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Germanism (linguistics)
Encyclopedia
A Germanism is a loan word
or other loan element borrowed from German
for use in some other language.
Technology and engineering have also provided Germanisms, as in the English bremsstrahlung
(a form of electromagnetic radiation
), or the French schnorchel (literally, "submarine snorkel," a type of air-intake device for submarine engines).
, a colloquial term for ethnic Germans is aberjetze, from German aber jetzt! ("come on, now!"), possibly due to the frequent use of that phrase by German farmers or overseers in exhorting their workers.
has many loan words brought back from Germany by migrant workers. Krikëll for "beer mug," for example, is borrowed from the Austrian German
term Krügel. The German word Schalter has been borrowed in both its meanings ("(office) counter" and "(electric) switch") as Albanian shalter.
In connection with the football World Cup the German team is called farik el Mannschaft with the German Mannschaft meaning team – wherein farik is already the Arabic term for "team" and is supplemented by the article el. When at the football World Cup of 2006 the German team lost to Italy, a saying went el Mannschaft khessret! ("The Mannschaft lost!")
In Sudan, the German word Kollege (colleague) acquired a very unusual importance. There it means straw, which was bound to a bundle for drying. The background to this important change is that colleagues are seen in the context of staying closely together.
, a tribal language in Cameroon
, the word for "train station" is banop from the German Bahnhof, which recalls the Germans building the first railway in their former colony.
(14th century), trade and administration in Belarus were strongly influenced by Germans. This show words such as čynš (чынш) from German Zins for "interest", handal (гандаль) from German Handel for "trade" and štempel (штэмпэль) from German Stempel for "rubber stamp". Other examples are hiešeft (гешэфт) from German Geschäft for "Business" and falšavać (фальшаваць) from German fälschen for counterfeiting.
Even the German word Anzug, "suit", is used in Bulgarian. However, it means "tracksuit" there.
covers, Gullideckel in German. The common Chinese term for "rain water hole", 雨水口, yushuikou, is called guli, 骨沥, in the Qingdao
form – contrary to the rest of China. The Chinese learned of storm drains for a city sewage in the German lease area of Jiaozhou
. The approximately 40 German loan words that are in use in Qingdao still include the word 大嫚, daman, for Damen, "ladies" with 胶州大嫚 meaning "Jiaozhou-women".
In the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, typical Austrian German words such as paradajz (Paradeiser meaning from paradise, for tomato
, the verbatim translation rajčica is increasingly used), špajza (Speise, food), knedli (Knödel, dumplings), Putar ("butter", actually maslac), ribizli ("Ribisel", currants), šnicla (Schnitzel, pieces or chips, actually odrezak), Fijaker (Fiaker, Fiacre
), foranga (Vorhänge, "curtains"), herceg (Herzog, "Duke"), majstor (Meister, "master") or tišljar (Tischler, "carpenter", actually postolar).
Similarly, names such as pleh (Blech, "tin"), cajger (Zeiger, "pointer"), žaga (Säge, "saw"), šalter (Schalter, "switch"), šrafciger (Schraubenzieher, "screwdriver", actually odvijač) or curik or rikverc (Zurück, "back" or rückwärts "backwards", for the reverse gear) are common in Croatia. Especially in the technical fields there are almost no phonetic differences with the German words, and most Croats
understand these without good language skills in German.
Very rarely, the terms špajscimer (Speisezimmer, "dining room"), badecimer (Badezimmer, "bathroom"), forcimer (Vorzimmer, "hall"), šlafcimer (Schlafzimmer, "bedroom") and cimer fraj (Zimmer frei, "free room") are used in the colloquial language, as these newer loans mainly appear in advertising aimed for German tourists.
The washing machine is often referred to colloquially vešmašina (Waschmaschine, actually perilica za rublje). Somewhat odd is the use of the term cušpajz (Zuspeise, additional food) for a kind of vegetable stew.
German import words were so frequently, that already Jan Hus
1412 vehemently opposed them. There were words like hantuch from German Handtuch for towel, šorc from Schürze for apron, knedlík from Knödel
, hausknecht, German Hausknecht, for servant and forman from Fuhrmann for waggoner. But Hus did not succeed. Knedlíky are still served, and in 1631, the school reformer Jan Amos Komenský didn't have a problem to translate the biblical term paradise with lusthaus (German Lusthaus "house of joy").
In the late 19th century, many Czech craftsmen worked in the German-speaking area of the Danube monarchy. The Czech language degrade into a servants language and took many loan words from this category: ermloch from German Ärmelloch for arm hole, flikovat from German flicken for darning and piglovat from bügeln for ironing.
In domestic disputes, German was a supplier of cuss words. Václav Havel
used the word glajchšaltace (German Gleichschaltung
) to denounce the forced bringing-into-line, and called his counterpart Václav Klaus
an oberkašpar. (German vernacular Oberkaspar literally "master Kasperle
", "master buffoon"). He, in turn, called a Havel a lump (German Lump: approximately rascal, rapscallion). Sometimes opponents completely use German in order to ininhibit insult each other. Such an insult for example may be Sie blöde Ente "you stupid duck" (in German, this animal however is usually not used as a cuss...)
Other (sometimes used colloquially) Germanisms in Czech:
", is used in the form of habengut to express one's possessions carried along. The word was introduced to Denmark by travelling journeymen who took all their possessions along with them.
Bundesliga-hår ("Bundesliga hair") is the Danish word for a mullet
, because this type of haircut (as well as in Hungary) was regarded a characteristic of football Bundesliga players. Also the Italians saw this kind of connection and dubbed it capelli alla tedesca (German style haircut).
includes some well established words from German, for example überhaupt (at all, generally), sowieso (anyway), Fingerspitzengefühl (roughly "sensitivity", literally "finger tip feel").
The word unheimisch is used for something scary. However in German this word no longer exists.
In sports, the words Schwalbe (in German the bird swallow, but also used for diving (football)
), Alleingang (German for solo, also used in a in a figurative sense), Ausputzer (sweeper) and die Mannschaft (the team, for the German national soccer team) are used.
". The first kindergarten outside the German area was founded in 1851 in London. Five years later, Margarethe Schurz opened the first kindergarten in America in Watertown, Wisconsin
. The language in the first kindergarten was German, as they were thought to be for the children of German immigrants. In 1882, the number of kindergartens in the US was 348. Meanwhile, the majority of Americans are no longer aware of the German origin of the word. The kindergarten teacher was first called "kindergartner", and later "kindergarten teacher". "Kindergartner" is now the child who attends the kindergarten. The verb "to kindergarten" means using the kindergarten method. Often, however, only the first letter 'K' of the word "kindergarten" is used, so a "pre-K" is a child who is not old enough for kindergarten.
In English, the German "über" (hyper, over) is sometimes (often spelled "uber") used in compositions, as in ubergeek, to express extreme progression. In German on the other hand, the prefix "Über" is rarely used in the sense of superior, instead, "Super" is used, as in Superminister. The peculiar feature of the German language to build compound nouns contributes to proliferation of Germanisms and interesting neologisms.
Americans students often use the term "foosball" (German Fußball) for the tabletop football, for which in Germany however the English term "kicker" is used.
For mobile phone
s, in German the pseudo-anglicism
Handy is used, which is gradually establishing itself on the east coast of the United States as a designation for mobile phones, too. English slang dictionaries started to list "handy" in the meaning "mobile phone".
If somebody is sneezing, one may respond "[god] bless you". Because many people don't want use a blessing phrase without religious context, instead the German term "gesundheit" is widely used. In German, Gesundheit means health, but is also used as response when someone sneezes.
The Concise Oxford English Dictionary
lists the German word verboten, defined as "forbidden by an authority".
and German languages. Estonia was conquered in the Livonian crusade
by German and Danish crusaders already in the 13th century. Since then, Estonia was settled by priests, merchants and craftsmen from Germany. As a result, the Estonian language has borrowed nearly a third of its vocabulary
from Germanic languages, mainly from German. Examples include: vein (Wein, wine), klaver (Klavier, piano), reis (Reise, trip) and kunst (art). Modern loans from the Germans include reisibüroo (Reisebüro, travel agency) and kleit (Kleid, dress).
, some Germanisms are due to the experiences in the Second World War, such as witz for a bad joke or threatening (in German, Witz is just joke) and ersatz for ersatz coffee (German Ersatzkaffee, but more usually Muckefuck, itself probably a Francesism from mocca faux). The word lied, same meaning in English and French, is derived from the German Lied which translates as "song". (In German, the term Lied refers to any kind of song, however for contemporary music in German also often the anglicism
Song is used.)
In French the word vasistas denotes a skylight window. The word probably originates from the Napoleonic Wars
, when French soldiers looking at the German skylight ask Was ist das? (What is this?) It then became the name for this kind of windows.
