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Kauderwelsch German Slang German the real German Very Peculiar: Denglisch! Ich hab mir die Datei downgeloaded* / gedownloaded*. I downloaded the file. Denglisch verbs can be used as nouns as well and are then capitalised as per usual in German: Das Einchecken* am Flughafen nervt! The check-in at the airport is nerve-racking! Adjectives The most prominent example for a Denglisch adjective in idiomatic German is cool*, which means ‘hip’, ‘in’, ‘great’ etc., but never physically cold! When used in German it’s inf lected like any German adjective, including the comparative and superlative forms. As for downloaden*: The first approach follows the example of the correct German equivalent runtergeladen, which is the past participle of the separable verb runterladen (= ich lade die Datei runter). The second approach recognises that you cannot actually separate the English word like that and therefore the past participle for non-separable verbs is formed. Das war ‘n absolut cooles* Event*! That was an absolutely cool event! [big events only, like a rock concert, the Queen visiting ...] cooler* als das coolste* Gefährt cooler than the coolest vehicle The opposite exists as well: uncool*, whereby the un- is pronounced like traditional Ger man! More Denglisch adjectives are for example: over-/underdressed*, tricky*, trendy*, hip*, in*, stoned*, high*, spaced*... 19 German Dialects German Dialects T his book cannot show all the dialect varieties of German colloquialisms, but concentrates on idiomatic language that has been in use for many years and will most likely continue to be used in German as if it were Hochdeutsch (standard German). However, even though the use of dialects is not as widespread as it used to be at the beginning of the 20th century, people will never cease to spice up their standard German with regional expressions. Let’s therefore take a look at some of the regional dialects: The north Another dialect is Ostfriesisch, spoken in the north-west along the German North Sea coast and islands. East Frisian uses similar expressions as in Low Saxon, therefore I’ll not crowd you with further examples. 20 The dominant north-western dialect is Plattdüütsch (Plattdeutsch) and is mostly spoken in the federal states Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Bremen but also stretching into Mecklenburg - West Pomerania. In English it’s usually referred to as Low Saxon or Low German. In the northern federal states which were formerly in East Germany (especially in Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony) Säggsch (Sächsisch) is the primary dialect spoken. In English the dialect is called Upper Saxon. Different again are the dialects in Mecklenburg - West Pomerania, Brandenburg and of German Dialects course Berlin. Berlinerisch (Berlinisch) was voted to be the second most sexy Ger man dialect in a survey by the German edition of the magazine Playboy (the most sexy one was Bavarian). The south The internationally best known German dialect is surely Bairisch (Bavarian). It’s renowned for being spoken by women in bosomdisplaying Dirndl-dresses and blokes in somewhat kinky Lederhosen (leather pants). Bavarian is used throughout Southern Germany in large parts of the federal state Bavaria, with the exception of the area around and north of Nuremberg (Nürnberg), which is home to Fränkisch. Another variant of Bavarian is also at home in large parts of Austria. The south-west of Germany on the other hand hosts Alemannic, or as they call it, Alemannisch. It can be found in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, where it’s called Badisch, but also in the French Alsace region (Elsass), where it’s known as Elsässisch. In the German speaking part of Switzerland it’s called Schwyzerdütsch (Schweizerdeutsch). The other dialect of the south-west is known as Schwäbisch which is used in the Swabian regions within the federal states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. In Vienna (Wien) the people speak the special variant Wienerisch. 21 German Dialects The middle Since the dialects of Berlin and regions in North Rhine -Westphalia have such a great influence on modern German idiom in sheer numbers already (one fourth of the total population), I’ve included some regional expressions from these. 22 The middle-west offers more than one dialect per federal state, probably because it’s the most densely populated area of Germany: 18 million people live in North Rhine Westphalia alone (530 persons/km²), speaking Kölsch in Cologne (Köln) and related Ripuarian Franconian dialects along the northern River Rhine from Bonn until the river disappears into the Netherlands. The other bit of North Rhine - Westphalia is dominated by Westfälisch, called Westphalian in English, which is actually more closely related to Low Saxon again. It is also the home of coal miner’s German, which is used in the Ruhrpott along the River Ruhr between Westphalia and the River Rhine. This area is the most densely populated region in the whole of Germany at almost 1.200 persons/km²! Not surprisingly newly invented idioms in this area tend to catch on easily in the rest of Germany. The southern River Rhine region between Koblenz, the border with Luxemburg and Mainz on the River Main is home to both Moselle and Rhenish Franconian. It’s spoken in the federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) and Saarland. The dialect is subsequently called Pfälzisch. Another variant in the area is Hessisch, which is mainly spoken in the federal state of Hesse with Frankfurt at its heart. German Dialects Some examples in comparison There are vast differences in greeting one another or expressing basic polite phrases. Since these are crucial to know, you will find the terms ‘good day’, ‘how are you’, ‘goodbye’, ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry’ listed for some German dialects: Standard Plattdeutsch Sächsisch Berlinisch Bairisch Zürichdialekt Badisch Schwäbisch Kölsch Westfälisch Good morning! Guten Morgen! all times of day: Morschn! Morjen! all times of day: all times of day: all times of day: Guada Morga! Morjen! Moagen! Good day! Good evening! Guten Tag! Guten Abend! Moin moin! Daach! N’Abend. Tachchen! N’Abend. Grüaß God! / ‘ß God! / Servus! Gruezi! / Grüessech! Sally! / Servus! Griaß Godd(le)! Gudn Obnd! Tach! N’Abend. Tach(chen)! N’Abend. There’re certainly quite some differences and it’s interesting to note that in some dialects, people prefer to not bother with dif ferent greetings (depending on the time of day) even though they could (e.g. in Badisch: Gute Morge! [good morning], Gute Tag! [good day] and Gute Nobig! [good evening], but they’ll prefer Sally! and Servus!). Even more pronounced are the dialect differences, when people embark on a conversation with one another and set out by asking after the other person’s well-being: Especially in the north, as of midday Germans tend to greet each other with Mahlzeit! [mealtime] in a work situation, even though no-one may be eating at the time! 23