Denglisch is a term describing the increased use of

anglicism An anglicism is a word or construction borrowed from English by another language. With the rise in English-speaking world, Anglophone media and the global spread of British and US cultures in the 20th and 21st centuries, many English terms hav ...

s and

pseudo-anglicism A pseudo-anglicism is a word in another language that is formed from English elements and may appear to be English, but that does not exist as an English word with the same meaning. For example, English speakers traveling in France may be struck ...

s in the German language. It is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsLambert, James. 2018. A multitude of 'lishes': The nomenclature of hybridity. ''English World-wide'', 39(1): 23. DOI: 10.1075/eww.38.3.04lam The word has been adopted in English in an anglicized form as Denglish, recorded from 1996.

Terminology

The term is particularly used by

language purist Linguistic purism or linguistic protectionism is the prescriptive practice of defining or recognizing one variety of a language as being purer or of intrinsically higher quality than other varieties. Linguistic purism was institutionalized ...

s in all German-speaking countries to refer to the increasingly strong influx of English or pseudo-English vocabulary (and other features of the language such as grammar and orthography) into German. The standard German reference work ''

Duden The Duden () is a dictionary of the Standard High German language, first published by Konrad Duden in 1880, and later by Bibliographisches Institut GmbH. The Duden is updated regularly with new editions appearing every four or five years. , ...

'' defines it as "a pejorative term for German with too many English expressions mixed in."Sönke Krüger
Warum Denglisch Sprachmüll ist – Nachrichten Vermischtes
Welt Online] 19 November 2007 Other sources use words with aggressive, hostile, or negative connotations to describe it such as "a persistent infiltration", an "invasion", "onslaught", or "attack", or that it is "corrupting the language" (in English) or is an "infectious disease". The term itself is not a standard German word, but an informal portmanteau of ''Deutsch'' + ''English'', and gives the same kind of impression in German, as the word ''Spanglish'' has in English: i.e., it is well-understood, but it is an informal word for which there is no common equivalent in standard language use. Other slang terms in German which refer to the same phenomenon include: german: label=none, McDeutsch ("McGerman"), german: label=none, Dummdeutsch ("dumb German"), german: label=none, Dönerdeutsch (kebab German). In English there are numerous colloquial portmanteau words. One set is based on the word ''Deutsch''. These include (chronologically) ''Deutschlisch'' (first recorded in 1970), ''Deutlish'' (1977), ''Deutschlish'' (1979) and ''Dinglish'' (1990). Another set of terms is based on the word ''German''. These include (chronologically) ''Germenglish'' (first recorded 1936), ''Germanglish'' (1967), ''Gerglish'' (1968), ''Germish'' (1972), ''Germlish'' (1974), ''Genglish'' (1977), ''Ginglish'' (1989), ''Germinglish'' (1996), and ''Gernglish'' (1996).

Criticism

Some influence of English on German is expected as part of normal

language contact Language contact occurs when speakers of two or more languages or varieties interact and influence each other. The study of language contact is called contact linguistics. When speakers of different languages interact closely, it is typical for th ...

. The term ''Denglisch'' refers to abundant or excessive use of anglicisms or

s in German. The introduction of English

buzzword A buzzword is a word or phrase, new or already existing, that becomes popular for a period of time. Buzzwords often derive from technical terms yet often have much of the original technical meaning removed through fashionable use, being simply used ...

s peaked during the 1990s and the early 2000s. Since then, the ubiquity of the practice has made it much less fashionable or prestigious, and several commentators have argued against it. ''

Zeit Online ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History T ...

'' (whose title is itself an example of the prevalence of anglicisms in German IT terminology) criticized the ubiquitous use of English in a 2007 article. Although the article acknowledged the risks of excessive

linguistic purism Linguistic purism or linguistic protectionism is the prescriptive practice of defining or recognizing one variety of a language as being purer or of intrinsically higher quality than other varieties. Linguistic purism was institutionalized ...

, it condemned the fashion of labeling information desks at train stations, formerly simply known as ''Auskunft'', with the anglicism ''Service Point''. The choice of the pseudo-anglicism ''Brain up!'' by then-minister for education Edelgard Bulmahn as a campaign slogan in 2004 was highlighted as an extreme case by ''

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History Th ...

''. ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

'' satirized this choice at the time of its introduction,Uphearen bitte!
csl., Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 27 January 2004, Nr. 22 / p. 36. and later wrote that even the English-speaking sphere was mocking "German linguistic submissiveness".

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

, 30 September 2015 (in German)

Forms of influence

Words and expressions labeled as Denglisch can come from various sources, including loanwords, calques, anglicisms, pseudo-anglicisms, or adoption of non-native grammar, syntax, or spelling.

