Posted on 03/25/2018 6:02:01 AM PDT by SandRat
Save
The German language has a few fairly unique features, both in writing as well as the spoken form.
For one, there’s the dieresis, which turn the vowels a, o, and u into ä, ö and ü. These two simple dots over the vowel indicate a phonetic shift, and /a/ becomes /ɛː/, /o/ becomes /œ/ and /øː/, and /ʊ/ and /uː/ turn into /y/. Another distinctive and unique feature is the letter ß, “sharp S” as it is usually referred to. It’s pronounced /s/ and traditionally follows long vowels or diphthongs while “ss” would follow a short vowel.
For example, it is “Kuss” (“kiss”) with ss following the short /ʊ/, but it is “Fuß” (“foot”) to indicate the long /uː/ sound.
Additionally, there are words that have several and often completely different meanings.
Some of those words, such as “Schlange” (“snake” or “queue/line”) have to be understood in the context of the sentence, which can be simple or rather tricky.
For example, “Auf der Straße lag eine Schlange,” (“There was a snake on the street”) may be easy to figure out, just like “An der Kasse war eine Schlange” (“There was a line at the cash register”).
However, “Vor dem Eingang der Bank ist eine Schlange” could mean that there is either a line or a snake at the entrance to the bank, and it may be wise to ask for clarification.
Other expressions, especially verbs, change their meaning based on how they are pronounced or which syllable is stressed. For example, “unterstellen” /ʊntɐʃtɛlən/ means “to store” or “to take shelter” when it is stressed on the prefix “unter,” but if the lexical stress is on the word stem “stell,” the meaning of “unterstellen” is “to insinuate.”
Traditionally, there are three phonetic intricacies in the German language that present challenges to non-native speakers: lexical stress placement, the rolling /r/ sounds, and the voiceless fricatives /ç/ and /x/. “Ch” is pronounced /ç/ in words such as “ich” /ɪç/ (“I”), and “herzlich” /hɛʁtslɪç/ (“cordial/affectionate/hearty”), and it’s pronounced /x/ in words like “flach” /flax/ (“flat”), “Sachen” /zaxən/ (“things”), or “wach” /vax/ (“awake”).
And as if that wasn’t complicated enough, “ch” can also be pronounced /k/ in words like “wachsen” /vaksən/ (“to grow”, “to wax-polish”).
The “rolling r” sound presents a challenge to many non-native speakers, but especially so to Americans, because the /r/ doesn’t natively exist in American phones. For example, “reden” (“to speak/talk”) is pronounced /ʁeːdən/, but native English speakers tend to turn it into /reɪdən/.
Errors in any of these three areas can lead to reduced understanding in a native listener.
A study found that especially errors in stress patterns can influence the listener to the point of him/her being unable to recognize the word or make sense of the sentence.
As a native German speaker married to a non-native speaker who reads books in German but doesn’t get much practice speaking, my personal experience confirms this. Stress pattern is crucial to comprehensibility.
My husband, while reading a children’s book in German, once asked me what “Achaten” means. He pronounced it /´axatən/ with the lexical stress on the first syllable. I had no clue what he meant until I tried to picture a written equivalent to what I had heard. It was the German word for agate, a mineral stone. The nominative word form is Achat, pronounced /ax´aːt/ with the lexical stress on the last syllable.
The fact that in his sentence the word was presented in the genitive word form only added to my confusion, and when he stressed it incorrectly, I couldn’t recognize what he meant.
For most people studying the language, the correct placement of the lexical stress is a matter of memorizing, but it may prove especially challenging when it comes to words that are almost identical to their English equivalent, yet the stress placement is different.
A prime example for this is “Musik,” the German word for music. It’s pronounced /muː´ziːk/ with the stress on the last syllable, whereas in the English “music,” the stress falls on the first syllable.
Other errors may cause some confusion, but in most cases context makes things clear. For example, the “Kirsche” /kɪʁʃə/ and “Kirche” /kɪʁçə/ look almost identical, but they mean “cherry” and “church,” respectively.
Getting the /ʃ/ and /ç/ sounds mixed up usually results in chuckles all around and happens to many people, native speakers included. Children are especially prone to this, and our 7- and 3-year-olds are living proof that you can point at a “Nachttisch” (night stand) and call it a “Nachtisch” (dessert) while being dead serious about it.
Will this matter when Germany becomes Germanistan?
It’s hard to improve on Mark Twain’s writings concerning the German language.
Deutschland unter Allah.
Old joke: The Germans invented their language just so they could spit at foreigners under the guise of polite conversation.
My father spoke German as his first language. I took a year of it in college. And I still don’t get it.
Years ago, I was helping a Russian learn English.
He would ask me why we would say certain things, or why another person would say things differently than I did. I told him that we speak English the way we do for the express purpose of confusing foreigners.
absolutely!!!
I honestly have no idea why anyone would study german... and i get to say that as a native speaker.
I’m with you. My heritage is predominately German and my interest in that unappealing language was limited to having my father translate the German spoken in the WW2 movies we watched on TV.
What, with Britistan & Francistan the E.U. will be the Un-istan.
I honestly have no idea why anyone would study german... and i get to say that as a native speaker. When in Germany, like in Rome! ............ I took German as a language choice for one year in college. After dealing with 4 ways to say yours, this, mine the or that I said enough. My ADHD didn’t help either. Yet when I was in Germany I spoke German like I would English and dropped the 4 different the’s,this, mine, yours, and I still was able to be understood. My General kept me close by at all times. :)
Why learn German? I worked for German companies for a total of 28 years. At the second company I didn’t tell them I spoke and understood German. It came in handy until I was caught talking to a pretty German wife at a party when her husband came up and heard us.
My favorite German word is doch. Turns a false statement around.
Those familiar with SAP software can experience the rigor of the language. The German writers made the software just as unforgiving.
A hideous language that will eventually be obsolete anyway, replaced by Arabic, or whatever their replacement population speaks.
When I was there in the Army in ‘76, you went through a week of conversational German classes. I learned more on my own and became quite proficient.
So.. mit der shlange ist die shlonged?
and having a German Secretary, who became my wife’s best friend and frequent house (US Militay QTRs), guest, my new born Daughter’s surrogate Aunt, helped us all learn.
Polish your Polish furniture with Polish polish only.
I believe that it is incorrect to refer to the Umlaut as a dieresis - although they have the same appearance.
I believe that, properly speaking, a dieresis is the term for the diacritical symbol used in English (and, e.g., French) to indicate that a vowel is spoken separately from the preceding adjacent vowel (e.g., coöperation, naïve, or Noël).
Regards,
nein, Ich bin ein soldat yetz.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.