Schubladiser is the French term for filing or procrastinating something. The noun is schubladisation. Schublade is German for drawer, therefore these French terms can be literally translated as "drawering" and "drawerisation", resp.
In Swiss French
, there are some terms derived from (Swiss) German such as poutzer instead of nettoyer (cleaning, in German putzen) or speck instead of lard (bacon, in German Speck).
Around the German-French border areas, inherently many words cross the language border, for example, in Lorraine
: Instead of ça éclabousse, ça spritz is used for "this sputters" – spritzen is "sputtering" in German. Spritz as a term for extruded biscuits (Spritzgebäck in German) is known everywhere in France.
uses a few German loadwords for terms related to German or Austrian culture, such as snitsel (σνίτσελ; Schnitzel) and froilain (φροϊλάιν, from Fräulein
, "Miss", used only for young women from Germany or Austria). Some loan words were introduced by the gastarbáiter ( γκασταρμπάιτερ , German Gastarbeiter
), who have spent part of their life in Germany or Austria, such as lumben (λούμπεν ), meaning "riffraff", from German Lump, "rogue".
) and dübel (German Dübel for dowel
), the latter pronounced [diːbl] due to the missing "ü
" umlaut
.
The German word Strudel
(שטרודל) in Hebrew is used for the character "@" in E-mail addresses, after the shape of the pastry.
The Hebrew word for siesta, is schlafstunde (German literally "hour to sleep"), although it is not clear whether the Yekke
s started that habit in Israel or brought it from Germany.
The modern month names in Israel correspond to the German names: Januar, Februar, März, etc. The only modification is August which is – diffent from the German – pronounced "Ogust", because the vocal connection "au" in Hebrew is unusual.
at the time of the marriage of the state's founder, Stephen I of Hungary to princess Giselle of Bavaria
in the year 996. An early example is the word Herzog ("Duke
"). The Hungarian word herceg formed as a result of vowel harmony
, the alignment of vowels in a word. This Hungarian word was later borrowed for the landscape name Hercegovina.
German clergy, farmers and craftsmen were linguistically influential, particularly in the 13th and 18th centuries, bringing their own terminology to Hungary. These include the job titles bakter (Wächter, night watchman, train guard), suszter (Schuster, cobbler) and sinter (Schinder, a knacker
) as well as the terms kuncsaft (Kundschaft, customer) and majszter (Meister, master). In some professions, a large part of technical terms came via German, e.g. in the field of carpentry lazur (Lasur, glaze
), firnisz (Firnis, lacquer
), lakk (Lack, varnish
), smirgli (Schmirgelpapier, sandpaper
) and colstok (Zollstock, foot rule).
Words were also loaned in the time of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy
. This explains a number of German words that are mainly used in Austria
. These include the words krampusz (Krampus
, companion of Santa Claus
), partvis (Bartwisch, hand broom
s), nokedli (Nocken, dumpling
), and ribizli (Ribisel, gooseberry
). Eszcájg derives from "Esszeug". Second-hand goods dealers were called handlé (merchant, Händler). Further examples include fasírt (Austrian German
faschiert, minced meat), knődli (Knödel, hot dumplings).
Even a German sentence became a Hungarian word. Vigéc, derived from the German greeting "Wie geht's?" (How are you?) is the Hungarian word for a door-to-door salesman. The word spájz (Speis, Austrian German
for Speisekammer) is being used for the pantry
.
The Hungarian phrase nem nagy vaszisztdasz ("not a big what-is-it") is an informal way of belittling the complexity/importance of something (from German was ist das?, what is it?).
. Un lager in Italian is not a beer like in English, but short for Konzentrationslager.
German tourists's demand brought il wurstel to Italy (Würstel is a German dialect word for sausages), and even il wurstel con krauti (German Kraut
short for Sauerkraut
).
include some words with German origin, such as アルバイト (arubaito) from the German Arbeit ("work", "job"); however, in Japan it is used to denote a minor job, e.g., a student's sideline.
Other words transferred into Japanese are related to climbing
, like ヒュッテ (hyutte) from German Hütte for mountain hut, ゲレンデ (gerende) from German "Gelände" for terrain, アイゼン (aizen) from German Eisen (short for Steigeisen) for crampons
, エーデルワイス (ēderuwaisu) for Edelweiß, リュックサック (ryukkusakku) from German Rucksack for backpack and probably also シュラフ (shurafu) from German Schlafsack for sleeping bag
. Also, the main Japanese mountain chain is called Japanese Alps
.
During the Second World War, in Japanese weekly newsreel
s the military victories of the German Generalfeldmarschall
Erwin Rommel
in Africa were frequently celebrated, thus establishing rommel as the Japanese term for victory or success. Even today, Japanese football mascots are called with this word.
Since the medical education initially was influenced by its German teachers, many German medical terms became part of the Japanese language. These include クランケ (kuranke) from German Kranke as a term for the sick ones, カルテ (karute) from German Karte (card) in the sense of a card to record the course of disease of a patient, ギプス (gipusu) from German Gips for an orthopedic cast, アレルギー (arerugī) from German Allergie for allergy, and ノイローゼ (noirōze) from German Neurose for neurosis. Even the word オルガスムス (orugasumusu) for orgasm
originates from the German word Orgasmus.
Of the typical German food items, the most commonly found in Japan are ザワークラウト (sawākurauto, Sauerkraut
) and the cake specialties シュトレン (shutoren, Stollen
) and バウムクーヘン (baumukūhen, Baumkuchen
).
See also gairaigo
.
, the language of the East African country Burundi
, the word for German people (the former colonial rulers) is dagi. That is derived from the German salutation Tag, short for Guten Tag (literally "[I wish you a] good day").
most Japanese loan words are removed from the vocabulary. This does not include the word 아르바이트 (areubaiteu) with is still used both in the Korean and Japanese language. The Japanese アルバイト (arubaito) is derived from the German word Arbeit (work, job), but here denotes a student's sideline.
Although a majority of internationalisms (largely Latin or Greek-based) are borrowed from English, a considerable minority of internationalisms are borrowed from German, usually via Japanese, in the field of chemistry, medicine, philosophy, etc., such as 요오드 (yoodeu < Iod), 망간 (manggan < Mangan), 부탄 (butan < Butan), 알레르기 (allereugi < Allergie), 히스테리 (hiseuteri < Hysterie), 이데올로기 (ideollogi < Ideologie), 테마 (Tema < Thema), etc. In addition, there are also loanwords of native German origin, such as 코펠 (kopel (portable cooker), a corrupted form of Kocher, via Japanese コッヘル kohheru), and hybrids like 메스실린더 (meseusillindeo
the denotation of witz is виц, similar as in French.
and other Slavic languages, for example kajuta from German Kajüte for (ship) cabin, sztorm from German Sturm for storm, burmistrz from German Bürgermeister for mayor, szynka from German Schinken for ham, or handel from German Handel for trade.
In Polish, szlafmyca from German Schlafmütze means night cap, but – as in German – also used in a figurative sense as sleepyhead. Szlafrok from German Schlafrock is a dressing-gown.
A Polish craftsman uses a śruba (screw, from German Schraube) and klajster (paste/glue from German Kleister). If he does not know the name of his tool, he may ask for a wihajster (thingamabob, from German Wie heißt er?, literally how is it called?). And will receive the requested thing:
There is also the word fajrant (leisure-time, from German Feierabend). In a carousal, he can drink to someone bruderszaft (from German Bruderschaft, fraternity) and disband with a rausz (from German Rausch, inebriation).
.
In Brazilian Portuguese
, German immigrants brought some German words. The word blitz describes a traffic control (German Blitz is flash, also colloquial for traffic control due to the flash light.) Also known are malzbier
, quark
and chopp, the latter from Schoppen (German for a pint, in Brazilian Portuguese however denoting a draught beer). Also, in Brazil the German Streuselkuchen
is a cuca, spread on a bread in the Riograndian Hunsrück
ian became, via the German schmier (grease), chimia. In the areas of German immigraints, also oktoberfest
and kerb (Hunsrückian for kermesse) are celebrated. The word chipa is derived from the German Schippe (shovel).
, German loans are especially found in names for craft items: bormaşină (drill, in German Bohrmaschine), ştecher (plug, Stecker), şurub (screw, Schr[a]ube), şubler (vernier caliper, Schublehre), şnur (electric cord, German Schnur is cord in general), but there are also:
After Tsar Peter the Great returned from Western Europe in the year 1698, the loan words were no longer taken from Greek and Polish. With Peter, transfers from Polish where replaced transfers from Western languages. For the drastic reforms in the military and administration, economic and administrative experts were recruited from Germany. 1716 Peter ordered that the administrative writers learn German:
In some sectors of handicraft, the Germans were the majority; towards the end of the 18th Century worked in St. Petersburg thirty German, but three Russian watchmakers.
