The German ( Deutsch in German), is a Langue pertaining to the group of the Germanic Langues Western of the family Indo-European. It is the language most spoken within the European Union.

Geographical distribution

Note: that German became official language in certain States of the United States of America is a Rumeur infondée.

Haiti 500 - all of the intellectuals and bitten Language Source: wikipédias German and Spanish (in dissension between them). To check since a source more sûre.

Derived languages

  • the Yiddish is a language derived from medieval means-high-German, into whom was introduced words of Slavic origin or Hebraic.
  • the Unserdeutsch is a creole formed starting from a German lexicon.

History

First consonant shift

See also: Law of Grimm, Law of Verner

With the First consonant shift ( erste germanische Lautverschiebung ) around fifth century BC, was born the Germanic commun run starting from a Indo-European Dialecte. This transformation explains differences between the Germanic languages (more the Armenian ) and the others Indo-European languages. One can, to as follows simplify, present the facts:

  • K → H: cord in Latin - Herz in German, heart in English
  • p → F: Lord's Prayer in Latin - father in English, Vater in German
  • T → HT: very Latin - three in English, drie in Dutch, drei in German
  • D → T: decem in Latin - ten in English, tien in Dutch, zehn in German

  • G → K: gula in Latin - Kehle in German, keel in Dutch
  • bh → b: bhrātā in Sanskrit ( frater in Latin) - Bruder in German, brother in English

  • dh → D: adham in Sanskrit - deed in English, daad in Dutch, Tat in German
  • gh → G: * ghostis in Indo-European ( hostis in Latin) - Gast in German, guest in English

To summarize, one a:

  • gh/G/K - > G/K/H (or X)
  • bh/B/p - > B/p/F
  • dh/D/T - > D/T/HT

Second consonant shift

See also: Second consonant shift

One starts to speak about language German when the Dialecte S spoken in South-west about Germany underwent the Second consonant shift ( zweite germanische Lautverschiebung or hochdeutsche Lautverschiebung , that one roughly speaking locates about the 6th century), during which the language started to be different from the dialects of north ( Niederdeutsch , low-German).

This phonetic Modification explains a certain number of differences between current German and, for example, the Dutch or the English:

  • K → CH: ik - ich (I); ook - auch (also); make / maken - machen (to make)
  • D → T: dag / day - Tag (day); bed - Bett (reads); C / doen - tun (to make)
  • T → S: wat / what - was (what); street / straat - Straße (street); eat / eet - essen (to eat)
  • T → (T) Z: sitten / sit - sitzen (to be sitted); two / twee - zwei
  • p → F: slapen / sleep - schlafen (to sleep); schip / ship - Schiff (boat); help / helpen - helfen (to help)
  • p → PF at the beginning of word: peper / pepper - Pfeffer (pepper); paard - Pferd (horse)
  • v, W, F → b: geloof / believe - Glaube (belief); avond / evening - Abend (evening)

to summarize, *k/*p/*t - > CH / PF (or F )/ ts (or S )

The German name is also given to the dialects of north which or little did not undergo this phonetic transformation, even if name is regarded by the linguists as abusive.

The Middle Ages

Between the 10th century and the 15th century took place a diphthongization in the speeches of South-west concerning the articulation in two phonemes of I.E.(internal excitation) , have and with the . That explains again certain differences between standard German and, for example, Dutch (the letters in the brackets explain the pronunciation by using the French language):

  • U (or) , → with the (aou) : hūs - Haus (house); mūs - Maus (mouse)
  • I, (I) → I.E.(internal excitation) (goes) : wīse - Weise (manner); zīt - Zeit (time)
  • iu (U) → have (≈oï) : liute - Leute (of people); hiute - heute (today)

Contrary to the State S neighbors, the Germanic regions remained parcelled out ( Kleinstaaterei ) during the whole of the Moyen-âge contributing to the development of very different and, sometimes, mutually inintelligibles dialects. A first step towards an interregional language corresponds to the poetic Mittelhochdeutsch of the poets of court about the 13th century, although the influence on the vulgar language was almost null, because of low the Alphabétisation. Also the Germanic areas remained crossed a long time in two linguistic areas:

  • In North, and in particular of the time of the Hanse, low-German was used as Common language of the North Sea with the Baltic.
  • In the South developed small-with-small, primarily with the writing, since the 14th century a “language compromised” between the various dialects of the High-German which became the German standard ( Standarddeutsch ). It should be noted that this process is rather different from that of the Neighboring states which adopted the language of their Capitale.

