The German Language Column
Word!

Whether in a relationship, at the theatre or in gaming communities, social groups sometimes develop their own languages. Elias Hirschl has written about what fascinates him about this.

Why are some political parties in Germany and Austria so obsessed with the concept of performance? What is the thinking behind their platitudes? Elias Hirschl takes a close look at passages from the parties’ manifestos. And he rounds it all off with the idea of a better world.

Elias Hirschl likes to play with the listicle format. They are often about everything and nothing - or about words that have a person behind them. We find out what boycott has to do with an Irish earl. And Bluetooth with an Austrian film diva.

When he thinks about Twitter in the past, Elias Hirschl gets sad. It used to be the platform for absurd nonsense, for incomprehensible jokes, for new words that ended up in everyday life. An obituary – and an appeal to continue making stupid jokes on other platforms.

Elias Hirschl, author, spoken word artist, musician – and our new columnist – is very surprised by the battle cries of the self-appointed guardians of the German language. After all, it changes in one way or another over time – genderisation here, Anglicisms there.

In her final column, Ulrike Almut Sandig, who has translated many poems herself, pays tribute to two colleagues who have translated her poetry. The following is an excursion into English- and Georgian-speaking realms – and different ways of reading literature.

Rainer Maria Rilke and our columnist, Ulrike Almut Sandig, have both translated poetry from various languages into German. Sandig now takes it to the next level by “transadapting” two of Rilke’s French poems into present-day German with a focus on the rhymes – and an invitation to dance.

Ulrike Almut Sandig finds herself grappling with unfamiliar ethical issues every time she goes about another translation – or rather “adaptation” – into German. Which opens her eyes to different, non-German takes on social conditions – and social ills.

Not exactly an everyday task: Ulrike Almut Sandig has translated the Ukrainian national anthem into German in tandem with Claudia Dathe. Not only is it a fine literary rendering, but it’s singable – and it rhymes! She envisions its performance at a concert, free of charge and accessible to one and all, at the border crossing between Poland and Ukraine.

Since they first met in 2015, Ulrike Almut Sandig and Ukrainian poet and musician Grigory Semenchuk have formed a close artistic bond. So what happens to a poem when it gets translated into another language – and turned into a film? Our columnist shows us – and explains why it stars a rabbit.

Ulrike Almut Sandig, a prize-winning poet in her own right, also translates poetry into German. What makes this such a challenging endeavour? What’s the story behind “free adaptation”? Our new columnist opens the doors to her workshop – and takes us all over the world from there. First stop: New Zealand!

Who still knows how to insult with style in our day and age? asks Jagoda Marinić. Forced harmony is no more constructive than aggressive invective. She recommends cultivating the complexity of German syntax – which make it easier to argue incisively and formulate dissent.

Hollow and, above all, pompous verbiage rubs Jagoda Marinić the wrong way. Specifically, she deplores the ubiquitous use of impersonal, objective language drained of all vitality. Why not tell an anecdote instead? she suggests. Get personal, get emotional, take a verbal risk!

In her final column, Jagoda Marinić delves into the special language of love and lovers, a language of expectation and uncertainty, of fragments and loose ends rather than gapless linear narratives. The language of love leaves room to find things that aren’t even there yet.

Amid the ubiquitous chatter, Jagoda Marinić considers the power of silence. Can’t pauses and wordless gestures be significant and expressive too?

Jagoda Marinić has had her fill of psychobabble. We’re overdiagnosing mental disorders, putting too much pressure on ourselves to self-optimize. How are we to find happiness by quantifying and tracking our every move? Marinić calls for more freedom to be ourselves and lead a simple, unquantified inner life.

Social media is “pared-down reality in pared-down language”, says writer, journalist, podcaster and now Word! columnist Jagoda Marinić. Why does X, formerly known as Twitter, cause both satiety and hunger these days? And how can we get the old playfulness back on social media?

In her final column, Manon Hopf takes this opportunity to remind us how we can – and should – write about other animals without using violent language. And the potential offered by poetry to enter into dialogue with them. For example through scent-walk sonnets.

Should monsters really be viewed solely in a negative light? Manon Hopf thinks not – here, she takes a look at the productive aspect of the monster concept.

Language can dehumanise, but language can also be firmly positioned alongside the supposedly unnatural. Manon Hopf looks at perpetrator expressions and the deconstructive counter-forces of poetry.

Dialect, dance, sign language, gesture – other animals communicate in surprisingly diverse ways. Manon Hopf gives us the lowdown.

What is the language of music? – That question isn’t easy to answer, even in relation to humans. Manon Hopf asks: what’s the music of other animals about?

We humans exploit other animals. But can we see them from a different perspective? Our new columnist Manon Hopf is exploring the poetry of other animals.

