German language

"Deutsch" redirects here. For other uses, see Deutsch (disambiguation).

German
Deutsch, deutsche Sprache
Pronunciation	[ˈdɔʏtʃ]
Native to	Primarily in German-speaking Europe, as a minority language, and among the German diaspora worldwide
Native speakers	90 million  (2010) L2 speakers: 28 million of the prestige variety of High Franconian (1999), including speakers of other varieties of German
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic German
Standard forms	German Standard German Swiss Standard German Austrian Standard German
Writing system	Latin (German alphabet) German Braille
Signed forms	Signed German, LBG (Lautsprachbegleitende/Lautbegleitende Gebärden)
Official status
Official language in	Austria Belgium Germany Liechtenstein Luxembourg Switzerland Italy (South Tyrol)
Recognised minority language in	Namibia (national language; official language 1984–90) Czech Republic (select municipalities) Denmark (South Jutland) Poland (auxiliary language in select municipalities)
Regulated by	No official regulation (German orthography regulated by the Council for German Orthography).
Language codes
ISO 639-1	de
ISO 639-2	ger (B) deu (T)
ISO 639-3	Variously: deu – German gmh – Middle High German goh – Old High German gct – Alemán Coloniero bar – Austro-Bavarian cim – Cimbrian geh – Hutterite German ksh – Kölsch nds – Low German sli – Lower Silesian ltz – Luxembourgish vmf – Main-Franconian mhn – Mócheno pfl – Palatinate German pdc – Pennsylvania German pdt – Plautdietsch swg – Swabian German gsw – Swiss German uln – Unserdeutsch sxu – Upper Saxon wae – Walser German wep – Westphalian hrx – Riograndenser Hunsrückisch
Glottolog	high1287  (High Franconian) uppe1397  (Upper German)
Linguasphere	further information 52-AC (Continental West Germanic) > 52-ACB (Deutsch & Dutch) > 52-ACB-d (Central German incl. 52-ACB–dl & -dm Standard/Generalised High German) + 52-ACB-e & -f (Upper German & Swiss German) + 52-ACB-h (émigré German varieties incl. 52-ACB-hc Hutterite German & 52-ACB-he Pennsylvania German etc.) + 52-ACB-i (Yenish); totalling 285 varieties: 52-ACB-daa to 52-ACB-i

German (Deutsch [ˈdɔʏtʃ]) is a West Germanic language that derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. Several German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. Widely spoken languages which are most similar to German include Luxembourgish, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, and the Scandinavian languages.

Written German uses the Latin alphabet. In addition to the 26 standard letters, German has three vowels with umlauts (Ä/ä, Ö/ö, and Ü/ü) and the letter ß (a special kind of "s(s)", called "Eszett" or "scharfes Es", which originated as a ligature of archaic forms of the letters s and z. These were represented as ſ ("long s") and ʒ ("tailed z"), respectively, that is, ſ + ʒ = ſʒ = ß).

German is the native language of about 100 million people, making it the most widely spoken native language in the European Union and one of the major languages of the world.

German is a pluricentric language, with multiple countries having their own standardised variants (e.g. Austrian German, Swiss Standard German) as well as many dialects. There is also a variant known as Standard German.

German is the only official language of Germany, Austria, and Liechtenstein; one of the official languages of Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Belgium; and a recognised minor language in many other countries, including Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Namibia, and Poland. Further, German is the second most commonly used scientific language and the third largest contributor to research and development. It is also a dominant language in business, culture, history, literature, philosophy and theology. Worldwide, Germany is ranked number 5 in terms of annual publication of new books. One tenth of all books (including e-books) in the world are published in German. German is also the third most used language used by websites.

History

Main article: History of German

Origins

The Germanic-speaking area of the Holy Roman Empire around AD 962.

The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon. The earliest evidence of Old High German is from scattered Elder Futhark inscriptions, especially in Alemannic, from the sixth century AD; the earliest glosses (Abrogans) date to the eighth century; and the oldest coherent texts (the Hildebrandslied, the Muspilli and the Merseburg Incantations) to the ninth century. Old Saxon, at this time, belonged to the North Sea Germanic cultural sphere, and Low Saxon was to fall under German, rather than Anglo-Frisian, influence during the existence of the Holy Roman Empire.

Because Germany was divided into many different states, the only force working for a unification or standardization of German for several hundred years was the general wish of German writers to be understood by as many readers as possible.

Modern German

Germany

The widespread popularity of the Bible translated into German by Martin Luther helped establish modern German

When Martin Luther translated the Bible (the New Testament in 1522 and the Old Testament, published in parts and completed in 1534), he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony (sächsische Kanzleisprache), also known as Meißner-Deutsch (German from the city of Meissen). This language was based on Eastern Upper and Eastern Central German dialects, and preserved much of the grammatical system of Middle High German, unlike the spoken German dialects in Central and Upper Germany, which had, at that time, already begun to lose the genitive case and the preterite tense.

Copies of Luther's Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luther's translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language (gemeines Deutsch)—the difference in relation to "Protestant German" was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, ending the period of Early New High German.

Until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language: in urban northern Germany, the local Low Saxon or Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was markedly different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides; however, the actual pronunciation of Standard German varies from region to region.

The Austrian Empire

Ethnolinguistic map of Austria–Hungary, 1910.

German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire. Its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague (German: Prag) and Budapest (Buda, German: Ofen), were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain. Others, such as Pozsony (German: Pressburg, now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Some cities remained mainly non-German, but most cities, such as Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, Zagreb (German: Agram), and Ljubljana (German: Laibach), were primarily German during this time, despite being surrounded by territory where other languages were spoken. In the eastern provinces of Banat and Transylvania (German name: Siebenbürgen), German was the predominant language not only in the larger towns—such as Temeswar (Timisoara), Hermannstadt (Sibiu) and Kronstadt (Brasov)—but also in many smaller localities in the surrounding areas.

Switzerland

linguistic map of Switzerland, 2000

In Switzerland, a number of local dialects are spoken in the German-speaking cantons, but the Swiss variety of Standard German is used as a written language. It is one of the main languages, along with French, Italian, and Romansh.

Standardization

Spread of the German language in 1910, including areas where German speakers were a minority

Spread of the German language since 1950

In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a complete standardization of the German language in its written form. The Deutsche Bühnensprache (literally, German stage language) had established conventions for German pronunciation in theatre (Bühnendeutsch) three years earlier; however, this was an artificial standard that did not correspond to any traditional spoken dialect. Rather, it was based on the pronunciation of Standard German in Northern Germany, although it was subsequently regarded often as a general prescriptive norm, despite differing pronunciation traditions especially in the Upper-German-speaking regions that still characterize the dialect of the area today- especially the pronunciation of the ending -ig as [ɪk] instead of [ɪç]. In Northern Germany, Standard German was a foreign language to most inhabitants, whose native dialects were subsets of Low German. It was usually encountered only in writing or formal speech; in fact, most of Standard German was a written language, not identical to any spoken dialect, throughout the German-speaking area until well into the 19th century.

Media and written works are now almost all produced in Standard German (often called Hochdeutsch ("High German")) which is understood in all areas where German is spoken.

The most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860. In 1860, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, this was declared the standard definition of the German language. Official revisions of some of these rules were not issued until the controversial German orthography reform of 1996 was made the official standard by governments of all German-speaking countries.

Geographic distribution

Main article: List of territorial entities where German is an official language

See also: German diaspora

German-speaking communities can be found in Namibia, a former German colony, as well as in other destinations of German emigration such as the USA, Canada, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Venezuela (where the Alemán Coloniero dialect developed), Jordan, South Africa and Australia. In Namibia, German Namibians retain German educational institutions.

