Americanisms in the German Language

An americanism is a word or a linguistic characteristic of American English that has become part of another language. Whereas anglicism refers generally to an exported English word or linguistic characteristic, americanism specifically refers to those anglicisms originating from the United States.

Some americanisms have adapted to German spelling, grammatical, and/or pronunciation conventions (e.g., nouns are capitalized); others occur in their original form. Americanisms are found in spoken as well as written German, especially in mass media and specialty fields. The converse phenomena, Germanisms, are readily found in the English language.

History

German, like all languages, has been and continues to be influenced by other languages. Although French and Latin were the primary influences from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries, anglicisms have been noted as early as the thirteenth century, mainly in the fields of trade and maritime. Anglicisms comprised less than 1 percent of all foreign words in the seventeenth century but increased to more than 6 percent by the middle of the eighteenth century, in part due to the influence of English literature.

There was a notable influx of English words into the German language in the nineteenth century (from 8 percent of all foreign words at the beginning of the century to nearly 36 percent by the end) as England influenced areas such as commerce, travel, journalism, and politics. The portion of anglicisms in the German language was estimated to have been slightly more than 1 percent of the total vocabulary by the end of the nineteenth century. There was a steady increase throughout the twentieth century, so that by 1980, approximately 88 percent of foreign words in German were anglicisms (slightly less than 3.5 percent of the total vocabulary).

Although some anglicisms (e.g., Bestseller, Babysitter, and Stress) can be traced to American English, others are of British origin, still others came to German via a third country, and yet others are of ambiguous origin.

As the economic and political influence of the United States increased beginning in the early decades of the twentieth century, the portion of anglicisms of American origin became much more significant. And since the mid-twentieth century, the frequency of americanisms has continued to increase consistently. Researchers have identified anywhere from four to nineteen americanisms per newspaper page in the mid-twentieth century, climbing to as many as twenty-four per page in 1974.

Americanisms have altered both written and spoken German and both formal and colloquial language. Indeed, some americanisms have become such a standard part of German vocabulary that they may no longer be perceived as foreign words (e.g., Okay, Star, Jeans, Training). Virtually all areas of German life—music, dance, theater, film, newspapers, magazines, radio, television, literature, travel, science, technology, industry, economy, politics, and the military—have witnessed an influx of americanisms. In addition, fashion, food, and tourism have been affected, as have the modern branches of the sciences such as information technology, atomic energy, air travel, and certain sports (e.g., “bowling,” “roller-skating,” “surfing,” and “aerobics”). The use of americanisms is especially noticeable among German youth due to the strong influence of the American music industry and television. There are an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 americanisms in the German language today.

Sources of Americanisms

The means of transfer of americanisms into German are manifold. As the political and social contacts between speakers of German and English have grown over the last centuries, most notably since World War II, the influence of American English on the German language has increased as well. Specific sources of americanisms include the translation of many specialized texts into German; the prominence of English in international press agencies as well as in international politics; increasing numbers of exchange students and professors traveling between German-speaking and Englishspeaking countries; the presence of American military service members and their families in the post—World War II years; the popularity of American films, television shows, and hit songs; and the increasing number of native German speakers who study the English language and American culture at German schools and universities.

Another important source of increased contact between the cultures is the return to Germany of many German emigrants who lived in the United States. The German press, including newspapers and magazines, has played a key role in facilitating the process of adoption and circulation of americanisms.

Although residents of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) did not have this same degree of contact with American English, some americanisms also existed there largely because of the media influence of their western neighbors. The social and political changes of 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down, the subsequent unification with West Germany, and access to a wider variety of media, led to a wave of American influence—and consequently many more americanisms—in that part of the country in the 1990s.

Types of Americanisms

Americanisms include English words in their original form that have been incorporated into German, such as Ticket, Party, and Makeup, as well as words that have adapted to German conventions such as Komputer, Musikbox, and Additiυ. Other americanisms combine American and German words, as in Twistschritt (twist step), Fuβballfan (football fan), and Jetflug (jet flight). Still others are newly constructed words based upon English yet not found in the English language (e.g., Twen, “someone in his or her twenties”; Dressman, “male model”; Beamer, “data projector”; Handy, “mobile phone”; Happy end, “happy ending”; and Shakehand, “handshake”). Another type of americanism is the translation of an English word into German, such as Beiprodukt from “byproduct,” Herzattacke from “heart attack,” and Fiskaljahr from “fiscal year.”

Americanisms also demonstrate the impact of American English on German morphology, semantics, pronunciation, syntax, and writing conventions. For example, some americanisms undergo additions or changes. Imported verbs frequently take on German patterns of conjugation, as with the americanisms campen, joggen, and coachen, although spelling changes are not always consistent (e.g., recyclen and re- cyceln).

Another form of adaptation is the addition of a German prefix to an English root word: aufstylen, “to make more stylish”; and vertrusten, “to form into a trust.”