In his last Word! instalment, our columnist Jan Snela is transported back to Japan by the sight of starry skies in the south of France. Over in Japan he had hiked up a hill to get a picture-perfect view of Mount Fuji floating in the sky across the bay. And has felt close to the stars ever since.

On his recent trip to Japan, Jan Snela learned about the concept of “amae”: A concept that gives kids – and even washing machines – licence to occasionally run amok.

Jan Snela pays a visit to a karaoke box in Kyoto, where he continues his quest for the essence of Japan – a mix of silence and noise.

Jan Snela’s memories of his trip to Japan take him back to the ambient noise in Tokyo…. and the shrill cries of Japanese cicadas, as captured in a Bashō haiku. Tokyo is overwhelming, but he comes across a Japanese word that encapsulates the paradoxical emptiness and absence he feels in the teeming city.

During his trip to Japan, Jan Snela gets to know not only some fascinating spots, but also some special literary forms. This instalment of his language column is about the appeal of “haiku pillows” and “fluffy” haibun.

Our new columnist Jan Snela thinks back on his trip to Japan a few months ago, interweaving recollections with reflections on the books he lugged around – or didn’t.

AI, globalization, and social media: how do they reshape language use? – Some reflections by ChatGPT.

Join ChatGPT in uncovering how the language of art and literature bridges cultures, sparking creativity and connecting hearts worldwide.

In the world of diplomacy, language plays a central role. Globalisation and geopolitical changes are shaping multilingual exchanges. ChatGPT looks at the art of diplomatic communication.

ChatGPT ventures a personal look at language learning in cyberspace. Join us on this journey of discovery and learn how technology makes us true language artists!

Multilingualism enriches our everyday lives despite machine translation. Columnist ChatGPT shows why language learning is still of great importance.

Revolutionizing communication, one word at a time! Join our new columnist ChatGPT as it thinks of the AI-driven transformation of language translation.

Digital tools are only helpful if we learn to think digitally. In his final column, Dirk von Gehlen explains why we’d do well to follow the example of two champion high jumpers.

Languages are accessible to everyone online nowadays, even novelties like “Vong speak”. So it is usage that helps us tell cohorts apart.

The mutability of language is no real cause for concern. Dirk von Gehlen on our misguided tendency to glorify the past and the endless adaptability of language.

Generations Y and Z may not do much talking over the phone, but they do still attach importance to the spoken word on the Internet. Here’s Dirk von Gehlen on avocados and deliberate mispronunciations.

“Grosse Abneigung, nachmittags noch irgend etwas zu tun” – “Loath to undertake anything else this afternoon.” 4,400 people like what Thomas Mann wrote in his diary on 10 August – at least that’s how many likes this tweet got. Dirk von Gehlen on valuations and value not only in the sphere of the digital.

“Word!” is going digital – or rather, digilectal: In the next batch of articles, our new language columnist Dirk von Gehlen will be exploring changes wrought by Internet culture in the way we write and speak. How does new slang come about? What roles do abbreviations and emojis play? How might all this help resolve some serious social issues?

The internet isn’t just “new territory” – it also changes the way we speak and write. Footballers in particular are fond of putting their foot in it.

Hardly any footballers get away without a nickname, and fantasy knows no bounds here. These pet names demonstrate an affectionate approach to language, the pun involved and their own passion.

The development of football is progressing rapidly, and its language is changing at the same rate. Not everyone likes that. But there’s no stopping it now.

Footballese has produced an amazing array of hackneyed phrases that come in handy for football players and officials alike because they can mean everything and nothing. But what if we were to use these stock phrases in everyday life, too?

No language is as ornate as that of sports, as you can tell from the panoply of colourful football phrases used in different countries around the world.

First the bad news: the robots are taking over – at least in sportscasting. Then the good news: they’re still just dumb machines spitting out nonsense.

In her final column, rapper Taiga Trece riffs on the voice, spoken language and air – and wraps them all together.

Hispanic hip hop hasn’t caught on in Germany. That’s because of our ingrained preconceptions about Latin culture and the Spanish language, explains Taiga Trece.

Do we want separate rap for women and men? That’s a rhetorical question, says Taiga Trece: No way! She takes this opportunity to set a few things straight and makes the case for more women in the rap game.

So many interviews and so many wrong questions. Taiga Trece isn’t into speculating about whether women have a hard time of it in the rap business. What’s more captivating is a question she’s never asked in interviews, which is why she takes this opportunity to answer it here: how rap has affected her.

A misogynistic slur or a means to self-empowerment? “Bitch” is big in hip hop, but now it cuts both ways. Taiga Trece riffs and reflects on “bitch”.

Hip hop is now both a big business and a subculture, at once acclaimed and taboo. Our new columnist Taiga Trece looks at these contrasts and rap’s rebellious and creative potential.