Loanwords

German vocabulary has numerous cases of English loanwords now fully "naturalized" as German words, including full inflection. English had only very limited influence on German before the mid-19th century. Such loanwords as there are mostly concern nautical vocabulary, loaned into

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle ...

(e.g. ''tank'', ultimately from Indo-Aryan; ''Tanker'' (''

tanker (ship) A tanker (or tank ship or tankship) is a ship designed to transport or store liquids or gases in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and gas carrier. Tankers also carry commodities such as vegetable oil ...

'') is early 20th century). In the 19th century, it was still more common to use loan translation for the vocabulary of industrialisation (''Dampfmaschine'' for "steam engine", ''Pferdestärke'' for "horse power", etc.). To some extent, this continued in the early 20th century: ''Wolkenkratzer'' for "skyscraper", ''Kaugummi'' for "chewing gum", ''Flutlicht'' for "flood light", ''Fernsehen'' for "television". English loanwords became more common in the early 20th century. A notable example from this period is ''Test'' (ultimately from Old French ''test'' "earthen pot"). ''Test'' was compatible both with German phonology and orthography so its nature as a loan is not evident. Early loanwords (19th to early 20th century) often describe garments or foodstuffs: ''Jumper'' (19th century), ''Curry'' (19th century loan from English, ultimately from Tamil), ''Pyjama'' (early 20th century loan from English ''pyjamas'', ultimately from Urdu), ''Trenchcoat'' (1920s). Other loanwords are ''boykottieren'' "to boycott" (1890s) and ''Star''. Direct influence of English, especially via US pop culture, became far more pronounced after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, with

allied-occupied Germany Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Franc ...

and later by association with 1960s to 1970s US

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. H ...

: ''Jeep'', ''Quiz'', ''Show'', ''Western'', ''Rock'', ''Hippie'', ''Groupie''. The newest and most prolific wave of anglicisms arose after 1989 with the end of the Cold War and the surge of the "Anglo-Saxon" smack of

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic libera ...

in continental Europe and the associated business jargon ("CEO" became extremely fashionable in German, replacing traditional terms such as ''Direktor'', ''Geschäftsführer'', ''Vorsitzender'' during the 1990s). At the same time, the rapid development of information technology pushed many technical terms from that field into everyday language. Many of the more recent loans have developed in the spoken language and are still clearly felt to be English words, so their English orthography is retained in written communication, which leads to awkward spellings combining German morphemes with English word stems, as in ge''boot''et ("booted up" of a computer) or ''gecrasht'' or ''gecrashed'' ("crashed", of a computer), ''downgeloadet'', ''gedownloadet'' or ''gedownloaded'' ("downloaded"). They also retain English phonology in many cases, including phonemes that do not exist in Standard German (such as the /eɪ/ in "upd''a''te").

Pseudo-anglicisms

is a word in another language that is formed from English elements and may appear to be English, but is not used by native English speakers.

Adoption of grammar or idioms

Another form of Denglisch consists of

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

s of popular English expressions which replace German words and

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language ...

s. Common examples are: *''Was passierte in 2005?'' (What happened in 2005?)
Formally: ''Was passierte 2005?'' or ''Was passierte im Jahre 2005?'' Although this is considered incorrect by many native speakers as it violates German grammar, it can be found even in German newspapers. *''Das macht Sinn.'' (That makes sense.)
Formally: ''Das ergibt Sinn.''; ''Das hat Sinn.'', or ''Das ist sinnvoll''. *''Willkommen zu nserem Videochannel', properly ''Willkommen bei ...'' (although it has been pointed out that combination of "willkommen" with the preposition ''zu'' can also be found in German classics).

Orthography

Another phenomenon is the usage of the possessive construction '' 's '' (generally used in English but also correct in German in sundry cases), often called ''Deppenapostroph'' or ''Idiotenapostroph'' ("Idiot's apostrophe" or "Idiot's inverted comma") instead of the traditional German constructions. For example, a Denglisch speaker might write ''Wikipedia's Gestaltung'' ("Wikipedia's design") instead of either ''Wikipedias Gestaltung'' or ''die Gestaltung der Wikipedia''. Less often, it is used incorrectly to mark a plural s ( Greengrocers' apostrophe); pluralizing with an apostrophe is correct in

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, not in German or English. : ''Handy's'', ''Dessou's'', or for adverbial expressions, such as : ''montag's'' (instead of ''montags'', cf. English nMondays). The apostrophe is also frequently confused with other characters, with stand-alone

acute Acute may refer to: Science and technology * Acute angle ** Acute triangle ** Acute, a leaf shape in the glossary of leaf morphology * Acute (medicine), a disease that it is of short duration and of recent onset. ** Acute toxicity, the adverse ef ...