Influence Reform

Into 1521, Martin Luther translated the New Testament in this standard German under development and 1534, the Old Testament. Although Luther was not, as he was considered formerly, the pioneer in the establishment of an interregional language - in development since the 14th century - he does not remain about it less than the Réforme contributed to establish standard German in the Administration S and the schools, including in the North of Germany which ends up adopting it.

But, until the beginning 19th century, the Hochdeutsch remained an often written language, that many Germans, in particular in the South, learned like a foreign language.

German in Central Europe

With the domination of the Empire Austro-Hungarian in Central Europe, German became the common language there. In particular, until the middle of the 19th century, the commercial and, more generally, the town spoke German there, independently of their nationality: Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, Zagreb and Ljubljana constituted German-speaking small islands in the middle of the campaigns which had preserved to them vernacular Language.

Standardization of the orthography and grammar

Johann Christoph Adelung published in 1781 the first German dictionary exhaustive, initiative followed by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in 1852. The dictionary of the Grimm brothers, published in sixteen volumes between 1852 and 1960, remains the most complete guide of the German vocabulary. This progressive standardization of the Orthographe was completed thanks to the spelling Dictionary of the German language of Konrad Duden in 1880, which was, except for minor modifications, declared like official reference in the spelling reform of 1901.

Classification

It is a Germanic Langue western branch, near, in particular, Dutch.

Regional languages

low-German

  • Dutch

  • German Afrikaans
  • of Low-Saxon North

high-German

Writing

German is written with the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, three surmounted vowels of a Umlaut (kind of Tréma) ä , ö and U , and a special graphic symbol ß , eszett (fusion of “S” and “Z”, or two “S”) or scharfes S , used instead of S in certain cases (mainly after a long vowel or a Diphtongue). Switzerland does not use any more the ß since the Années 1930. Until in the Years 1940, German was printed in Gothic script ( Fraktur ) and was written in Sütterlin, which is various versions of the Latin alphabet.

Orthography

See also: German Spelling reform of 1996

The German orthography results in general from the pronunciation and a minimum of knowledge. It is however to note that strong regional disparities on the level of the pronunciation can make the task difficult. The orthographical main difficulties of German lie in:

  • the Fremdwörter (words of foreign origin): they are often written in accordance with the word of origin (e.g. Mili have, Mayonn have ) but the recent spelling reform (see further) authorizes the germanification terms imported such as for example the writing of Jointventure in a word!) ;
  • the letters ä and E ( E opened or closed), in certain homophonous cases and others of close pronunciations (by ex aufw E ndig derived from Aufw has Nd , where the reformed orthography makes it possible also to write aufw ä ndig );
  • the distinction between simple consonant and consonant doubles which, in a limited number of words and contrary with the usual rule, does not have an influence on the length of the vowel (e.g. Ti p but Ti p in , Pla tz is regarded as a double '' Z '' but pla Z ieren) (see further: Pronunciation);
  • separation enters the words (e.g. radfahren “to go to bicycle” beside Auto fahren “to go by car”) and it (not) capitalization of certain expressions (e.g. im dunkeln lassen “to let dubious” beside (jemanden) im Dunkeln lassen “leave (somebody) in an obscure place”).

In order to remove part of the difficulties described above, the German, Swiss and Austrian representatives agreed on a spelling reform. It is coming into effect in 1998 in Germany and became obligatory starting from the mid- 2005. The last reform went back to 1901 and related inter alia on the suppression of the H in Thor and to the addition of the E for the vowels long and accentuated in the conjugation of the verbs, for example kritisirt - > kritisiert ).

