students has given rise to a pidgin variant which combines the German language with the grammar and spelling rules of the English language. It is often understandable by either party. The speakers of this language often refer to it as ''Amerikanisch'' or ''Amerikanischdeutsch'', although it is known in English as [[American German]]. However, this is a [[pidgin]], not a [[dialect]].
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| In the USA, in the [[Amana Colonies]] in the state of Iowa [[Amana German]] is spoken.
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| ==Standard German==
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| {{main|Standard German}}
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| In German linguistics, only the traditional regional varieties are called dialects, not the different varieties of standard German.
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| Standard German has originated not as a traditional dialect of a specific region, but as a [[written language]]. However, there are places where the traditional regional dialects have been replaced by standard German (especially in major cities of [[Germany]], and to some extent in [[Vienna]]).
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| Standard German differs regionally, especially between German-speaking countries, especially in [[vocabulary]], but also in some instances of [[pronunciation]] and even [[grammar]]. This variation must not be confused with the variation of local dialects. Even though the regional varieties of standard German are to a certain degree influenced by the local dialects, they are very distinct. German is thus considered a [[pluricentric language]].
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| In most regions, the speakers use a continuum of mixtures from more dialectical varieties to more standard varieties according to situation.
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| In the German-speaking parts of [[Switzerland]], mixtures of dialect and standard are very seldom used, and the use of standard German is largely restricted to the written language. Therefore, this situation has been called a ''medial [[diglossia]]''. Standard German is rarely spoken, for instance when speaking with people who do not understand the [[Swiss German]] dialects at all, and it is expected to be used in school.
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| ==Grammar==
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| {{Main|German grammar}}
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| German is an [[inflected language]].
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| ===Noun inflection===
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| German nouns inflect into:
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| * one of four [[declension class]]es (cases): [[nominative]], [[genitive]], [[dative case|dative]], and [[accusative]].
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| * one of three [[grammatical gender|genders]]: masculine, feminine, or neuter. Word endings indicate some grammatical genders; others are arbitrary and must be memorised.
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| * two numbers: singular and plural
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| Although German is usually cited as an outstanding example of a highly inflected language, it should be noted that the degree of inflection is considerably less than in Old German, or in Icelandic today. The three genders have collapsed in the plural, which now behaves, grammatically, somewhat as a fourth gender. With four cases and three genders plus plural there are 16 distinct possible combinations of case and gender/number, but presently there are only six forms of the definite article used for the 16 possibilities. Inflection for case on the noun itself is required in the singular for strong masculine and neuter nouns in the genitive and sometimes in the dative. This dative ending is considered somewhat old-fashioned in many contexts and often dropped, but it is still used in sayings and in formal speech or sometimes in written language. Weak masculine nouns share a common case ending for genitive, dative and accusative in the singular. Feminines are not declined in the singular. The plural does have an inflection for the dative. In total, seven inflectional endings (not counting plural markers) exist in German: ''-s, -es, -n, -ns, -en, -ens, -e''.
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| In the German [[orthography]], nouns and most words with the syntactical function of nouns are capitalised, which is supposed to make it easier for readers to find out what function a word has within the sentence. On the other hand, things get more difficult for the writer. This spelling convention is almost unique to German today (shared perhaps only by the closely related [[Luxembourgish language|Luxembourgish]] language), although it was historically common in other languages (e.g., [[Danish language|Danish]]), too.
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| Like most Germanic languages, German forms left-branching noun [[compound (linguistics)|compound]]s, where the first noun modifies the category given by the second, for example: ''Hundehütte'' (eng. ''doghouse''). Unlike English, where newer compounds or combinations of longer nouns are often written in ''open'' form with separating spaces, German (like the other German languages) always uses the ''closed'' form without spaces, for example: Baumhaus (eng. ''tree house''). Like English, German allows arbitrarily long compounds, but these are rare. (''See also'' [[English compounds]].)
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| The longest German word verified to be actually in (albeit very limited) use is [[Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz]]. There is even a child's game played in kindergartens and primary schools where a child begins the spelling of a word (which is not told) by naming the first letter. The next one tells the next letter, the third one tells the third and so on. The game is over when a child cannot think of another letter to be added to the word (see [[Ghost (game)|Ghost]]). Another popular child's game consists of building a noun compound. The first child starts with a noun or more commonly already a compound (''Donaudampfschifffahrtskapitän'' (Danube Steamboat captain) is somewhat popular and infamous). The next child has to append another noun so that the compound still has a sensible meaning (Example: ''Donaudampfschifffahrtskapitän'' -> ''Donaudampfschiffahrtskapitänsmütze'' (Danube Steamboat captain's hat) -> ''Donaudampfschifffahrtskapitänsmützenfabrik'' (Danube Steamboat captain's hat factory, and so on). The game ends when the next child cannot think of a word to append that would yield a meaningful compound.
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| ===Verb inflection===
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| Standard German verbs inflect into: | |
| * one of two conjugation classes, [[weak verb|weak]] and [[strong verb|strong]] (like English).
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| (There is actually a third class, known as mixed verbs, which exhibit inflections combining features of both the strong and weak patterns.)
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| * three persons: 1st, 2nd, 3rd.
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| * two numbers: singular and plural
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| * three [[Grammatical mood|mood]]s: Indicative, Subjunctive, Imperative
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| * two [[Grammatical voice|genera verbi]]: active and passive; the passive being composed and dividable into static and dynamic.
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| * two non-composed tenses (Present, [[Preterite]]) and four composed tenses (Perfect, Plusquamperfect, Future I, Future II)
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| * distinction between [[grammatical aspect]]s is rendered by combined use of subjunctive and/or Preterite marking; thus: neither of both is plain indicative voice, sole subjunctive conveys second-hand information, subjunctive plus Preterite marking forms the conditional state, and sole Preterite is either plain indicative (in the past), or functions as a (literal) alternative for either second-hand-information or for the conditional state of the verb, when one of them may seem undistinguishable otherwise.
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| * distinction between perfect and progressive aspect is and has at every stage of development been at hand as a productive category of the older language and in nearly all documented dialects, but, strangely enough, is nowadays rigorously excluded from written usage in its present normalised form.
