5 Interesting Facts about the German Language
The German language holds immense importance globally, with its ancestors dating back to the 5th century. It’s native to about a hundred million people, representing 1.4% of the entire world population.
You might recognize it upon hearing a phrase or two, but we miss out on the stuff that makes it unique! In this article, we’ll go over five interesting facts about the German language. So, keep reading!
- It Isn’t Just Limited to Germany
Part of what constitutes the importance of this language is how far it is spread out. It’s the most widely spoken tongue in the EU, winning over languages like French, Spanish, and even English! Apart from being Germany’s national language, it’s also the official language in Liechtenstein and Austria. That’s not all; it’s one of the official languages in Luxembourg and Switzerland too.
The German Language sits at the 11th spot in the list of the most commonly spoken tongues in the world! One of the examples of its significance is the widely-read Luther bible, which is a German translation of the Bible from Hebrew and ancient Greek.
2. It Has a Special Letter Called “Eszett”
While most of the German alphabet is shared with English, there’s an additional unique letter. It’s written as ß, and it’s known as the sharp “s”. While it looks like a B, it sounds nothing like it. It can be thought of as a replacement of the ‘sz’ consonant blend in English, referred to as ‘Eszett’ in the German translation.
It shouldn’t be confused with the similar-looking Greek “vita” alphabet — written as β. If you’d like to know more about the Eszett, and how it differs from the vita, check out this article.
3. It Got a Major Re-do in 1998!
These collectively decided overhauls’ main goal was to bring the spelling and punctuation to an agreed-upon standard. As we’ve learned, Germany isn’t the only nation that speaks the language, which means that such a re-do required other countries’ involvement. In 1996, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein signed onto the changes along with Germany, but Luxembourg did not. Gradually though, the spelling and punctuation reforms were accepted by them as well.
4. The German Language Boasts Gender Neutrality.
In most languages, like Hindi, nouns are usually limited to male or female. These are already difficult enough to grasp for native English speakers, but Germans go one step further. One of the most interesting facts about the German language is how its nouns can even be neuter! A word’s gender is strictly determined by grammar in the German language.
An example of this could be the German translation of “the girl”, which is ‘Das Mädchen’, and that’s a neuter noun. Even though the person it refers to is female, it isn’t a female noun. Unique, isn’t it?
If you’re looking to do business in Germany, read this article on how to localize your product and content for Germans
5. All Nouns are Capitalised in German
We know that in English, the first letter of all proper names is capitalized. The German language takes this a whole league further, capitalizing every noun! Regardless of where the terms are positioned in a sentence, they’ll all be capitalized without exception.
If you’re wondering, “Is the German language difficult?”, then yes, such rules make the grammar way more complex.
There it is, you now know 5 of the most interesting facts about the German language!
You can find details about our German translation services here
Given this article’s context, it’s appropriate to see you off with the German translation of goodbye, so Auf Wiedersehen!