The Russian
has taken many words from the military sector from German, for example Schlagbaum шлагбаум (turnpike) and Marschroute маршрут (line of approach), and also expressions like
Rucksack рюкзак (backpack), Massstab масштаб (scale), Strafe штраф (in German punishment, in Russian in the meaning fine), and Zifferblatt циферблат (clock face).
Mikhail Lomonosov
, who studied in Marburg
and Freiberg, is regarded as founder of the Russian mining science, mineralogy and geology. In his writings about mining and metallurgy, he uses German words, the names of metals and minerals Wismut Висмут (bismuth
), Wolfram Вольфрам (tungsten
), Gneis Гнейс (gneiss
, Kwarz (in German spelled Quarz) Кварц (quartz
), Potasch (in German Potasche) Поташ (potash
), Zink Цинк (zinc
), Schpaty (German Spat) шпаты (feldspar
), and the expression schteiger (German Steiger) (foreman of miners). Also the terms geolog (German Geologe) (geologist
), gletscher (glacier) metallurgia (German Metallurgie) (metallurgy), nikel (in German Nickel
), schichta (German Schicht (layer), used both for ore layer and layer in a blast furnace), and schlif (German Schliff) (the grinding or cutting of a stone) fall into this category.
Interestingly are terms from chess as Zugzwang
цугцванг, Zeitnot цейтнот, Endspiel эндшпиль (endgame), Mittelspiel мительшпиль (middlegame), Grossmeister (гроссмейстер) (grandmaster).
Modern expressions are Strichcode штрихкод (barcode
), Butterbrot
бутерброд, and even Brandmauer, for which in German the English expression Firewall is used.
Schram Шрам is a scar and originates from the German word Schramme (scratch, scar). A schtolnja штольня (German Stollen) is an adit
. A schpagat шпагат (German spelling Spagat) is a Split (gymnastics)
, schpinat шпинат (German spelling Spinat) spinach
and a schpion шпион (German spelling Spion) a spy.
Even the hockey term for puck
, schajba шайба, originates from German Scheibe, denoting a Washer
. Interestingly is also the word schlang шланг for garden hose, derived from the German word for a snake, Schlange. The word schtepsel штепсель originates from the German word Stöpsel (plug).
in Austria has the Serbian title gastarbajteri. A particularly avid student is called štreber (German Streber is striver). Schlag for cream is derived from the Austrian short form for Schlagobers.
The Serbian word for tomatoes, Парадајз (paradajs), is influenced from the Austrian Paradeiser.
borrowed words from handicraft: plech (German Blech for [metal] plate), drôt (Draht, wire), schuble (Schnublade, drawer), schroubovák (Schraubenzieher, screwdriver), and virhank (Vorhang, curtain).
is called Gulaschbaron (colloquialism in German language, literally "goulash
baron").
For undercover investigative journalism
in the style of Günter Wallraff
the verb wallraffa is used, which is even part of the Swedish Academy
's dictionary.
). However, krompir comes from the Palatinate word Grumbeer (potato
).
of some South American countries incorporates Germanisms introduced by German immigrants, for example, in Chile
kuchen (cake) and Frankfurter in Uruguay. The latter, however, sometimes is used for a hot dog
– not as in German for the sausage only. In Argentine, the usage of the name Pancho is interesting: it's a popular nickname for Francisco or Franco, and therefore also used for Frankfurter sausages. The Chileans pronounce kuchen as in German with the ach-Laut, not "kutshen", as a Spanish pronunciation would be.
In Chile, the German word suche (searching) is used for house staff (gardeners, errand boys). After the German immigrants came to a certain prosperity, they posted job advertisements for local forces, which often started with the German verb suche in a large-size font.
In Mexico, kermes, from the German word Kirmes (funfair
, kermesse), is used for a charitable street party.
.
Tok Pisin
in the former German colony Papua-New Guinea has words borrowed from German language. These include balaistift from German Bleistift for "pencil", however today the English term is preferred. Raus (literally in German get out! means "Go!" or "From the way". Derived from raus is rausim meaning "empty", "dismissed away."
A reminder of the missionary by German Catholic lay brothers are the words bruda from German Bruder for brother and prista from German Priester for priests. A relic of German colonialists' behaviour are invectives such as rinfi from German Rindvieh, literally cattle, but used also as invective for a silly person, and saise from German Scheiße, shit.
which was initially operated by German personnel. The Germans command fertig (ready) became the Turkish fertik and firstly also denoted the train conductor. Nevertheless, this word was only used in slang and has been abandoned after the 50s.
Another Germanism is Otoban from German Autobahn for highway.
to the learner's eye. For instance, in Russian language, a галстук galstuk is not a scarf (German literally: "Halstuch"), but a tie; nor would a парикмахер parikmacher (German literally: "Perückenmacher") be a "wig-maker", but actually denote a hairdresser.
Likewise, in Japanese, a messer is not a knife, but a scalpel. Two more examples would be Japanese アルバイト (transliterated to "arubaito", derived from German: Arbeit ["work"] and abbreviated to "baito") and リュックサック (transliterated to "ryukkusakku"; derived from German "Rucksack"; abbreviated to リュック ["ryukku"]).
Loanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
or other loan element borrowed from German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
for use in some other language.
Linguistic domains
- The military or public administration
- RussianRussian languageRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
špicruteny (шпицрутены, from German Spießruten(-laufen)), "running the gauntletRunning the gauntletRunning the gauntlet is a form of physical punishment wherein a captive is compelled to run between two rows—a gauntlet—of soldiers who strike him as he passes.-Etymology:...
") - EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
blitz (from German Blitz(-krieg), lit. "lightning-fast war")
- Russian
- German culture (or concepts that were first made notable in a German context)
- FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
le waldsterben (from German Waldsterben "forest diebackForest diebackForest dieback is a condition in trees or woody plants in which peripheral parts are killed, either by parasites or due to conditions like acid rain and drought....
") - EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
uses of gemuetlichkeit, wanderlust or schadenfreude
- French
Technology and engineering have also provided Germanisms, as in the English bremsstrahlung
Bremsstrahlung
Bremsstrahlung is electromagnetic radiation produced by the deceleration of a charged particle when deflected by another charged particle, typically an electron by an atomic nucleus. The moving particle loses kinetic energy, which is converted into a photon because energy is conserved. The term is...
(a form of electromagnetic radiation
Electromagnetic radiation
Electromagnetic radiation is a form of energy that exhibits wave-like behavior as it travels through space...
), or the French schnorchel (literally, "submarine snorkel," a type of air-intake device for submarine engines).
Afrikaans
In AfrikaansAfrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
, a colloquial term for ethnic Germans is aberjetze, from German aber jetzt! ("come on, now!"), possibly due to the frequent use of that phrase by German farmers or overseers in exhorting their workers.
Albanian
AlbanianAlbanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
has many loan words brought back from Germany by migrant workers. Krikëll for "beer mug," for example, is borrowed from the Austrian German
Austrian German
Austrian German , or Austrian Standard German, is the national standard variety of the German language spoken in Austria and in the autonomous Province of South Tyrol...
term Krügel. The German word Schalter has been borrowed in both its meanings ("(office) counter" and "(electric) switch") as Albanian shalter.
Arabic
In the early 20th Century German film directors participated in the creation of the Egyptian cinema and usually concluded their work with the word fertig (done). Their local staff kept that word in the form ferkish and soon used it in other contexts.In connection with the football World Cup the German team is called farik el Mannschaft with the German Mannschaft meaning team – wherein farik is already the Arabic term for "team" and is supplemented by the article el. When at the football World Cup of 2006 the German team lost to Italy, a saying went el Mannschaft khessret! ("The Mannschaft lost!")
In Sudan, the German word Kollege (colleague) acquired a very unusual importance. There it means straw, which was bound to a bundle for drying. The background to this important change is that colleagues are seen in the context of staying closely together.
Bassa
In BassaBassa language
The Bassa language is a Kru language spoken by about 350,000 people in Liberia and 5,000 in Sierra Leone by Bassa people.It has an indigenous script, Vah, developed before 1907 by Thomas Narvin Lewis while he was studying at Syracuse University in the United States. The first primer was printed...
, a tribal language in Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
, the word for "train station" is banop from the German Bahnhof, which recalls the Germans building the first railway in their former colony.
Belarusian
In the heyday of the Hanseatic LeagueHanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
(14th century), trade and administration in Belarus were strongly influenced by Germans. This show words such as čynš (чынш) from German Zins for "interest", handal (гандаль) from German Handel for "trade" and štempel (штэмпэль) from German Stempel for "rubber stamp". Other examples are hiešeft (гешэфт) from German Geschäft for "Business" and falšavać (фальшаваць) from German fälschen for counterfeiting.