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| * disambiguation of completed vs. uncompleted forms is widely observed and regularly generated by common prefixes (blicken - to look, erblicken - to see [unrelated form: sehen - to see]).
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| There are also many ways to expand, and sometimes radically change, the meaning of a base verb through several prefixes. Examples: haften=to stick, verhaften=to imprison; kaufen=to buy, verkaufen=to sell; hören=to hear, aufhören=to cease.
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| ===Syntax===
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| The word order is more rigid than in English except for nouns that are accompanied by an article. In normal positive sentences the ''inflected'' verb always has position 2; In questions, exclamations, and wishes, it always has position 1. In relative clauses the verb is supposed to occur at the very end. In speech some clauses are excused from this rule. For example in a subordinate clause introduced by the German word for "because" (weil) the verb quite often occupies the same place as in a main clause.
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| Sentences using modal verbs separate the auxiliary putting the infinitive at the end. For example, the sentence in English "Should he go home?" would be rearranged in German to say "Should he home go?" ('''Sollte er nach Hause gehen?'''). In sentences with several subordinate clauses or relative clauses verbs tend to gather at the end. The reader or listener then has the job of reconnecting these verbs individually with the subjects to which they belong.
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| A similar situation occurs in English with prepositions at the end of a sentence. Consider the mental acrobatics to rearrange the following sentence: What did you bring that book that I don't like to be read to out of up for?
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| To ease the German syntax, a rule has been imposed to limit the number of infinitives at the end to two placing the third one that would have gone to the end at the beginning of the chain of verbs. In the sentence "Should he move into the house that he just had renovated?" would be rearranged to "Should he into that house move which he just had renovate let?". ('''Sollte er das Haus beziehen, das er gerade hat renovieren lassen?'''). If there are more than three all others are relocated to the beginning of the chain. The rule doesn't stipulate their sequence. The problem doesn't get solved. It's just distributed differently.
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| Needless to say the rule is not exclusively applied. Many native speakers spend their entire lives without ever using it outside of school at all. It's occasionally found in newspapers, radio or tv reports and by highly educated individuals. Speakers tend to avoid the situation by reorganising the sentence.
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| The word order of nouns as a subject or object in a german sentence doesn't effect the meaning of the sentence as it would in English. In English in a declaritive sentence if the subject does not occur before the predicate the sentence could well be misunderstood. In a headline for example "Man bites dog" it's clear who did what to whom. To exchange the place of the subject with that of the object changes the meaning completely. In other words the word order in a sentence conveys significant information. In German nouns and articles are declined as in Latin. A declined article with its noun indicates its case as nominative or accusative among others. The above example in German would be '''Ein Mann beißt den Hund''' or '''Den Hund beißt ein Mann''' with exactly the same meaning. If the articles are omitted, which is sometimes done in headlines ('''Hund beißt Mann'''), the first noun specifies the subject and the second noun the object.
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| Except for cases of emphasis adverbs of time have to appear in the third place in the sentence (just after the predicate). Otherwise the speaker would be recognised as non-German. For instance the German word order (in English) is: We're going tomorrow to town. ('''Wir gehen morgen in die Stadt.''')
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| This division into three main categories of sentences (by the economical means of just a relocation of the ''inflected'' verb) has largely contributed to the survival and even major extension of complicated poly-parenthetical sentence structures, which are also to be found in spoken German. (Compare the complicated and subtle possibilities of word formation). Subject, object(s), other parts of the sentence, and adverbial clauses (as which, rigidly speaking, even subject and object themselves are perceived in German) may, on the other hand, be positioned more freely; yet, a “normal” scheme of sequence underlies even an "eccentric" sentence, and by the notions of the former, the latter's accentuations are measured. Again, at least two such schemes of sequence must be discerned for main and relative clauses.
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| Many German verbs are separable meaning that the verb's prefix (usually a preposition) is split off and moved to the end of the sentence, hence considered by some to be a "resultative particle", unique to the German language. As example '''mitgehen''' meaning "to go with" would be split giving '''Gehen Sie mit?''' (Are you also going?). Although ending English sentences with a preposition is sometimes frowned upon, this construction is standard in German. For more info see [[Preposition stranding]].
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| ===Lexicon===
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| Most German vocabulary is derived from the Germanic branch of the [[Indo-European language family]], although there are significant minorities of words derived from [[Latin]], [[French language|French]], and most recently [[English language|English]] (which, in English, is known as [[Germish]] or in German as [[Denglisch]]). At the same time, the efficiency of the German language to form an equivalent or even an outrivaling alternative for foreign words only from its inherited Germanic stem repertory is astonishing: Thus, [[Notker]] of [[St. Gallen]] was able to translate Aristotelian treaties in pure (Old High) German in the decades after the year 1000, and still today, many scholarly (and politically modest) movements try to promote the „Ersatz“ (substitution or substitute) of virtually all foreign words with German alternatives, either ancient, either dialectal, or synthetic neologisms. It is claimed that this would also help in spreading modern or scientific notions among the less learned, and thus democratise public life, too. (Jurisprudence in Germany, e. g., uses perhaps the “purest” tongue in terms of German-hood to be found today.) Being very prone to and habile at composing or coining new, but autochthonous words, German appears with a vocabulary of an estimated 40,000 words as soon as in the ninth century (Latin with a written tradition of now nearly 2,500 years in an empire which ruled the Mediterranean numbers only some 45,000 words at most by now). The vocabulary of German is smaller than that of English, which has the largest lexicon of any language.
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| ==Writing system==
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| {{Main|German alphabet}}
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| German is written using the [[Latin alphabet]]. In addition to the 26 standard letters, German has three vowels with [[Umlaut]], namely ''ä'', ''ö'' and ''ü'', as well as the Eszett or scharfes S (sharp "s") ''[[ß]]''.
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| In German spelling before the [[German spelling reform of 1996|reform of 1996]], ''ß'' replaced ''ss'' after long vowels and diphthongs and before consonants, word-, or partial-word-endings. In reformed spelling, ''ß'' replaces ''ss'' only after long vowels and diphthongs. Since there is no [[capital letter|capital]] "ß", in [[capitalisation|capitalised]] writing "ß" is always written as "SS" (example: Maßband (Tape measure) in normal writing, but MASSBAND in capitalised writing). In [[Switzerland]], ''ß'' is not used at all.