grave accent The grave accent () ( or ) is a diacritical mark used to varying degrees in French, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian and many other western European languages, as well as for a few unusual uses in English. It is also used in other languages usin ...

s being used in its stead. Denglisch may combine words according to English rules by writing them in succession. According to the Standard German grammar and spelling rules, that is incorrect. : ''Reparatur Annahme'' instead of ''Reparaturannahme'' The first spelling, with two separate words, makes no logical or grammatical connection between the words but simply juxtaposes them. The second combines them into one word, an ''Annahme'' (in this case a place where something is received) for ''Reparaturen'' (repairs). That is often called ''Deppenleerstelle'', or '' Deppenleerzeichen'' which means ''idiot's space'', incorrectly separating parts of a compound word.

Non-translation

Many words are taken over as is from English, with little or no change in spelling even if it doesn't fit the German orthographic system. One German source laments the presence of Denglisch as an "infectious disease" of "raging anglicitis" in the German language, which manifests as a kind of "hybrid communications medium". It gives as examples the words ''events'', ''economy'', ''performance'', ''entertainment'', or ''electronic cash'' respectively. appearing in German. Some major companies such as

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York St ...

now conduct much of their business in English, while several departments of the major German telephone company

Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (; short form often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a German telecommunications company that is headquartered in Bonn and is the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. Deutsche Telekom was ...

were known as "T-Home" (formerly "T-Com"), "T-Mobile", "T-Online", and "T-Systems". Reinventing titles for English-language films dubbed into German was once a common practice so, for example, Paul Landres's 1958 Western ''Man from God's Country'' became ''Männer, die in Stiefeln sterben'' (i.e. ''Men Who Die with Their Boots on.''), while

Raoul Walsh Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh. He wa ...

's 1941 film ''

They Died with Their Boots On ''They Died with Their Boots On'' is a 1941 American black-and-white Western film from Warner Bros. Pictures, produced by Hal B. Wallis and Robert Fellows, directed by Raoul Walsh, that stars Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. The film's sto ...

'' became ''Sein letztes Kommando'' (''His Last Command'') or ''Der Held des Westens'' (''The Hero of the West''). Most current American film titles are no longer translated into German, (''

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

'') although they still often receive German appendages like '' Prometheus – Dunkle Zeichen'' (''Prometheus – Dark Signs'') or include puns not present in the original title, such as ''

Clerks A clerk is someone who works in an office. A retail clerk works in a store. Office holder Clerk(s) may also refer to a person who holds an office, most commonly in a local unit of government, or a court. *Barristers' clerk, a manager and adminis ...

– Die Ladenhüter'' for ''Clerks – The Shelf-Warmers''. Menus of many global fast food chains also usually go partly or completely untranslated: "Double Whopper (formally: ''Doppel-Whopper'') mit leckerem Bacon und Cheddar Cheese."

Advertising language

Advertising agencies in German-speaking countries have such a need for skills in English that they want ads for new employees to contain plain English such as "Join us". KFC Germany's recruitment slogan is "I Am for Real", and its website shows very heavy use of English coupled with nonstandard German. German commercials or, more often, written advertisements are likely to use many English terms: :' :' The verb "downloaden" is alleged to have been coined by Microsoft, as there is a native, common German word (""). Microsoft Windows Update uses the phrase "" ("Download the latest updates") instead of the standard "". The latest interface guidelines suggest that the term "" should be used again because many users complained. However, ''Aktualisierungen'' (unlike ''herunterladen'') would not be idiomatic German in this usage or would at least have to be explained as ''Softwareaktualisierungen'' or ''Programmaktualisierungen'', the former involving the new Anglicism "Software". The use of ("") has its roots in a commercial name, too. It is related to the handheld

Walkie-talkie A walkie-talkie, more formally known as a handheld transceiver (HT), is a hand-held, portable, two-way radio transceiver. Its development during the Second World War has been variously credited to Donald Hings, radio engineer Alfred J. Gross, ...

, a commercial name for the two-way radio transceiver to be transported in a bag, later in hands and so called (""). A correct translation could be (""). Germans used to cite the word ("") as an example of Denglisch. Advertising in the field of personal

hygiene Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

tends to use much English: :''Double Action Waschgel'' :''Vitalisierendes Peeling'' :''Energy Creme Q10'' :''Oil Control Gel Creme'' :''Oil Control Waschgel'' :

rand name The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is finan ...

