Denglisch

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Denglisch, sometimes spelled Denglish, is a portmanteau of the words Deutsch and English. It is also referred to as Engleutsch, [eŋlojtʃ] from the same portmanteau, and Germish, which is a portmanteau of German and English. It describes a language based on German grammar that includes a jumble of English and pseudo-English idioms, or vice versa.

Used in all German-speaking countries, Denglisch owes its existence in part to the cultural predominance of English language pop music, to the international computer slang, and to the use of English as the lingua franca of politics, business, and science (see also: Euro-English).

Because of discrepancies in their pronunciation, syntax, grammar and word use, imported English words must adapt to the German language, or German language patterns must adapt to English usage.

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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, 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 improper use of language is often found in poorly 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%,

even though the same can easily be expressed in uncompromised standard German:

Aktualisierungen werden heruntergeladen,

avoiding any linguistic confusion.

[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 swamp 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.
  • Sinn machen
    correct: "Sinn ergeben" or "Sinn haben". Here the English verb "to make sense'" was adopted instead of the correct German verb.

These phrasings may have originated from English-language movies and other media translated poorly 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.

Another phenomenon is the usage of the English genitive (possessive) construction 's (often called Deppenapostroph), instead of the appropriate German constructions. For example, a Denglisch speaker might write Wikipedia’s instead of either Wikipedias, der Wikipedia, or using von + dative.

[edit] Involuntary and voluntary blunders

Another example of Denglisch's potential for causing confusion is the German use of the word body bag (meaning, in English, a bag in which a dead body is placed) for "backpack" – even though the genuinely German word Rucksack is a perfectly acceptable synonym of "backpack" in many varieties of English.

A 'correct' Denglisch sentence 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 actually means:

You cannot get that because it is too expensive for me.
Du kannst das nicht haben, 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. 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 "proper" 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."

To the youth of today this sounds rather ridiculous.

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 without respect for such subtlety. Thus, incorrect sentences such as

  • That reminds me on a book.

may be constructed.

The word Denglisch is not listed in German dictionaries. The closest German word for it is "Kauderwelsch". It is used when the two languages are intentionally mixed together. It assumes that both parties are fluent in both languages. Used intelligently one picks the word or phrase from the language that best fits the situation or substitutes expressions that are clumsy in one of the languages or where there is no simple translation. Because of their versatility the verbs are usually expressed in English.

[edit] Pseudo-anglicisms

Main article: Pseudo-Anglicism

Some German words look and sound like anglicisms, but do not actually exist in English, or have a different meaning. Examples include:

[edit] List of Pseudo-anglicisms in German

pseudo German word Meaning (in German)
Back Shop "bakery" from backen (to bake)
Beamer video projector
Black Music historically "black" genres, including soul, rhythm and blues, hip-hop, and rap
Body Bag rucksack, backpack, waist bag, "bum bag" or "fanny pack"
Body tight-fitting article of women's clothing worn during working-out
Bowle punch (the beverage)
Box (plural Boxen) stereo speaker
Brainstorming brainstorming session
Casting casting call, audition
catchen professional wrestling
checken to understand (also commonly used with the English meaning "to check (on)")
City downtown, central business district
Claim slogan (used primarily in the advertising industry)
date "hook up" (slang term for undefined physical contact of a sexual nature)
DJane female DJ
Dressman (male) model
Drive-In drive-through
Ego-Shooter first person shooter (FPS)
Evergreen golden oldie
Fitnessstudio gym or fitness club
Freecall toll-free call
Fun "action," "play," or "some" (slang term for sexual congress)
Handy mobile phone, cell phone
Happy End happy ending
jobben to do casual or short-term work, e.g. to have a summer job
Jump ’n’ run instead of Platform game
Looser loser, with the 'o' sound exaggerated for effect
Manager Executive
Minijob low-paid work
Oldtimer vintage or classic car, or aircraft
Papers rolling papers
Peeling facial or body scrub
Pullunder sleeveless pullover, slipover
Recyclingpapier recycled paper
Servicepoint customer service desk
Shooting photo shoot
Shootingstar rising star
shoppen to browse or window shop
Slip briefs, knickers, panties
Showmaster TV show host
Stepptanz tap dance
Talkmaster talk-show host
Tischset placemat, doily
Twen twenty-something
Wellness-Hotel Closest translation would be "spa", although often used to describe hotels that simply have a pool or sauna.

[edit] Influence on grammar and spelling

Of late there is a trend to combine words according to English rules by writing them in succession. According the German grammar rules this is wrong. It also sounds very wrong to people used to proper German.

Reparatur Annahme instead of Reparaturannahme

Another phenomenon is the incorrect use of the apostrophe. It is often used in the English way (which in German is wrong) for the genitive:

Rita's Imbiss instead of Ritas Imbiss

For an even more striking effect, the two may be freely combined:

Werner's Wurst Bude instead of Werners Wurstbude

Or even for the plural (Greengrocer's apostrophe):

Handy's, Dessou's

The false 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 (as in Deppen Leerstelle), also called Deppenleerzeichen.

[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 is written properly with a k. Its major departments though 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). Misguided advertisers consider this more modern but from a linguistic point of view calling it an "improvement" is questionable. The company's phone call rates, discussed below, have long had pseudo-English names.

Even many American children's films such as Ice Age do not translate their titles into German. This is a matter of little controversy, as are the mostly untranslated menus of many global fast-food chains.

[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). There seems to be a common notion that English substitutes for plain German words somehow make phrases sound more engaging and technically top-notch. German commercials or - more often - written ads thus are likely to overuse 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 supposed to have been coined by Microsoft, as there is a proper and often-used German word ("herunterladen"). Microsoft Windows Update uses the phrase "Downloaden Sie die neuesten Updates" (Download the latest updates) instead of the correct "Laden Sie die neuesten Aktualisierungen herunter". The latest interface guidelines suggest that the correct term "herunterladen" should be used again, because many users complained.

Truly marvellous inventions can be found in the field of personal hygiene:

Double Action Waschgel
Vitalisierendes Peeling
Energy Creme Q10
Oil Control Gel Creme
Oil Control Waschgel
Neutrogena Visibly Clear Anti-Mitesser Peeling
Megaperls
Ariel Sproodles

Even some of the traditionally conservative companies tend to adopt neologisms that they consider to sound more international than their original German counterparts. Thus, the television broadcaster Pro 7 uses the slogan "We love to entertain you". The venerable Zürich Versicherung advertises "Because change happenz" (www.zurich.de) and the "Deutsche Bahn AG" (German Rail) did not mind calling their fastest trains "ICE" an abbreviation of "Inter City Express". Their information booths/stands "ServicePoints" (also an example of the widespread semi-Germanization 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 German Telekom's newest rates called "Fulltime", "Freetime", "Call Plus" and "Call Time" offering additionally such features as "CountrySelect" (www.t-com.de). Travel bureaus offering "last minute" bookings or manufacturers adopting "just in time" deliveries has become general use probably required by international commerce and economic interests.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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