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Denglisch, sometimes spelled Denglish, is a portmanteau of the words Deutsch and English. It is also referred to as Engleutsch, [eŋlojtʃ] from the same portmanteau, and Germish, which is a portmanteau of German and English. It describes a language based on German grammar that includes a jumble of English and pseudo-English idioms, or vice versa. Image File history File links Emblem-important. ... A portmanteau (IPA pronunciation: RP, US) is a word or morpheme that fuses two or more words or word parts to give a combined or loaded meaning. ... A portmanteau (IPA pronunciation: RP, US) is a word or morpheme that fuses two or more words or word parts to give a combined or loaded meaning. ... For the rules of English grammar, see English grammar and Disputes in English grammar. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... 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. ...

Used in all German-speaking countries, Denglisch owes its existence in part to the cultural predominance of English language pop music, to international computer slang, and to the use of English as the lingua franca of politics, business, and science (see also: Euro-English). For other uses, see Pop music (disambiguation). ... This article is about the machine. ... Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speakers dialect or language. ... Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ... For other uses, see Politics (disambiguation). ... In economics, a business is a legally-recognized organizational entity existing within an economically free country designed to sell goods and/or services to consumers, usually in an effort to generate profit. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Because of discrepancies in their pronunciation, syntax, grammar and word use, imported English words must adapt to the German language, or German language patterns must adapt to English usage.

Germanisation of English words

Due to lack of rules for proper declension and conjugation forms, English words within Denglisch will have a flexion added to them, so they often come out in some twisted form. One may hear from native German speakers: In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns and adjectives to indicate such features as number (typically singular vs. ... In linguistics, conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection (regular alteration according to rules of grammar). ...

Ich musste den Computer neu booten, weil die Software gecrasht ist.
I had to reboot the computer because the software crashed.

or ReBoot was a CGI animated series that was produced by Canadian production company, Mainframe Entertainment, and created by Gavin Blair, Ian Pearson, Phil Mitchell and John Grace, with the visuals designed by Brendan McCarthy after an initial attempt by Ian Gibson. ... A crash in computing is a condition where a program (either an application or part of the operating system) stops performing its expected function and also stops responding to other parts of the system. ...

Hast du schon die neueste Mozillaversion downgeloadet / gedownloadet?
Have you already downloaded the newest version of Mozilla?.

Such English-influenced use of language is often found in incompletely-translated US-American or English products: The German version of Microsoft Windows XP will inform the user of the fact that it is currently downloading updates with the words: Mozilla was the official, public, original name of Mozilla Application Suite by the Mozilla Foundation, nowadays called SeaMonkey suite. ... A typical Windows XP desktop. ...

Updates werden gedownloadet: 16%

The same can be expressed in standard German, without the use of any English words, as:

Aktualisierungen werden heruntergeladen

Twisting of German idioms and grammar rules

The adaptation also takes the other route, where literal translations of popular English expressions slowly but insistently swamp out the correct German words and idioms. Widespread examples of this evolution are: Literal translation refers to the result of translating text from one language to another; translating each word independently as opposed to translating the entire phrase. ... An idiom is an expression (i. ...

• Was passierte in 2005? (What happened in 2005?)
  Formally: "Was passierte 2005?" or "Was passierte im Jahre 2005?" Although this usage is considered wrong by most native speakers and it is forbidden by the official German grammar, it can be found even in German newspapers.

• Sinn machen
  correct: "Sinn ergeben" or "Sinn haben". Here the English verb "to make sense" was adopted instead of the original German verb.

These phrasings may have originated from English-language movies and other media translated into German, but they are also used in everyday language.

Some of those constructs will only be found in youth language, where it has become common, for example, to talk about coole Events which captures almost, but not quite, the same meaning as the respective English phrase.

Another phenomenon is the usage of the English genitive (possessive) construction 's , often called Deppenapostroph (Idiot's apostrophe or Idiot's inverted comma), instead of the appropriate German constructions. For example, a Denglisch speaker might write Wikipedia's instead of either Wikipedias, der Wikipedia, or using von + dative.

Involuntary and voluntary blunders

Another example of Denglisch's departures from standard English usage is the German use of the word body bag (meaning, in English, a bag in which a dead body is placed) for "backpack" – even though the Standard German word Rucksack is an acceptable synonym of "backpack" in many varieties of English. A body bag is a non-porous bag designed to contain a human body, used for the storage and transport of corpses. ... A backpack A backpack is, in its simplest form, a cloth sack carried on ones back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders (called shoulder straps) and below the armpits. ...

A sentence which follows Denglisch grammar rules can always be built by simply combining English and German words:

You kannst not have das da 'cause it is too teuer für me.

Which means:

You cannot get that because it is too expensive for me.

Du kannst das nicht haben, weil es mir zu teuer ist.

Or:

I have keine Idee.

Which means:

I have no idea.

Ich habe keine Ahnung.