Bosnian
Bosnian has a number of loanwords from German: šlager (hit, from Schlager), šminka (make-up, from Schminke), šnajder (tailor, from Schneider), šunka (ham, from Schinken) etc. In the Bosnian language rikverc means the reverse gear of a vehicle that is best to be rostfraj, stainless. The German equivalents are rückwärts and rostfrei respectively.Bulgarian
German words which were adopted into the Bulgarian language include бормашина, "drill", from German Bohrmaschine, ауспух, "exhaust pipe" from Auspuff, шибидах from Schiebedach and in the skiing sport the term Шус, which is the same as the English "schuss", was adopted from Schussfahrt, a steep and fast ride downhill.Even the German word Anzug, "suit", is used in Bulgarian. However, it means "tracksuit" there.
Chinese
One of the very few German loan words in Chinese is the word for storm drainStorm drain
A storm drain, storm sewer , stormwater drain or drainage well system or simply a drain or drain system is designed to drain excess rain and ground water from paved streets, parking lots, sidewalks, and roofs. Storm drains vary in design from small residential dry wells to large municipal systems...
covers, Gullideckel in German. The common Chinese term for "rain water hole", 雨水口, yushuikou, is called guli, 骨沥, in the Qingdao
Qingdao
' also known in the West by its postal map spelling Tsingtao, is a major city with a population of over 8.715 million in eastern Shandong province, Eastern China. Its built up area, made of 7 urban districts plus Jimo city, is home to about 4,346,000 inhabitants in 2010.It borders Yantai to the...
form – contrary to the rest of China. The Chinese learned of storm drains for a city sewage in the German lease area of Jiaozhou
Jiaozhou (region)
Jiaozhou is an ancient Chinese region. The territory defined by the region has been changed in different eras. Normally included modern North Vietnam and Guangxi...
. The approximately 40 German loan words that are in use in Qingdao still include the word 大嫚, daman, for Damen, "ladies" with 胶州大嫚 meaning "Jiaozhou-women".
Croatian
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
, the verbatim translation rajčica is increasingly used), špajza (Speise, food), knedli (Knödel, dumplings), Putar ("butter", actually maslac), ribizli ("Ribisel", currants), šnicla (Schnitzel, pieces or chips, actually odrezak), Fijaker (Fiaker, Fiacre
Fiacre
Saint Fiacre was born in Ireland in the seventh century. is an ancient pre-Christian name from Ireland. The meaning is uncertain, but the name may mean "battle king", or it may be a derivative of the word "raven"...
), foranga (Vorhänge, "curtains"), herceg (Herzog, "Duke"), majstor (Meister, "master") or tišljar (Tischler, "carpenter", actually postolar).
Similarly, names such as pleh (Blech, "tin"), cajger (Zeiger, "pointer"), žaga (Säge, "saw"), šalter (Schalter, "switch"), šrafciger (Schraubenzieher, "screwdriver", actually odvijač) or curik or rikverc (Zurück, "back" or rückwärts "backwards", for the reverse gear) are common in Croatia. Especially in the technical fields there are almost no phonetic differences with the German words, and most Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
understand these without good language skills in German.
Very rarely, the terms špajscimer (Speisezimmer, "dining room"), badecimer (Badezimmer, "bathroom"), forcimer (Vorzimmer, "hall"), šlafcimer (Schlafzimmer, "bedroom") and cimer fraj (Zimmer frei, "free room") are used in the colloquial language, as these newer loans mainly appear in advertising aimed for German tourists.
The washing machine is often referred to colloquially vešmašina (Waschmaschine, actually perilica za rublje). Somewhat odd is the use of the term cušpajz (Zuspeise, additional food) for a kind of vegetable stew.
Czech
The Czech language borrowed some words from neighbouring dialects such as hajzl (from Häusl for a litte house) for toilet. In hřbitov (cemetery), the German term Friedhof is hardly recognizable.German import words were so frequently, that already Jan Hus
Jan Hus
Jan Hus , often referred to in English as John Hus or John Huss, was a Czech priest, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague...
1412 vehemently opposed them. There were words like hantuch from German Handtuch for towel, šorc from Schürze for apron, knedlík from Knödel
Knödel
Knödel or Klöße are large round poached or boiled potato or bread dumplings, made without yeast. They are typical components of Austrian, German, Hungarian and Czech cuisine, and come in many different forms. They can be made from flour, potatoes, old bread, semolina and many more...
, hausknecht, German Hausknecht, for servant and forman from Fuhrmann for waggoner. But Hus did not succeed. Knedlíky are still served, and in 1631, the school reformer Jan Amos Komenský didn't have a problem to translate the biblical term paradise with lusthaus (German Lusthaus "house of joy").
In the late 19th century, many Czech craftsmen worked in the German-speaking area of the Danube monarchy. The Czech language degrade into a servants language and took many loan words from this category: ermloch from German Ärmelloch for arm hole, flikovat from German flicken for darning and piglovat from bügeln for ironing.
In domestic disputes, German was a supplier of cuss words. Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
used the word glajchšaltace (German Gleichschaltung
Gleichschaltung
Gleichschaltung , meaning "coordination", "making the same", "bringing into line", is a Nazi term for the process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control and tight coordination over all aspects of society. The historian Richard J...
) to denounce the forced bringing-into-line, and called his counterpart Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus is the second President of the Czech Republic and a former Prime Minister .An economist, he is co-founder of the Civic Democratic Party, the Czech Republic's largest center-right political party. Klaus is a eurosceptic, but he reluctantly endorsed the Lisbon treaty as president of...
an oberkašpar. (German vernacular Oberkaspar literally "master Kasperle
Kasperle
Kasperle is a famous and traditional puppet character from Austria and Germany. Its roots date to 17th century and was at times so popular that Kasperltheater was synonymous with puppet theater. Kasperltheater includes the following characters: Kasper, Gretel, Seppel, princess, king, witch, robber,...
", "master buffoon"). He, in turn, called a Havel a lump (German Lump: approximately rascal, rapscallion). Sometimes opponents completely use German in order to ininhibit insult each other. Such an insult for example may be Sie blöde Ente "you stupid duck" (in German, this animal however is usually not used as a cuss...)
Other (sometimes used colloquially) Germanisms in Czech:
- haksna: legs, from Austrian Haxen)
- stangla: top tube of a bicycle, from German Stange (rod, pole)
- ksicht: grimace, from Gesicht (face)
- hic: heat, from Hitze
- lochna: hole, from Loch
- betla: bed, from Bett
- cimra: chamber, from Zimmer
- flek: blotch, from Fleck
- flastr: adhesive plaster, from Pflaster
- fusakle: socks, from Fußsocken (German Fuß feet, German Socken socks)
- futro: feed, from Futter
- fuč: from futsch, colloquial German for "gone", "broken"
- hercna: heart, from Herz
- calovat: to pay, from zahlen
- biflovat: swatting, from büffeln
- durch: through, from durch
- plac: place, from Platz
Danish
In Danish, the German term Hab und Gut, "HabseligkeitenHabseligkeiten
This German word is usually used in its plural form Habseligkeiten. It refers to the paltry belongings of an almost penniless person. "Habseligkeiten" was chosen as the most beautiful German word in October 2004 in a competition initiated by the Goethe Institute and the Council for the German...
", is used in the form of habengut to express one's possessions carried along. The word was introduced to Denmark by travelling journeymen who took all their possessions along with them.
Bundesliga-hår ("Bundesliga hair") is the Danish word for a mullet
Mullet (haircut)
The mullet is a hairstyle that is short at the front and sides, and long in the back. . The mullet began to appear in popular media in the 1960s and 1970s but did not become generally well-known until the early 1980s...
, because this type of haircut (as well as in Hungary) was regarded a characteristic of football Bundesliga players. Also the Italians saw this kind of connection and dubbed it capelli alla tedesca (German style haircut).
Dutch
The Dutch languageDutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
includes some well established words from German, for example überhaupt (at all, generally), sowieso (anyway), Fingerspitzengefühl (roughly "sensitivity", literally "finger tip feel").
The word unheimisch is used for something scary. However in German this word no longer exists.
In sports, the words Schwalbe (in German the bird swallow, but also used for diving (football)
Diving (football)
In association football, diving is an attempt by a player to gain an unfair advantage by diving to the ground and possibly feigning an injury, to appear as if a foul has been committed. Dives are often used to exaggerate the amount of contact present in a challenge...
), Alleingang (German for solo, also used in a in a figurative sense), Ausputzer (sweeper) and die Mannschaft (the team, for the German national soccer team) are used.
English
The most famous German word in the English language is "kindergartenKindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
". The first kindergarten outside the German area was founded in 1851 in London. Five years later, Margarethe Schurz opened the first kindergarten in America in Watertown, Wisconsin
Watertown, Wisconsin
Watertown is a city in Dodge and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Most of the city's population is in Jefferson County. Division Street, several blocks north of downtown, marks the county line. The population of Watertown was 21,598 at the 2000 census...