''Visibly Clear Anti- Mitesser Peeling'' :''Ariel Sproodles'' The same applies to detergents: :''Color Waschmittel'' instead of ''Buntwaschmittel'' or ''Farbwaschmittel'' :

''Megaperls'' :

''Oxy-Action'' Larger national and international companies based in Germany also use English to describe their services. The television broadcaster

ProSieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...

uses the slogan "We love to entertain you" while Zurich Financial Services advertise with the slogan "Because change happens". The fastest trains run by the German state-owned railway system

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the ...

(German Rail) are named " IC" and " ICE", abbreviations of "Inter City" and "Inter City Express", while information booths are named ''ServicePoints'', first-class waiting areas are referred to as ''Lounges'', and words like ''Kundendienst'' (

customer service Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products or services. Each industry requires different levels of customer service, but in the end, the idea of a well-performed service is that ...

) and ''Fahrkarte'' (ticket) are quickly losing out to their respective English counterparts. As an official stance against this rampant use of Denglisch, the Deutsche Bahn in June 2013 issued a directive and glossary of 2200 Anglicisms that should be replaced by their German counterparts. Sometimes such neologisms also use

CamelCase Camel case (sometimes stylized as camelCase or CamelCase, also known as camel caps or more formally as medial capitals) is the practice of writing phrases without spaces or punctuation. The format indicates the separation of words with a single ...

, as in the

's newest rates called "Fulltime", "Freetime", "Call Plus" and "Call Time" offering additionally such features as "CountrySelect". They do not even refrain from offering services at certain 'Callshops', using both languages by building a German-style compound, capitalizing it and using two English words in a new context. It has become common for travel agencies to offer "last minute" bookings or manufacturers to adopt "just in time"; perhaps driven by international commerce and economic interests. The phrase "Test it" is increasingly common as an English phrase idiosyncratic to German, meaning roughly "Try it out". That is thought to have originated with advertising copy for West cigarettes, exhorting consumers to "Test The West".

In popular culture

* The popular German ''

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

'' group Wise Guys produced a song on their ''

Radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

'' album called "Denglisch", a tongue-in-cheek look at the use of English words in German language. In the song, the lyrics start out mostly German with only a few English words creeping in: "Oh, Herr, bitte gib mir meine Sprache zurück!" (''O Lord, please give me my language back!''). It progresses to most of the lyrics being English: "O Lord, please gib mir meine Language back". The tune is a parody of '' My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean''. * In 1985, the famous German poetic songwriter

Reinhard Mey Reinhard Friedrich Michael Mey (born 21 December 1942) is a German "Liedermacher" (literally "songmaker", a German-style singer-songwriter). In France he is known as ''Frédérik Mey''. By 2009, Mey had released 27 German albums, and generally ...

recorded "Mey English Song" as a parody on the increasingly frequent playing of English songs on the radio, although the fans "only understand 'railway station'" (literal translation of the German idiom "verstehe nur Bahnhof"; "cannot understand a thing"). In the song, he states, his producer told him, "Well, what do we now for record sell?", urging Mey to sing in English. * In an episode of the web series '' Will It Blend?'' Tom puts a German-English/English-German CD dictionary into his blender. After he finishes blending the dictionary, he says, "Denglish smoke! Don't breathe this!" * The book ''I like you – und du?'' () features frequent

code-switching In linguistics, code-switching or language alternation occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single conversation or situation. Code-switching is different from plurilingualis ...

between English and German. * The punk rock band Goldfinger from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

produced a cover of " 99 Luftballons" by Nena for their 2000 album ''

Stomping Ground ''Stomping Ground'' is Goldfinger's third official album that was released on March 28, 2000. The song "The End of the Day" contains a brief sample from the Dead Kennedys song " Nazi Punks Fuck Off." The album was produced by Tim Palmer and Joh ...

'' in which the fourth verse is in German. They also included a "Germish version" of their song Spokesman as a bonus track on their 2002 album '' Open Your Eyes'', containing a mostly German second verse. * The

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

song "I'm Going to Fight Mit Sigel" is sung in English, interspersed with German words, from the point of view of a

German-American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

soldier fighting under General

Franz Sigel Franz Sigel (November 18, 1824 – August 21, 1902) was a German American military officer, revolutionary and immigrant to the United States who was a teacher, newspaperman, politician, and served as a Union major general in the American Civil ...

Notes

Notes References

External links

Denglisch used for truck-driver humour

a November 2004 article from the

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service cons ...

website
Denglish definition and citation
from a February 2001 article on a "lexpionage" ( lexical espionage) website
Gayle Tufts
a Berlin-based American performer whose comedy is often based on Denglish.
Denglish
at Languagehat.com

an April 2015 article from the

Der Tagesspiegel ''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, ...

website
Der DEnglische Patient – A column by Peter Littger
(Manager Magazin, 2016) {{interlanguage varieties Macaronic forms of English German language