This is sometimes done for comic effect by adults fluent in both languages, but can also be heard from bilingual infants who have moved beyond the "babbling" stage. Children, searching for the appropriate expression, will often use the first to come to mind, regardless of language. The distinguishing feature of such speech is its grammatical correctness—which is not ensured when adults try the same. It is often heard in bilingual schools, as students require no extra effort (which may otherwise delay fluent speech) to translate a word in their mind into the language in which they are predominantly communicating—full comprehension of the mixed vocabulary by their peers can be taken for granted. Sometimes this can lead to problems talking to those outside the school, who do not understand Denglisch, as students will be unused to having to stop and think of the translated word. The term bilingualism (from bi meaning two and lingua meaning language) can refer to rather different phenomena. ...

During the 1990s, younger people comfortable speaking English would sometimes replace the main word of their sentence with the English equivalent: For the band, see 1990s (band). ...

• Example: "Hey, der wird ja richtig enthusiastic."
  • In English: "Hey, he's getting really enthusiastic."
  • In Standard German: "Hey, der begeistert sich ja richtig (dafür)." or "Hey, der wird ja richtig enthusiastisch."

• Example: "Es war einfach unbelievable."
  • English: "It was simply unbelievable."
  • German: "Es war einfach unglaublich."

Since the two languages are related, German and English often use the same preposition for describing abstract actions or concepts. However, this is not always the case. For example, native English speakers are reminded of something, whereas native German speakers are reminded on something. But a Denglisch speaker may directly translate a preposition into English, even if it would not be a grammatical usage in a Standard English sentence. Thus, sentences such as

• That reminds me on a book.

may be constructed.

The word Denglisch is not listed in German dictionaries. The closest Standard German word for it is "Kauderwelsch". It is used when the two languages are intentionally mixed together. It assumes that both parties are fluent in both languages. Used intelligently one picks the word or phrase from the language that best fits the situation or substitutes expressions that are clumsy in one of the languages or where there is no simple translation. Because of their versatility the verbs are usually expressed in English.

List of pseudo-anglicisms in German

Look up beamer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... City Centre is a Local Government ward in the City of Manchester. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Central business district. ... The Central Business District of Sydney, Australia. ... A drive-thru window at a fast food restaurant. ... Look up handy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Motorola T2288 mobile phone A mobile phone is a portable electronic device which behaves as a normal telephone whilst being able to move over a wide area (compare cordless phone which acts as a telephone only within a limited range). ... Mobbing refers to a group behavioural phenomenon and a type of animal behavior. ... Bullying is the tormenting of others through verbal harassment, physical assault, or other more subtle methods of coercion such as manipulation. ... An old-timer is a veteran or an elderly person. ... For the event, see Fun run. ... A poster for the 1896 Broadway melodrama The War of Wealth depicts a typical 19th century bank panic in the U.S. A bank run (also known as a run on the banks) is a type of financial crisis. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Man tap dancing. ... Three household placemats made with, from the top: cork, wool and fiber. ... A doily is a small ornamental mat usually made of lace or linen placed underneath a dish or bowl Categories: Food and drink stubs ...

Influence on grammar and spelling

Denglisch may combine words according to English rules by writing them in succession. According to the Standard German grammar rules, this is technically incorrect.

Reparatur Annahme instead of Reparaturannahme

Another phenomenon is the anglicized use of the apostrophe. It is often used in the English way (which in standard German is wrong) for the genitive: An apostrophe An apostrophe (French, from the Greek αποστροφος προσωδια, the accent of elision) ( ’ ) is a punctuation and sometimes diacritic mark in languages written in the Latin alphabet. ... The genitive case is a grammatical case that indicates a relationship, primarily one of possession, between the noun in the genitive case and another noun. ...

Rita's Imbiss instead of Ritas Imbiss

The two may be freely combined: Take-out, carry-out ( in American English ) or take-away ( in British English ) is food purchased at a restaurant but eaten elsewhere. ...

Werner's Wurst Bude instead of Werners Wurstbude

Or for the plural (Greengrocer's apostrophe): This article is about the prepared meat. ... The greengrocers apostrophe is the incorrect addition of an apostrophe to the plural form of a word, as in Apples and oranges for sale, 50% off. The term was coined in Britain where such mistakes are common in the signs and advertisements of greengrocers. ...

Handy's, Dessou's

This use of the apostrophe, also quite common with native English speakers, is sometimes referred to as Deppenapostroph which means moron's apostrophe. Its counterpart is the Deppenleerstelle, also called Deppenleerzeichen which means Idiot's Whitespace. Moron was originally a scientific term, coined by psychologist Henry H. Goddard from a Greek word meaning foolish and used to describe a person with a genetically determined mental age between 8 and 12 on the Binet scale. ...

Non-translation

It is notable that some companies such as Deutsche Bank now do much of their business in English. Deutsche Bank AG (ISIN: DE0005140008, NYSE: DB) (English: ) is a bank operating worldwide and employing more than 75,000 people (June, 2007). ...

