Languages in Germany are the official state language

German is the 2nd most popular language in Europe and is the only official language in Germany, the largest country in the European Union. More than 95% of the country’s residents speak German. However, immigration policy has led to the emergence of various national groups in the country using their native languages in everyday communication.

The official language

Modern German is part of the Indo-European language family. Scholars include it in the Germanic branch of the West Germanic group along with languages such as Dutch and English.

In the VI-V century BC, Germanic tribes who spoke the Indo-European language settled in the center of Europe and in the south of Scandinavia. Having assimilated with the peoples already living in these territories, as well as under the influence of their neighbors, the Germanic tribes developed their own dialects.

This is how various German dialects appeared – Bavarian, Lower Saxon, Frankish and others.

The division in the IX century of Charlemagne’s empire, which occupied almost the whole of Europe, into separate states led to the separation of the East Frankish Kingdom, where the ancient High German language was spoken. This language includes closely related dialects of the peoples who lived in the northern part of the continent.

At the same time, Low German was spoken in the territories of the future countries of Denmark and the Netherlands. Household inscriptions and biblical texts created using the Latin alphabet became written monuments of the era.

There was no political unity on the territory of the kingdom, it was a collection of small principalities. Therefore, regional dialect features remained in the speech of the inhabitants, which made it difficult to create a single language.

The spread of literacy among the population in the XIII-XIV centuries led to the displacement of the Latin language used in the official business sphere. Gradually, the German literary language is being formed from East German dialects and South German dialects.

In the XVI century, the religious reformer M. Luther used the not yet standardized German language to translate the New and Old Testaments, which became an important stage in the formation of a unified German script.

Since the 17th century, simultaneously with the political process of uniting the German lands into a single state, a literary language has been created on the basis of dialects: many samples of secular literature appear, dictionaries are compiled. Spelling and orthoepic norms are gradually being developed, and grammar is being standardized.

In 1898, a conference was held at which scientists and theater directors adopted the literary norm of the German language. Pronunciation was recognized as standard, the phonetics of which was developed by Professor T. Sibs.

At first, this language was used only in theatrical productions, but soon it began to be used by the entire population of Germany. At the next conference in 1902, the literary written standard was approved.

However, there are still linguistic differences in vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar in the regions of Germany. In 1976, a number of laws adopted consolidated the official status of the German language, which became the language of court and office work.

The language in the Federal Republic of Germany was reformed in 2006. According to the adopted law, 1/3 of the spelling rules and almost all punctuation rules were abolished. The German literary community has not adopted new standards that simplify the German written language.

Minorities

Historically, representatives of national minorities live on the German borderlands. There are about 400 thousand people in the country who consider themselves to be national minorities.

Officially recognized as such:

• Danes (0.06% of the population);
• friezes (0.01%);
• Lusatians (0.01%);
• German Gypsies (0.8%).

According to the European Charter, their languages have been given a special status. This status also applies to the Low German language, which is widespread in the northern lands, although its speakers are not an ethnic, but a linguistic minority.

Lusatian Serbs live in the eastern region of Germany, in Saxony and Brandenburg. This area was historically called the Puddle. The Upper and Lower Lusatian languages belong to the Slavic group, which is close to the Serbian language. Their carriers are about 30 thousand people.

The German government allocates funds for the production of literature in the Lusatian languages, lessons are held in schools, and language courses are organized.

There is also a Danish language in Germany. The ethnic group lives in the north of the country, in the land of Schleswig-Holstein. According to various estimates, there are 50-100 thousand Danes. Danish classes are held in private schools, and cultural events supporting folk traditions are regularly held.

In Lower Saxony, in the west of the Schleswig-Holstein district and in Kloppenburg, there are about 20 thousand representatives of the ancient German Frisian tribe, who are divided into groups:

• western;
• northern;
• the lost ones.

In order to preserve the language of the national minority in the regions where the Frisians live, signs and signs are duplicated in their native language, newspapers and magazines are published. Frisian lessons are taught in some schools, and services are held in churches.

