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German language

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German language

Deutsch, deutsche Sprache
Native to Primarily in German-speaking Europe, as a minority language, and amongst the German diaspora worldwide
Native speakers

Standard German: 90 million  (2010)[1]
all varieties of German: 120 million (1990–2005)[2]

L2 speakers: 80 million
Early forms
Latin (German alphabet)
German Braille
Signed German, LBG
(Lautsprachbegleitende/Lautbegleitende Gebärden)
Official status
Official language in

(South Tyrol)

 European Union (official and working language)
Recognised minority
language in
 Czech Republic[3]

(spoken by some communities and most studied language in schools and high schools)

 Namibia (National language; official language 1984–90)[7][8]
 Poland (Auxiliary language)[9]
 Slovakia (Official municipal language of Krahule/Blaufuß)[12][13]
 Brazil (Co-official municipal language in Pomerode and other municipalities)[14]
 South Africa[15]
  Vatican City (Co-Administrative and co-commanding language of the Swiss Guard)[16]
 Venezuela (Colonia Tovar)[17]
Regulated by

No official regulation

(German orthography regulated by the Council for German Orthography[18]).
Language codes
ISO 639-1 de
ISO 639-2 ger (B)
deu (T)
ISO 639-3 Variously:
deu – Standard 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
Glottolog high1287  (High Franconian)[19]
uppe1397  (Upper German)[20]

German (Deutsch  ( )) is a West Germanic language. It derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family.[21] A number of words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer from French and English. Widely spoken languages which are most similar to German include Luxembourgish, Dutch, the Frisian languages, English and the Scandinavian languages.

German is written using 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"; it originated as a ligature of archaic forms of the letters s and z, which were represented as ſ and ʒ, respectively, that is, ſ + ʒ = ſʒ = ß).



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, such as Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Namibia, and Poland. At the same time, German is the second most commonly used scientific language and the third largest contributor to research and development, as well as an important language in business and culture. 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.[23][24] German is also the second most used content language for websites.[25]


  • History 1
    • Origins 1.1
    • Modern German 1.2
      • Germany 1.2.1
      • The Austrian empire 1.2.2
      • Switzerland 1.2.3
      • Standardization 1.2.4
  • Geographic distribution 2
    • Europe 2.1
    • Africa 2.2
    • North America 2.3
    • South America 2.4
    • Oceania 2.5
  • Standard German 3
    • Official status 3.1
    • German as a foreign language 3.2
  • Dialects 4
    • Low German 4.1
    • High German 4.2
    • Varieties of standard German 4.3
  • Grammar 5
    • Noun inflection 5.1
    • Verb inflection 5.2
    • Word order 5.3
  • Vocabulary 6
  • Orthography 7
    • Present 7.1
    • Past 7.2
    • Reform of 1996 7.3
  • Phonology 8
    • Vowels 8.1
    • Consonants 8.2
      • Consonant shifts 8.2.1
  • German language media worldwide 9
  • Literature 10
  • German loanwords in the English language 11
  • Organisations 12
    • Goethe-Institut 12.1
    • Verein Deutsche Sprache 12.2
    • Deutsche Welle 12.3
  • See also 13
  • References 14
  • Bibliography 15
  • External links 16




The history of the language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, separating 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; 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 Holy Roman Empire.

As 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 writers to be understood by as many readers as possible.

Modern German




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

Until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language: in urban northern Germany, the local dialects of Low Saxon or Low German 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, an urbanite, irrespective 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. A few cities remained mainly non-German. However, most cities, such as Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, Zagreb (German: Agram), and Ljubljana (German: Laibach), were primarily German during this time, although 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.


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.


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 norm not corresponding to any traditional spoken dialect, but based on the pronunciation of Standard German in Northern Germany (where it was a foreign language for most inhabitants, whose native dialects were Low German, and usually encountered only in writing or formal speech; in fact, Standard German remained an exclusively or almost exclusively written language, not identical with any spoken dialect, throughout the German-speaking area until well into the 19th century), although it was subsequently frequently regarded as a general prescriptive norm, despite differing pronunciation traditions especially in the Upper-German-speaking regions that persist until the present day in part (especially the pronunciation of the ending -ig as [ɪk] instead of [ɪç]).

