The German language has gained a lot of popularity due to a highly flexible approach to it, which is a reason for many people aspiring to learn what the language has to offer. Spoken by almost 110 million people worldwide, the language is indeed special, with a factual, bizarre and yet a fun side to it. As one delves deeper into the aspects of the German language, there is a lot to discover. Here are some interesting facts about the German language that you will come across while learning about Germany from the best German language institutes in Delhi:
1. German is not just spoken in Germany
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The German language is a language that is spoken in countries other than Germany, such as Austria, Switzerland, and Luxembourg. With about 90 million speakers in Europe, the language is the mother tongue of many, beating French, Spanish and English.
2. German is a pluricentric language
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The German language is polycentric, meaning more than one center. This means that each country, in which it is spoken, has a standard codified version of it, like the Standard Austrian German, or the Standard Swiss German.
3. The German language has 22 consonants
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Unlike the English language that has 21 consonants, the German language has 22 consonants; the addition being ß. This letter represents a double S, which is not interchangeable with SS. For example, the word masse means mass, whereas, the word maße means dimensions.
4. German is the sister of English
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German and English are considered to be sister languages, because of the similarities that they share. Surprisingly, English and German share 60% of their vocabulary, which is not the case with English and French with a vocab similarity of 27%.
5. The third gender
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The German language interestingly has three genders, masculine, feminine and neuter. The neuter gender is given to something that is neither male nor female.
6. The language is all over Europe
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The language is the third most spoken language in Europe, spoken by about 90 million people in the continent. It is the mother tongue of most people in Europe and is the first language for 16% of the Europeans.
7. The story of compound nouns
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Compound nouns are the words formed after combining two nouns together with the help of a connector. For example, the word Staubsauger is an amalgamation of two words Staub (dust) and Saugen (to suck), meaning vacuum cleaner.
8. The longest German word
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The longest word in English is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, which is a lung disease similar to silicosis. That 45 characters long word is nothing in front of the German word that is 80- character long. Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft loosely translating to Danube steamboat shipping electricity main engine facility building sub-clerk association.
9. The thing about nouns
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In the German language, each noun has its own specified gender. Apart from that, all nouns in the German language are capitalized, and no, it’s not optional. Every noun has to be capitalized. It is compulsory as per the rules of the German language.
10. Unique words
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The German language contains words that cannot be translated into any other language and words that will not be found in the English language. For example, Luftschloss meaning castle in the air is used for someone who’s had an unrealistic dream.
Conclusion
The German language has roots deep down from hundreds of years and continues to spread its importance, its freshness and its authenticity all over the world. If you wish to learn the language and be a part of the German-speaking population, you can enroll in the best German language courses in Delhi.