Denglisch

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Denglisch, often spelled Denglish in English, (also Gerglish, Angleutsch, Pary Englisch or VISisch/VIS English) is a portmanteau of the German 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] Germanization 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 incompetently 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 violates German grammar, it can even be found in German newspapers.[5]

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 Gestaltung (Wikipedia's design) instead of either Wikipedias Gestaltung, or die Gestaltung der Wikipedia.

[edit] Pseudo-anglicism

These words seem to be foreign words, but they are German creations and have a different meaning in (real) English.

German word Meaning to German-speaker
Beamer projector
Body[6] leotard
etwas checken to understand something or to examine something.
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
Dressman[9] male model
Drive-In[10] drive-through
Evergreen[11] golden oldie
Fitnessstudio[12] gym or fitness club
Handy[13] mobile phone or cell phone
Jobben[14] to do casual or short-term work, e.g. to have a summer job
Mobbing[15] bullying
Oldtimer[16] vintage or classic car, or aircraft
Paper[17] rolling papers (smokers), scientific papers (scientists)
Peeling[18] facial or body scrub
public viewing has been used for major sport events like the FIFA World Cup when the games were shown on huge screens to the public, although public viewing used to have a different meaning apparently this "new" meaning is creeping into native English
Run[19] fun run, not a bank run, but innocently used for the HSH Nordbank Run held annually in Hamburg and sponsored by a bank
Shooting[20] photo shoot
Shoppen[21] to go shopping
Showmaster[22] TV show host
Slip[23] briefs, knickers, panties
Smoking[24] dinner suit, tuxedo
Timer[25] calendar / appointment book
Tischset, or Set[26] placemat, doily
trampen[27] hitchhiking
Wellness-Hotel[28] 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

The first spelling, the words in succession, have a totally different meaning hinting towards someone believing a repair has been carried out.

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 Die Deutsche Telekom would normally be written in Standard German with a k however 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 favor 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 they want ads for new employees to 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 coupled with substandard German[29].

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" 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).

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.

The phrase "Test it!" is increasingly common as an English phrase idiosyncratic to German, meaning roughly "try it out". This is thought to have originated with advertising copy for West cigarettes, exhorting consumers to "Test The West".

[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 gib mir meine Language back"
  • In 1985, famous German poetical songwriter Reinhard Mey recorded "Mey English Song" as a parody on radio increasingly frequently playing English songs, although the fans "only railway station understand" (cannot understand a thing). In the song, he states, his producer told him "Well, what do we now for record sell?", urging Mey to sing in English.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ War of words | World news | guardian.co.uk
  2. ^ Verkaufte Sprache: Das Deutsche wird zum Sanierungsfall | Nachrichten auf ZEIT ONLINE
  3. ^ Kolumne "Wortgefecht": Warum Denglisch Sprachmüll ist - Nachrichten Vermischtes - WELT ONLINE
  4. ^ Gedownloadet - cold-heat.de
  5. ^ Article at Spiegel Online, April 8, 2008. Cf. the last paragraph.
  6. ^ Duden Suche
  7. ^ Duden Suche
  8. ^ Duden Suche
  9. ^ Duden Suche
  10. ^ Duden Suche
  11. ^ Duden Suche
  12. ^ Duden Suche
  13. ^ Duden Suche
  14. ^ Duden Suche
  15. ^ Duden Suche
  16. ^ Duden Suche
  17. ^ Duden Suche
  18. ^ Duden Suche
  19. ^ Duden Suche
  20. ^ Duden Suche
  21. ^ Duden Suche
  22. ^ Duden Suche
  23. ^ Duden Suche
  24. ^ Duden Suche
  25. ^ http://de.wikipedia.org, Wahrig Deutsches Wörterbuch, 7. edition 2005, page 1252
  26. ^ Duden Suche
  27. ^ Duden Suche
  28. ^ Duden Suche
  29. ^ KFC iamforreal.de

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Internet dialects
See also Internet slang (at Wiktionary) · SMS language
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