Examples of German language in Namibian everyday life

Country	German emigration population (outside Europe)
US	7006500000000000000♠5,000,000
Brazil	7006450000000000000♠4,500,000
Argentina	7005500000000000000♠500,000
Canada	7005450000000000000♠450,000 - 7005620000000000000♠620,000
Bolivia	7005320000000000000♠320,000 (250,000 standard German speakers & 70,000 low German speakers (Mennonites))
Australia	7005110000000000000♠110,000
Mexico	7005100000000000000♠100,000 (100,000 Low German speakers (Mennonites))
South Africa	7004750000000000000♠75,000 (German expatriate citizens alone)
Chile	7004400000000000000♠40,000
New Zealand	7004375000000000000♠37,500
Paraguay	7004300000000000000♠30,000 - 7004400000000000000♠40,000
Namibia	7004300000000000000♠30,000
Venezuela	7004100000000000000♠10,000
Peru	7003758300000000000♠7,583 (Not including German expatriate citizens)

Europe

Main articles: German-speaking Europe and German as a minority language

Knowledge of the German language throughout Europe. German has around 100 million native speakers.

The German language is the most widely spoken first language in the European Union, with approximately 100 million native speakers.

German is spoken primarily in Germany (where it is the first language for more than 95% of the population), Austria (89%), Switzerland (65%), the majority of Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein—the latter being the only state with German as the sole official and spoken language.

German is also one of the three official languages of Belgium, alongside Dutch and French. Speakers are primarily concentrated within the German-speaking Community region in eastern Belgium, and form about 1% of the country's population.

Other German-speaking communities in Europe are found in Northern Italy (in South Tyrol and in some municipalities in other provinces), in the French regions of Alsace and Lorraine, and in some border villages of the former South Jutland County of Denmark.

German-speaking communities can also be found in parts of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Russia and Kazakhstan. Forced expulsions after World War II and massive emigration to Germany in the 1980s and 1990s have somewhat depopulated these communities.

Africa

Main article: German language in Namibia

German is spoken by about 25–30,000 people as a native tongue in Namibia. Although it is no longer classified as an official language, it is used in a wide variety of spheres, especially business and tourism, as well as churches (most notably the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK)), schools (e.g., the Deutsche Höhere Privatschule Windhoek), literature (German-Namibian authors include Giselher W. Hoffmann), radio (the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation produces radio programs in German), and music (e.g., artist EES).

There are a number of communities where German is spoken in South Africa, especially in and around Wartburg.

North America

Main articles: German in the United States, Pennsylvania German language, Plautdietsch and Hutterite German

In the United States, the states of North Dakota and South Dakota are the only states where German is the most common language spoken at home after English. German geographical names can also be found throughout the Midwest region of the country, such as New Ulm and many other towns in Minnesota; Bismarck (North Dakota's state capital), Munich, Karlsruhe, and Strasburg in North Dakota; New Braunfels, Fredericksburg, Weimar, and Muenster in Texas; Corn (formerly Korn), Kiefer and Berlin in Oklahoma; and Kiel, Berlin, and Germantown in Wisconsin.

Between 1843 and 1910, more than 5 million Germans emigrated overseas, mostly to the United States. German remained an important language in churches, schools, newspapers, and even the administration of the United States Brewers' Association through the early 20th century, but was severely repressed during World War I. Over the course of the 20th century, many of the descendants of 18th century and 19th century immigrants ceased speaking German at home, but small populations of speakers are still found in Pennsylvania (Amish, Hutterites, Dunkards and some Mennonites historically spoke Hutterite German and a West Central German variety of German known as Pennsylvania German or Pennsylvania Dutch), Kansas (Mennonites and Volga Germans), North Dakota (Hutterite Germans, Mennonites, Russian Germans, Volga Germans, and Baltic Germans), South Dakota, Montana, Texas (Texas German), Wisconsin, Indiana, Oregon, Oklahoma, and Ohio (72,570). A significant group of German Pietists in Iowa formed the Amana Colonies and continue to practice speaking their heritage language. Early twentieth century immigration was often to St. Louis, Chicago, New York, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

German-language newspapers in the U.S. in 1922

The dialects of German which are or were primarily spoken in colonies or communities founded by German-speaking people resemble the dialects of the regions the founders came from. For example, Hutterite German resembles dialects of Carinthia. Texas German is a dialect spoken in the areas of Texas settled by the Adelsverein, such as New Braunfels and Fredericksburg. In the Amana Colonies in the state of Iowa, Amana German is spoken. Plautdietsch is a large minority language spoken in Northern Mexico by the Mennonite communities, and is spoken by more than 200,000 people in Mexico. Pennsylvania German is a West Central German dialect spoken by most of the Amish population of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana and resembles Palatinate German dialects.

Hutterite German is an Upper German dialect of the Austro-Bavarian variety of the German language, which is spoken by Hutterite communities in Canada and the United States. Hutterite is spoken in the U.S. states of Washington, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota; and in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Its speakers belong to some Schmiedleit, Lehrerleit, and Dariusleit Hutterite groups, but there are also speakers among the older generations of Prairieleit (the descendants of those Hutterites who chose not to settle in colonies). Hutterite children who grow up in the colonies learn to speak Hutterite German before learning English, the standard language of the surrounding areas, in school. Many of these children, though, continue with German Grammar School, in addition to public school, throughout a student's elementary education.

In Canada, there are 622,650 speakers of German according to the most recent census in 2006, while people of German ancestry (German Canadians) are found throughout the country. German-speaking communities are particularly found in British Columbia (118,035) and Ontario (230,330). There is a large and vibrant community in the city of Kitchener, Ontario, which was at one point named Berlin. German immigrants were instrumental in the country's three largest urban areas: Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver; while post-Second World War immigrants managed to preserve a fluency in the German language in their respective neighborhoods and sections. In the first half of the 20ᵗʰ century, over a million German-Canadians made the language Canada's third most spoken after French and English.

In Mexico there are also large populations of German ancestry, mainly in the cities of: Mexico City, Puebla, Mazatlán, Tapachula, Ecatepec de Morelos, and larger populations scattered in the states of Chihuahua, Durango, and Zacatecas.

South America

In Brazil, the largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo and Espírito Santo. There are also important concentrations of German-speaking descendants in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia. In the 20th century, over 100,000 German political refugees and invited entrepreneurs settled in Latin America, in countries such as Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic, to establish German-speaking enclaves, and reportedly there is a small German immigration to Puerto Rico. Nearly all inhabitants of the city of Pomerode, a municipality where this language is co-official in the state of Santa Catarina in Brazil, can speak German.

In most locations where German immigrants settled, the vast majority of their descendents no longer speak German, as they have been largely assimilated into the host language and culture of the specific location of settlement; generally English in North America, and Spanish or Portuguese in Latin America. However, the Brazilian state Espírito Santo has Pomeranian and German as linguistic heritages officially approved statewide, while Rio Grande do Sul has Riograndenser Hunsrückisch German as linguistic heritage officially approved statewide. Moreover, some cities in Brazil have the German or Pomeranian as co-official languages. They are:

Municipalities that have co-official Pomeranian (or Pommersch) language:

Municipalities where Pomeranian dialects are co-official in Espírito Santo, Brazil.

Espírito Santo:

• Domingos Martins
• Laranja da Terra
• Pancas
• Santa Maria de Jetibá
• Vila Pavão

Minas Gerais:

• Itueta (only in the district of Vila Nietzel)

Santa Catarina:

• Pomerode

Rio Grande do Sul:

• Canguçu (under approval)

Rondônia:

• Espigão d'Oeste (under approval)

Municipalities that have co-official language Riograndenser Hunsrückisch language:

Santa Catarina:

• Antônio Carlos
• Treze Tílias (language teaching is compulsory in schools, standing on stage in public official of the municipality)

Rio Grande do Sul:

• Santa Maria do Herval (under approval)

Oceania

German language center in Chandigarh.