The major German telephone company known as Die Deutsche Telekom would be written in Standard German with a k. Its major departments are known as "T-Com", "T-Mobile", "T-Online" and "T-Systems". Nearly all of their titles in advertising and within their web pages drop the customary Germanic k in favour of an English c. (See www.telekom.de).

Many American children's films such as Ice Age do not translate their titles into German. Menus of many global fast-food chains also usually go untranslated. DVD cover This article is about a film. ...

Advertising language

Advertising agencies have such need for both languages that their want ads for new employees contain plain English such as "Join us". (Wetzlarer Neue Zeitung 26th of August 2006).

German commercials or—more often—written ads thus are likely to use many English terms:

Mit Jamba! können Sie Klingeltöne, Logos und Spiele direkt aufs Handy downloaden.

Wählen Sie aus Tausenden coolen Sounds, aktuellen Games und hippen Logos.

The term "downloaden" is alleged to have been coined by Microsoft, as there is a non-English and often-used German word ("herunterladen"). Microsoft Windows Update uses the phrase "Downloaden Sie die neuesten Updates" (Download the latest updates) instead of the standard "Laden Sie die neuesten Aktualisierungen herunter". The latest interface guidelines suggest that the term "herunterladen" should be used again, because many users complained. For other uses, see Jamba. ... Cell Phone redirects here. ...

The field of personal hygiene tends to use much English: Hygiene refers to practices associated with ensuring good health and cleanliness. ...

Double Action Waschgel

Vitalisierendes Peeling

Energy Creme Q10

Oil Control Gel Creme

Oil Control Waschgel

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Anti-Mitesser Peeling

Ariel Sproodles

The television broadcaster Pro 7 uses the slogan "We love to entertain you". The Zürich Versicherung advertises "Because change happenz" (www.zurich.de) and the "Deutsche Bahn AG" (German Rail) called their fastest trains "ICE" an abbreviation of "Inter City Express". Their information booths/stands "ServicePoints" (also an example of the widespread semi-Germanization of Anglicisms). The words Kundendienst (customer service) and Fahrkarte (ticket) are quickly losing out to their respective English counterparts. This article is about a skin disease commonly found during adolescence. ... This article is about a term used in economics. ...

Sometimes such neologisms also use CamelCase, as in the German Telekom's newest rates called "Fulltime", "Freetime", "Call Plus" and "Call Time" offering additionally such features as "CountrySelect" (www.t-com.de). Travel bureaus offering "last minute" bookings or manufacturers adopting "just in time" deliveries has become general use, probably required by international commerce and economic interests. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

See also

• Lübke English
• globish, macaronic, Hinglish,Tanglish
• Europanto
• Euro-English
• False friends
• Fahrvergnügen
• Language transfer
• List of German expressions in English
• Mixed language
• Pidgin
• Pseudo-anglicism
• Quelia
• Wienerschnitzel

The term Lübke English is referring to nonsense English texts, caused by a naive word-by-word translation of German texts, i. ... Globish is a portmanteau neologism of the words Global and English. ... Macaronic refers to text spoken or written using a mixture of languages. ... Hinglish, a portmanteau of the words Hindi and English, is the arbitrary usage of Hindi and English, combining both, in one sentence. ... Madras bashai (also known as Madras Tamil and informally as Tanglish) is a language spoken in the city of Chennai, India. ... Europanto is a constructed language, a linguistic jest with a hodge-podge vocabulary from many European languages. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... False friends are pairs of words in two languages or letters in two alphabets that look or sound similar but differ in meaning. ... Fahrvergnügen was a slogan, translating as driving enjoyment (from fahren, to drive, plus Vergnügen, enjoyment), used by Volkswagen in an ad campaign (c. ... Language transfer (also known as L1 interference, linguistic interference, cross-linguistic interference or interference) is the effect of a speaker or writers first language (L1) on the production or perception of his or her second language (L2). ... This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy certain standards for completeness. ... A mixed language is a language that arises when speakers of different languages are in contact and show a high degree of bilingualism. ... This article is about simplified languages. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Quelia or Russo-German (German: quälen or Quelle or Deutschrussisch, Russian: квeля/kvelya, Quelia: Qweля/Qvelya) is a mixed language or pidgin used by some Russian immigrants living in Germany. ... // Relatively new Wienerschnitzel restaurant located in Sunnyvale, California. ...

External links

• 'ACHTUNG': a classic example of a Denglisch warning
• ‘Denglish’ is on the march, a December 2004 article from the International Herald Tribune
• Opinion: Desperately Ditching Denglish, a November 2004 article from the Deutsche Welle website
• Don't fret, it's only Denglish, a DaF student's view on the topic, from Freie Universität Berlin, 2002
• Denglish definition and citation, from a February 2001 article on a "lexpionage" (lexical espionage) website
• Wir haben ge-partied, a 2001 article from an Irish "women's web portal"
• Gayle Tufts, a Berlin-based American performer whose comedy is often based on Denglish.
• Denglish, at Languagehat.com
• Denglish / German Dictionary at Deutschtum.net