Hasnain Kazim used to be allergic to bad puns and similar forms of cringeworthy wordplay. But he eventually succumbed, at least somewhat, to their (asinine) charm. After all, aren't many things easier to bear if you can laugh at a lame witticism at the same time?

Verbal communication should be used for the purpose of making oneself understood, argues Hasnain Kazim, who lambastes various forms of jargon. Sometimes only one thing helps: to translate it into plain, readily intelligible language.

The German-speaking world is rich in dialects. They make for differences and diversity, in which Hasnain Kazim revels – even though he’s from the north of Germany and doesn't always get what southerners are saying to him.

To say “Sie” or to say “du” – sometimes, that’s the question. Hasnain Kazim thinks so too and looks around the world: How do formal and informal forms of address work in Scandinavia and Asia, at government agencies, editorial offices and in political parties? And how do they sometimes not work? In any case, they do mirror real life.

You’re sometimes better off venting your spleen than keeping it all bottled up inside, says Hasnain Kazim, who declares that invective is an art. For which you need good tools: namely, choice put-downs with a regional or historical touch.

The more we greet one another the better, exhorts our new columnist Hasnain Kazim. Different greetings are used in various parts of Germany, but they always signal respect and kindness – which we can never get enough of.

How outmoded is it to seal ourselves off? In the final instalment of his column, Hauke Hückstädt makes the case for a kind of literature that overcomes barriers.

Hauke Hückstädt has previously written about putting together an anthology of easy-to-read literature in plain language. Now it’s time he told us about the reactions, about the feedback from people finally coming out of hiding – with the help of literature.

Hauke Hückstädt considers the annual book fair in Leipzig the ultimate in accessibility. But the fair has been cancelled for this spring of 2022. In the following, our columnist sums up – in plain language – what’s so special and worth preserving about it.

Everything is miles better abridged – says the poet Arne Rautenberg. Which is an apt watchword for six writers who came together to lay down some rules for their own easy-to-read texts. Hauke Hückstädt reports on the tools used in this literary workshop.

Can modern literature be accessible to all? Hauke Hückstädt and his Literaturhaus team say yes, definitely. And they’ve found writers ready and willing to venture into uncharted literary territory.

In her final column with us, Nora Gomringer explores the notion that we humans are all inventors and that our inventing is always both salvation and escape. Some inventions cannot be revised – especially when it comes to giants and deer.

Learning through imitation: This route, according to Nora Gomringer, also leads directly to language. She describes how we can fall madly in love and sings the praises of the act of imitatio.

Until now, Nora Gomringer’s column has been devoted to translation. Now she is devoting it to the various pathways to language. She starts with listening. Her essay features a bathtub, porcelain cups and microphones.

Literary translation involves so much more than just translating words: it’s a matter of rendering a whole way of seeing the world. Nora Gomringer talks about authors and translators working together to thrash out the nuances of poetry in particular, including smells and sounds – and pain, for which it’s hard to find the words.

Translation is an art, explains poet, reciter and our new columnist Nora Gomringer. And it’s backbreaking work, like that of a water buffalo toiling in a rice paddy – though she means that far more appreciatively than it sounds.

It’s the translators who initiate us into the worldwide canon of literature, Nora Gomringer observes upon the announcement of the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, and carries us back to the age of German Romanticism.

In his final piece for our “Word” column, Henning Lobin looks into the use of German in EU institutions. What’s the difference between an official language and a working or “procedural” language? Which language has become established as Europe’s “lingua franca”? Our columnist has the answers.

The gender star has proved an enduring bone of contention. Henning Lobin now wades into the fray to offer his own two cents on the matter. We clearly need to sheathe our verbal swords, he says, and objectively debate the pros and cons of gender-neutral language.

Nothing in the German Constitution says that German is our official language. Henning Lobin makes the case for a constitutional amendment to enshrine its social function, though not as a symbol of the German nation-state like our national flag.

What is it that irks those who feel compelled to protect the German language against foreign words? Henning Lobin retraces the history of nationalistic linguistic crusades from the Baroque to the present day and age.

What are the ideas and values that characterize a given society? And what do debates about the role and use of language have to do with that? Our new columnist, Henning Lobin takes on some controversial language issues.

The wrangling about the German spelling reform in the 1990s could hardly have been more acrimonious. What caused this heated row in the German press and public administration, in schools and even in barrooms? Our columnist Henning Lobin recaps the tumultuous history of this controversial reform.

In her final column, Olga Grjasnowa zeroes in on two words that hold a special place in the German language: „Heimat“, an elusive concept that can be hard to get your head around, and “Wurzeln”, which at least seems quite tangible. Both are heavily fraught with political and emotional connotations.

Not all politicians are big on gender-neutral language. Olga Grjasnowa pokes fun at these pockets of resistance by putting forth some truly radical proposals for reforming the German language..

Culture wars are sometimes waged over language – as in the current debate over gender-neutral language. But even dialects are liable to cause some pitched battles.

