Berlin German, or Berlin dialect (

High German The High German dialects (german: hochdeutsche Mundarten), or simply High German (); not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called ''High German'', comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Benrath and ...

: ''Berliner Dialekt'', ''Berliner Mundart'', ''Berlinerisch'' or ''Berlinisch''; derogative: ''Berliner Schnauze'', ), is the dialect spoken in the city of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

as well as its surrounding metropolitan area. It originates from a

Brandenburgisch dialect Brandenburgian,e.g. Michael .Clyne: ''The German language in a changing Europe.'' 1995, p. XV Brandenburgish or Brandenburgisch is a dialect spoken in Germany in the northern and western parts of Brandenburg (Uckermark, Prignitz and Mittelmar ...

. However, several phrases in Berlin German are typical of and unique to the city, indicating the manifold origins of immigrants, such as the

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster B ...

from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Overview

The area of Berlin was one of the first to abandon

East Low German East Low German (german: ostniederdeutsche Dialekte, ostniederdeutsche Mundarten, Ostniederdeutsch; nds, Oostplattdütsch) is a group of Low German dialects spoken in north-eastern Germany as well as by minorities in northern Poland. Together ...

as a written language, which occurred in the 16th century, and later also as a spoken language. That was the first

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...

Standard German Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (not to be confused with High German dialects, more precisely Upper German dialects) (german: Standardhochdeutsch, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the standardized variety ...

with definite

roots but a

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle ...

substratum In linguistics, a stratum (Latin for "layer") or strate is a language that influences or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum or substrate is a language that has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum or sup ...

apparently formed (''Berlinerisch'' may therefore be considered an early form of ''

Missingsch () is a type of Low-German-coloured dialect or sociolect of German. It is characterised by Low-German-type structures and the presence of numerous calques and loanwords from Low German in High German. Description A more technical definition ...

''). Only recently has the new dialect expanded into the surroundings, which had used East Low German. Since the 20th century, the Berlin dialect has been a colloquial standard in the surrounding Brandenburg region. However, in Berlin proper, especially in the former

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

, the dialect is now seen more as a

sociolect In sociolinguistics, a sociolect is a form of language (non-standard dialect, restricted register) or a set of lexical items used by a socioeconomic class, profession, an age group, or other social group. Sociolects involve both passive acquisiti ...

, largely through increased immigration and trends among the educated population to speak

in everyday life. Occasionally, the dialect is found on advertising.

Phonology

Berliner pronunciation is similar to that of other High German varieties. Nevertheless, it maintains unique characteristics, which set it apart from other variants. The most notable are the strong contraction trends over several words and the rather irreverent adaptation of foreign words and anglicisms that are difficult to understand for many speakers of

Upper German Upper German (german: Oberdeutsch ) is a family of High German dialects spoken primarily in the southern German-speaking area (). History In the Old High German time, only Alemannic and Bairisch are grouped as Upper German. In the Middle High ...

. Also, some words contain the letter j (representing IPA: instead of g, as is exemplified in the word for ''good'', in which ''gut'' becomes ''jut''.

Grammar

Berlinese grammar contains some notable differences from that of Standard German. For instance, the

accusative case The accusative case ( abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘t ...

and

dative case In grammar, the dative case ( abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob ...

are not distinguished. Similarly, conjunctions that are distinguished in standard German are not in Berlinese. For example, in Standard German, ''wenn'' (when, if) is used for conditional, theoretical or consistent events, and ''wann'' (when) is used for events that are currently occurring or for questions. There is no difference between the two in Berlinese. Genitive forms are also replaced by prepositional accusative forms, some still with an inserted pronoun: ''dem sein Haus'' (this one his house) rather than the standard ''sein Haus'' (his house). Plural forms often have an additional -s, regardless of the standard plural ending. Words ending in ''-ken'' are often written colloquially and pronounced as ''-sken''.

Pronouns

Personal pronoun: Interrogative pronoun: Karl Lentzner: ''Der Berlinische Dialekt. Untersucht und nach Aufzeichnungen „richtiger Berliner“ herausgegeben.'' 1893, p. 10

References

External links