In Australia, the state of South Australia experienced a pronounced wave of immigration in the 1840s from Prussia (particularly the Silesia region). With the prolonged isolation from other German speakers and contact with Australian English, a unique dialect known as Barossa German has developed and is spoken predominantly in the Barossa Valley near Adelaide. Usage of German sharply declined with the advent of World War I, due to the prevailing anti-German sentiment in the population and related government action. It continued to be used as a first language into the twentieth century but now its use is limited to a few older speakers.

German migration to New Zealand in the 19th century was less pronounced than migration from Britain, Ireland, and perhaps even Scandinavia. Despite this there were significant pockets of German-speaking communities which lasted until the first decades of the 20th century. German-speakers settled principally in Puhoi, Nelson, and Gore. At the last census (2006), 37,500 people in New Zealand spoke German, making it the third most spoken European language after English and French and overall the ninth most spoken language.

There is also an important German creole being studied and recovered, named Unserdeutsch, spoken in the former German colony of German New Guinea, across Micronesia and in northern Australia (i.e. coastal parts of Queensland and Western Australia), by a few elderly people. The risk of its extinction is serious and efforts to revive interest in the language are being implemented by scholars.

Standard German

Main article: Standard German

The national and regional standard varieties of the German language.

Standard German originated not as a traditional dialect of a specific region, but as a written language. However, there are places where the traditional regional dialects have been replaced by new vernaculars based on standard German; this is the case in large stretches of Northern Germany, but also in major cities in other parts of the country. It is important to note, however, that this colloquial standard German differs greatly from the formal written language, especially in grammar and syntax, in which it has been influenced by dialectal speech.

Standard German differs regionally, between German-speaking countries, in vocabulary and some instances of pronunciation, and even grammar and orthography. This variation must not be confused with the variation of local dialects. Even though the regional varieties of standard German are only to a certain degree influenced by the local dialects, they are very distinct. German is thus considered a pluricentric language.

In most regions, the speakers use a continuum from more dialectal varieties to more standard varieties according to circumstances.

In the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, mixtures of dialect and standard are very seldom used, and the use of standard German is largely restricted to the written language. This situation has been called a medial diglossia. Swiss Standard German is used in the Swiss education system, while Austrian Standard German is officially used in the Austrian education system. A mixture of dialect and standard also does not occur in Northern Germany. The traditional dialects there are Low German, while Standard German is a High German language. Because the dialects of this region are of a completely different language, they don't mesh with Standard German the way High German dialects (e.g. Bavarian, Swabian, Hessian) are able to.

Official status

Standard German is the only official language in Liechtenstein; it shares official status in Germany (with Danish, Frisian, Romany and Sorbian as minority languages), in Austria (with Slovene, Croatian, and Hungarian as minority languages), Switzerland (with French, Italian and Romansh), Belgium (with Dutch and French) and Luxembourg (with French and Luxembourgish). It is an official regional language in Italy (South Tyrol), as well as in the cities of Sopron (Hungary), Krahule (Slovakia) and several cities in Romania. It is the official language of command (together with Italian) of the Vatican Swiss Guard.

German has an officially recognized status as a regional or auxiliary language in Denmark (Southern Jutland region), Italy (Gressoney valley), Namibia, Poland (Opole region), and Russia (Asowo and Halbstadt).

German is one of the 23 official languages of the European Union and one of the three working languages. It is the language with the largest number of native speakers in the European Union and is the second-most spoken language in Europe, just behind English and ahead of French.

German as a foreign language

Main article: German as a foreign language

Knowledge of German as a foreign language (second language in Luxembourg) in the EU member states (+Turkey), in per cent of the adult population (+15), 2005.

German is the third most taught foreign language in the English-speaking world, after French and Spanish.

German is the main language of about 100 million people in Europe (as of 2005), or 13% of all Europeans; it is the 2nd most spoken native language in Europe after Russian, above French (77 million speakers in 2014) and English (64 million speakers in 2004). It is therefore the most spoken first language in the EU. It is the 2nd most known foreign language in the EU. It is one of the official languages of the European Union, and one of the three working languages of the European Commission, along with English and French. Among citizens of the EU-15 countries, 32% say they can converse in German (either as a mother tongue or as a second or foreign language). This is assisted by the widespread availability of German TV by cable or satellite.

German was once, and still remains to some extent, a lingua franca in Central, Eastern, and Northern Europe.

Dialects

Main article: German dialects

Distribution of the native speakers of major continental West-Germanic dialectal varieties.

German is a member of the West Germanic language of the Germanic family of languages, which in turn is part of the Indo-European language family. The German dialect continuum is traditionally divided most broadly into High German and Low German, also called Low Saxon. Yet, historically, High German dialects and Low Saxon/Low German dialects do not belong to the same language. Nevertheless, in today's Germany, Low Saxon/Low German is often perceived as a dialectal variation of Standard German on a functional level, even by many native speakers. The same phenomenon is found in the eastern Netherlands, as the traditional dialects are not always identified with their Low Saxon/Low German origins, but with Dutch.

The variation among the German dialects is considerable, with often only neighbouring dialects being mutually intelligible. Some dialects are not intelligible to people who only know standard German. However, all German dialects belong to the dialect continuum of High German and Low Saxon languages.

Low German

Main article: Low German

Middle Low German was the lingua franca of the Hanseatic League. It was the predominant language in Northern Germany. This changed in the 16th century: in 1534 the Luther Bible was published. This translation is considered to be an important step towards the evolution of the Early New High German. It aimed to be understandable to a broad audience and was based mainly on Central and Upper German varieties. The Early New High German language gained more prestige than Low German and became the language of science and literature. Around the same time, the Hanseatic league, based around northern ports, lost its importance as new trade routes to Asia and the Americas were established, while the most powerful German states of that period were located in Middle and Southern Germany.

The 18th and 19th centuries were marked by mass education in Standard German in schools. Gradually Low German came to be politically viewed as a mere dialect spoken by the uneducated. Today Low Saxon can be divided in two groups: Low Saxon varieties with a reasonable standard German influx and varieties of Standard German with a Low Saxon influence known as Missingsch. Sometimes, Low Saxon and Low Franconian varieties are grouped together because both are unaffected by the High German consonant shift. However, the proportion of the population who can understand and speak it has decreased continuously since World War II.

High German

Main article: High German languages

High German is divided into Central German, High Franconian (a transitional dialect), and Upper German. Central German dialects include Ripuarian, Moselle Franconian, Rhine Franconian, Central Hessian, East Hessian, North Hessian, Thuringian, Silesian German, Lorraine Franconian, Mittelalemannisch, North Upper Saxon, High Prussian, Lausitzisch-Neumärkisch and Upper Saxon. It is spoken in the southeastern Netherlands, eastern Belgium, Luxembourg, parts of France, and parts of Germany roughly between the River Main and the southern edge of the Lowlands. Modern Standard German is mostly based on Central German, although the common (but not linguistically correct) German term for modern Standard German is Hochdeutsch, that is, High German.

The Moselle Franconian varieties spoken in Luxembourg have been officially standardised and institutionalised and are usually considered a separate language known as Luxembourgish.

The two High Franconian dialects are East Franconian and South Franconian.

Upper German dialects include Northern Austro-Bavarian, Central Austro-Bavarian, Southern Austro-Bavarian, Swabian, East Franconian, High Alemannic German, Highest Alemannic German, Alsatian and Low Alemannic German. They are spoken in parts of the Alsace, southern Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland and Italy.

Wymysorys is a High German dialect of Poland native to Wilamowice, and Sathmarisch and Siebenbürgisch are High German dialects of Romania. The High German varieties spoken by Ashkenazi Jews (mostly in the former Russian Empire) have several unique features, and are usually considered as a separate language, Yiddish. It is the only Germanic language that does not use the Latin script as the basis of its standard alphabet.