. The language in the first kindergarten was German, as they were thought to be for the children of German immigrants. In 1882, the number of kindergartens in the US was 348. Meanwhile, the majority of Americans are no longer aware of the German origin of the word. The kindergarten teacher was first called "kindergartner", and later "kindergarten teacher". "Kindergartner" is now the child who attends the kindergarten. The verb "to kindergarten" means using the kindergarten method. Often, however, only the first letter 'K' of the word "kindergarten" is used, so a "pre-K" is a child who is not old enough for kindergarten.
In English, the German "über" (hyper, over) is sometimes (often spelled "uber") used in compositions, as in ubergeek, to express extreme progression. In German on the other hand, the prefix "Über" is rarely used in the sense of superior, instead, "Super" is used, as in Superminister. The peculiar feature of the German language to build compound nouns contributes to proliferation of Germanisms and interesting neologisms.
Americans students often use the term "foosball" (German Fußball) for the tabletop football, for which in Germany however the English term "kicker" is used.
For mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s, in German the pseudo-anglicism
Pseudo-Anglicism
Pseudo-anglicisms are words in languages other than English which were borrowed from English but are used in a way native English speakers would not readily recognize or understand. Pseudo-anglicisms often take the form of portmanteau words, combining elements of multiple English words to create a...
Handy is used, which is gradually establishing itself on the east coast of the United States as a designation for mobile phones, too. English slang dictionaries started to list "handy" in the meaning "mobile phone".
If somebody is sneezing, one may respond "[god] bless you". Because many people don't want use a blessing phrase without religious context, instead the German term "gesundheit" is widely used. In German, Gesundheit means health, but is also used as response when someone sneezes.
The Concise Oxford English Dictionary
Concise Oxford English Dictionary
The Concise Oxford English Dictionary is probably the best-known of the 'smaller' Oxford dictionaries. The latest edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary contains over 240,000 entries and 1,728 pages...
lists the German word verboten, defined as "forbidden by an authority".
Estonian
There are long-lasting contacts between EstonianEstonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
and German languages. Estonia was conquered in the Livonian crusade
Livonian Crusade
The Livonian Crusade refers to the German and Danish conquest and colonization of medieval Livonia, the territory constituting modern Latvia and Estonia, during the Northern Crusades...
by German and Danish crusaders already in the 13th century. Since then, Estonia was settled by priests, merchants and craftsmen from Germany. As a result, the Estonian language has borrowed nearly a third of its vocabulary
Estonian vocabulary
The Estonian vocabulary, i.e., the vocabulary of the Estonian language, was influenced by many other language groups.-Germanic languages:The heaviest external contribution, nearly one third of the vocabulary, comes from Germanic languages, mainly from Low Saxon during the period of German rule,...
from Germanic languages, mainly from German. Examples include: vein (Wein, wine), klaver (Klavier, piano), reis (Reise, trip) and kunst (art). Modern loans from the Germans include reisibüroo (Reisebüro, travel agency) and kleit (Kleid, dress).
French
In FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, some Germanisms are due to the experiences in the Second World War, such as witz for a bad joke or threatening (in German, Witz is just joke) and ersatz for ersatz coffee (German Ersatzkaffee, but more usually Muckefuck, itself probably a Francesism from mocca faux). The word lied, same meaning in English and French, is derived from the German Lied which translates as "song". (In German, the term Lied refers to any kind of song, however for contemporary music in German also often the anglicism
Anglicism
An Anglicism, as most often defined, is a word borrowed from English into another language. "Anglicism" also describes English syntax, grammar, meaning, and structure used in another language with varying degrees of corruption.-Anglicisms in Chinese:...
Song is used.)
In French the word vasistas denotes a skylight window. The word probably originates from the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, when French soldiers looking at the German skylight ask Was ist das? (What is this?) It then became the name for this kind of windows.
Schubladiser is the French term for filing or procrastinating something. The noun is schubladisation. Schublade is German for drawer, therefore these French terms can be literally translated as "drawering" and "drawerisation", resp.
In Swiss French
Swiss French
Swiss French is the name used for the variety of French spoken in the French-speaking area of Switzerland known as Romandy. Swiss French is not to be confused with Franco-Provençal/Arpitan or Romansh, two other individual Romance languages spoken in areas not far from Romandy.The differences...
, there are some terms derived from (Swiss) German such as poutzer instead of nettoyer (cleaning, in German putzen) or speck instead of lard (bacon, in German Speck).
Around the German-French border areas, inherently many words cross the language border, for example, in Lorraine
Lorraine (région)
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
: Instead of ça éclabousse, ça spritz is used for "this sputters" – spritzen is "sputtering" in German. Spritz as a term for extruded biscuits (Spritzgebäck in German) is known everywhere in France.
Greek
Modern GreekModern Greek
Modern Greek refers to the varieties of the Greek language spoken in the modern era. The beginning of the "modern" period of the language is often symbolically assigned to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, even though that date marks no clear linguistic boundary and many characteristic...
uses a few German loadwords for terms related to German or Austrian culture, such as snitsel (σνίτσελ; Schnitzel) and froilain (φροϊλάιν, from Fräulein
Fräulein
Fräulein is the German language honorific previously in common use for unmarried women, comparable to Miss in English. Fräulein is the diminutive form of Frau, which was previously reserved only for married women. Since the 1970s, Fräulein has come to be used less often, and was banned from...
, "Miss", used only for young women from Germany or Austria). Some loan words were introduced by the gastarbáiter ( γκασταρμπάιτερ , German Gastarbeiter
Gastarbeiter
Gastarbeiter is German for "guest worker." It refers to migrant workers who had moved to West Germany mainly in the 1960s and 70s, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker programme...
), who have spent part of their life in Germany or Austria, such as lumben (λούμπεν ), meaning "riffraff", from German Lump, "rogue".
Hebrew
The modern Hebrew includes several Germanisms, some coming directly from German, and some via the Yiddish language. In the artisanal sector, some German phrases such as stecker (German Stecker for plugPlug
Plug may refer to:* Plug for the plughole in the bathtub, washbasin and sink* Plug , a short lived British comic that ran from 1977 until 1979, when it merged with The Beezer, which featured a character from The Bash Street Kids called Plug as it's main star.* Plug , a family of fishing lures*...
) and dübel (German Dübel for dowel
Dowel
A dowel is a solid cylindrical rod, usually made of wood, plastic or metal. In its original manufactured form, dowel is called dowel rod.Dowel rod is employed in numerous, diverse applications. It is used to form axles in toys, as detents on gymnastics grips, as knitting needles, as structural...
), the latter pronounced [diːbl] due to the missing "ü
Ü
Ü, or ü, is a character which can be either a letter from several extended Latin alphabets, or the letter U with an umlaut or a diaeresis...
" umlaut
Umlaut
Umlaut may refer to:*Diaeresis , a pair of dots above a vowel, used in German to mark umlaut**Metal umlaut, the same diacritic in names of heavy metal or hard rock bands for effect...
.
The German word Strudel
Strudel
A strudel is a type of layered pastry with a — most often sweet — filling inside, often served with cream. It became well known and gained popularity in the 18th century through the Habsburg Empire....
(שטרודל) in Hebrew is used for the character "@" in E-mail addresses, after the shape of the pastry.
The Hebrew word for siesta, is schlafstunde (German literally "hour to sleep"), although it is not clear whether the Yekke
Yekke
The term Yekke is a generally jovial, mildly derogatory term primarily used by Jews to refer to their coreligionists from Germany or who adhere to the Western-European minhag....
s started that habit in Israel or brought it from Germany.
The modern month names in Israel correspond to the German names: Januar, Februar, März, etc. The only modification is August which is – diffent from the German – pronounced "Ogust", because the vocal connection "au" in Hebrew is unusual.
Hungarian
The German vocabulary has already influenced the Hungarian languageHungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
at the time of the marriage of the state's founder, Stephen I of Hungary to princess Giselle of Bavaria
Giselle of Bavaria
Blessed Gisela of Hungary was the first queen of Hungary.- Biography :Gisela was a daughter of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria and Gisela of Burgundy....
in the year 996. An early example is the word Herzog ("Duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
"). The Hungarian word herceg formed as a result of vowel harmony
Vowel harmony
Vowel harmony is a type of long-distance assimilatory phonological process involving vowels that occurs in some languages. In languages with vowel harmony, there are constraints on which vowels may be found near each other....
, the alignment of vowels in a word. This Hungarian word was later borrowed for the landscape name Hercegovina.