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 1996, when a controversial spelling reform was officially promulgated by governments of all German-speaking countries.

Geographic distribution

German-speaking communities can be found in the former German colony of Namibia as well as in other destinations of German emigration such as the USA, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Venezuela (where the dialect Alemán Coloniero developed), Jordan,[26] 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)[27]
 US 5,000,000
 Brazil 3,000,000
 Argentina 500,000
 Canada 450,000 - 620,000[28]
 Bolivia 320,000 (250,000 standard German speakers[29][30] & 70,000 low German speakers (Mennonites))[31][32]
 Australia 110,000
 Mexico 100,000 (100,000 Low German speakers (Mennonites))[33]
 South Africa 75,000 (German expatriate citizens alone)
 Chile 40,000
 New Zealand 37,500
 Paraguay 30,000 - 40,000
 Namibia 30,000
 Venezuela 10,000
 Peru 7,583 (Not including German expatriate citizens)


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



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 European German-speaking communities 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 partly depopulated these communities.


German is spoken by about 25-30,000 people as a mother tongue in the former German colony of Namibia. Though it no longer enjoys status 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 (German-language programming of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation), 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

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 (the second most spoken language in other states is Spanish, French or Tagalog).[35] 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 Loyal (formerly Kiel) and Berlin in Oklahoma; and Kiel, Berlin, and Germantown in Wisconsin.

Between 1843 and 1910, more than 5 million Germans emigrated overseas,[36] mostly to the United States.[37] German remained an important medium for churches, schools, newspapers, and even the administration of the United States Brewers' Association[38] 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 can still be 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).[39] 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.





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[40][41] 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,[42][43][44][45] while Rio Grande do Sul has Riograndenser Hunsrückisch German as linguistic heritage officially approved statewide.[46][47] 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:


Espírito Santo:

Minas Gerais:

Santa Catarina:

Rio Grande do Sul:


Municipalities that have co-official language Riograndenser Hunsrückisch language:

Santa Catarina:

  • Antônio Carlos[64]
  • Treze Tílias (language teaching is compulsory in schools, standing on stage in public official of the municipality)[65][66][67]

Rio Grande do Sul:





Standard German

The national and regional standard varieties of the German language.[69]

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.



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[70] (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

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 main language of about 95[2] – 100 million[34] people in Europe (as of 2005), or 13.3% of all Europeans; it is the second most spoken native language in Europe after Russian, above French (66.5 million speakers in 2004) and English (64.2 million speakers in 2004). It is therefore the most spoken first language in the EU. It is the second most known foreign language in the EU.[72] 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).[73] This is assisted by the widespread availability of German TV by cable or satellite.




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.[75]


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

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 two High Franconian dialects are East Franconian and South Franconian.



Varieties of standard German





Noun inflection

Declension of the German definite articles, der, die and das ("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), 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.


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

Inflection of standard German verbs includes:

  • 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 dividable 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.
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).



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




Word order




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:


Object in front:


Adverb of time in front:


Both time expressions in front:

The full time specification Gestern um 10 Uhr is highlighted.

Another possibility:


Swapped adverbs:

The phrase mit einem Schirm in der Hand is highlighted.

Swapped object:

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

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


Modal verbs


Multiple infinitives


Man nimmt an, dass der Deserteur wohl erschossenV wordenpsv seinperf sollmod
One suspects that the deserter probably shot become be should


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



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[76] and most recently English.[77]

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.[78] It is claimed that this would also help in spreading modern or scientific notions among the less educated, and thus democratise public life, too.


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



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.)




(Listen to a German speaker recite the alphabet in German)

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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.[80] (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. The Fraktur script 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.


Reform of 1996


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'.