Varieties of standard German

In German linguistics, German dialects are distinguished from varieties of standard German.

• The German dialects are the traditional local varieties. They are traditionally traced back to the different German tribes. Many of them are hardly understandable to someone who knows only standard German, since they often differ from standard German in lexicon, phonology and syntax. If a narrow definition of language based on mutual intelligibility is used, many German dialects are considered to be separate languages (for instance in the Ethnologue). However, such a point of view is unusual in German linguistics.
• The varieties of standard German refer to the different local varieties of the pluricentric standard German. They only differ slightly in lexicon and phonology. In certain regions, they have replaced the traditional German dialects, especially in Northern Germany.

Grammar

Main article: German grammar

German is an inflected language with three grammatical genders; as such, there can be a large number of words derived from the same root.

Noun inflection

Declension of the German definite articles (all equivalent to English "the").

German nouns inflect by case, gender, and number:

• four cases: nominative, genitive, dative, and accusative.
• three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Word endings sometimes reveal grammatical gender: for instance, nouns ending in ...ung (-ing), ...schaft (-ship), ...keit or ...heit (-hood, -ness) are feminine, while nouns ending in ...chen or ...lein (diminutive forms) are neuter and nouns ending in ...ismus (-ism) are masculine. Others are more variable, sometimes depending on the region in which the language is spoken; and some endings are not restricted to one gender, e.g. ...er (-er), e.g. Feier (feminine), celebration, party, Arbeiter (masculine), labourer, and Gewitter (neuter), thunderstorm.
• two numbers: singular and plural

This degree of inflection is considerably less than in Old High German and other old Indo-European languages such as Latin, Ancient Greek, and Sanskrit, and also somewhat less than, for instance, Old English, modern Icelandic and Russian. The three genders have collapsed in the plural, which now behaves, grammatically, somewhat as a fourth gender. With four cases and three genders plus plural there are 16 permutations of case and gender/number, but there are only six forms of the definite article, which together cover all 16 permutations. In nouns, inflection for case is required in the singular for strong masculine and neuter nouns, in the genitive, and sometimes in the dative. Both of these cases are losing ground to substitutes in informal speech. The dative noun ending is considered somewhat old-fashioned in many contexts and is often dropped, but it is still used in proverbs and the like, in formal speech, and in written language. Weak masculine nouns share a common case ending for genitive, dative and accusative in the singular. Feminine nouns are not declined in the singular. The plural does have an inflection for the dative. In total, seven inflectional endings (not counting plural markers) exist in German: -s, -es, -n, -ns, -en, -ens, -e.

In German orthography, nouns and most words with the syntactical function of nouns are capitalised, to make it easier for readers to determine the function of a word within a sentence (Am Freitag ging ich einkaufen.—"On Friday I went shopping."; Eines Tages kreuzte er endlich auf.—"One day he finally showed up.") This convention is almost unique to German today (shared perhaps only by the closely related Luxemburgish language and several insular dialects of the North Frisian language), although it was historically common in other languages such as Danish (which abolished the capitalization of nouns in 1948) and English.

Like most Germanic languages, German forms noun compounds where the first noun modifies the category given by the second, for example: Hundehütte ("dog hut"; specifically: "dog kennel"). Unlike English, where newer compounds or combinations of longer nouns are often written in "open" with separating spaces, German (like some other Germanic languages) nearly always uses the "closed" form without spaces, for example: Baumhaus ("tree house"). German allows arbitrarily long compounds, as English does to some extent. (See also English compounds.) In German these are quite common. The longest German word verified to be actually in (albeit very limited) use is Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz, which, literally translated, is "beef labelling supervision duty assignment law" [from Rind (cattle), Fleisch (meat), Etikettierung(s) (labelling), Überwachung(s) (supervision), Aufgaben (duties), Übertragung(s) (assignment), Gesetz (law)]. However, examples like this are perceived by native speakers as excessively bureaucratic, stylistically awkward, and even satiric.

Verb inflection

Main article: German verbs

Inflection of standard German verbs includes:

• two main conjugation classes: weak and strong (as in English). Additionally, there is a third class, known as mixed verbs, whose conjugation combines features of both the strong and weak patterns.
• three persons: 1st, 2nd, 3rd.
• two numbers: singular and plural
• three moods: indicative, imperative, subjunctive (in addition to infinitive)
• two voices: active and passive; the passive voice uses auxiliary verbs and is divisible into static and dynamic.
• two tenses without auxiliary verbs (present, preterite) and four tenses constructed with auxiliary verbs (perfect, pluperfect, future and future perfect)
• the distinction between grammatical aspects is rendered by combined use of subjunctive and/or preterite marking: thus the plain indicative voice uses neither of those two markers; the subjunctive by itself conveys second-hand information; subjunctive plus preterite marks the conditional state; and the preterite alone shows either plain indicative (in the past), or functions as a (literal) alternative for either second-hand-information or the conditional state of the verb, when necessary for clarity.
• the distinction between perfect and progressive aspect is and has at every stage of development been a productive category of the older language and in nearly all documented dialects, but, strangely enough, is nowadays rigorously excluded from written usage in its present normalised form.
• disambiguation of completed vs. uncompleted forms is widely observed and regularly generated by common prefixes (blicken [to look], erblicken [to see—unrelated form: sehen]).

Verb prefixes

The meaning of basic verbs can be expanded, and sometimes radically changed, through the use of a number of prefixes. Some prefixes have a specific meaning; the prefix zer- refers to destruction, as in zerreißen (to tear apart), zerbrechen (to break apart), zerschneiden (to cut apart). Other prefixes have only the vaguest meaning in themselves; ver- is found in a number of verbs with a large variety of meanings, as in versuchen (to try) from "suchen" (to seek), vernehmen (to interrogate) from "nehmen" (to take), verteilen (to distribute) from "teilen" (to share), verstehen (to understand) from "stehen" (to stand).

Other examples include haften (to stick), verhaften (to detain); kaufen (to buy), verkaufen (to sell); hören (to hear), aufhören (to cease); fahren (to drive), erfahren (to experience).

Many German verbs have a separable prefix, often with an adverbial function. In finite verb forms this is split off and moved to the end of the clause, and is hence considered by some to be a "resultative particle". For example, mitgehen meaning "to go along" would be split, giving Gehen Sie mit? (Literal: "Go you with?" ; Formal: "Are you going along?").

Indeed, several parenthetical clauses may occur between the prefix of a finite verb and its complement: e.g.

Er kam am Freitagabend nach einem harten Arbeitstag und dem üblichen Ärger, der ihn schon seit Jahren immer wieder an seinem Arbeitsplatz plagt, mit fraglicher Freude auf ein Mahl, das seine Frau ihm, wie er hoffte, bereits aufgetischt hatte, endlich zu Hause an .

A selectively literal translation of this example to illustrate the point might look like this:

He "came" on Friday evening, after a hard day at work and the usual annoyances that had time and again been troubling him for years now at his workplace, with questionable joy, to a meal which, as he hoped, his wife had already put on the table, finally at home "on".

Word order

There are two common word orders: one is for main clauses and another for subordinate clauses. In normal affirmative sentences the inflected verb always has position 2. In polar questions, exclamations, and wishes it always has position 1. In subordinate clauses the verb occurs at the very end.