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| Umlaut vowels (ä, ö, ü) can be circumscribed with ae, oe, and ue if the umlauts are not available on the keyboard used. In the same manner "ß" can be circumscribed as "ss". German readers understand those circumscriptions (although they look unusual), but they are avoided if the regular umlauts are available since "ae", "oe" and "ue" can in rare cases also mean a regular vowel with silent "e", in the manner of "ah", "oh" and "uh". This is often used in Westphalia, examples are the cities "Raesfeld" [ˡraːsfɛlt] and "Coesfeld" [ˡkoːsfɛlt] near Münster.
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| Unfortunately there is still no general agreement exactly where these Umlauts occur in the sorting sequence. Telephone directories treat them as a unique separate letter whereas dictionaries as a modification of the existing vowel. As an example in a telephone book "Ärzte" occurs after "Adressenverlage" but before "Anlagenbauer". In a dictionary "Ärzte" occurs after "Arzt" but before "Asbest".
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| Until the early [[20th century]], German was mostly printed in [[blackletter]] [[typefaces]] (mostly in [[fraktur (typeface)|Fraktur]], but also in [[Schwabacher]]) and written in corresponding [[handwriting]] (for example [[Kurrent]] and [[Sütterlin]]). These variants of the Latin alphabet are very different from the serif or sans serif [[Antiqua]] typefaces used today, and particularly the handwritten forms are difficult for the untrained to read. The printed forms however are claimed by some to be actually more readable when used for printing [[Germanic language]]s. The [[Nazis]] initially promoted Fraktur and Schwabacher since they were considered [[Aryan]], although they later abolished them in [[1941]] by claiming that these letters were Jewish.
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| ==Phonology==
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| {{Main|German phonology}}
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| Some hints for beginners:
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| Umlaut ( ¨ )
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| * '''Ä''': It is like the A of C''a''t, that is something stong between A and E. (Ex. Gespräch = Conversation)
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| * '''Ö''': Close your mouth to speak "o", but pronunciate "e". (Ex. Gehören = To belong)
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| * '''Ü''': Close your mouth to speak "u", but pronunciate "i". Like the u of French. (Ex. Rücksicht = Respect).
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| Consonants:
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| * '''H''' is aspirated, as in "''H''ome"
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| * '''W''' is read as /v/ as in "''V''acation" (Ex. Wo = Where)
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| * '''S''' is read as /z/ as in "''Z''ebra" (Ex. Sonne = Sun)
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| * '''Z''' is read as /tz/ (Ex. Zutrauen = Trust)
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| * '''V''' is read as /f/ as in "''F''ather" (Ex. Vorname = Name)
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| * '''ß''' is read as /ss/ as in "''S''ee" (Ex. Weißen = To Know)
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| Diphtongs
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| * '''EI''' is read as /ai/ in ''I'' (Ex. Dein = Your, informal)
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| * '''IE''' is read as the long "i" of Bee. (Ex. Bier = Beer)
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| * '''EU''' is read as /o:i/, note that the first "o" is strong. (Ex. Treu = Loyal). The diphtong "'''ÄU'''" is read the same way of "'''EU'''".
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| ==Cognates with English==
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| There are many German words that are [[cognate]] to [[English language|English words]]. Most of them are easily identifiable and have almost the same meaning.
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|
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| | The following table illustrates the effect of the Second Consonant Shift (shifts of initial, medial and final p, t, k): |
| {| class="wikitable" | | {| class="wikitable" |
| |- bgcolor=#FFDEAD
| |
| ! '''German'''
| |
| ! Meaning of German word
| |
| ! English cognate
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| |-
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| |Abend || eve/evening || eve from Old E.æfen
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| |-
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| |auf || up || up
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| |-
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| |aus || out,up || out
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| |-
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| |best- || best || best
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| |-
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| |Bett || bed || bed
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| |-
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| |Bier || beer || beer
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| |-
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| |Butter || butter || butter
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| |-
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| |essen || to eat || to eat
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| |-
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| |fallen, fiel, gefallen || fall, fell, fallen || fall, fell, fallen
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| |-
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| |Faust || fist || fist
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| |-
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| |Finger || finger || finger
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| |-
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| |Gott || God || God
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| |-
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| |haben || to have || to have
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| |-
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| |heit(suffix) || ity(latin suffix) || hood(suffix)
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| |-
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| |Haus || house || house
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| |-
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| |heißen || is called || hight
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| |-
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| |hören || to hear || hear
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| |-
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| |ist, war || is, was || is, was
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| |-
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| |Katze || cat || cat
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| |-
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| |Laus || louse || louse
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| |-
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| |Läuse || lice || lice
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| |-
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| |lachen || to laugh || to laugh
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| |-
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| |Maus || mouse || mouse
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| |-
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| |Milch || milk || milk
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| |-
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| |müssen || must || must
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| |-
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| |Mäuse || mice || mice
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| |-
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| |Nacht || night || night
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| |- | | |- |
| |Pfeife || pipe || pipe, fife
| | ! |
| | !High German |
| | ! Low German |
| | !English |
| | !Dutch |
| |- | | |- |
| |Schiff || ship || ship | | | p |
| | |Pfeife |
| | |Piep |
| | |pipe |
| | |pijp |
| |- | | |- |
| |schwimmen || to swim || swim | | | |
| | |Apfel |
| | |Auppel |
| | |apple |
| | |appel |
| |- | | |- |
| |singen, sang, gesungen || sing, sang, sung || sing, sang, sung | | | |
| | |Schaf |
| | |Schoop |
| | |sheep |
| | |schaap |
| |- | | |- |
| |sinken, sank, gesunken || sink, sank, sunken || sink, sank, sunk | | | t |
| | |Zeit |
| | |Tiet |
| | |tide |
| | |tijd |
| |- | | |- |
| |Sommer || summer || summer | | | |
| | |setzen |
| | |setten |
| | |sit |
| | |zetten |
| |- | | |- |
| |springen, sprang, gesprungen || jump, jumped, jumped || spring, sprang, sprung | | | |
| | |groß |
| | |groot |
| | |great |
| | |groot |
| |- | | |- |
| |Tag || day || day | | | k |
| | |Kalb |
| | |Kaulf |
| | |calf |
| | |kalf |
| |- | | |- |
| |Wetter || weather || weather | | | |
| | |machen |
| | |moken |
| | |make |
| | |maken |
| |- | | |- |
| |Wille || will (''noun'')|| will | | | |
| | |Dach |
| | |Dack |
| | |thatch |
| | |dak |
| |- | | |- |
| |wir, uns || we, us || we, us
| |
| |-
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| |Winter || winter || winter
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| |} | | |} |
|
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| When these cognates have slightly different consonants, this is often due to the [[High German consonant shift]].