German clergy, farmers and craftsmen were linguistically influential, particularly in the 13th and 18th centuries, bringing their own terminology to Hungary. These include the job titles bakter (Wächter, night watchman, train guard), suszter (Schuster, cobbler) and sinter (Schinder, a knacker
Knacker
A knacker is a person in the trade of rendering animals that are unfit for human consumption, such as horses that can no longer work. This leads to the slang expression "knackered" meaning very tired, or "ready for the knacker’s yard", where old horses are slaughtered and made into dog food and glue...
) as well as the terms kuncsaft (Kundschaft, customer) and majszter (Meister, master). In some professions, a large part of technical terms came via German, e.g. in the field of carpentry lazur (Lasur, glaze
Glaze (painting technique)
Glazes can change the chroma, value, hue and texture of a surface. Drying time will depend on the amount and type of paint medium used in the glaze. The medium, base, or vehicle is the mixture to which the dry pigment is added...
), firnisz (Firnis, lacquer
Lacquer
In a general sense, lacquer is a somewhat imprecise term for a clear or coloured varnish that dries by solvent evaporation and often a curing process as well that produces a hard, durable finish, in any sheen level from ultra matte to high gloss and that can be further polished as required...
), lakk (Lack, varnish
Varnish
Varnish is a transparent, hard, protective finish or film primarily used in wood finishing but also for other materials. Varnish is traditionally a combination of a drying oil, a resin, and a thinner or solvent. Varnish finishes are usually glossy but may be designed to produce satin or semi-gloss...
), smirgli (Schmirgelpapier, sandpaper
Sandpaper
Sandpaper, also known as glasspaper, is a heavy paper with abrasive material attached to its surface.Sandpaper is part of the "coated abrasives" family of abrasive products. It is used to remove small amounts of material from surfaces, either to make them smoother , to remove a layer of material...
) and colstok (Zollstock, foot rule).
Words were also loaned in the time of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
. This explains a number of German words that are mainly used in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. These include the words krampusz (Krampus
Krampus
Krampus is a mythical creature recognized in Alpine countries. According to legend, Krampus accompanies St. Nicholas during the Christmas season, warning and punishing bad children, in contrast to St. Nicholas, who gives gifts to good children....
, companion of Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
), partvis (Bartwisch, hand broom
Broom
A broom is a cleaning tool consisting of stiff fibers attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. It is thus a variety of brush with a long handle. It is commonly used in combination with a dustpan....
s), nokedli (Nocken, dumpling
Dumpling
Dumplings are cooked balls of dough. They are based on flour, potatoes or bread, and may include meat, fish, vegetables, or sweets. They may be cooked by boiling, steaming, simmering, frying, or baking. They may have a filling, or there may be other ingredients mixed into the dough. Dumplings may...
), and ribizli (Ribisel, gooseberry
Gooseberry
The gooseberry or ; Ribes uva-crispa, syn. R. grossularia) is a species of Ribes, native to Europe, northwestern Africa and southwestern Asia...
). Eszcájg derives from "Esszeug". Second-hand goods dealers were called handlé (merchant, Händler). Further examples include fasírt (Austrian German
Austrian German
Austrian German , or Austrian Standard German, is the national standard variety of the German language spoken in Austria and in the autonomous Province of South Tyrol...
faschiert, minced meat), knődli (Knödel, hot dumplings).
Even a German sentence became a Hungarian word. Vigéc, derived from the German greeting "Wie geht's?" (How are you?) is the Hungarian word for a door-to-door salesman. The word spájz (Speis, Austrian German
Austrian German
Austrian German , or Austrian Standard German, is the national standard variety of the German language spoken in Austria and in the autonomous Province of South Tyrol...
for Speisekammer) is being used for the pantry
Pantry
A pantry is a room where food, provisions or dishes are stored and served in an ancillary capacity to the kitchen. The derivation of the word is from the same source as the Old French term paneterie; that is from pain, the French form of the Latin panis for bread.In a late medieval hall, there were...
.
The Hungarian phrase nem nagy vaszisztdasz ("not a big what-is-it") is an informal way of belittling the complexity/importance of something (from German was ist das?, what is it?).
Italian
Sometimes linguistic communities borrow the same term for a word from each other's language. This is the case for razzia – the Germans taken their word Razzia from the Italians (originally Arab غزوة ghazwa = "razzia"), the Italians use the term blitz for this, from the German word BlitzkriegBlitzkrieg
For other uses of the word, see: Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg is an anglicized word describing all-motorised force concentration of tanks, infantry, artillery, combat engineers and air power, concentrating overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines, and, once the lines are broken,...
. Un lager in Italian is not a beer like in English, but short for Konzentrationslager.
German tourists's demand brought il wurstel to Italy (Würstel is a German dialect word for sausages), and even il wurstel con krauti (German Kraut
Kraut
Kraut is a German word recorded in English from 1918 onwards as a derogatory term for a German, particularly a German soldier during World War I and World War II. Its earlier meaning in English was as a synonym for sauerkraut, a traditional German and central European food.- Etymological...
short for Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut , directly translated from German: "sour cabbage", is finely shredded cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria, including Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus. It has a long shelf-life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid...
).
Japanese
In JapaneseJapanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
include some words with German origin, such as アルバイト (arubaito) from the German Arbeit ("work", "job"); however, in Japan it is used to denote a minor job, e.g., a student's sideline.
Other words transferred into Japanese are related to climbing
Climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...
, like ヒュッテ (hyutte) from German Hütte for mountain hut, ゲレンデ (gerende) from German "Gelände" for terrain, アイゼン (aizen) from German Eisen (short for Steigeisen) for crampons
Crampons
Crampons are traction devices used to improve mobility on snow and ice. There are three main attachment systems for footwear: step-in, hybrid, and strap bindings. The first two require boots with welts, the last adapt to any type....
, エーデルワイス (ēderuwaisu) for Edelweiß, リュックサック (ryukkusakku) from German Rucksack for backpack and probably also シュラフ (shurafu) from German Schlafsack for sleeping bag
Sleeping bag
A sleeping bag is a protective "bag" for a person to sleep in, essentially a blanket that can be closed with a zipper or similar means, and functions as a bed in situations where a bed is unavailable . Its primary purpose is to provide warmth and thermal insulation...
. Also, the main Japanese mountain chain is called Japanese Alps
Japanese Alps
The is a series of mountain ranges in Japan that bisect the main island of Honshū. The name was coined by William Gowland, the "Father of Japanese Archaeology," and later popularized by Reverend Walter Weston , an English missionary for whom a memorial plaque is located at Kamikochi, a tourist...
.
During the Second World War, in Japanese weekly newsreel
Newsreel
A newsreel was a form of short documentary film prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, regularly released in a public presentation place and containing filmed news stories and items of topical interest. It was a source of news, current affairs and entertainment for millions of moviegoers...
s the military victories of the German Generalfeldmarschall
Generalfeldmarschall
Field Marshal or Generalfeldmarschall in German, was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire; in the Austrian Empire, the rank Feldmarschall was used...
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
in Africa were frequently celebrated, thus establishing rommel as the Japanese term for victory or success. Even today, Japanese football mascots are called with this word.
Since the medical education initially was influenced by its German teachers, many German medical terms became part of the Japanese language. These include クランケ (kuranke) from German Kranke as a term for the sick ones, カルテ (karute) from German Karte (card) in the sense of a card to record the course of disease of a patient, ギプス (gipusu) from German Gips for an orthopedic cast, アレルギー (arerugī) from German Allergie for allergy, and ノイローゼ (noirōze) from German Neurose for neurosis. Even the word オルガスムス (orugasumusu) for orgasm
Orgasm
Orgasm is the peak of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure...
originates from the German word Orgasmus.
Of the typical German food items, the most commonly found in Japan are ザワークラウト (sawākurauto, Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut , directly translated from German: "sour cabbage", is finely shredded cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria, including Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus. It has a long shelf-life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid...
) and the cake specialties シュトレン (shutoren, Stollen
Stollen
A Stollen is a loaf-shaped cake containing dried fruit, and covered with sugar, powdered sugar or icing sugar. The cake is usually made with chopped candied fruit and/or dried fruit, nuts and spices. Stollen is a traditional German cake, usually eaten during the Christmas season, when called...
) and バウムクーヘン (baumukūhen, Baumkuchen
Baumkuchen
Baumkuchen is a kind of layered cake. It is a traditional dessert in many countries throughout Europe and is also a popular snack and dessert in Japan...
).
See also gairaigo
Gairaigo
Gairaigo is Japanese for "loan word" or "borrowed word", and indicates a transliteration into Japanese. In particular, the word usually refers to a Japanese word of foreign origin that was not borrowed from Chinese, primarily from English. Japanese also has a large number of loan words from...
.
Kirundi
In KirundiKirundi
Kirundi, also known as Rundi, is a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language spoken by some 8.7 million people in Burundi and adjacent parts of Tanzania and Congo-Kinshasa, as well as in Uganda. It is the official language of Burundi...