The principal changes concern:

  • the homogenization of the C-W communication of the of the same words family ( aufwändig of Aufwand , but always aufwenden );
  • the use of the ß only after the long vowels and the diphthongs (there will be then always der Fuß , die Geiß , but der Fluss , which is similar to the rules for the other consonants);
  • in the made up words (see Agglutination /Linguistique), no letter will be removed more ( Geschirr + Rückgabe > Geschirrrückgabe or, alternatively, Geschirr-Rückgabe );
  • the more exhaustive generalization of the writing in several words of the set phrases ( auseinander reißen ), which is the most criticized thing and which also created new problems: " Furcht erregend" (intimidating, traditionally " furchterregend") but always " noch furchterregender" (even more intimidating)
  • the systematization of the capitalization of the substantives ( der Dritte );
  • the simplification of the caesura and the use of the comma;
  • the simplification (phonetisation) of terms resulting from the Greek and the abandonment of pH (Fotografie)

This reform meets a strong critic in Germany. The Land of the Schleswig-Holstein voted the return to the traditional orthography in 1998 (reverted decision however by the regional Parliament) and certain newspapers and editors since decided to return to the conventional C-W communication.

Pronunciation

See also: Pronunciation of German

Contrary has languages such as the English, traditional German ( Hochdeutsch ) decides in a way rather in conformity with the written text, except for the loanwords. Almost all the letters decide clearly, even lengthily.

However, the French-speaking people who learn German generally encounter some difficulties, listed below. All the letters which do not appear here always pronounce same manner that in French language (has, I, O, F, K, R, X…). In all the cases…