| | '''Note: ''' Initial /k/ only shifted in the extreme southern dialects (e.g. Swiss German ''Kchriesi'' ‘cherry’, cf. German ''Kirsche''). |
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| | The main dialect groups of German are: |
| | *High German ''Hochdeutsch'' |
| | **Bavarian ''Bayerisch'' (including North, Middle and South Bavarian) |
| | **Alemannic ''Alemannisch'' (including Lower Alemannic, High Alemannic, Highest Alemannic and Swabian) |
| | **East Franconian ''Ostfränkisch'' |
| | **Rhine Franconian ''Rheinfränkisch'' |
| | **Middle Franconian ''Mittelfränkisch'' (including Moselle Franconian, Ripuarian and Low Franconian) |
| | **Hessian ''Hessisch'' (including Central Hessian, East Hessian and North Hessian) |
| | **Thuringian ''Thüringisch'' |
| | **Saxon ''Sächsisch'' (or Upper Saxon; including North Upper Saxon and South Markish) |
| | *Low German ''Niederdeutsch'' |
| | **Westphalian ''Westfälisch'' |
| | **Eastphalian ''Ostfälisch'' |
| | **North Low German ''Nordniederdeutsch'' |
| | **Brandenburgish ''Brandenburgisch'' |
| | **Mecklenburgish-Vorpommernish ''Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch'' |
| | **Middlepommernish ''Mittelpommersch'' |
| | After [[World War II]] Germany ceded territory in the east to [[Poland]], [[Russia]], and the [[Czech Republic]]. As a result, three dialects have since largely been lost: Lower Prussian ''Niederpreußisch'' (a dialect of Low German), High Prussian ''Hochpreußisch'' and Silesian ''Schlesisch'' (both High German) |
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| | There are several other dialects of German in communities living outside of Germany. For example, [[Yiddish]]—spoken by many [[Jewish]] communities around the world—is essentially a dialect of German, though with many [[Hebrew]] words added to it. The German language has also been partially retained in some former German colonies like [[Namibia]]. The [[Pennsylvania Dutch]] language in the United States is also a dialect of German. |
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| | ==Standardization of German== |
| | Official German began to be standardised in the late nineteenth century after the different regions were finally united politically under the German emperor (German ''Kaiser''). The spoken version of official High German was a compromise that drew heavily on the dialects in the middle of what is now Germany (especially around [[Hanover]]) to minimise the amount of adaptation needed for the most people. |
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| | Standard German has been successful at encouraging a national identity in Germany and fostering inter-regional communications. However, native speakers can still usually instantly detect from what region a person comes from when he speaks standard German, since many people do not lose all the traces of their original dialect. TV stations in Germany, Austria and Belgium still broadcast some programs in local dialect. |
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| There are cognates whose meanings in either language have changed through the centuries. It is sometimes difficult for both English and German speakers to discern the relationship. On the other hand, once the definitions are made clear, then the logical relation becomes obvious.
| | ==The West Germanic ''[[Dialect_continuum|dialect continuum]]''== |
| {| class="wikitable"
| | From the point of view of [[Historical_linguistics|historical]] [[Comparative_linguistics|comparative]] [[Linguistics|linguistics]], the various local [[Dutch language|Dutch]] dialects in the [[Netherlands]] are part of the same West Germanic [[Dialect_continuum|dialect continuum]] as the regional Germanic dialects in what is today Germany. There are at least a half dozen or so local regional dialects within the Dutch-speaking part of the Netherlands (some linguists divide them into more than a dozen). Especially in the last two centuries, this region developed as separate politically from Germany and thus it developed its own standardized "official" language, called Dutch. But note the following clarification: |
| |- bgcolor=#FFDEAD
| |
| ! '''German'''
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| ! Meaning of German word
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| ! English cognate
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| ! Comment
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| |- | |
| |-
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| |antworten || to answer || an-word || the cognate prefix Ger.'ant' is equal to Old E.'and-'〈"against"〉(→an).'wort'=word,'swer'=swear,so the suffix isn't cognate.
| |
| |- | |
| |Baum || tree || beam || Both derive from [[West Germanic]] ''*baumoz'' meaning "tree". It is the English one which, in Anglo-Saxon and Old English, has radically changed its meaning several times. | |
| |- | |
| |bekommen || to get || to become ||
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| |-
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| |drehen || to turn || to throw || cf. to "throw" (make) a pot by turning it on a wheel
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| |-
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| |ernten || to harvest || to earn ||
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| |-
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| |fahren || to go || to fare ||O.E. faran "to journey, to make one's way," from P.Gmc. *faranan (cf. Goth. faran, Ger. fahren), from PIE *por- "going, passage"
| |
| |-
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| |fechten || to fence (''sport'') || to fight ||
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| |-
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| |Gift || poison || gift || the original meaning of ''Gift'' in German can still be seen in the german deflection ''Mitgift'' "dowry"
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| |-
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| |Hund || dog || hound ||
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| |-
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| |kaufen || to buy || cheap, [[chapman]] ||
| |
| |-
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| |Knabe (''formal'')|| boy || [[knave]] ||
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| |-
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| |Knecht || servant || knight ||
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| |-
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| |Kopf || head || cup || Latin ''cuppa'' 'bowl'; cf. French ''tête'', from Latin ''testa'' 'shell/bowl'. Here English kept the original Germanic word for "head" while German borrowed a Latin word. The German word for cup, ''Tasse'', is also of Latin (French) origin
| |
| |-
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| |machen || to do,to work || to make ||
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| |-
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| |nehmen || to take || numb || sensation has been "taken away"; cf. German ''benommen'', 'dazed'
| |
| |-
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| |raten || to guess, to advise || to read || cf. ''riddle'', akin to German ''Rätsel''
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| |-
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| |ritzen || to scratch || to write ||
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| |-
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| |Schmerz || pain || smart || The verb ''smart'' retains this meaning
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| |-
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| |schlecht || bad || slight ||Sense of Ger. cognate schlecht developed from "smooth, plain, simple" to "bad," and as it did it was replaced in the original senses by schlicht, a back-formation from schlichten "to smooth, to plane," a derivative of schlecht in the old sense.
