Distribution

GERMANY, AUSTRIA, SWITZERLAND, LIECHTENSTEIN, LUXEMBOURG, France, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Holland, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, United States.

Introduction

German is an Indo-European language, closely related to Dutch, English and the Scandinavian languages. It exists in a wide variety of dialects, some so different from each other as to be more or less mutually unintelligible. The standard language of Germany (Hoch-deutsch, or ‘High German’) is used for written communication throughout the German-speaking area, with a few small regional differences. It is spoken by most Germans, Austrians and German-Swiss either as their first language or as a second dialect (often with strong regional colouring).

Because of the close family relationship between English and German, there are many similarities between the two languages as regards phonology, vocabulary and syntax. German speakers therefore find English easy to learn initially, and tend to make relatively rapid progress.

Phonology

General

The German and English phonological systems are broadly similar, and German speakers do not have serious difficulty in perceiving or pronouncing most English sounds. Among the features of German which can give rise to a ‘German accent’ in English are:

1. – More energetic articulation than English, often with tenser vowels, more explosive stop consonants (/p/, /t/, /k/); and more lip-rounding and spreading.

2. – Different intonation patterns.

3. – Frequent use of glottal stops before initial vowels, giving a staccato effect.

4. – Tendency of some speakers to use a generally lower or higher pitch than most British people.