Denglisch
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Denglisch, sometimes spelled Denglish, is a portmanteau of the words Deutsch and Englisch. Used in all German-speaking countries, Denglisch describes an influx of English, or pseudo-English vocabulary into the German language through travel and English's widespread usage in advertising and business [1]. While some feel that this influx, similar to the import of Latin and French words in the past, makes the language more expressive [2], in many sectors of society it remains controversial, notably with older generations who are often less accustomed to English terms [3].
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[edit] Germanisation of English words
Due to lack of rules for proper declension and conjugation forms, English words within Denglisch will have a flexion added to them, so they often come out in some twisted form. One may hear from native German speakers:
- Ich musste den Computer neu booten / rebooten, weil die Software gecrasht ist.
I had to reboot the computer because the software crashed.
or
- Hast du schon die neueste Mozillaversion downgeloadet / gedownloadet?
Have you already downloaded the newest version of Mozilla?.
Such English-influenced use of language is often found in incompletely-translated US-American or English products: The German version of Microsoft Windows XP will inform the user of the fact that it is currently downloading updates with the words:
- Updates werden gedownloadet: 16% [4]
The same can be expressed in standard German, without the use of any English words, as:
- Aktualisierungen werden heruntergeladen
[edit] Twisting of German idioms and grammar rules
The adaptation also takes the other route, where literal translations of popular English expressions slowly but insistently swap out the correct German words and idioms. Widespread examples of this evolution are:
- Was passierte in 2005? (What happened in 2005?)
Formally: "Was passierte 2005?" or "Was passierte im Jahre 2005?" Although this usage is considered wrong by most native speakers and it is forbidden by the official German grammar, it can be found even in German newspapers.[citation needed]
These phrasings may have originated from English-language movies and other media translated into German, but they are also used in everyday language.
Some of those constructs will only be found in youth language, where it has become common, for example, to talk about coole Events which captures almost, but not quite, the same meaning as the respective English phrase.
Since the actual knowledge of English is rather low, those English words usually have rather specific connotations attached to them, in most cases more so than either their translation or their original: Statement [to the press, or a pledge of opinion], Event [[cool] social/cultural occasion, like a concert], Paper [scientific research paper, not 'paper/'Papier - though the latter may also mean "document"/"paper"].
Another phenomenon is the usage of the English genitive (possessive) construction 's , often called Deppenapostroph (Idiot's apostrophe or Idiot's inverted comma), instead of the appropriate German constructions. For example, a Denglisch speaker might write Wikipedia's Aussehen (Wikipedia's design) instead of either Wikipedias Aussehen, or das Aussehen von Wikipedia.
[edit] Involuntary and voluntary blunders
Another example of Denglisch's departures from standard English usage is the German use of the word body bag (meaning, in English, a bag in which a dead body is placed) for "backpack" – a calque of German Leibsack, even though the standard German word Rucksack is etymologically equivalent to "backpack" [Ruck, "back" + sack] (and in English the same word has been officially used by the military for a long time).
A sentence which follows Denglisch grammar rules can always be built by simply combining English and German words:
- You kannst not have das da 'cause it is too teuer für me.
Which means:
- You cannot get that because it is too expensive for me.
- Du kannst das nicht bekommen, weil es mir zu teuer ist.
Or:
- I have keine Idee.
Which means:
- I have no idea.
- Ich habe keine Ahnung.
This is sometimes done for comic effect by adults fluent in both languages, but can also be heard from bilingual infants who have moved beyond the "babbling" stage. Children, searching for the appropriate expression, will often use the first to come to mind, regardless of language. This phenomenon is called code-switching. The distinguishing feature of such speech is its grammatical correctness—which is not ensured when adults try the same. It is often heard in bilingual schools, as students require no extra effort (which may otherwise delay fluent speech) to translate a word in their mind into the language in which they are predominantly communicating—full comprehension of the mixed vocabulary by their peers can be taken for granted. Sometimes this can lead to problems talking to those outside the school, who do not understand Denglisch, as students will be unused to having to stop and think of the translated word.
During the 1990s, younger people comfortable speaking English would sometimes replace the main word of their sentence with the English equivalent:
- Example: "Hey, der wird ja richtig enthusiastic."
- In English: "Hey, he's getting really enthusiastic."
- In Standard German: "Hey, der begeistert sich ja richtig (dafür)." or "Hey, der wird ja richtig enthusiastisch."
- Example: "Es war einfach unbelievable."
- English: "It was simply unbelievable."
- German: "Es war einfach unglaublich."
Since the two languages are related, German and English often use the same preposition for describing abstract actions or concepts. However, this is not always the case. For example, native English speakers are reminded of something, whereas native German speakers are reminded on something. But a Denglisch speaker may directly translate a preposition into English, even if it would not be a grammatical usage in a Standard English sentence. Thus, sentences such as
- That reminds me on a book.
may be constructed.