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| |-
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| |sterben || to die || to starve ||
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| |-
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| |sich rächen || to take revenge || to wreak (havoc) ||
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| |-
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| |Tisch || table || dish, desk || Latin ''discus''
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| |-
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| |Vieh || cattle || fee || from O.E. 'feoh' "money, property, cattle"
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| |-
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| |Wald || forest || weald ||
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| |-
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| |werden || to become || weird || see [[wyrd]]
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| |-
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| |werfen || to throw || to warp ||
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| |-
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| |Zeit || time || tide || the root is re-used in German ''Gezeiten'' as ''Tiden'' ('tides')
| |
| |}
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| |
|
| German and English also share many borrowings from other languages, especially [[Latin]], [[French language|French]] and [[Greek language|Greek]]. Most of these words have the same meaning, while a few have subtle differences in meaning. As many of these words have been borrowed by numerous languages, not only German and English, they are called ''[[internationalism (linguistics)|internationalisms]]'' in German [[linguistics]]. | | ::"Some Dutch dialects show marked correspondences to neighbouring German dialects. For example [[Venlo]] dialect has more features in common with the German dialect of [[Krefeld]] (which is close to Venlo) than, for example, the dialect of the [[Zaan]] area. Yet Venlo dialect is still Dutch […] The demarcation between Dutch and German dialects is made on the basis of the standard language spoken in the region concerned. Venlo dialect is regarded as Dutch because the inhabitants of Venlo use Dutch in school and in "official" situations; the language of Krefeld on the other hand is treated as a German dialect because Standard German is the overarching national language there."<ref name="DutchAndGerman">{{cite web|url=http://www.ned.univie.ac.at/publicaties/taalgeschiedenis/en/|title=History of the Dutch Language|publisher=Dept. of Dutch Studies, University of Vienna (see 20th century on ''dialects'')|date=2005|accessdate=2007-04-02}}</ref> |
| {| class="wikitable" | |
| |- bgcolor=#FFDEAD | |
| ! '''German'''
| |
| ! Meaning of German word
| |
| ! language of origin
| |
| |- | |
| |Armee || army || French
| |
| |- | |
| |Arrangement || arrangement || French
| |
| |-
| |
| |Chance || opportunity || French
| |
| |-
| |
| |Courage || courage || French
| |
| |-
| |
| |Chuzpe || chutzpah || Yiddish
| |
| |-
| |
| |Disposition || disposition || Latin
| |
| |-
| |
| |Feuilleton || feuilleton || French
| |
| |-
| |
| |Futur || future tense || Latin
| |
| |-
| |
| |Boje ||buoy || Dutch
| |
| |-
| |
| |Genre || genre || French
| |
| |-
| |
| |Mikroskop || microscope || Greek
| |
| |-
| |
| |Partei || political party || French
| |
| |-
| |
| |Position || position || Latin
| |
| |-
| |
| |positiv || positive || Latin
| |
| |-
| |
| |Prestige || prestige || French
| |
| |-
| |
| |Psychologie || psychology || Greek
| |
| |-
| |
| |Religion || religion || Latin
| |
| |-
| |
| |Tabu || taboo || Tongan
| |
| |-
| |
| |Zigarre || cigar || Spanish
| |
| |-
| |
| |Zucker || sugar || Sanskrit, via Arabic
| |
| |}
| |
|
| |
|
| ==Examples of German==
| | This linguistic classification of Dutch dialects and German dialects as belonging to the same continuum is not intended to dispute that official Dutch and official German are different languages. |
| {| class="wikitable"
| |
| |- bgcolor=#FFDEAD
| |
| ! Translation
| |
| ! Phrase
| |
| ! IPA
| |
| |-
| |
| |German || ''Deutsch'' || {{IPA|/dɔɪ̯tʃ/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |Hello || ''Hallo'' || {{IPA|/ˈhaloː/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |I am called Hans. || ''Ich heisse Hans.'' || {{IPA|/ʔɪç haɪ̯sə hans/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |My name is Hans. || ''Mein Name ist Hans.'' || {{IPA|/maɪ̯n namə ʔɪst hans/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |-How are you? (formal) || ''Wie geht es Ihnen?'' || {{IPA|/viː geːt es iːnən/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |Good morning || ''Guten Morgen'' || {{IPA|/ˈguːtən ˈmɔɐ̯gən/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |Good day || ''Guten Tag'' || {{IPA|/ˈguːtən taːk/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |Good evening || ''Guten Abend'' || {{IPA|/ˈguːtən ˈaːbənt/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |Good night || ''Gute Nacht'' || {{IPA|/ˈguːtə naχt/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |Good-bye || ''Auf Wiedersehen'' || {{IPA|/ʔaʊ̯f ˈviːdɐˌzeːn/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |Please || ''Bitte'' || {{IPA|/ˈbɪtə/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |You are welcome || ''Bitte'' || {{IPA|/ˈbɪtə/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |Thank you || ''Danke'' || {{IPA|/ˈdaŋkə/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |That || ''Das'' || {{IPA|/das/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |How much? || ''Wie viel?'' || {{IPA|/vi fiːl/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |Yes || ''Ja'' || {{IPA|/jaː/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |No || ''Nein'' || {{IPA|/naɪ̯n/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |I would like that, please || ''Ich möchte das, bitte'' || {{IPA|/ʔɪç mœçtə das ˈbɪtə/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |Where is the toilet? || ''Wo ist die Toilette?'' || {{IPA|/voː ʔɪst diː toa̯ˈlɛtə/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |Generic toast || ''Prosit'' <br>''Prost'' || {{IPA|/ˈproːziːt/}} <br>{{IPA|/proːst/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |Do you speak English? || ''Sprechen Sie Englisch?'' || {{IPA|/ˈʃprɛçən ziː ˈʔɛŋlɪʃ/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |I don't understand || ''Ich verstehe nicht'' || {{IPA|/ʔɪç fɐˈʃteːə nɪçt/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |Excuse me || ''Entschuldigung'' || {{IPA|/ʔɛntˈʃʊldɪgʊŋ/}}
| |
| |-
| |
| |I don't know || ''Ich weiß nicht'' || {{IPA|/ʔɪç vaɪ̯s nɪçt/}}
| |
| |}
| |
|
| |
|
| ==Names for German in other languages==
| |
| Because of the turbulent history of both Germany and the German language, the names that other peoples have chosen to use to refer to it varies more than for most other languages.
