German Language Day 2010

Today is German Language Day (Tag der deutschen Sprache), and this very morning I finished Günter Grass's latest book: Grimms Wörter: Eine Liebeserklärung. The New York Times wrote about Grimm's Words: The book is a declaration of love, as the subtitle states, to Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm's collection of German words in a dictionary.

Somehow, typically, showing the European Flag and the UN logo

The Brothers Grimm started their Deutsches Wörterbuch in 1848 when, following a conflict about the Hanover Constitution with their king, they - together with five other colleagues (the Göttingen Seven) - were not only ousted from their professorships but also expelled from the Kingdom of Hanover.

The Wörterbuch is more than just a dictionary. It is like an encyclopedia of German words, their origin, and their development. It is a treasure trove, particularly for a writer like Günter Grass, who loves German Baroque authors and their style.

Coming back to German Language Day 2010, the Badische Zeitung published an interview with Professor Ludwig Eichinger, full professor of German linguistics at the University of Mannheim. It is there that the Duden, Germany's reference source for our language, is published. When Eichinger was asked about the influence of American English on German, he gave the all-clear.

We had earlier impacts on our language. In the 18th century, it was le Français causing outbreaks like: O spei aus, vor der Hausthür spei der Seine häßlichen Schleim aus! Rede Deutsch, o du Deutscher (Oh, vomit in front of the front door, vomit the Seine river's hideous slime! Speak German, oh you German). 

Concerning the American influence, we are far from such outbursts. Why not use the English word if no acceptable German translation exists? Who knows the German equivalent of "upgrade?"

The other day I read cute translations for drop-down lists and browsers: Klapplisten and Stöberer. Since my early days with the computer, I have fought a personal battle using the word hard disk for the good German Festplatte. After all, I try to compensate for my lapsus linguae by forcing E-Post instead of e-mail.

In fact, in recent years, German enterprises have rediscovered German, like the Deutsche Bahn (German Railway). They promised to rename their Service Point to Kundenzentrum.

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