[edit] List of pseudo-anglicisms in German
| German word | Meaning to German-speaker |
|---|---|
| Body[5] | tight-fitting article of women's clothing worn during working-out, or one-piece underwear for babies |
| Center[6] | centre |
| chillen[7] | to relax; (gechillt: relaxed (adjective most commonly used in describing environments such as bars, parties etc.) |
| City[8] | city centre, downtown, central business district |
| dissen[9] | to diss someone |
| downloaden[10] | to download (same for upload) |
| Dressman[11] | male model |
| Drive-In[12] | drive-through |
| einloggen[13] | to log in (likewise ausloggen = to log out) |
| Evergreen[14] | golden oldie |
| Fitnessstudio[15] | gym or fitness club |
| Handy[16] | mobile phone |
| Jobben[17] | to do casual or short-term work, e.g. to have a summer job |
| Joggen[18] | to jog |
| Mobbing[19] | bullying |
| Oldtimer[20] | vintage or classic car, or aircraft |
| Paper[21] | rolling papers (smokers), scientific papers (scientists) |
| Peeling[22] | facial or body scrub |
| Run[23] | fun run, not a bank run, but innocently used for the HSH Nordbank Run held annually in Hamburg and sponsored by a bank |
| Shooting[24] | photo shoot |
| Slip[25] | briefs, knickers, panties |
| Showmaster[26] | TV show host |
| Stepptanz[27] | tap dance |
| Tischset, or Set[28] | placemat, doily |
| trampen[29] | hitchhiking |
| Wellness-Hotel[30] | Closest translation would be "spa", although often used to describe hotels that simply have a pool or sauna. |
[edit] Influence on grammar and spelling
Denglisch may combine words according to English rules by writing them in succession. According to the Standard German grammar rules, this is incorrect.
- Reparatur Annahme instead of Reparaturannahme
Another phenomenon is the anglicised use of the apostrophe. It is often used in the English way (which in standard German is wrong) for the genitive:
- Müller's Mühle instead of Müllers Mühle
Or for the plural (Greengrocer's apostrophe):
- Handy's, Dessou's
This use of the apostrophe, also quite common with native English speakers, is sometimes referred to as Deppenapostroph which means moron's apostrophe. Its counterpart is the Deppenleerstelle, also called Deppenleerzeichen which means Idiot's Whitespace.
[edit] Non-translation
It is notable that some companies such as Deutsche Bank now do much of their business in English.
The major German telephone company known as Die Deutsche Telekom would be written in Standard German with a k. Its major departments are known as "T-Com", "T-Mobile", "T-Online" and "T-Systems". Nearly all of their titles in advertising and within their web pages drop the customary Germanic k in favour of an English c. (See www.telekom.de).
Many American films such as Ice Age do not translate their titles into German. Menus of many global fast-food chains also usually go untranslated.
[edit] Advertising language
Advertising agencies have such need for both languages that their want ads for new employees contain plain English such as "Join us". (Wetzlarer Neue Zeitung 26th of August 2006). KFC Germany's recruitment slogan is "I Am for Real", and their website shows very heavy use of English[31].
German commercials or—more often—written ads thus are likely to use many English terms:
- Mit Jamba! können Sie Klingeltöne, Logos und Spiele direkt aufs Handy downloaden.
- Wählen Sie aus Tausenden coolen Sounds, aktuellen Games und hippen Logos.
The term "downloaden" is alleged to have been coined by Microsoft, as there is a non-English and often-used German word ("herunterladen"). Microsoft Windows Update uses the phrase "Downloaden Sie die neuesten Updates" (Download the latest updates) instead of the standard "Laden Sie die neuesten Aktualisierungen herunter". The latest interface guidelines suggest that the term "herunterladen" should be used again, because many users complained.
The field of personal hygiene tends to use much English:
- Double Action Waschgel
- Vitalisierendes Peeling
- Energy Creme Q10
- Oil Control Gel Creme
- Oil Control Waschgel
- Neutrogena Visibly Clear Anti-Mitesser Peeling
- Ariel Sproodles
The television broadcaster Pro 7 uses the slogan "We love to entertain you". The Zürich Versicherung advertises "Because change happenz" (www.zurich.de) and the Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) called their fastest trains ICE, an abbreviation of "Inter City Express". Their information booths/stands are called "ServicePoints" (also an example of the widespread semi-Germanisation of Anglicisms). The words Kundendienst (customer service) and Fahrkarte (ticket) are quickly losing out to their respective English counterparts.
Sometimes such neologisms also use CamelCase, as in the Deutsche Telekom's newest rates called "Fulltime", "Freetime", "Call Plus" and "Call Time" offering additionally such features as "CountrySelect". Travel agencies offering "last minute" bookings or manufacturers adopting "just in time" deliveries has become general use, probably required by international commerce and economic interests.
[edit] Denglish in Popular culture
- The popular German a capella group Wise Guys produced a song on their Radio album called Denglish, a tongue-in-cheek look at the use of English words in German language. In this song the lyrics start out mostly German with only a few English words creeping in - "Oh, Herr, bitte gib mir meine Sprache zurück!" (Oh, lord, please give me my language back). It progresses to most of the lyrics being English: "Oh, Lord, please help, denn meine Language macht mir Stress!"
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/sep/09/worlddispatch.germany
- ^ http://www.zeit.de/2007/31/Deutsch-Aufmacher
- ^ http://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article1366422/Warum_Denglisch_Sprachmuell_ist.html
- ^ Gedownloadet - cold-heat.de
- ^ Duden Suche
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- ^ KFC iamforreal.de
[edit] See also
- Lübke English
- globish, macaronic, Hinglish,Tanglish
- Europanto
- Euro-English
- False friends
- Fahrvergnügen
- Language transfer
- List of German expressions in English
- Mixed language
- Pidgin
- Pseudo-anglicism
- Quelia
- Wienerschnitzel
[edit] External links
- 'ACHTUNG': a classic example of a Denglisch warning
- ‘Denglish’ is on the march, a December 2004 article from the International Herald Tribune
- Opinion: Desperately Ditching Denglish, a November 2004 article from the Deutsche Welle website
- Don't fret, it's only Denglish, a DaF student's view on the topic, from Freie Universität Berlin, 2002
- Denglish definition and citation, from a February 2001 article on a "lexpionage" (lexical espionage) website
- Wir haben ge-partied, a 2001 article from an Irish "women's web portal"
- Gayle Tufts, a Berlin-based American performer whose comedy is often based on Denglish.
- Denglish, at Languagehat.com
- Denglish / German Dictionary at Deutschtum.net
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