Spoken German in Goethe's Faust






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





Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Plosive p3  b4 t3  d4 k3  ɡ4
Affricate pf ts   ()5
Fricative f  v s  z ʃ  (ʒ)5 x1 h
Nasal m n ŋ
Approximant l j
Rhotic r2 (ʁ~ʀ)2
Consonant spellings
  • j is pronounced [j] in Germanic words (Jahr [jaːɐ]). In recent loanwords, it follows more or less the respective languages' pronunciations.
  • q only exists in combination with u and appears in both Germanic and Latin words (quer; Qualität). But as most words containing q are Latinate, the letter is considerably rarer in German than it is in English. The digraph qu is pronounced [kv].
  • tion in Latin loanwords is pronounced [tsion].
  • 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.
  • y is pronounced as [y] (like in Hygiene ; Labyrinth or Gymnasium) 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.

Consonant shifts



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, 6.0% of websites are written in German,[83] making it the second most used language on the Internet.




Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Friedrich Schiller
Brothers Grimm
Thomas Mann
Hermann Hesse

German loanwords in the English language

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
Blitz Blitz flash / lightning
Bratwurst bratwurst fried sausage
Delikatessen delikatessen/delicatessen delicate / delicious food items
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
Heiligenschein heiligenschein meteo. "holy shine" / halo
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
Realpolitik realpolitik diplomacy based on practical objectives rather than ideals
Reich reich empire or realm
Sauerkraut sauerkraut shredded and salted cabbage fermented in its own juice
Schadenfreude schadenfreude taking pleasure in someone else's misfortune
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
Zugzwang Zugzwang chess term lit. "compulsion to move"




Goethe-Institut logo

The government-backed Goethe-Institut[84] (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


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.[86] 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