| |
|
| |
|
| [[Romanian language|Romanian]] used to use in the past the Slavonic term "nemţeşte", but "Germană" is now widely used. Hungarian "német" is also a Slavonic loan-word. The Arabic name for Austria, النمسا ("an-namsa"), is derived from the Slavonic term.
| |
|
| |
|
| Note also that, although the Russian term for the language is '''немецкий''' ''(nemetskij)'', the country is '''Германия''' ''(Germaniya)''. However, in some other Slavonic languages, as with Polish, the country name ('''Niemcy''' ''(pl)'') is similar to the name of the language, (język) '''niemiecki'''.
| | ==West Germanic dialects to modern "standard" German== |
| | The grammar of modern standard German (and its many underlying dialects) grew out of [[Middle High German]] in the [[Middle Ages]], which in turn grew out of [[Old High German]] (Mittel Deutsch) in the [[Dark Ages]]. Historically, ''high'' meant areas that are in the mountainous regions (southern Germany, for example) as apposed to geographically lower-lying areas around the [[North Sea]].<ref name="GermanLanguageInEncarta">{{cite web|url=http://encarta.msn.com/|title=German Language Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007|publisher=© 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.|date=2007|accessdate=2007-04-02}}</ref> For example, Netherlands (Niederländer in standard German) means ''low'' lands, and regional dialects in those areas are often styled as ''low'' Germanic dialects. |
|
| |
|
| A possible explanation for the use of "mute" to refer to German (and also to Germans) in Slavic languages is that Germans were the first people Slavic tribes encountered, with whom they could not communicate. The corresponding experience for the Germans was with the [[Volcae]], whose name they subsequently also applied to the Slavs, see [[etymology of Vlach]]. Another less-attested possibility is that the Slavs first encountered a Germanic tribe called the Nemetes (which was mentioned by the Romans), and later meeting other Germans, applied the tribe's name "Nemetes" to all Germans.
| | Until around the fifteenth century, [[Latin language|Latin]] was the prevailing [[written language]], and the Germanic dialects over the portion of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] that now constitute modern-day Germany (and some surrounding countries) were considered [[vernacular]], the language of common people. Few written records of any Germanic dialects remain from that period except very early (and illegal at the time) translations of the [[Bible]]. |
|
| |
|
| [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] traditionally (nowadays this is not the case) used the Biblical term [[Ashkenaz]] (Genesis 10:3) to refer to Germany, or to certain parts of it, and the [[Ashkenazi]] Jews are those who originate from Germany and Eastern Europe and formerly spoke [[Yiddish]] as their native language, derived from [[Middle High German]]. | | [[Martin Luther]] created a revolution by translating the [[Catholic church]]'s official [[Latin Bible]] into a dialect of vernacular German; this initially-banned book was very successful, and written German eventually overtook written Latin for most literature of the region, culminating in the standardization of an official version of German by around 1900. |
|
| |
|
| See also [[Names for Germany]].
| | ==Active word-building capacity and German vocabulary== |
| | Although [[English language|English]] is a Germanic language, it now differs from the German dialects in its extremely large vocabulary expanded from many different languages such as [[French language|French]], Latin or [[Spanish language|Spanish]]. Translators trying to render German into English may find a dozen English [[synonyms]] of only subtle (if any) difference in meaning, as compared to a single word in German. This has made translating the works of e.g. [[Martin Heidegger]] or [[Sigmund Freud]] particularly difficult: any two translations may contain almost completely different terminology in English. Thus, scholars are encouraged to attempt to read such thinkers in the original German if at all possible. In fact, English nowadays sports a huge unabridged dictionary, but German does not have need for an unabridged dictionary of comparable size, due to its relatively smaller vocabulary and to its active word-building capacity. |
|
| |
|
| ==See also==
| | Most vocabulary in German is in fact built up by compounding two or more of the core words together. The meaning of such words is generally obvious to children as they acquire language, and they do not need to look up words in a dictionary nearly as often as English-speaking children do. For example, in English we have the term "glove", but in German it is called ''Handschuh'' ("hand shoe"). If children already know the words ''Hand'' and ''Schuh'', they don't have to be taught what ''Handschuh'' means the first time they hear it. Building on this, in English we have the term "glove compartment" in reference to cars. In German, that is ''Handschuhfach'' ("hand shoe box"), and in the context of a car it is immediately clear in meaning, whereas English speaking children must first learn the Latin-derived word "compartment" before "glove compartment" makes any sense. |
| * [[Alternative words for Germans]]
| |
| * [[Common phrases in various languages]]
| |
| * [[Ethnic German]]
| |
| * [[German as a Minority Language]]
| |
| * [[German family name etymology]]
| |
| * [[German in the United States]]
| |
| * [[German placename etymology]]
| |
| * [[German spelling reform of 1996]]
| |
| * [[Germish]]
| |
| * [[List of German expressions in English]]
| |
| * [[List of German words and phrases]]
| |
| * [[German Swadesh list|Swadesh list of German words]]
| |
| * [[Umlaut]], [[ß]]
| |
|
| |
|
| ==External links==
| | Another example is the word "superficial" in English: many English speaking children must explicitly be told its meaning at first. But the German equivalent of "superficial" is ''oberflächlich'' ("over" and "flatly"), and its obvious meaning to Germans is "skimming (over) the surface". |
| {{InterWiki|code=de}}
| |
| {{Wikibooks|German}}
| |
| {{Wikibooks|BLL German}}
| |
| {{Wiktionarylang|code=de}}
| |
| * [http://www.languagetrav.com/german German for Travelers] - Pronuncation, phrases, and links related to the German language
| |
| * [http://www.german-flashcards.com/ German Flashcards]
| |
| * [http://babelnation.com/german German language courses]
| |
| * [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/German_proverbs List of German proverbs] from Wikisource
| |
| * [http://www.prosonsoft.com/index/learn_german_educational_software/ Prosonsoft] - German language course
| |
| * [http://www.vds-ev.de/ - Verein Deutsche Sprache international german club]
| |
| *[http://forum.wordreference.com/forumdisplay.php?f=18 WordReference - German language forum]
| |
| *{{about.com|topic=German}}
| |
| * [http://www.declan-software.com/german German language learning audio software]
| |
| * [http://learno.com/german Online Learno german course] Free online German tutorial at Learno.com
| |
| *[http://www.medienhilfe.org Weltverband Deutschsprachiger Medien] - Federation of Media in German and Yiddish language worldwide
| |
| * [http://www.washjeff.edu/capl/ Culturally Authentic Pictorial Lexicon] Free online visual lexicon of the German language with authentic photos from German speaking world.