German requires that a verbal element (main verb or auxiliary verb) appear second in the sentence. The verb is preceded by the topic of the sentence. The element in focus appears at the end of the sentence. For a sentence without an auxiliary this gives, amongst other options:

Der alte Mann gab mir gestern das Buch. (The old man gave me yesterday the book; normal order)

Das Buch gab mir gestern der alte Mann. (The book gave [to] me yesterday the old man)

Das Buch gab der alte Mann mir gestern. (The book gave the old man [to] me yesterday)

Das Buch gab mir der alte Mann gestern. (The book gave [to] me the old man yesterday)

Gestern gab mir der alte Mann das Buch. (Yesterday gave [to] me the old man the book, normal order)

Mir gab der alte Mann das Buch gestern. ([To] me gave the old man the book yesterday (entailing: as for you, it was another date))

The position of a noun in a German sentence has no bearing on its being a subject, an object, or another argument. In a declarative sentence in English, if the subject does not occur before the predicate, the sentence could well be misunderstood. This is not so in German. The flexibility to vary the word order allows one to emphasise specific words:

Normal word order:

Der Direktor betrat gestern um 10 Uhr mit einem Schirm in der Hand sein Büro

The manager entered yesterday at 10 o'clock with an umbrella in the hand his office.

Object in front:

Sein Büro betrat der Direktor gestern um 10 Uhr mit einem Schirm in der Hand.

His office entered the manager yesterday at 10 o'clock with an umbrella in the hand.

The object Sein Büro (his office) is thus highlighted; it could be the topic of the next sentence.

Adverb of time in front:

Gestern betrat der Direktor um 10 Uhr mit einem Schirm in der Hand sein Büro. (aber heute ohne Schirm)

Yesterday entered the manager at 10 o'clock with an umbrella in the hand his office. (but today without umbrella)

Both time expressions in front:

Gestern um 10 Uhr betrat der Direktor mit einem Schirm in der Hand sein Büro.

Yesterday at 10 o'clock entered the manager with an umbrella in the hand his office.

The full-time specification Gestern um 10 Uhr is highlighted.

Another possibility:

Gestern um 10 Uhr betrat der Direktor sein Büro mit einem Schirm in der Hand.

Yesterday at 10 o'clock the manager entered his office with an umbrella in his hand.

Both the time specification and the fact he carried an umbrella are accentuated.

Swapped adverbs:

Der Direktor betrat mit einem Schirm in der Hand gestern um 10 Uhr sein Büro.

The manager entered with an umbrella in the hand yesterday at 10 o'clock his office.

The phrase mit einem Schirm in der Hand is highlighted.

Swapped object:

Der Direktor betrat gestern um 10 Uhr sein Büro mit einem Schirm in der Hand.

The warden entered yesterday at 10 o'clock his office with an umbrella in his hand.

The time specification and the object sein Büro (his office) are lightly accentuated.

The flexibility to use different word orders also broadens the options to use language "tools" (e.g. poetic meter and figures of speech) more freely.

Auxiliary verbs

When an auxiliary verb is present, it appears in second position, and the main verb appears at the end. This occurs notably in the creation of the perfect tense. Many word orders are still possible, e.g.:

Der alte Mann hat mir heute das Buch gegeben. (The old man has me today the book given.)

Das Buch hat der alte Mann mir heute gegeben. (The book has the old man me today given.)

Heute hat der alte Mann mir das Buch gegeben. (Today has the old man me the book given.)

Modal verbs

Sentences using modal verbs place the infinitive at the end. For example, the English sentence "Should he go home?" would be rearranged in German to say "Should he (to) home go?" (Soll er nach Hause gehen?). Thus in sentences with several subordinate or relative clauses the infinitives are clustered at the end. Compare the similar clustering of prepositions in the following (highly contrived) English sentence: "What did you bring that book which I don't like to be read to out of up for?"

Multiple infinitives

German subordinate clauses have all verbs clustered at the end. Given that auxiliaries encode future, passive, modality, and the perfect, this can lead to very long chains of verbs at the end of the sentence. In these constructions, the past participle in ge- is often replaced by the infinitive.

Man nimmt an, dass der Deserteur wohl erschossen_V worden_psv sein_perf soll_mod
One suspects that the deserter probably shot become be should
("It is suspected that the deserter probably should have been shot")

The order at the end of such strings is subject to variation, though the latter version is unusual.

Er wusste nicht, dass der Agent einen Nachschlüssel hatte machen lassen
He knew not that the agent a picklock had make let

Er wusste nicht, dass der Agent einen Nachschlüssel machen lassen hatte
He knew not that the agent a picklock make let had

("He did not know that the agent had had a picklock made")

Vocabulary

Duden dictionary.

Most German vocabulary is derived from the Germanic branch of the European language family. However, there is a significant amount of loanwords from other languages, in particular from Latin, Greek, Italian, French and most recently English.

Latin words were already imported into the predecessor of the German language during the Roman Empire and underwent all the characteristic phonetic changes in German. Their origin is thus no longer recognizable for most speakers (e.g. Pforte, Tafel, Mauer from Latin porta, tabula, murus). Borrowing from Latin continued after the fall of the Roman Empire during Christianization, mediated by the church and monasteries. Another important influx of Latin words can be observed during Renaissance humanism. In a scholarly context, the borrowings from Latin have continued until today, in the last decades often indirectly through borrowings from English. During the 15th to 17th centuries, the influence of Italian was great, leading to many Italian loanwords in the fields of architecture, finance, and music. The influence of the French language in the 17th to 19th centuries resulted in an even greater import of French words. The English influence was already present in the 19th century, but did not become dominant until the second half of the 20th century.

At the same time, the effectiveness of the German language in forming equivalents for foreign words from its inherited Germanic stem repertory is great. Thus, Notker Labeo was able to translate Aristotelian treatises in pure (Old High) German in the decades after the year 1000. The tradition of loan translation was revitalized in the 18th century, with linguists like Joachim Heinrich Campe who introduced hundreds of words that are still used in modern German. Even today, there are movements that try to promote the Ersatz (substitution) of foreign words deemed unnecessary with German alternatives. It is claimed that this would also help in spreading modern or scientific notions among the less educated, and thus democratise public life, too.

As in English, there are many pairs of synonyms due to the enrichment of the Germanic vocabulary with loanwords from Latin and Latinized Greek. These words often have different connotations from their Germanic counterparts and are usually perceived as more scholarly.

• Historie - "historical", (Geschichte, geschichtlich)
• Humanität - "humaneness", (Menschlichkeit)
• Millennium - "millennium", (Jahrtausend)
• Perzeption - "perception", (Wahrnehmung)
• Vokabular - "vocabulary", (Wortschatz)

The size of the vocabulary of German is difficult to estimate. The Deutsches Wörterbuch (The German Dictionary) initiated by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm already contained over 330,000 headwords in its first edition. The modern German scientific vocabulary is estimated at nine million words and word groups (based on the analysis of 35 million sentences of a corpus in Leipzig, which as of July 2003 included 500 million words in total).

Orthography

Main articles: German orthography and German braille

German alphabet in handwritten conventions

German is written in the Latin alphabet. In addition to the 26 standard letters, German has three vowels with Umlaut, namely ä, ö and ü, as well as the Eszett or scharfes s (sharp s), ß. In Switzerland "ss" is used instead of "ß". Additionally, when written in capitals, "ß" is replaced with "SS" in Germany, while in Austria it is traditionally replaced with "SZ" (the same digraph used in Hungarian for the "s" sound); there are some exceptions to these rules (see below).

Written texts in German are easily recognisable as such by distinguishing features such as umlauts and certain orthographical features—German is the only major language that capitalizes all nouns, a holdover from when it was widely done in Northern Europe in the early modern era (including English for a while, in the 1700s)—and the frequent occurrence of long compounds. The longest German word that has been published is "Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft" made of 79 characters. Since legibility and convenience set certain boundaries, compounds consisting of more than three or four nouns are almost exclusively found in humorous contexts. (In contrast, while English can also string nouns together, it usually separates the nouns with spaces.)