  3. ^ EUROPA - Allgemeine & berufliche Bildung - Regional- und Minderheitensprachen der Europäischen Union - Euromosaik-StudieEUROPA - Education and Training - Europa - Regional and minority languages - Euromosaïc study
  4. ^ Support from the European Commission for measures to promote and safeguard regional or minority languages and cultures - The Euromosaic study: German in Denmark (engl.). Letzter Zugriff am 13. November 2009
  5. ^
  6. ^ "KAZAKHSTAN: Special report on ethnic Germans". Retrieved 11 October 2010. 
  8. ^ "CIA World Fact book Profile: Namibia" Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  9. ^ "Map on page of Polish Ministry of Interior and Administration (MSWiA)". Retrieved 15 March 2010. 
  10. ^ "SbZ - Deutsche Minderheit in Rumänien: "Zimmerpflanze oder Betreuungs-Objekt" - Informationen zu Siebenbürgen und Rumänien". Retrieved 15 March 2010. 
  11. ^ "Geschichte". Rusdeutsch.EU. Retrieved 11 October 2010. 
  12. ^ National Geographic Collegiate Atlas of the World. Willard, Ohio: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company. April 2006. pp. 257–299.  
  14. ^ Leis Municipais
  15. ^ "Constitutional Court of South Africa - The Constitution". Retrieved 14 June 2013. 
  16. ^ Verein Deutsche Sprache e.V. (15 June 2006). "Wussten Sie, dass...". Retrieved 25 January 2012. 
  17. ^ Ethnologue report for Alemán Coloniero
  18. ^ "Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung - Über den Rat". Retrieved 11 October 2010. 
  19. ^ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "High Franconian". Glottolog 2.2. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. 
  20. ^ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Upper German". Glottolog 2.2. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. 
  21. ^  
  22. ^ German 'should be a working language of EU', says Merkel's party
  24. ^ "Why Learn German?". SDSU - German Studies Department of European Studies. Retrieved 28 September 2014. 
  25. ^
  26. ^ "Germans in Jordan - German expats in Jordan". InterNations. InterNations GmbH. 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013. 
  30. ^ "Bolivia". WorldStatesMen. Retrieved 16 June 2013. white 10% (of which German 3%) (2001) 
  32. ^ Los Menonitas en Bolivia CNN en Español
  37. ^ 49.2 million  ; the 1990 census gives 57.9 million, or 23.3% of the U.S. population.
  38. ^ Documentary History of the United States Brewers' Association
  39. ^
  40. ^ Pomerode institui língua alemã como co-oficial no Município.
  41. ^ Patrimônio - Língua alemã
  42. ^ O povo pomerano no ES
  43. ^ Plenário aprova em segundo turno a PEC do patrimônio
  44. ^ Emenda Constitucional na Íntegra
  45. ^ ALEES - PEC que trata do patrimônio cultural retorna ao Plenário
  47. ^ LEI Nº 14.061, de 23 de julho de 2012 - Declara integrante do patrimônio histórico e cultural do estado do Rio Grande do Sul a língua hunsrik, de origem germânica
  48. ^ "A escolarização entre descendentes pomeranos em Domingos Martins" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
  49. ^ a b c d e "O povo pomerano no ES" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
  50. ^ a b "A co-oficialização da língua pomerana" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
  51. ^ "Pomerano!?" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
  52. ^ "No Brasil, pomeranos buscam uma cultura que se perde" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
  53. ^ "Lei dispõe sobre a cooficialização da língua pomerana no município de Santa maria de Jetibá, Estado do Espírito Santo" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
  54. ^ "Vila Pavão, Uma Pomerânia no norte do Espirito Santo" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
  55. ^ "Descendentes de etnia germânica vivem isolados em área rural de Minas" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
  56. ^ "Pomeranos em busca de recursos federais" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
  57. ^ "Resistência cultural - Imigrantes que buscaram no Brasil melhores condições de vida, ficaram isolados e sem apoio do poder público" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 November 2011. 
  58. ^ "Pomerode institui língua alemã como co-oficial no Município." (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 August 2011. 
  59. ^ "Vereadores propõem ensino da língua pomerana nas escolas do município" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 August 2011. 
  60. ^ "Ontem e hoje : percurso linguistico dos pomeranos de Espigão D'Oeste-RO" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
  61. ^ "Sessão Solene em homenagem a Comunidade Pomerana" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
  62. ^ "Percurso linguistico dos pomeranos de Espigão D Oeste-RO" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 November 2011. 
  63. ^ "Comunidade Pomerana realiza sua tradicional festa folclórica" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
  64. ^ Cooficialização da língua alemã em Antônio Carlos
  65. ^ "Vereadores de Treze Tílias se reuniram ontem" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 August 2011. 
  67. ^ "Um pedaço da Aústria no Brasil" (in Portuguese). Treze Tílias. Retrieved 21 August 2011. 
  68. ^ "Em Santa Maria do Herval, regiăo de Novo Hamburgo, RS, surge forte a mobilizaçăo em favor do Hunsrik - a faceta brasileira/latino-americana do Hunsrückisch. Em Serafina Correa, RS, floresce o talian"Dialetos Hunsrik e Talian na ofensiva no Sul - (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2011. 
  70. ^ Euromosaic study: German in Denmark
  72. ^ After English; "Europeans and Language" (PDF).  
  73. ^ "Languages in Europe".  
  75. ^ Nederduits
  76. ^ some of which might be reborrowings from Germanic Frankish
  77. ^ a phenomenon known in German as Denglisch or in English as Germish or Denglisch
  78. ^ Verein Deutsche Sprache e.V. "Verein Deutsche Sprache e.V. - Der Anglizismen-Index". Retrieved 15 March 2010. 
  81. ^ "Mittelschulvorbereitung Deutsch". Retrieved 15 March 2010. 
  83. ^ "Usage of content languages for websites". 28 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013. 
  84. ^ "Learning German, Experiencing Culture - Goethe-Institut". Retrieved 24 January 2012. 
  85. ^ Homepage of Verein Deutsche Sprache



External links

  • The Goethe Institute: German Government sponsored organisation for the promotion of the German language and culture.
  • Texts on Wikisource:
  • German (language) at DMOZ