Languages are alive. This is obvious from the fact that words and phrases from one language are repeatedly adopted in another – usually as a means of enriching the range of expression.

Bureaucratic or even threatening: When German authorities formulate texts, they often seem intimidating to the people addressed.

What does it mean when Germans talk about their “mother tongue”? – Olga Grjasnowa has had very different experiences and gives us hints for rethinking.

​In terms of their actual extent and distribution in the sentence structure, they are the very smallest units: the punctuation marks. But even a tiny comma can completely change the meaning of a sentence.

“From”, “at”, “since” or “around” – prepositions like these help us to locate things. They point us in the right direction – in time or place, for example. But it is not always as simple as it seems.

What is the relationship of German pronouns to gender-equal language? Sharon Dodua Otoo looks at the problem from the perspective of several languages – and has a suggestion.

They are inconspicuous and usually very short – but they can have a great effect: In the German language, prefixes sometimes succeed in completely changing the meaning of a word. If you read carefully, you can make surprising discoveries.

In her first contribution, our new columnist Sharon Dodua Otoo looks at verbs and their emancipatory effect.

What is the special perfidy of nouns? They can deceive us by showing us a state of reality that is perhaps quite different. And in doing so, they can even cause great harm. 

Hernán D. Caro isn’t really into strolling around the park or along tree-lined avenues. But he has taken a shine to walking these days as a remedy against lockdown torpor, as a way to rediscover his adopted city – and because he has the most inspiring peripatetic conversations.

Our columnist often finds himself thinking of his late beloved grandmother and her folksy sayings. She was a woman who practised what she preached. Her wise words of advice often come to mind, especially in hard times.

Language is, first and foremost, an exchange of information. But it can also be used for purposes of deception or disguise – or for showing off. The latter, writes Hernán D. Caro, calls to mind birds displaying their colourful plumage for effect.

When Hernán D. Caro talks with friends of his in Germany, he tends to exaggerate every now and then. His friends then usually look perplexed. This is reason enough for the author to think about the different ways people communicate in different languages, which sometimes call for a pinch of salt.

Learning how to write in a new language can prove a long and rocky road – and ultimately a liberating experience. Hernán D. Caro, who has chosen to write in German, agrees on both counts. And he treasures his second language like a second skin.

How much passion and sensuality lie in the German language? Not much, you’re thinking? Hernán D. Caro, our new columnist, passionately disagrees!

How come we speak German the way we do today? In this final piece for his column on the German language, Thomas Böhm has some surprising news for us about modern-day “Hochdeutsch”.

Some words in other languages sound just like German words but don’t mean the same thing. Thomas Böhm takes a close look at these “false friends” … and finds that they’re actually part of the family.

The language of children is often poetic and philosophical. What can we learn from it as adults?

What are they actually singing about? Thomas Böhm admits that he doesn’t always get the words to pop songs. When looks them up on the Internet, he’s sometimes unpleasantly surprised. But sometimes he’s delighted to discover the poetry of pop songs.

Magic moments in fairy tales: our new columnist Thomas Böhm is still enchanted when he hears the words “Es war einmal…” (“Once upon a time...”). He knows why we love the same stock phrases in every language. And he explains why learning the language of doves can be very worthwhile.

How do you strike up a mutually stimulating conversation with a stranger? Thomas Böhm is sometimes at a loss on that one. But he has an idea: just tell each other your favourite words. That’s liable to open up whole worlds – and even some scrumptious cake recipes!

Duden was the authority on German spelling till the 1996 spelling reform. The dictionary’s monopoly is a thing of the past, but the media, the authorities and most producers of text continue to follow Duden’s recommended spellings. Duden editor-in-chief Kathrin Kunkel-Razum talks about a time-honoured dictionary that’s still going strong today.

English has a considerable influence on German vocabulary, confirms Kathrin Kunkel-Razum. But she still finds questions like "Are we all going to be speaking Denglish anytime soon?" exaggerated. Kathrin Kunkel-Razum on the inclusion of loanwords in the “Duden”, the premier reference work on German spelling.

Coining new words is a cinch in German. But not every neologism belongs in a dictionary. Kathrin Kunkel-Razum talks about sifting through long word lists for the next edition of the “Rechtschreibduden”, the standard German spelling dictionary.

Our language is constantly expanding, so how come the “Duden” still fits into a single printed volume? Because obsolete entries are regularly deleted. In her final contribution to our column on the German language, Kathrin Kunkel-Razum discusses words that have gone by the board and why we shouldn’t completely forget them.

Why do certain words stir up powerful emotions? Needless to say, Duden dictionary editor Kathrin Kunkel-Razum has other worries right now, in the throes of the coronavirus crisis. But  the word in question is about hope for the future.

What’s the best way to include all gender identities when writing in German? This question has caused quite a stir in the German-speaking world.