| |
| * [http://www.sprachtausch.net Sprachtausch.net] — German website to find someone to teach you, for example German in exchange with your language.
| |
| * [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=deu Ethnologue report for German]
| |
| * [http://www.travlang.com/languages/german/ihgg/ Internet Handbook of German Grammar]
| |
| * [http://www.lsa.umich.edu/german/hmr/ German resources] at the University of Michigan
| |
| * [http://german.languages4everyone.com Learn German Online] with this internet German course for beginners
| |
| * [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,1595,2469,00.html Deutsche Welle's Online German Courses]
| |
| * [http://www.videolexikon.com 450 free Lectures in German language]
| |
| * [http://www.eslbase.com/language-exchange/ Practise German with a language exchange]
| |
| * [http://www.applelanguages.com/en/learn/german.php German courses in Germany]
| |
| * [http://www.sprachcaffe.com/english/learn_german.htm Learning German]
| |
| * [http://www.diwa.info/ Digital Wenker-Atlas] Project publishing the 19th century ''Linguistic Atlas of the German Empire''
| |
| * [http://language-directory.50webs.com/languages/german.htm List of online German-related resources]
| |
| * [http://eserver.org/langs/the-awful-german-language.txt That awful German language] — A humorous essay by [[Mark Twain]]
| |
| * [http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/german/index.html Why learn German? A German language profile]
| |
| * [http://www.vistawide.com/german/why_german.htm Why learn German?] — 12 reasons to learn German
| |
| * [http://www.andaman.org/book/reprints/weber/rep-weber.htm George Weber: The World's 10 most influential languages]
| |
| * [http://www.actilingua.com/german_courses/german_language.php Short summary on German language and varieties with a map!]
| |
| * [http://www.ielanguages.com/German.html Free German Language Tutorial from ielanguages.com]
| |
| * [http://www.passwort-deutsch.de/ Passwort Deutsch] - A German course
| |
| * [http://www.vocabulix.com A German tutorial]
| |
| * [http://german.mysite.de Learn about the German language]
| |
| * [http://www.deutsch-lernen.com/ Learn German Online] containing free courses
| |
| * [http://www.loecsen.com/travel/discover_pop.php?lang=en&to_lang=1&learn-German/ Learn and listen to useful expressions in German] Each expression is presented with an audio recording and an illustration
| |
| * [http://www.expatica.com/source/site_content_subchannel.asp?subchannel_id=37&name=Germany+Education Articles on learning German] Also has a service whereby learners of German can send questions to a German teacher
| |
| * [http://www.bfds.de Bund für deutsche Schrift und Sprache] (in German)
| |
|
| |
|
| ===Dictionary and word translations===
| | In [[mathematics]], English speakers must learn arcane terms like "apex", whereas German speakers encounter ''Spitze'' ("peak", the same word used for "mountaintop"). This reliance on building larger or broader concepts out of its core words has made German a more elegant language for learning of mathematics than English, as little latinized vocabulary need be learned when reading about mathematics in German. |
| * [http://www.phrasen.com/ phrasen.com] Dictionary: German-English-German idioms and phrases
| |
| * [http://dict.leo.org/ The LEO Online Dictionary] German-English-German dictionary at [[Leo.org]]
| |
| * [http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/ TU Chemnitz Dictionary] a 185000+ German-English Dictionary with proverbs and pronunciations
| |
| * [http://www.dict.cc/ dict.cc: User-editable German-English-German Dictionary] works similar to Wikipedia, more than 840,000 keywords (420,000 translation pairs)
| |
| * [http://www.ilexer.org/ Ilexer.org] Ilexer: German-English-German Dictionary - main field textiles
| |
| * [http://odge.info/ Odge.info] uses dict.cc's data according to [http://odge.info/License/ license] page
| |
| * [http://www.canoo.net/index_en.html German Grammar, Online Dictionary for Spelling, Infection and Wordformation for the German Language]
| |
| * [http://clip2go.com/deutsch-englisch/index.htm clip2go] German-English-Spanish Online-Dictionary and vocabulary trainer- 50,000 recorded words and phrases
| |
| * [http://www.geodic.de GEODic] German-English-Online-Dictionary
| |
| * [http://www.woerterbuch.info woerterbuch.info — Free English-German Online Dictionary] with over 600.000 translations
| |
| * [http://www.dwds.de The Digital Dictonary Project]in German - Dictionary, Corpus and Statistics
| |
| * http://www.deutsch-englisch.org - English-German Onlinetranslator
| |
| * http://www.dedict.de - English-German Online Dictionary
| |
| * http://www.spell-it.net - Free English-German Online Dictionary
| |
| * [http://german.typeit.org Type any text with German characters].