  • ä corresponds to the E French : Ä rzte (doctors), Me ä rz (March - the month)
  • ö corresponds to the E French : ö ffnen (to open), Ö sterreich (Austria), H ö hle (cave)
  • U corresponds to the U French : U ber (above), F U R (for)
(the diereses also indicate the prolongation of the sounds)
  • u' corresponds to the French or : U iron (shore), Bl' u' me (flower)
  • J corresponds to the I French : J has (yes), J agd (drives out), J emand (somebody), J ahr (year), Ma' I has (the bee and the Indian), J esus (Jesus), J ammern (to groan, pleurnicher), Maracu' I has (fruit of passion)
  • E corresponds to the E or to the E French (see low)
  • corresponds there to the U French : G' y' mnasium (equivalent of the college)
  • Z corresponds to the ts , tz , ds , dz French : Z eit (time), Z eitung (newspaper), Z irkus (circus), Sat' z' (sentence), Sal' z' (salt), März (March - the month), Mar' z' ipan (marsipan cake - almond paste), Z immer (room)
    • before C , F , m , N , R and S (ß), E corresponds to the sound: E C ke (corner), E F fekt (effect), E m pfehlen (to recommend), E nte (duck), E R (it), E R sten (first), E R wachsene (adult), E S ( he impersonnifié in He was once or It makes beautiful , pronoun neutral, or the of I the gave him ), E S SEN (to eat)…
    • before B , D , G , H , K , L , p , S , T , W and X , E corresponds to the sound: E B in (precisely, nevertheless), E D el (noble, invaluable), E G Al (equal, it does not matter), E H E (" avant" or " by mariage"), E K el (dislike), E L efant (elephant), E p idemy (epidemic), E S el (ass), E T ikett (label), E W ig (eternally), E X close (purposely)… When there is only one consonant for letter after the E , the sound is.
    • when the E appears in first vowel after one or more consonants, it decides E : St' e' RN (star), r' e' (to run), Br' e' (to burn), Pf' e' iron (pepper)
    • the E at the end of the word (Woch' e' - week, Bow net - nose) or of in - in particular of the verbs (Eis' e' N - iron, mach' e' N - to make), - el (Ed' e' L - invaluable), - er (Pfeff' e' R - pepper) is swallowed - very light, but it is not to omit . Rule also valid for the worm which composing a name: vergessen (to forget), Verlag (editor, edition), verlassen (to give up), vergleichen (to compare), verwechseln (to confuse), vertrauen (to make confidence)…
  • the H according to immediately the E the exchange in E , in spite of the rule above, but does not decide: The E H the RER (teacher), L E H ren (to teach, not to confuse with Lernen , which mean to learn )…
  • the letters following one behind the other ( a' and E only) mark the lengthening of the sound, like the H according to a vowel: P' aa' R (couple), the ee' R (vacuum)
  • generally, W corresponds to the sound v French ( W etter, time with the direction weather) and the v corresponds to the sound F French ( V ogel, bird). Examples of exeptions - loanwords: Far- W is ( W with English), Re' v' olution ( v with the Frenchwoman).
  • have corresponds to a sound enters and: eu' (new), H' eu' (hay), F' eu' er (fire), Have ropa (Europe), eu' N (nine - the figure)
  • I.E.(internal excitation) corresponds to the sound: I.E.(internal excitation) (egg), I.E.(internal excitation) N (one), I.E.(internal excitation) NS (one - the figure), I.E.(internal excitation) nmal (once)
  • äu corresponds to the sound have German: Me äu' (mouse - in the plural)
  • ng corresponds to the sound ng English : E' ng' lisch, E ng lish
  • Two of the three pronunciations of the CH do not exist in French:
    • after has , O and U , it decides/χ/, as in Spanish in J uan ( Jean ); however, it is attenuated and rather pronounced today like the R French at the beginning of word ( R enard, R oute), or alo' r' S : Ba' ch' (river), ma' ch' in (to make), Na' ch' T (night), Lo' ch' (hole), do' ch' (if - in answer to " non"), Wo' ch' E (week), Wa' ch' in (guards), To' ch' for the third time (girl - bond with the parents), Bu' ch' (delivers), brau' ch' in (to need, to have)… The name Ba ''' CH ''' (the German type-setter of Baroque music for example) also decides this German way.
    • after I , E , ä , ö , U and a consonant, it decides/ç/, as in Greek modern in Ό χ ι , " non" : i' ch' ( I and me ), e' ch' T (true), B' U expensive (books), Kü ch' E (kitchen), Li' ch' T (light), Wä CH for the third time (guard), Lö CH er (holes), Mär' ch' in (tale), Mäd' ch' in (young girl), Mün' ch' in (Munich, the city of), Mön' ch' (monk), Su' ch' in (seeking, without knowing where is it that one seeks)… Exeption: E' ch' O (echo), the CH deciding like here that of the French word.
    • before S , it decides K , which gives the sound ks ( X ), as in Fu' CH S (fox - fo x' in English), but also Wa' CH S (wax), wa CH S in (to grow), Erwa CH S ene (adult), Da CH S (badger), CH S (six), O CH S E (ox), we CH S eln (to change), verwe CH S eln (to confuse), nä CH S you (according to)…
  • sch' decides like the CH French : die Sch uhe (shoes), die Schule (the school), DER Sch lüssel (the key), das Sch wert (the sword), sch reiben (to write)
  • the S at the beginning of word, if it is followed of a consonant, decides like the CH French : S port (sport), S tern (star), S tuhl (chair), S till (quiet), S piel (play), S tein (stone), S tunde (hour), Stabe (stick), S tadt (city), S toßen (to knock), S tube (part - with the direction room, room), S tufe (walk - staircase, stage, level). Attention with the made up words.
  • the S at the beginning of word, if it is followed of a vowel, has a sound being located between Z and the S (of dryness) French: die S onne (sun)
  • S in medium of sentence decides like Z French : I.E.(internal excitation) S in (iron). S decides identically with French: wi' in (to know). Even pronunciation for ß ( S ).
  • the E after I and the H after has , ä , E , O , ö , U and U is used to prolong the preceding vowel, if themselves are not followed of vowels: Kri' e' G (war), kri' e' gen (to receive - familiar), Bi' e' (bee), Fli' e' Ge (fly), fli' e' gen (to fly - in the airs), fa' h' ren (to roll), Fa' h' the RER (conducting), ma' h' len (to grind), Za' h' N (tooth), Fä H the RER (conducting), Zä H len (to count), Zä H (teeth), ä H nlich (similar), Me' h' L (flour), me' h' R (more +), Fe' h' ler (fault, error) wo' h' nen (to live), wo' h' nung (apartment), o' h' (without), O' h' R (ear), So' h' N (wire), wo' h' L (well, pleasant), Mö H ren (carrots), k' U hl (fresh), M U hle (mill)
  • g' corresponds with the G French (cake, guitar) only: its French does not exist in German.
  • G behind I at the end of the word, decides preferably (as high German, but variable according to Länder) like the CH in the second way explained above: zwanzi' g' (twenty), lusti' g' (funny), wahnsinni' g' (incredible)…
  • the Glottal stop at the beginning of the words (and certain syllables) starting with a vowel marks a clear separation between the words. French, on the other hand, tends to to bind the words between them.
  • the H is aspired (or puffed up) as in English.
  • the tonic Accent is rather often placed on the first Syllabe, contrary to the standard French pronunciation which accentuates the last syllable. It revêt an major importance. Two apparently identical words (as for example übersetzen ) will have entirely different significances according to whether the preposition ( über ) or the verb ( setzen ) will be accentuated.
- übers' e' tzen = to translate (made up past: übersetzt)
- U bersetzen = to cross a river, to go on other bank (PC: übergesetzt).
  • the length of the vowels must be scrupulously respected. Whereas in French, much practically do not make the difference between the long vowels and the short vowels ( p' â your and p at' your , â and An ), German requires to distinguish both - with the risk of disastrous misunderstandings -.