Present

Before the German orthography reform of 1996, ß replaced ss after long vowels and diphthongs and before consonants, word-, or partial-word-endings. In reformed spelling, ß replaces ss only after long vowels and diphthongs. Since there is no capital ß, it is always written as "SS" when capitalization is required. For example, Maßband (tape measure) is capitalized MASSBAND. An exception is the use of ß in legal documents and forms when capitalizing names. To avoid confusion with similar names, a "ß" is to be used instead of "SS". (So: "KREßLEIN" instead of "KRESSLEIN".) A capital ß has been proposed and included in Unicode ("ẞ"; Unicode character U+1E9E), but it is not yet recognized as standard German. In Switzerland, ß is not used at all.

Umlaut vowels (ä, ö, ü) are commonly transcribed with ae, oe, and ue if the umlauts are not available on the keyboard or other medium used. In the same manner ß can be transcribed as ss. Some operating systems use key sequences to extend the set of possible characters to include, amongst other things, umlauts; in Microsoft Windows this is done using Alt codes. German readers understand those transcriptions (although they look unusual), but they are avoided if the regular umlauts are available because they are a makeshift, not proper spelling. (In Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein, city and family names exist where the extra e has a vowel lengthening effect, e.g. Raesfeld [ˈraːsfɛlt], Coesfeld [ˈkoːsfɛlt] and Itzehoe [ɪtsəˈhoː], but this use of the letter e after a/o/u does not occur in the present-day spelling of words other than proper nouns.)

There is no general agreement on where letters with umlauts occur in the sorting sequence. Telephone directories treat them by replacing them with the base vowel followed by an e. Some dictionaries sort each umlauted vowel as a separate letter after the base vowel, but more commonly words with umlauts are ordered immediately after the same word without umlauts. As an example in a telephone book Ärzte occurs after Adressenverlage but before Anlagenbauer (because Ä is replaced by Ae). In a dictionary Ärzte comes after Arzt, but in some dictionaries Ärzte and all other words starting with Ä may occur after all words starting with A. In some older dictionaries or indexes, initial Sch and St are treated as separate letters and are listed as separate entries after S, but they are usually treated as S+C+H and S+T.

Written German also typically uses an alternative opening inverted comma (quotation mark) as in „Guten Morgen!“.

Past

Further information: 2nd Orthographic Conference (German), Antiqua-Fraktur dispute and German orthography reform of 1944

Until the early 20th century, German was mostly printed in blackletter typefaces (mostly in Fraktur, but also in Schwabacher) and written in corresponding handwriting (for example Kurrent and Sütterlin). These variants of the Latin alphabet are very different from the serif or sans serif Antiqua typefaces used today, and particularly the handwritten forms are difficult for the untrained to read. The printed forms, however, were claimed by some to be more readable when used for Germanic languages. (Often, foreign names in a text were printed in a "normal" typeface even though the rest of the text was in Fraktur.) The Nazis initially promoted Fraktur and Schwabacher since they were considered Aryan, although they abolished them in 1941, claiming that these letters were Jewish. It is also believed that the Nazi régime had banned this script as they realized that Fraktur would inhibit communication in the territories occupied during World War II.

The Fraktur script however remains present in everyday life in pub signs, beer brands and other forms of advertisement, where it is used to convey a certain rusticality and antiquity.

A proper use of the long s, (langes s), ſ, is essential for writing German text in Fraktur typefaces. Many Antiqua typefaces include the long s also. A specific set of rules applies for the use of long s in German text, but nowadays it is rarely used in Antiqua typesetting. Any lower case "s" at the beginning of a syllable would be a long s, as opposed to a terminal s or short s (the more common variation of the letter s), which marks the end of a syllable; for example, in differentiating between the words Wachſtube (guard-house) and Wachstube (tube of polish/wax). One can easily decide which "s" to use by appropriate hyphenation, ("Wach-ſtube" vs. "Wachs-tube"). The long s only appears in lower case.

Reform of 1996

Main article: German orthography reform of 1996

The orthography reform of 1996 led to public controversy and considerable dispute. The states (Bundesländer) of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria would not accept it. The dispute landed at one point in the highest court, which made a short issue of it, claiming that the states had to decide for themselves and that only in schools could the reform be made the official rule—everybody else could continue writing as they had learned it. After 10 years, without any intervention by the federal parliament, a major revision was installed in 2006, just in time for the coming school year. In 2007, some traditional spellings were finally invalidated, while in 2008, on the other hand, many of the old comma rules were again put in force.

The most noticeable change was probably in the use of the letter ß, called scharfes s (Sharp S) or ess-zett (pronounced ess-tsett). Traditionally, this letter was used in three situations: 1) after a long vowel or vowel combination, 2) before a t, and 3) at the end of a syllable, thus Füße, paßt, and daß. Currently only the first rule is in effect, thus Füße, passt, and dass. The word Fuß 'foot' has the letter ß because it contains a long vowel, even though that letter occurs at the end of a syllable. The logic of this change is that an 'ß' is a single letter whereas 'ss' obviously are two letters, so the same distinction applies as for instance between the words 'den' and 'denn'.

Phonology

Main article: German phonology

Vowels

Spoken German in Goethe's Faust

In German, vowels (excluding diphthongs; see below) are either short or long, as follows:

	A	Ä	E	I	O	Ö	U	Ü
short	/a/	/ɛ/	/ɛ/, /ə/	/ɪ/	/ɔ/	/œ/	/ʊ/	/ʏ/
long	/aː/	/ɛː/	/eː/	/iː/	/oː/	/øː/	/uː/	/yː/

Short /ɛ/ is realized as [ɛ] in stressed syllables (including secondary stress), but as [ə] in unstressed syllables. Note that stressed short /ɛ/ can be spelled either with e or with ä (for instance, hätte 'would have' and Kette 'chain', rhyme). In general, the short vowels are open and the long vowels are close. The one exception is the open /ɛː/ sound of long Ä; in some varieties of standard German, /ɛː/ and /eː/ have merged into [eː], removing this anomaly. In that case, pairs like Bären/Beeren 'bears/berries' or Ähre/Ehre 'spike (of wheat)/honour' become homophonous (see: Captain Bluebear).

In many varieties of standard German, an unstressed /ɛr/ is not pronounced [ər], but vocalised to [ɐ].

Whether any particular vowel letter represents the long or short phoneme is not completely predictable, although the following regularities exist:

• If a vowel (other than i) is at the end of a syllable or followed by a single consonant, it is usually pronounced long (e.g. Hof [hoːf]).
• If a vowel is followed by h or if an i is followed by an e, it is long.
• If the vowel is followed by a double consonant (e.g. ff, ss or tt), ck, tz or a consonant cluster (e.g. st or nd), it is nearly always short (e.g. hoffen [ˈhɔfən]). Double consonants are used only for this function of marking preceding vowels as short; the consonant itself is never pronounced lengthened or doubled, in other words this is not a feeding order of gemination and then vowel shortening.

Both of these rules have exceptions (e.g. hat [hat] 'has' is short despite the first rule; Mond [moːnt], 'moon' is long despite the second rule). For an i that is neither in the combination ie (making it long) nor followed by a double consonant or cluster (making it short), there is no general rule. In some cases, there are regional differences: In central Germany (Hessen), the o in the proper name "Hoffmann" is pronounced long while most other Germans would pronounce it short; the same applies to the e in the geographical name "Mecklenburg" for people in that region. The word Städte 'cities', is pronounced with a short vowel [ˈʃtɛtə] by some (Jan Hofer, ARD Television) and with a long vowel [ˈʃtɛːtə] by others (Marietta Slomka, ZDF Television). Finally, a vowel followed by ch can be short (Fach [fax] 'compartment', Küche [ˈkʏçə] 'kitchen') or long (Suche [ˈzuːxə] 'search', Bücher [ˈbyːçɐ] 'books') almost at random. Thus, Lache is homographous between [laːxə] Lache 'puddle' and [laxə] Lache 'manner of laughing' (colloquial) or lache! 'laugh!' (imperative).

