Samstag, 18. Dezember 2010
What is Denglish?
noddie, 01:06h
Does Denglish represent a linguistic retrograde evolutionary step or is it just a passing folly; a pseudo-proficiency in English or just a means of showing off one’s language incompetence, unbeknownst to those using this sort of language?
Denglish is a strange mixture of English and German words or phrases. This sort of Continental neo-pidgin English is ubiquitous and most striking when put bravely into print. English words are adapted in keeping with the rules of German grammar and mixed freely and haphazardly with German, often lending a hilarious touch to the resulting muddle. However, it is when English misapplications of otherwise correct English are thrown in that the effect becomes utterly uproarious. And to top it all, when Germans start to invent new applications for English words or even entirely new English-sounding words which no native speaker would understand, English and German people alike are in dire need of guidance through the Denglish version of their mother tongues.
Another less obvious aspect of Denglish are literal translations from English into German and vice versa which, at first glance, seem correct. But when subjected to a closer examination, they reveal the authors` incompetence or ignorance – if one chooses to be more polite, since the state of ignorance is no longer regarded as a defect or fault in this day and age. And as it happens, these literal translations are often the most trivial and hence the stupidest one can come up with. This may partly be due to the reliance of dictionaries plugged-in computer software which give only a limited number of definitions.
Denglish is a strange mixture of English and German words or phrases. This sort of Continental neo-pidgin English is ubiquitous and most striking when put bravely into print. English words are adapted in keeping with the rules of German grammar and mixed freely and haphazardly with German, often lending a hilarious touch to the resulting muddle. However, it is when English misapplications of otherwise correct English are thrown in that the effect becomes utterly uproarious. And to top it all, when Germans start to invent new applications for English words or even entirely new English-sounding words which no native speaker would understand, English and German people alike are in dire need of guidance through the Denglish version of their mother tongues.
Another less obvious aspect of Denglish are literal translations from English into German and vice versa which, at first glance, seem correct. But when subjected to a closer examination, they reveal the authors` incompetence or ignorance – if one chooses to be more polite, since the state of ignorance is no longer regarded as a defect or fault in this day and age. And as it happens, these literal translations are often the most trivial and hence the stupidest one can come up with. This may partly be due to the reliance of dictionaries plugged-in computer software which give only a limited number of definitions.
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