- bist ein Ass = You have!
- bist ein Aas = You are a bastard! (literally: carrion)

----

* is sometimes retranscribed in .

Note:
b = p at the end of a syllable or before S or T , B in front of a voyelle.
CH = X after , O or U have, C elsewhere, K sometimes at the beginning of a mot.
D = T at the end of a syllable or before S or T , D ailleurs.
E = ə in the syllables inaccentuées.
G = K at the end of a syllable or before S or T , G before a vowel, ʒ in the foreign words. ig =.
H = lengthens the vowel when it follows it, H ailleurs.
J = ʒ in the foreign words, J ailleurs.
R = between a vowel and a consonant: ɐ or he does not decide, ʁ or ʀ ailleurs.
S = Z at the beginning of a word and between two vowels, ʃ in front of T or p , S ailleurs.
v = v in the foreign words, F ailleurs.
there = there in the words coming from the Greek, I or J elsewhere. dsch , pH , qu and is there mainly in the foreign words.

Grammar

See also: German Grammar

German is a inflected Language comprising Conjugaison S and variation S.

Conjugation

See also: Conjugation of German

The principle of the German Conjugaison is rather close to the principle of the French conjugation. The notable differences are:

  • the existence of the Subjunctive , primarily intended to report the remarks of others.

  • the difference between passive - action ( Das Haus wird gebaut , the house is train being built) and liability-state ( Das Haus STI gebaut , the house is built is finished).

With regard to the morphology, the two principal types of verbs are

  • the weak verbs, which preserve their radical and have a participle past in - (E) T . These verbs are generally regular.
  • the strong verbs, which modify their radical with the Prétérit, with the last Participe and sometimes with the present. They have a participle past in . They are known as irregular , the change of radical not being foreseeable.

Among the irregular verbs also line up the auxiliaries of mode ( können , capacity; dürfen , to have the right; etc), which are employed in a big number of different contexts.

Variation

See also: German Variations

The German variation comprises four Cas, the Nominatif, the Accusatif, the Datif and the Génitif, to which three are added kinds, the male , the female and the neutral like two numbers, singular and plural.

The essential carrier of the mark of variation is the determining, assisted by the attributive adjective .

The variations are employed:

  • to indicate the function of a nominal Group: prone, object, Complement of attribution, or Complement of the name.
  • After some Preposition S ( Wechselpräpositionen ) to indicate if there is change of place or not
  • According to the case required by the prepositions like by the verbs, the adjectives or the nouns followed by a complement.

Syntax

See also: German Syntax

See also German grammar

German has as a principal syntactic characteristic to place important components, either in first position in the sentence, or in last position. The inversion of the verb and the subject takes place when a complement comes at the head from sentence; " heute geht be ihm gut == today it goes bien" ; the rejection is the reference of the verb at the end of the sentence in the subordinate clauses " …, wenn er Wein trinkt = when he drinks vin"

Another example:

Er nahm gestern trotz to go Schwierigkeiten Maschine sharp in Betrieb . It brought this machine into service yesterday despite everything the difficulties.

Are emphasized

  • the subject er (it)
  • the action in Betrieb '' (in service) placed at the end of the sentence
  • the object sharp Maschine (this machine)
Before the action and the object the circumstances are enumerated. The order of the sentence can be modified to insist on one of the elements, which one then places at the head of sentence:

Gestern nahm er trotz to go Schwierigkeiten Maschine sharp in Betrieb. It is yesterday that it brought this machine into service despite everything the difficulties.

Trotz outward journey Schwierigkeiten nahm er gestern Maschine sharp in Betrieb. Despite everything the difficulties, it brought this machine into service yesterday.

Sharp Maschine nahm er gestern trotz to go Schwierigkeiten in Betrieb. It is this machine which it brought into service yesterday despite everything the difficulties.

Agglutination

The German language can do without article to the Génitif while placing side by side two words (determining + given) - or even much more. German is even known for his capacity to form compounds big length which the Germans themselves call by derision of Bandwürmer (towards recluses)…

Examples:

  • of '' [[Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz]] '': law on the transfer of the responsibilities for the monitoring of the labelling of the bovine meat.
  • of '' Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitänsanwärter '': adjutant of a captain of the Company of navigation with vapor of the Danube
  • of '' Oberlokomotivfahrerswitwe '' = widowed of locomotive engineer (seen on a tomb in Austria)
  • of '' [[: of: Mittelgebirgsschwelle Mittelgebirgsschwelle]] '' = the area of German medium mountains, with a monstrous succession of 7 consonants in the medium!

This “agglutination”, which is distinguished from those of the agglutinant languages, is not limited to the couple have-owner object (type Kapitänsmütze = cap of captain) but also to all kinds of relations:

  • left the whole: of '' Kalbschnitzel '', veal escalope;
  • goal: of '' Kinderschnitzel '', escalope for child (small portion);
  • time: of '' Sommerurlaub '', summer holidays.

In French, the possession marked by “” has several directions which go in German in three distinct ways:

  • possessive formula 1 (genitive): das Kind der Wölfe (the child of the wolves : here, the child belongs to the wolves or comes from the wolves; the child is often human here; in this case, it is the word Wolf which is the important component); in the singular, the formula becomes das Kind of Wolfes . In English, this formula is off the , i.e. of the ( of the ) and of the ( of the ).
  • possessive formula 2: MutterS Kind (the child of mother). In English, this formula is Mother' S child . Generally, if one wants to put the first name in the expression, one uses this formulation; however, it exists there cases like Die fabelhafte Welt der Amélie , the fabulous world of Amélie (formulation probably used in order to keep the order of the French original title, the name being at the end).
  • made up word: das Wolfkind (the child of the wolves: the wolf child or the wolf cub; in this case, the important word of the made up expression is Kind - note that it is about the last word);
Let us take the title of the 3rd tome cheese of the cartoon Broussaille, the night of the cat . In the title (and the history), the element (and the subject) important are the cat , known and required. One thus will prefer Die Nacht der Katze with Die Katze' nacht . In this last expression, it is the element nuit' which is aimed. However, generally, in the expression " The night of the chats" , the cats all are not known and are not counted, one thus does not insist above (if not, there would be perhaps a number), and the subject concerned becomes thus rather the night . It is in this case that it is preferable to translate the night of the cats by Die Katze' nacht (the important component being located behind the word made up - N of Katzen in swallowed by N of Nacht ). However, it is always possible to write Die Nacht der Katzen , if it is about the night belonging to the cats.
  • source: das Kind vom (von dem) Wald (the child of the forest)
  • the child of Paris: das Kind von/aus Paris (note that one does not say D u' Paris , contrary to of the forest ).
As in French, there exists the of names, like Jean Of the Fountain : Konrad von Habsburg
  • Saved wolves: Von den Wölfen gerettet ( Ge mark generally past) - Attention: here, the German expression is valid for Sauvé wolves (by a hunter for example) as for Sauvé BY the wolves !