, the language of the East African country Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
, the word for German people (the former colonial rulers) is dagi. That is derived from the German salutation Tag, short for Guten Tag (literally "[I wish you a] good day").
Korean
In order to remove the last relics of the occupation during the Second World War, in South KoreaSouth Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
most Japanese loan words are removed from the vocabulary. This does not include the word 아르바이트 (areubaiteu) with is still used both in the Korean and Japanese language. The Japanese アルバイト (arubaito) is derived from the German word Arbeit (work, job), but here denotes a student's sideline.
Although a majority of internationalisms (largely Latin or Greek-based) are borrowed from English, a considerable minority of internationalisms are borrowed from German, usually via Japanese, in the field of chemistry, medicine, philosophy, etc., such as 요오드 (yoodeu < Iod), 망간 (manggan < Mangan), 부탄 (butan < Butan), 알레르기 (allereugi < Allergie), 히스테리 (hiseuteri < Hysterie), 이데올로기 (ideollogi < Ideologie), 테마 (Tema < Thema), etc. In addition, there are also loanwords of native German origin, such as 코펠 (kopel (portable cooker), a corrupted form of Kocher, via Japanese コッヘル kohheru), and hybrids like 메스실린더 (meseusillindeo
Macedonian
In MacedonianMacedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
the denotation of witz is виц, similar as in French.
Norwegian
The German word Vorspiel translates to "prelude", also with sexual connotation, and Nachspiel translates to aftermath. In contrast, in Norwegian the words vorspiel and nachspiel stand for the consumption of alcoholic beverages before or after a visit of bars or discothèques.Polish
The German language also influenced PolishPolish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
and other Slavic languages, for example kajuta from German Kajüte for (ship) cabin, sztorm from German Sturm for storm, burmistrz from German Bürgermeister for mayor, szynka from German Schinken for ham, or handel from German Handel for trade.
In Polish, szlafmyca from German Schlafmütze means night cap, but – as in German – also used in a figurative sense as sleepyhead. Szlafrok from German Schlafrock is a dressing-gown.
A Polish craftsman uses a śruba (screw, from German Schraube) and klajster (paste/glue from German Kleister). If he does not know the name of his tool, he may ask for a wihajster (thingamabob, from German Wie heißt er?, literally how is it called?). And will receive the requested thing:
- Podaj mi ten mały wihajster! (Please give me the small thingamabot!)
There is also the word fajrant (leisure-time, from German Feierabend). In a carousal, he can drink to someone bruderszaft (from German Bruderschaft, fraternity) and disband with a rausz (from German Rausch, inebriation).
Portuguese
The Portuguese incorporates German words such as diesel and kitschKitsch
Kitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
.
In Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
, German immigrants brought some German words. The word blitz describes a traffic control (German Blitz is flash, also colloquial for traffic control due to the flash light.) Also known are malzbier
Malzbier
Malzbier is a form of sweet, low-alcohol beer that is brewed like normal beer but without fermentation by adding the yeast at or about 0 °C. CO2 and sugar is added later. It's a common beverage in Germany, Austria and Switzerland...
, quark
Quark (cheese)
Quark is a type of fresh cheese, also known as tvorog , topfen , biezpiens , and varškė . It is made by warming soured milk until the desired degree of denaturation of milk proteins is met, and then strained...
and chopp, the latter from Schoppen (German for a pint, in Brazilian Portuguese however denoting a draught beer). Also, in Brazil the German Streuselkuchen
Streuselkuchen
Streuselkuchen is a German specialty. Traditionally it is made of a yeast dough covered with crumbs. The main ingredients for the crumbs are sugar, fat and flour, which are mixed at a 1:1:2 ratio....
is a cuca, spread on a bread in the Riograndian Hunsrück
Hunsrück
The Hunsrück is a low mountain range in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the river valleys of the Moselle , the Nahe , and the Rhine . The Hunsrück is continued by the Taunus mountains on the eastern side of the Rhine. In the north behind the Moselle it is continued by the Eifel...
ian became, via the German schmier (grease), chimia. In the areas of German immigraints, also oktoberfest
Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest, or Wiesn, is a 16–18 day beer festival held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, running from late September to the first weekend in October. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and is the world's largest fair, with more than 5 million people attending every year. The...
and kerb (Hunsrückian for kermesse) are celebrated. The word chipa is derived from the German Schippe (shovel).
Romanian
In RomanianRomanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
, German loans are especially found in names for craft items: bormaşină (drill, in German Bohrmaschine), ştecher (plug, Stecker), şurub (screw, Schr[a]ube), şubler (vernier caliper, Schublehre), şnur (electric cord, German Schnur is cord in general), but there are also:
- cartof (potato) Kartoffel
- chiflă (a scone) Kipfel
- bere (beer) Bier
- hingher (dogcatcher or executioner), Sax. Hoenger/German Henker
- şanţ (trench) Schanze
- şuncă (ham) dialect Schunke for German Schinken
- şmirghel (emeryEmery (mineral)Emery is a very hard rock type used to make abrasive powder. It largely consists of the mineral corundum , mixed with other species such as the iron-bearing spinels hercynite and magnetite, and also rutile...
) Schmirgel - şpighel Spiegel(esen)
- şpilhozen (playing trousers) Spielhose
- şpis (spear) Spiess
- şpiţ (spiky) Spitz
- şplint Splint
- şplit (split, flint) Splitt
- şpor (spur) Sporn
- şpraiţ (spreader) Spreize
Russian
- "Some 30 young officials should be sent to KönigsbergKönigsbergKönigsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
for the purpose of learning the German language so that they are more suitable for the college."
In some sectors of handicraft, the Germans were the majority; towards the end of the 18th Century worked in St. Petersburg thirty German, but three Russian watchmakers.
The Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
has taken many words from the military sector from German, for example Schlagbaum шлагбаум (turnpike) and Marschroute маршрут (line of approach), and also expressions like
Rucksack рюкзак (backpack), Massstab масштаб (scale), Strafe штраф (in German punishment, in Russian in the meaning fine), and Zifferblatt циферблат (clock face).
Mikhail Lomonosov
Mikhail Lomonosov
Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries was the atmosphere of Venus. His spheres of science were natural science, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, history, art,...
, who studied in Marburg
Marburg
Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...
and Freiberg, is regarded as founder of the Russian mining science, mineralogy and geology. In his writings about mining and metallurgy, he uses German words, the names of metals and minerals Wismut Висмут (bismuth
Bismuth
Bismuth is a chemical element with symbol Bi and atomic number 83. Bismuth, a trivalent poor metal, chemically resembles arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth may occur naturally uncombined, although its sulfide and oxide form important commercial ores. The free element is 86% as dense as lead...
), Wolfram Вольфрам (tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
), Gneis Гнейс (gneiss
Gneiss
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
, Kwarz (in German spelled Quarz) Кварц (quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
), Potasch (in German Potasche) Поташ (potash
Potash
Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...
), Zink Цинк (zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
), Schpaty (German Spat) шпаты (feldspar
Feldspar
Feldspars are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth's crust....
), and the expression schteiger (German Steiger) (foreman of miners). Also the terms geolog (German Geologe) (geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
), gletscher (glacier) metallurgia (German Metallurgie) (metallurgy), nikel (in German Nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
), schichta (German Schicht (layer), used both for ore layer and layer in a blast furnace), and schlif (German Schliff) (the grinding or cutting of a stone) fall into this category.
Interestingly are terms from chess as Zugzwang
Zugzwang
Zugzwang is a term usually used in chess which also applies to various other games. The term finds its formal definition in combinatorial game theory, and it describes a situation where one player is put at a disadvantage because he has to make a move when he would prefer to pass and make no move...
цугцванг, Zeitnot цейтнот, Endspiel эндшпиль (endgame), Mittelspiel мительшпиль (middlegame), Grossmeister (гроссмейстер) (grandmaster).
Modern expressions are Strichcode штрихкод (barcode
Barcode
A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data, which shows data about the object to which it attaches. Originally barcodes represented data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or 1 dimensional . Later they evolved into rectangles,...
), Butterbrot
Butterbrot
The German word "Butterbrot" describes a slice of bread topped with butter. The words in formal and colloquial German and the different dialects for butterbrot , simply "Brot" , "Butterstulle", "Stulle", "Schnitte" ,...
бутерброд, and even Brandmauer, for which in German the English expression Firewall is used.
Schram Шрам is a scar and originates from the German word Schramme (scratch, scar). A schtolnja штольня (German Stollen) is an adit
Adit
An adit is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, and ventilated.-Construction:...
. A schpagat шпагат (German spelling Spagat) is a Split (gymnastics)
Split (gymnastics)
A split is a human body configuration in which the legs are parallel to each other and extended in opposite directions. Splits are performed in various athletic activities, including dance, figure skating, gymnastics, martial arts, contortionism, synchronized swimming, cheerleading and yoga...
