Also see the Denglisch Dictionary and German Loan Words in English.
Denglisch - Denglish - Neudeutsch
Some people claim that the words above all mean the same thing, but they don't. Even the term "Denglisch" alone has several different meanings. Since the word "Denglis(c)h" is not found in German dictionaries (even recent ones), and "Neudeutsch" is vaguely defined as "die deutsche Sprache der neueren Zeit" ("the German language of more recent times"), it can be difficult to come up with a good definition. But here are five different definitions for Denglisch (or Denglish):
- Denglisch 1: The use of English words in German, with an attempt to incorporate them into German grammar. Examples: downloaden - ich habe den File gedownloadet/downgeloadet. - Heute haben wir ein Meeting mit den Consultants.*
- Denglisch 2: The (excessive) use of English words, phrases, or slogans in German advertising. Example: A recent German magazine ad for the German airline Lufthansa prominently displays the slogan: "There's no better way to fly."
- Denglisch 3: The (bad) influences of English spelling and punctuation on German spelling and punctuation. One pervasive example: The incorrect use of an apostrophe in German possessive forms, as in Karl's Schnellimbiss. This common error can be seen even on signs and painted on the side of trucks. It is even seen for plurals ending in s. Another example is a growing tendency to drop the hyphen (English-style) in German compound words: Karl Marx Straße vs Karl-Marx-Straße.
- Denglisch 4: The mixing of English and German vocabulary (in sentences) by English-speaking expats whose German skills are weak.
- Denglisch 5: The coining of faux English words that are either not found in English at all or are used with a different meaning than in German. Examples: der Dressman (male model), der Smoking (tuxedo), der Talkmaster (talk show host).
Language Cross-Pollination
There has always been a certain amount of language borrowing and "cross-pollination" among world languages. Historically, both English and German have borrowed heavily from Greek, Latin, French, and other languages. English has German loan words such as angst, gemütlich, kindergarten, masochism, and schadenfreude, usually because there is no true English equivalent. (See German Loan Words in English for more.)
But in recent years, particularly following the Second World War, German has intensified its borrowings from English. As English has become the dominant world language for science and technology (areas that German itself once dominated) and business, German, more than any other European language, has adopted even more English vocabulary. Although some people object to this, most German-speakers do not. Unlike the French and Franglais, very few German-speakers seem to perceive the invasion of English as a threat to their own language. (Even in France, such objections seem to have done little to stop English words like le weekend from creeping into French.) True, there are several small language organizations in Germany that see themselves as guardians of the German language and try to wage war against English — with little success to date. English terms are perceived as trendy or "cool" in German (English "cool" is cool).
English Influences on German
But many well-educated Germans shudder at what they view as the "bad" influences of English in today's German. Dramatic proof of this tendency can be seen in the popularity of Bastian Sick's humorous bestselling book entitled Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod ("the dative [case] will be the death of the genitive"). Sick's 2004 bestseller (another English word used in German) points out the deterioration of the German language ("Sprachverfall"), caused in part by bad English influences. The success of the first book brought about two sequels: Folgen 2 und 3, Parts 2 and 3, "Neues/Noch mehr aus dem Irrgarten der deutschen Sprache" ("new things/even more from the German-language maze").
Although not all of German's problems can be blamed on Anglo-American influences, many of them can. It is in the areas of business and technology in particular that the invasion of English is most pervasive. A German business person may attend einen Workshop (der) or go to ein Meeting (das) where there's eine Open-End-Diskussion about the company's Performance (die). He or she reads Germany's popular Manager-Magazin (das) in order to learn how to managen the Business (das). At their Job (der) many people work am Computer (der) and visit das Internet by going online.
While there are perfectly good German words for all of the "English" words above, they just aren't "in" (as they say in German, or "Deutsch ist out."). A rare exception is the German word for computer, der Rechner, which enjoys parity with der Computer (first invented by the German Conrad Zuse).
But other areas beside business and technology (advertising, entertainment, movies and television, pop music, teen slang, etc.) are also riddled with Denglisch and Neudeutsch. German-speakers listen to Rockmusik (die) on a CD (pronounced say-day) and watch movies on a DVD (day-fow-day).
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