| |
| * http://www.pdictionary.com/german/ - The Internet Picture Dictionary: German - Free
| |
| * http://www.interglot.com - Free translator in various languages
| |
|
| |
|
| ===Grammar=== | | ==Relative ease of learning German for native English speakers== |
| * [http://www.wm.edu/modlang/gasmit/grammar/grammnu.html Grammar of German]
| | German is considered by many to be one of the more accessible foreign languages for native speakers of [[English language|English]] to learn. This is due not only to the similarities of core words in the two languages (due to their common Germanic roots), but also to German's reliance on compound words built from simple ones. To an English speaker, Spanish or another Romance language might seem easier initially because it has shorter words and a more familiar word order and sentence structure, but Spanish has a much larger "different" vocabulary which English speakers must learn. German, on the other hand, builds most of its extended words from its core words, so acquisition of sufficient German vocabulary by English speakers can occur much faster than for many other foreign languages. The comparative regularity of German spelling also makes learning the written language easier. |
| * [http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~skidmore/grammarpage.htm German Grammar on the Web]
| |
| * [http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~oberle/courses/review.html German Review Grammar]
| |
| * [http://www.cas.muohio.edu/~greal/netzgrammatik/grammar.html German Grammar Charts]
| |
| {{Germanic languages}}
| |
|
| |
|
| {{Official EU languages}}
| | Studies show that more than one hundred of the (500 or so) core words of English and German are still close enough to be considered ''cognates'', which are words that are so similar that they are very easy for English speakers to remember. Examples of cognates are ''hand'' (German ''Hand''), and ''water'' (German ''wasser''), which though pronounced differently, are still recognizably similar. Almost one hundred additional core words are ''false cognates'' (looking or sounding alike but with strikingly different meanings); false cognates also are easy to remember once a learner has made the embarrassing mistake of misusing what appears to be a cognate. False cognate examples include English ''gift'' (German ''Gift'', meaning poison), and English ''mist'' (German ''mist'', meaning manure). |
|
| |
|
| [[Category:German language]] | | Testimonials of American soldiers serving in Germany in [[World War II]] showed that American soldiers were able to pick up substantial amounts of German in only a few months without any formal training, just by hearing a lot of it spoken in real-world situations. This may well be a consequence of the close similarity of the core words of the two languages. |
| [[Category:Languages of Austria]]
| |
| [[Category:Languages of Germany]]
| |
| [[Category:Languages of Liechtenstein]]
| |
| [[Category:Languages of Luxembourg]]
| |
| [[Category:Languages of Switzerland]]
| |
|
| |
|
| [[af:Duits (taal)]]
| | ==Notes== |
| [[als:Deutsche Sprache]]
| | {{reflist|2}} |
| [[am:ጀርመንኛ]]
| |
| [[ang:Þēodisc sprǣc]]
| |
| [[ar:لغة ألمانية]]
| |
| [[ast:Alemán]]
| |
| [[zh-min-nan:Tek-gí]]
| |
| [[be:Нямецкая мова]]
| |
| [[bs:Njemački jezik]]
| |
| [[br:Alamaneg]]
| |
| [[ca:Alemany]]
| |
| [[cv:Нимĕç чĕлхи]]
| |
| [[cs:Němčina]]
| |
| [[cy:Almaeneg]]
| |
| [[da:Tysk (sprog)]]
| |
| [[pdc:Modern Hochdeitsch]]
| |
| [[de:Deutsche Sprache]]
| |
| [[et:Saksa keel]]
| |
| [[el:Γερμανική γλώσσα]]
| |
| [[es:Idioma alemán]]
| |
| [[eo:Germana lingvo]]
| |
| [[eu:Alemaniera]]
| |
| [[fa:زبان آلمانی]]
| |
| [[fo:Týskt mál]]
| |
| [[fr:Allemand]]
| |
| [[fur:Lenghe todescje]]
| |
| [[ga:Gearmáinis]]
| |
| [[gd:Gearmailtis]]
| |
| [[gl:Lingua alemá]]
| |
| [[ko:독일어]]
| |
| [[hy:Գերմաներեն]]
| |
| [[hi:जर्मन भाषा]]
| |
| [[hr:Njemački jezik]]
| |
| [[io:Germaniana linguo]]
| |
| [[ilo:Pagsasao nga Aleman]]
| |
| [[id:Bahasa Jerman]]
| |
| [[ia:Lingua german]]
| |
| [[zu:IsiJalimani]]
| |
| [[is:Þýska]]
| |
| [[it:Lingua tedesca]]
| |
| [[he:גרמנית]]
| |
| [[kw:Almaynek]]
| |
| [[la:Lingua Theodisca]]
| |
| [[lv:Vācu valoda]]
| |
| [[lb:Däitsch]]
| |
| [[lt:Vokiečių kalba]]
| |
| [[li:Duits]]
| |
| [[ln:Lialémani]]
| |
| [[jbo:dotybau]]
| |
| [[hu:Német nyelv]]
| |
| [[mk:Германски јазик]]
| |
| [[ms:Bahasa Jerman]]
| |
| [[nl:Duits]]
| |
| [[nds-nl:Duuts]]
| |
| [[ja:ドイツ語]]
| |
| [[no:Tysk språk]]
| |
| [[nn:Tysk språk]]
| |
| [[oc:Alemand]]
| |
| [[ug:نېمىس تىلى]]
| |
| [[nds:Düütsche Spraak]]
| |
| [[pl:Język niemiecki]]
| |
| [[pt:Língua alemã]]
| |
| [[ro:Limba germană]]
| |
| [[rm:Lingua tudestga]]
| |
| [[qu:Aliman shimi]]
| |
| [[ru:Немецкий язык]]
| |
| [[se:Duiskkagiella]]
| |
| [[sq:Gjuha Gjermane]]
| |
| [[scn:Lingua tudisca]]
| |
| [[simple:German language]]
| |
| [[sk:Nemčina]]
| |
| [[sl:Nemščina]]
| |
| [[sr:Немачки језик]]
| |
| [[sh:Nemački jezik]]
| |
| [[fi:Saksan kieli]]
| |
| [[sv:Tyska]]
| |
| [[tl:Wikang Aleman]]
| |
| [[tt:Alman tele]]
| |
| [[tet:Lia-alemaun]]
| |
| [[th:ภาษาเยอรมัน]]
| |
| [[vi:Tiếng Đức]]
| |
| [[tr:Almanca]]
| |
| [[zh:德语]]
| |
| [[Category:Linguistics Workgroup]]
| |
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