, schpinat шпинат (German spelling Spinat) spinach
Spinach
Spinach is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant , which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions...
and a schpion шпион (German spelling Spion) a spy.
Even the hockey term for puck
Puck (sports)
A puck is a disk used in various games serving the same functions as a ball does in ball games. The best-known use of pucks is in ice hockey, a major international sport.- Etymology :The origin of the word "puck" is obscure...
, schajba шайба, originates from German Scheibe, denoting a Washer
Washer (hardware)
A washer is a thin plate with a hole that is normally used to distribute the load of a threaded fastener, such as a screw or nut. Other uses are as a spacer, spring , wear pad, preload indicating device, locking device, and to reduce vibration...
. Interestingly is also the word schlang шланг for garden hose, derived from the German word for a snake, Schlange. The word schtepsel штепсель originates from the German word Stöpsel (plug).
Serbian
An exhibition in Vienna about GastarbeiterGastarbeiter
Gastarbeiter is German for "guest worker." It refers to migrant workers who had moved to West Germany mainly in the 1960s and 70s, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker programme...
in Austria has the Serbian title gastarbajteri. A particularly avid student is called štreber (German Streber is striver). Schlag for cream is derived from the Austrian short form for Schlagobers.
The Serbian word for tomatoes, Парадајз (paradajs), is influenced from the Austrian Paradeiser.
Slovak
In the 19th century, Slovak artisans in Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
borrowed words from handicraft: plech (German Blech for [metal] plate), drôt (Draht, wire), schuble (Schnublade, drawer), schroubovák (Schraubenzieher, screwdriver), and virhank (Vorhang, curtain).
Swedish
Swedes use the German word aber (but) in the sense of "obstacle" or "objection". A nouveau richeNouveau riche
The nouveau riche , or new money, comprise those who have acquired considerable wealth within their own generation...
is called Gulaschbaron (colloquialism in German language, literally "goulash
Goulash
Goulash is a soup or stew of meat, noodles and vegetables , seasoned with paprika and other spices. Originating in Hungary, goulash is also a popular meal in Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Romania, Scandinavia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the north-eastern Italian region of Friuli Venezia...
baron").
For undercover investigative journalism
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
in the style of Günter Wallraff
Günter Wallraff
Günter Wallraff is a famous German writer and undercover journalist.-Research methods:Wallraff came to prominence thanks to his striking journalistic research methods and several major books on lower class working conditions and tabloid journalism...
the verb wallraffa is used, which is even part of the Swedish Academy
Swedish Academy
The Swedish Academy , founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden.-History:The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by King Gustav III. Modelled after the Académie française, it has 18 members. The motto of the Academy is "Talent and Taste"...
's dictionary.
Slovenian
The Slovenian has taken its German loan words mainly from the Austrian version, for example nagelj from Gewürznagel (cloveClove
Cloves are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae. Cloves are native to the Maluku islands in Indonesia and used as a spice in cuisines all over the world...
). However, krompir comes from the Palatinate word Grumbeer (potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
).
Spanish
The Spanish languageSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
of some South American countries incorporates Germanisms introduced by German immigrants, for example, in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
kuchen (cake) and Frankfurter in Uruguay. The latter, however, sometimes is used for a hot dog
Hot dog
A hot dog is a sausage served in a sliced bun. It is very often garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish and/or sauerkraut.-History:...
– not as in German for the sausage only. In Argentine, the usage of the name Pancho is interesting: it's a popular nickname for Francisco or Franco, and therefore also used for Frankfurter sausages. The Chileans pronounce kuchen as in German with the ach-Laut, not "kutshen", as a Spanish pronunciation would be.
In Chile, the German word suche (searching) is used for house staff (gardeners, errand boys). After the German immigrants came to a certain prosperity, they posted job advertisements for local forces, which often started with the German verb suche in a large-size font.
In Mexico, kermes, from the German word Kirmes (funfair
Funfair
A funfair or simply "fair" is a small to medium sized travelling show primarily composed of stalls and other amusements. Larger fairs such as the permanent fairs of cities and seaside resorts might be called a fairground, although technically this should refer to the land where a fair is...
, kermesse), is used for a charitable street party.
Swahili
The dominant lingua franca in East Africa, Swahili, has borrowed many words from Arabic and English. Borrowed from the German Schule, however, is the word shule for schoolSchool
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
.
Tok Pisin
Even the KreolCreole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
Tok Pisin
Tok Pisin
Tok Pisin is a creole spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. It is an official language of Papua New Guinea and the most widely used language in that country...
in the former German colony Papua-New Guinea has words borrowed from German language. These include balaistift from German Bleistift for "pencil", however today the English term is preferred. Raus (literally in German get out! means "Go!" or "From the way". Derived from raus is rausim meaning "empty", "dismissed away."
A reminder of the missionary by German Catholic lay brothers are the words bruda from German Bruder for brother and prista from German Priester for priests. A relic of German colonialists' behaviour are invectives such as rinfi from German Rindvieh, literally cattle, but used also as invective for a silly person, and saise from German Scheiße, shit.
Turkish
The Turkish word fertik as signal for a railway to be ready to depart originates from the Baghdad RailwayBaghdad Railway
The Baghdad Railway , was built from 1903 to 1940 to connect Berlin with the Ottoman Empire city of Baghdad with a line through modern-day Turkey, Syria, and Iraq....
which was initially operated by German personnel. The Germans command fertig (ready) became the Turkish fertik and firstly also denoted the train conductor. Nevertheless, this word was only used in slang and has been abandoned after the 50s.
Another Germanism is Otoban from German Autobahn for highway.
Impact on Grammar
The Modern Hebrew iton for newspaper is modeled after the German word Zeitung, using et for "time" (Zeit in German).Derivations of German words
Germanisms in foreign languages may have gone through a change of meaning, appearing as false friendFalse friend
False friends are pairs of words or phrases in two languages or dialects that look or sound similar, but differ in meaning....
to the learner's eye. For instance, in Russian language, a галстук galstuk is not a scarf (German literally: "Halstuch"), but a tie; nor would a парикмахер parikmacher (German literally: "Perückenmacher") be a "wig-maker", but actually denote a hairdresser.
Likewise, in Japanese, a messer is not a knife, but a scalpel. Two more examples would be Japanese アルバイト (transliterated to "arubaito", derived from German: Arbeit ["work"] and abbreviated to "baito") and リュックサック (transliterated to "ryukkusakku"; derived from German "Rucksack"; abbreviated to リュック ["ryukku"]).
Literature
- Karl-Heinz Best: Deutsche Entlehnungen im Englischen. In: Glottometrics. H. 13, 2006, S. 66–72.
- I. Dhauteville: Le français alsacien. Fautes de prononciation et germanismes. Derivaux, Strasbourg 1852. (Digitalisat)
- Jutta LimbachJutta LimbachJutta Limbach is a German jurist and politician. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany . She received her doctorate in law in 1966 by the Free University of Berlin and fulfilled the requirements to be appointed professor by the German educational system in 1971...
: Ausgewanderte Wörter. Hueber, Ismaning 2007, ISBN 978-3-191-07891-1. (Beiträge zur internationalen Ausschreibung „Ausgewanderte Wörter“) - Andrea Stiberc: Sauerkraut, Weltschmerz, Kindergarten und Co. Deutsche Wörter in der Welt. Herder, Freiburg 1999, ISBN 978-3-451-04701-5.
External links
- "From 'Kaffeklatsching' to 'Wischi-Waschi'– when German Words Take a Trip around the World.". December, 2006. (German version)
- www.sueddeutsche.de, Süddeutsche ZeitungSüddeutsche ZeitungThe Süddeutsche Zeitung , published in Munich, is the largest German national subscription daily newspaper.-Profile:The title literally translates as "South German Newspaper". It is read throughout Germany by 1.1 million readers daily and boasts a relatively high circulation abroad...
: „Deutsche Wörter erobern die Welt“, May 11, 2004. - www.sueddeutsche.de, Süddeutsche Zeitung: „Die Fremdgeher“, January 7, 2001.
- www2.rz.hu-berlin.de/japanologie, (Phonologische Angleichung deutscher Lehnwörter im Japanischen)
- www.welt.de – Die WeltDie WeltDie Welt is a German national daily newspaper published by the Axel Springer AG company.It was founded in Hamburg in 1946 by the British occupying forces, aiming to provide a "quality newspaper" modelled on The Times...
: „Deutsche Fremdwörter setzen sich in Holland zunehmend durch“, October 7, 1995. - www.etymologie.info (Eine Liste Wörter deutschen Ursprungs in anderen Sprachen)
- SpreadGermanisms.com (Interactive collection of Germanisms)
- www.spiegel.de (Foresprug durk Tecnic)