German vowels can form the following digraphs (in writing) and diphthongs (in pronunciation); note that the pronunciation of some of them (ei, äu, eu) is very different from what one would expect when considering the component letters:

spelling	ai, ei, ay, ey	au	äu, eu
pronunciation	/aɪ̯/	/aʊ̯/	/ɔʏ̯/

Additionally, the digraph ie generally represents the phoneme /iː/, which is not a diphthong. In many varieties, an /r/ at the end of a syllable is vocalised. However, a sequence of a vowel followed by such a vocalised /r/ is not a phonemic diphthong: Bär [bɛːɐ̯] 'bear', er [eːɐ̯] 'he', wir [viːɐ̯] 'we', Tor [toːɐ̯] 'gate', kurz [kʊɐ̯ts] 'short', Wörter [vœɐ̯tɐ] 'words'.

In most varieties of standard German, syllables that begin with a vowel are preceded by a glottal stop [ʔ].

Consonants

With approximately 25 phonemes, the German consonant system exhibits an average number of consonants in comparison with other languages. One of the more noteworthy ones is the unusual affricate /p͡f/. The consonant inventory of the standard language is shown below.

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Plosive	p3  b4		t3  d4			k3  ɡ4
Affricate		pf	ts	tʃ  (dʒ)5
Fricative		f  v	s  z	ʃ  (ʒ)5		x1		h
Nasal	m		n			ŋ
Approximant			l		j
Rhotic			r2				(ʁ~ʀ)2

• ¹/x/ has two allophones, [x] and [ç], after back and front vowels, respectively.
• ²/r/ has three allophones in free variation: [r], [ʁ] and [ʀ]. In the syllable coda, the allophone [ɐ] is found in many varieties.
• ³ The voiceless stops /p/, /t/, /k/ are aspirated except when preceded by a sibilant, exactly as in English.
• ⁴ The voiced stops /b/, /d/, /ɡ/ are devoiced to /p/, /t/, /k/, respectively, in word-final position.
• ⁵/d͡ʒ/ and /ʒ/ occur only in words of foreign (usually English or French) origin.
• Where a stressed syllable has an initial vowel, it is preceded by [ʔ]. As its presence is predictable from context, [ʔ] is not considered a phoneme.

Consonant spellings

• c standing by itself is not a German letter. In borrowed words, it is usually pronounced [t͡s] (before ä, äu, e, i, ö, ü, y) or [k] (before a, o, u, and consonants). The combination ck is, as in English, used to indicate that the preceding vowel is short.
• ch occurs most often and is pronounced either [ç] (after ä, ai, äu, e, ei, eu, i, ö, ü and consonants; in the diminutive suffix -chen; and at the beginning of a word), [x] (after a, au, o, u), or [k] at the beginning of a word before a, o, u and consonants. Ch never occurs at the beginning of an originally German word. In borrowed words with initial Ch before bright vowels (Chemie "chemistry" etc.), [ç] is considered standard. However, Upper Germans and Franconians (in the geographical sense) replace it with [k], as German as a whole does before darker vowels and consonants such as in Charakter, Christentum. Middle Germans (except Franconians) will borrow a [ʃ] from the French model. Both agree in considering each other's variant, and Upper Germans also the standard in [ç], as particularly awkward and unusual.
• dsch is pronounced [d͡ʒ] (e.g. Dschungel /ˈd͡ʒʊŋəl/ "jungle") but appears in a few loanwords only.
• f is pronounced [f] as in "father".
• h is pronounced [h] as in "home" at the beginning of a syllable. After a vowel it is silent and only lengthens the vowel (e.g. Reh [ʁeː] = roe deer).
• j is pronounced [j] in Germanic words (Jahr [jaːɐ]). In recent loanwords, it follows more or less the respective languages' pronunciations.
• l is always pronounced [l], never *[ɫ] (the English "dark L").
• q only exists in combination with u and is pronounced [kv]. It appears in both Germanic and Latin words (quer [kveːɐ̯]; Qualität [kvaliˈtɛːt]). But as most words containing q are Latinate, the letter is considerably rarer in German than it is in English.
• r is usually pronounced in a guttural fashion (a voiced uvular fricative [ʁ] or uvular trill [ʀ]) in front of a vowel or consonant (Rasen [ˈʁaːzən]; Burg [buʁk]). In spoken German, however, it is commonly vocalised after a vowel (er being pronounced rather like [ˈɛɐ]—Burg [buɐk]). In some varieties, the r is pronounced as a "tongue-tip" r (the alveolar trill [r]).
• s in Germany, is pronounced [z] (as in "zebra") if it forms the syllable onset (e.g. Sohn [zoːn]), otherwise [s] (e.g. Bus [bʊs]). In Austria and Switzerland, it is always pronounced [s]. A ss [s] indicates that the preceding vowel is short. st and sp at the beginning of words of German origin are pronounced [ʃt] and [ʃp], respectively.
• ß (a letter unique to German called scharfes S or Eszett) was a ligature of a double s and of an sz and is always pronounced [s]. Originating in Blackletter typeface, it traditionally replaced ss at the end of a syllable (e.g. ich muss → ich muß; ich müsste → ich müßte); within a word it contrasts with ss [s] in indicating that the preceding vowel is long (compare in Maßen [in ˈmaːsən] "with moderation" and in Massen [in ˈmasən] "in loads"). The use of ß has recently been limited by the latest German spelling reform and is no longer used for ss after a short vowel (e.g. "ich muß" and "ich müßte" were always pronounced with a short U/Ü); Switzerland and Liechtenstein already abolished it in 1934.
• sch is pronounced [ʃ] (like "sh" in "shine").
• tion in Latin loanwords is pronounced [tsion].
• th is found, rarely, in loanwords and is pronounced [t]
• v is pronounced [f] in words of Germanic origin, such as Vater [ˈfaːtɐ], Vogel "bird", von "from, of", vor "before, in front of", voll "full" and the prefix ver-. It is also used in loanwords, where it is, traditionally, supposed to be pronounced [v]. This pronunciation is retained for example in Vase, Vikar, Viktor, Viper, Ventil, vulgär, and English loanwords; however, pronunciation tends to [f] the further you travel south. Some words, such as Ventil and the name Valentin (not, for example, Vase) have reached a plain f in Bavaria and Swabia.
• w is pronounced [v] as in "vacation" (e.g. was [vas]).
• y is pronounced as [y] when long, and [ʏ] when short (as in Hygiene [hygiːnə] ; Labyrinth [labyˈʁɪnt] or Gymnasium /ɡʏmˈnaːziʊm/), except in ay and ey which are both pronounced [ai]. It is also often used in loanwords and pronounced like in the original language like in Style or Recycling.
• z is always pronounced [t͡s] (e.g. zog [t͡soːk]). A tz indicates that the preceding vowel is short.

Consonant shifts

For more details on this topic, see High German consonant shift.

German does not have any dental fricatives (as English th). The th sounds, which the English language still has, disappeared on the continent in German with the consonant shifts between the 8th and the 10th centuries. It is sometimes possible to find parallels between English and German by replacing the English th with d in German: "Thank" → in German "Dank", "this" and "that" → "dies" and "das", "thou" (old 2nd person singular pronoun) → "du", "think" → "denken", "thirsty" → "durstig" and many other examples.

Likewise, the gh in Germanic English words, pronounced in several different ways in modern English (as an f, or not at all), can often be linked to German ch: "to laugh" → lachen, "through" and "thorough" → durch, "high" → hoch, "naught" → nichts, "light" → leicht or Licht, "sight" → Sicht, "daughter" → Tochter, "neighbour" → Nachbar.

German language media worldwide

A visible sign of the geographical extension of German language are the German language media outside the German-speaking countries.

According to W3Techs, 6% of websites are written in German, making it the second most used language on the Internet.

