The German Question, Part Twenty-Two

Slightly updated July 30, 2015


In the early days, Berlin became the main city and capital of Brandenburg, and Königsberg became the capital of Prussia. When the two areas were merged, Berlin became the capital.

The people of the entire northern area of Germany were Low German speakers, and modern Dutch, Frisian, and ENGLISH all are closely related to these Low German dialects. Don't forget, the northern coastal area of modern Germany and part of Holland, along with the western coast of Denmark, is the ancestral homeland of English, as the Angles, Saxons and Jutes lived there before going to Britain and founding England, although not all Saxons left the area, and a substantial number remained on the Continent (their language is called "Old Saxon").

As these northern Germans moved eastward into Prussia and Brandenburg,* they came into contact with a number of Slavic, Old Prussian, and Lithuanian dialects,** and a number of words were borrowed into these Low German dialects from these non-Germanic speakers.*** Berlin eventually became a separate linguistic case. The initial settlers there were Low German speakers, but as Berlin became an important government center, and with the publication of Luther's Bible giving rise to a more standard form of German, that standard form began to take over, but it never completely pushed out Low German, even to this day, and "Berlinerisch," as the Berlin dialect is called, is essentially standard German with some Low German characteristics, and borrowings from Slavic and French (see Part 21 about the French Huguenots). Much later still, Jewish refugees from Polish territories brought new terms with them when they settled in Berlin.**** In the countryside outside of Berlin, Low German is still spoken in some places, but standard German is now spoken by all (including in Berlin), save for perhaps some very elderly people, and the number of Low German speakers; that is, people who actually know Low German, has declined substantially since the end of World War Two. It's always important to remember, while I say standard German (Hochdeutsch) is spoken by all, that doesn't mean there aren't regional or local dialect characteristics used in their renderings of that "standard German," including some distinct vocabulary or pronunciation differences, which is really no different from English, or likely any other language, and German regional dialects are still often spoken at home and among other family members, neighbors and friends; so, German dialects, some very strong and difficult to understand, persist right up to the present.  

One of the interesting characteristics of "Berlinerisch" (pronounced as if, bear-lean-air-ish) is the way some words are pronounced, compared to standard German. In standard German one would say, "Ich bin in Berlin geboren" (I was born in Berlin), but in Berlin dialect, it is, "Ik bin in Berlin jeboren," with the "ch" sound of "ich" ("I") being pronounced/spelled "k" (this is a tendency in most of the Low German dialects, and that was how it was spelled in English for many centuries). The "g" is spelled "j," but is pronounced like English "y," so phonetically, "Ik bin in Bear-lean yeboren." Further, the Low German influences are still present, as standard German "w-a-s" (which means "what," and is pronounced "vahs," with the "a" of "father") is "wat" in Berlin dialect (again with the "a" of "father"). Likewise, "that" is "det/dat" in Berlin dialect, but "das" in standard German.***** You can see the Low German sounds are more closely related to English. (A Word History is below the notes)

* They initially moved into areas just east of their homelands, known as Mecklenburg and Pomerania, which were also occupied by Slavic speakers.

** All are Indo European languages and are therefore related to the Germanic languages, but further down the family tree. Old Prussian and Lithuanian are closely related, as is Latvian, and all belong to the Baltic part of Indo European, although in more modern times, a good many linguists, but not all, link the Baltic languages with Slavic, and call them "Balto-Slavic." Old Prussian is no longer spoken, and is considered a "dead" language.

*** The Swedes, North Germanic speakers, occupied much of this northern area at various times later on (Sweden was once a formidable military power), and they too contributed influences on some of these German dialects in particular areas.

**** Yiddish, which literally means "Jewish," is a Germanic language that developed about a thousand or more years ago, seemingly in the Rhineland area of Germany. It was based upon the High German dialect of that area, with elements from various German dialects, Hebrew, Slavic, and some Latin-based languages, like Rumanian. It was initially referred to as "taytsh/taytsch" (which meant "German," compared to Middle High German "tiutsch" and modern German "Deutsch"). As Jews moved across eastern Europe, they took this language along, thus picking up those various other characteristics from Slavic and Rumanian over time. It seems the term "Yiddish" wasn't really applied to the language until the 1700s. It is still spoken today, even in America, principally in New York City.

***** These differences are due to a sound shift which occurred after Anglo-Saxon was already established in Britain, and since the northern low dialects were not affected by this sound shift, English remains closer to these low dialects. In the dialects more to the south, the "t" tended to become "s," and these dialects came to be called "high," as they were in more elevated terrain. Standard German is based upon "High German." In English we have "kettle," but in High German it is "Kessel," for instance.

WORD HISTORY:
Schnitzel-This goes back to Old Germanic "snithan(an)," which meant "to cut, to slice." This gave Old High German "snidan" and later "sniden." This gave birth to "snitzen" (later "schnitzen"), which meant "to carve, to slice." The diminutive (to make something smaller) form "snitzel/schnitzel" then developed. This seems to have been borrowed into English in the mid 1800s, probably as the German meat dish, "breaded cutlet of pork or veal, which is then fried," became popular. Further, a "Schnitzelbank" is a "cutting bench for sawing wood," as in the song/rhyme "Ist Das Nicht Ein Schnitzelbank," some of you may be familiar with. By the way, before English took on the word "slice" from French, and before English settled on "cut," we used a form of "snithan" to mean "slice/cut/slaughter," and a "snaed" was "a small piece cut from something." While unconfirmed, I have to believe that our word "snide," as in "snide (sharp/cutting) remark," traces back to this.

NOTE: As you can see, I have not given a source for the Old Germanic form. This is because I have never totally bought the source offered by some of Indo European "sneit/snyet," with the meaning "to cut." That doesn't mean this is not correct, but I have just not been convinced.