Lexicon

Names of the German language

The German language (as well as the people) with the characteristic to have names very different from one language to another (for example German , Deutsch , alemán , német , etc). Indeed, six different roots come into play:
  • the Proto-Germanic *teutā- for “people” (sometimes suffix):

    • Danish tysk ;
    • Swedish tyska ;
    • Dutch Duits ;
    • Yiddish daytsh (דייטש);
    • Low Latin thiosticus (cf Council of Turns );
    • Latin (lingua) Theodisca ;
    • French tudesque (out-of-date term);
    • Italian tedesco ;
    • Japanese ドイツ ( doitsu );
Note: it is the same radical which gives Dutch in English (for Dutch), teuton in French. Bottom Latin thiosticus comes from the Vieux high German diutisc ;
  • the name of the Germanic people in Latin, Germānus , (german - > ger = the javelon, man = the man):
    • Albanian Gjermanishte ;
    • English German ;
    • Greek modern Γερμανικά ;
    • Rumanian germană ;
    • Hebrew modern germanit (גרמנית);
  • the name of the tribe saxonne, Latin Saxō , Saxones (not very clear etymology):
  • the Old Slavic for “dumb man”, to include/understand within the meaning of “who does not speak our language”.

Note: another etymology brings this root closer to the name to the river Niémen, beyond whose lived the Germanic tribes before the Ostsiedlung.

  • the name of the German tribe, probably from the old man high German went manni , “all the men” (cf ale and Mann in German), via bottom Latin Alamanus or Alemanus for the Romance Langues:
  • in traditional Hebrew, the German countries are known under the name of " ashkenaz" (אשכנז), by popular genealogy according to Gen. 10:3. For modern Hebrew, see higher.

Loans

A big number of words were borrowed from the Germanic dialects by the Romance and the Former French (e.g. heaume, spur, target, armchair); only the words of more recent origin are still discernible as a lexical loans (frichti, substitute).

As example, here a nonexhaustive list of French words coming from German or the one of the various German dialects:

  • accordion < Akkordeon
  • alpenstock
  • arquebus < hâkenbühse (average high-German)
  • asticoter < daß dich Gott… “that God you…”
  • aurochs < Urochse (primary education bull)
  • belfry < běrgfrîd (average high-German)
  • bivouac < Bîwacht (German of Swiss)
  • blafard < bleichvar (average high-German)
  • sphalerite
  • armours < blenden “to plug”
  • blockhouse
  • stamping mill < Pochhammer
  • glass of bier
  • boulevard < Bolwërc “work of beam, rampart” (average high-German)
  • ibex < Steinbock “goat of rock”
  • burgomaster < Bürgermeister “mayor”
  • bunker
  • sauerkraut < Sauerkraut
  • smart < Schick , Explanation of Bernard Cerquiglini in images
  • target < schîbe (Germanic, cf German Scheibe “disc”)
  • substitute
  • hase < female of the Hare
  • young stag < Herr (“Lord, Mister”), but this origin is discussed
  • frichti < Frühstück (“breakfast”)
  • Képi < Kappe
  • kirsch < Kirschwasser
  • kaputt < kaputt
  • leitmotiv
  • guy < lustig “funny, merry”
  • mouise < driven “pulp” (German dialectal of the south)
  • putsch
  • reître < “riding” Reiter
  • schlague < Schlag “blow”
  • sledge, schlitter < Schlitten “sledge”
  • schnapps < Schnapps
  • schuss < Schussfahrt (compound of Schuss : “shot” and Fahrt : “voyage, walk”)
  • to clink glasses < trinken “to drink”
  • waltz, valser < Walzer, walzen
  • fanlight < Was STI das? “What is this it is? ”