Literature

Main article: German literature

The German language is used in German literature and can be traced back to the Middle Ages, with the most notable authors of the period being Walther von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von Eschenbach. The Nibelungenlied, whose author remains unknown, is also an important work of the epoch. The fairy tales collections collected and published by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the 19th century became famous throughout the world.

Reformer and theologian Martin Luther, who was the first to translate the Bible into German, is widely credited for having set the basis for the modern "High German" language. Among the most well known German poets and authors are Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, Hoffmann, Brecht, Heine and Schmidt. Thirteen German-speaking people have won the Nobel Prize in literature: Theodor Mommsen, Rudolf Christoph Eucken, Paul von Heyse, Gerhart Hauptmann, Carl Spitteler, Thomas Mann, Nelly Sachs, Hermann Hesse, Heinrich Böll, Elias Canetti, Günter Grass, Elfriede Jelinek and Herta Müller.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832)	Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805)	Brothers Grimm (1785–1863)	Thomas Mann (1875–1955)	Hermann Hesse (1877–1962)

German loanwords in the English language

For a list of German loanwords to English, see Category:German loanwords.

English has taken many loanwords from German, often without any change of spelling (aside from, often, the elimination of umlauts and not capitalizing nouns):

German word	English loanword	Meaning of German word
abseilen	abseil	to descend by rope / to fastrope
Angst	angst	fear
Ansatz	ansatz	onset / entry / math / approach
Anschluss	anschluss	connection / access / annexation
Automat	automat	automation / machine
Bildungsroman	bildungsroman	novel concerned with the personal development or education of the protagonist
Blitz	Blitz	flash / lightning
Bratwurst	bratwurst	fried sausage
Delikatessen	delikatessen/delicatessen	delicate / delicious food items
Doppelgänger	doppelgänger	lit. "double going/living person alive", look-alike of somebody
Dramaturg	dramaturg	professional position within a theatre or opera company that deals mainly with research and development of plays or operas
Edelweiß	edelweiss	edelweiss flower
Fest	fest	feast / celebration
Gedankenexperiment	gedankenexperiment	thought experiment
Geländesprung	gelandesprung	ski jumping for distance on alpine equipment
Gemütlichkeit	gemuetlichkeit	snug feeling, cosiness, good nature, geniality
Gestalt	gestalt	form or shape / creature / scheme; refers to a concept of 'wholeness'
Gesundheit!	Gesundheit! (Amer.)	health / bless you! (when someone sneezes)
Heiligenschein	heiligenschein	meteo. "holy shine" / halo
Hinterland	hinterland	lit. mil. "area behind the front-line": interior / backwoods
kaputt	kaput	out of order, not working (from French, être capot "to have made no tricks in card games", lit. "to be hoodwinked")
Katzenjammer	katzenjammer	lit. "cats' lament": hangover, crapulence
Kindergarten	kindergarten	lit. "children's garden" - nursery or preschool
Kitsch	kitsch	fake art, something produced exclusively for sale
Kraut	kraut	herb, cabbage in some dialects
Leitmotiv	leitmotif	guiding theme (the verb "leiten" means "to guide, to lead")
plündern (v.)	to plunder	lit. "taking goods by force" (original meaning "to take away furniture" shifted in German and was borrowed by English both during the Thirty Years War)
Poltergeist	poltergeist	lit. "rumbling ghost" (artificial compound, not originally German)
Realpolitik	realpolitik	diplomacy based on practical objectives rather than ideals
Reich	reich	empire or realm
Rucksack	rucksack	backpack (Ruck→"Rücken" which means "back")
Sauerkraut	sauerkraut	shredded and salted cabbage fermented in its own juice
Schadenfreude	schadenfreude	taking pleasure in someone else's misfortune
Sprachraum	sprachraum	lit. "place/area/room of a language": area where a certain language is spoken
Über	uber	over, above
Übermensch	ubermensch	superhuman, "overman"
verklemmt	verklemmt	lit. "jammed": inhibited, uptight
Waldsterben	waldsterben	lit. "forest dieback", dying floral environment
Wanderlust	wanderlust	desire, pleasure, or inclination to travel or walk
Weltanschauung	weltanschauung	lit. "perception of the world": ideology
Wunderkind	wunderkind	lit. "wonder child": child prodigy, whiz kid
Zeitgeist	zeitgeist	lit. "spirit of the times": the spirit of the age; the trend at that time
Zugzwang	Zugzwang	chess term lit. "compulsion to move"

Organisations

The use and learning of the German language are promoted by a number of organisations.

Goethe-Institut

Main article: Goethe-Institut

Goethe-Institut logo

The government-backed Goethe-Institut (named after the famous German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) aims to enhance the knowledge of German culture and language within Europe and the rest of the world. This is done by holding exhibitions and conferences with German-related themes, and providing training and guidance in the learning and use of the German language. For example the Goethe-Institut teaches the Goethe-Zertifikat German language qualification.

Verein Deutsche Sprache

The Dortmund-based Verein Deutsche Sprache (VDS), which was founded in 1997, supports the German language and is the largest language association of citizens in the world. The VDS has more than thirty-five thousand members in over seventy countries. Its founder, statistics professor Dr. Walter Krämer, has remained chairperson of the association from its beginnings.

Deutsche Welle

Main article: Deutsche Welle

The German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle is the equivalent of the British BBC World Service and provides radio and television broadcasts in German and 30 other languages across the globe. Its German language services are tailored for German language learners by being spoken at slow speed. Deutsche Welle also provides an E-learning website to learn German.

See also

• Deutsch (disambiguation)
• German family name etymology
• German toponymy
• Germanism (linguistics)
• List of German exonyms
• List of German expressions in English
• List of non-English-language newspapers in New South Wales#German language newspapers
• List of pseudo-German words adapted to English
• List of terms used for Germans
• Names for the German language
• Otto Basler

Bibliography

• Fausto Cercignani, The Consonants of German: Synchrony and Diachrony, Milano, Cisalpino, 1979.
• Michael Clyne, The German Language in a Changing Europe (1995) ISBN 0-521-49970-4
• George O. Curme, A Grammar of the German Language (1904, 1922)—the most complete and authoritative work in English
• Durrell, M (2006). "Germanic Languages". In Brown, Keith. Encyclopedia of language & linguistics. Elsevier. pp. 53–55. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/02189-1. ISBN 978-0-08-044299-0. Retrieved 6 February 2015. Lay summary (6 February 2015).  – via ScienceDirect (Subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries.)
• Anthony Fox, The Structure of German (2005) ISBN 0-19-927399-5
• Harbert, Wayne (2007). The Germanic Languages. Cambridge Language Surveys. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511755071. ISBN 978-0-521-01511-0. Retrieved 26 February 2015. Lay summary – Language (journal of the Linguistic Society of America) (26 February 2015). 
• König, Ekkehard; van der Auwera, Johan, eds. (1994). The Germanic Languages. Routledge Language Family Descriptions. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-28079-2. Retrieved 26 February 2015. Lay summary (26 February 2015).  The survey of the Germanic branch languages includes chapters by Winfred P. Lehmann, Ans van Kemenade, John Ole Askedal, Erik Andersson, Neil Jacobs, Silke Van Ness, and Suzanne Romaine.
• W.B. Lockwood, German Today: The Advanced Learner's Guide (1987) ISBN 0-19-815850-5
• Ruth H. Sanders. German: Biography of a Language (Oxford University Press; 2010) 240 pages. Combines linguistic, anthropological, and historical perspectives in a "biography" of German in terms of six "signal events" over millennia, including the Battle of Kalkriese, which blocked the spread of Latin-based language north.

External links

• Texts on Wikisource:
  • "German Language", Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., 1911
  • Mark Twain, The Awful German Language, 1880
  • Carl Schurz, The German Mothertongue, 1897
• German (language) at DMOZ