Since the 11th century, different groups of Gypsies – Sinti and Roma – have lived in Germany. According to various sources, there are from 170 to 300 thousand people who consider themselves to be Gypsies. As a result of centuries-old contact between Gypsies and Germans speaking different dialects, many dialects have arisen in the Romani language. Romani is not taught in German schools.

Low German is also recognized as a minority language, colloquially called Platt, which is used in such regions of Germany:

• Brandenburg;
• North Rhine-Westphalia;
• Lower Saxony;
• Saxony-Anhalt;
• Schleswig-Holstein;
• Mecklenburg;
• Bremen;
• Hamburg.

For many centuries, Low German was spoken in the northern regions of Germany, and they traded with Novgorod and London. Subsequently, the developed literary norm of the German language replaced Platt. There is now a growing interest in this ancient language in Germany.

Regional

German residents often communicate in dialects that are so different from each other that even those who know standard German can find it difficult to understand them. Dialects differ not only in vocabulary, but also in pronunciation and phrase construction. In total, there are about 60 dialect dialects in the country, which are spoken in different regions of Germany.

All dialects originate from Low German and High German. In Northern Germany, where Low German was widespread, there is a loss of regional linguistic features. High German dialects are still used in Southern Germany, and dialects are especially popular in Bavaria, where about half of the population communicates only in dialects at home.

Types of dialects in Germany:

German linguists have not developed a unified system of dialect languages, recognizing some of them as regional linguistic manifestations or separate independent languages.

Immigrants

Germany is one of the most interesting countries for migrants in the world. Foreigners are attracted by the high standard of living and the availability of jobs. According to statistics, 25% of the German population are immigrants or their descendants in the 2nd generation. The number of migrants exceeds 29 million people.

The Turkish diaspora is the largest in Germany: 17% of foreigners who arrived in a European country are Turks. The total number of former residents of Turkey is about 2 million people.

Turks mostly live in large cities and industrial centers of West Germany. The Berlin districts of Neukeln and Kreuzberg, most of whose inhabitants are Turks by nationality, have received the unofficial nickname “Little Istanbul”.

Turks strive to preserve their culture and traditions, adhere to the traditional Islamic faith. Turkish is taught in some schools and kindergartens along with German. At the same time, 20% of Turks living in Germany practically do not know German and do not speak it.

The language in Germany is undergoing changes: there is an unofficial language Kiezdeutsch, which combines German, Turkish and Arabic. In the case study, vocabulary from different languages is used, simple grammatical phrases are used. The informal dialect has taken root in cities, and it is usually spoken by young people.

The second largest diaspora is Polish. According to various estimates, there are 2-2.5 million Poles and their descendants in Germany. Most of them live in Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. In 2020, the Poles demanded that the German government recognize them as a national minority and introduce the study of the Polish language in schools, but such a law has not yet been adopted.

About 6 million people living in Germany know Russian. These are mainly immigrants from the USSR and the Russian Federation, as well as their children. In a number of schools, Russian is taught as another foreign language. According to statistics, over 100 thousand schoolchildren choose to study Russian every year.

Italian is the mother tongue of more than 600 thousand migrants. A significant part of the German population consists of immigrants from Romania, Bulgaria, Spain, Greece, and Croatia.

Conversational

The language in Germany, according to a Pew Research survey, is recognized as the most common in everyday communication – German. It is spoken by over 90% of the country’s population. Turkish took the second place in popularity with 2% of speakers. 1% of German residents use Arabic in everyday communication.

At the same time, over 56% of Germans speak English well, and another 18% are fluent in French. 9% of Germans use Dutch at home. 6-7% speak Italian, Russian and Spanish.

Knowledge of the German language is, of course, mandatory for those who intend to settle permanently in Germany. The language barrier will become an obstacle when applying for official papers and getting a job.

However, tourists can use the services of information centers, which provide guidebooks, maps, audio guides in different languages. In addition, many Germans speak foreign languages, which will help in communication.

Video about the language in Germany

Dialects in German:

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