Examples

Examples of sentences:

Das Wetter STI schön → It makes beautiful

Ich bin die Mutter → I am the mother

Promptness of the language

German daily creates new terms in the agglutinant (see higher). This is an intrinsic characteristic of the language and is not the subject of this article. Just like French made a verb carrying many connotations ( of the pacsés/se pacser ) starting from an administrative abbreviation of the registry office ( PACS ), German can adapt in the language running of the unpleasing terms and give them a tasty taste.

Example: The word apprentice had been said during centuries Lehrling verb lehren (to teach) thus meaning that with which one teaches something , followed diminutive ling . Its Master was the Meister .

The administrative reform with the beginning of the year 1970 replaced the term Meister by two terms specifying that one teaches indeed ( der Ausbildende , gerund of ausbilden , to form) and the other has the right and the responsibility for the formation ( der Ausbilder , the trainer). Apprentice became logically DER Auszubildende (i.e. that which must be formed), in summary AZUBI (delivery ATSOUBI). The genius of the language added for the female form the usual termination in and one pronounced the whole ATSOUBINE . However, the term Biene (bee) designates also a pretty girl (perhaps because they have the small size, are soft as honey but can also prick painfully) what transformed dries it abbreviation in a pretty small name câlin! Another version less tender recalls than the apprentices should also go to seek beer for their older colleagues: " has rsch Z um Bi erholen" !

Specificities of the Austria and the Swiss Germanic

(to be written)

Specificities of old the German Democratic republic (GDR)

The readers germanisants will refer with great profit to the article '' GDR-Sprachgebrauch '' devoted to this subject in Wikipedia in German language.

Generally, the language had grown rich by official terms, specific to the political regime just like under the mode national-Socialist. In the language running, of many terms the latter in derision turned. For example, the abbreviation VEB (for Volkseigener Betrieb , factory propiété of the people) became Vaters ehemaliger Betrieb (the old factory of Dad)…

Very many abbreviations drawn from the communist ideology had course, the students were all to follow courses of ml (Marxism-Leninism),

  • TECHNICAL INDUSTRY/

In the technical language, the plastic ( der Kunststoff or das Plastik in the west, die Plastid in the East) Great influence of Russian (Kombinat,

  • GASTRONOMY

Neologisms enamelled the daily newspaper of " creations; savoureuses" : E.g.: A roast chicken said Broiler (of English to broil, to roast), a Broika was then of course one… rabbit (Broi + Ka, of Kaninchen , rabbit). The dish called " Herrings in Bismarck" was renamed Delihering ( Deli , abr. of " délicatesse" and Hering , herring) because of the contestable role (with the eyes of the Communist leaders) of the former chancellor of the Emperor Guillaume II. Russian soup " Solianka" fact from now on left the gastronomical inheritance of the East which discovered with 40 years of shift the Mediterranean kitchen established well in the West.

Truth Coca-Cola (drink of the capitalist enemy) not having established among, a Ersatz resembling to him vaguely was created, baptized Club-Cola . A " jeans " (called eine Jean in the west) became a " pants with rivets" ( Nietenhose ).

  • ARMED

In the languages of speciality, as for example that of the aeronautics (which in West Germany east truffle of Anglo-American terms imported), the Germans of the east, placed under the supervision of Moscow, on the contrary were influenced by Russian or continued to use the German terms technical what caused some difficulties of comprehension during integration in the Luftwaffe of the remainders of the air force of NVA.

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