In most cases, the meaning of an americanism is the same or nearly the same as in English. However, the definition of an americanism may differ from the closest corresponding German word, adding to the vocabulary choice of the speaker (e.g., Job, meaning “temporary employment to earn money,” as distinct from the German words Beruf, “career”; and Arbeit, “work”). Or, the connotation may be slightly different from the German equivalent (e.g., Baby as a more affectionate term for the German word Saugling, “infant”). In other cases, the americanism may take on an entirely different meaning (e.g., clever, to mean “cunning” or “crafty,” as compared to the more common English definition of “smart” or “witty,”; and Keks, which came from “cakes,” to mean “biscuit”).

Generally, americanisms are pronounced as they are in English; infrequently they are spoken using German conventions or a combination of the two, depending in part upon the speaker’s knowledge of English. Evidence of americanisms in German syntax includes, for example, the phrase in 1980, which imitates English rather than the German im Jahre 1980.

English nouns typically are written with a capital letter as soon as they are established in German (e.g., Teenager, Trend, and Test). Other changes in writing conventions are not implemented universally. Some examples are the use of “k” instead of the original “c” in Klown and Kockpit, “sch” instead of “sh” in Schock, and the replacement of a single consonant with a double one in Stopp and Tripp.

Motives for Using Americanisms German speakers may use americanisms to refer to items for which there is no German equivalent, as in the case of the jazz styles Hard Bop and West Coast or the advent of Supermarket and Park and Ride, which came into the German language with the inventions themselves.

Americanisms may refer to items that were founded or popularized in the United States (e.g., the verbs snow- boarden, skateboarden, mountainbiken), or that specifically designate American cultural features (e.g., Cowboy, Western, High School, Hippie, and Yuppie). Some americanisms, such as Checkpoint and Displaced Persons, come in and out of usage if they are connected with trends or time-sensitive events. In still other cases, americanisms offer synonyms and stylistic variations, may provide an American flavor or color to the topic being discussed, and may be used to create a desired tone or affect.

Americanisms can allow German speakers to be more precise or brief since the German equivalent may be longer than the americanism; many americanisms are one syllable (e.g., Snob, Box, Quiz, and the adjective fair). Americanisms may be required for communication in specialty areas where the terminology dictates it. Germans may also use americanisms out of a desire to imitate the publicity styles used in the United States; some believe that the use of americanisms, especially in advertising, can add an air of modernity and prestige to the speaker or writer. Youth subculture and the entertainment industry have contributed to the popularity of americanisms, as have political organizations, making their use not solely connected to pro-Americanism. Indeed, the use of americanisms can also be found among members of alternative political movements and those espousing antiAmericanism.

Reception of Americanisms

The existence of americanisms and their increasing number have brought both positive and negative reactions from German speakers. Enthusiasm for and openness to americanisms are common, given their prevalence and popularity and the recognition that they are continuing to increase over time. Moreover, the advent of thousands of americanisms in the German language can be viewed not so much as an Americanization of German as an internationalization of the language, not unlike what has occurred in other countries.

However, already in the late nineteenth century, there was a movement against the rising tide of anglicisms and other foreign words in the German language that mirrored the nationalist sentiment of that time. The language purists campaigned to encourage German speakers to use their mother tongue as opposed to foreign words whenever possible. During the National Socialist era, americanisms and other foreign expressions were discouraged as a more pure German language was linked to intense nationalist sentiments. Official campaigns against English words in the GDR focused selectively on americanisms as a representation of U.S. imperialism.

Nowadays, some native German speakers feel that the use of americanisms, and anglicisms in general, devalues the language, especially where there are equivalent German terms, as with the popular words cool, Kids, and happy. Debates on this topic and organizations that encourage the use of German words in place of English imports are not uncommon. Some who fear degradation of German have dubbed the mixture of the two languages Denglisch or En- gleutsch. It is true, on occasion, that many americanisms are not fully understood by the German listener or reader and that their use can create communication problems. Nonetheless, researchers have found very little structural change in the German language due to the influx of americanisms, and americanisms are widely viewed as an enrichment of the German language.

Germanisms in the English Language

The German language has also influenced the English language. As early as 1520, there is evidence that the Reformation left its mark on English vocabulary from newly created German words (e.g., Protestant, and papist) as well as from new Bible translations (e.g., weakling and mercy seat). In the seventeenth century, German scientific

and technical terms, including some in the field of mining, were added to the English vocabulary (e.g., satellite, inertia, focus, and cobalt). The number of germanisms increased in the second half of the eighteenth century with an influx of mineralogical, chemical, and geological terms such as quartz and graphite. Even more germanisms entered the English language in the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century from fields including biology and psychology. An estimated 3,000 germanisms in English fall into the following main categories: geology, chemistry, physics, medicine, and other sciences. Some better known germanisms are kindergarten, glockenspiel, leitmotiv, ersatz, lieder, U-boat, Nazi, kitsch, wunderkind, blitzkrieg achtung, gesundheit, and angst. Few germanisms have replaced English words; most have expanded the English vocabulary and continue to be extremely useful in a variety of fields.

Diane Guido

Americanisms in the German Language

More on the topic Americanisms in the German Language: