Facts about German language. Life in germany. The German language is known for its long history and exactness. It has many interesting aspects that can surprise both new learners and those who have studied it for years. Although there’s a saying, “Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache,” meaning “German is a difficult language,” it’s still worth exploring. Learning its unique features reveals how special it is and how rich in history and culture it can be. Here are 4 amazing facts about the German language that you might not know.
The longest word in the German language
The German language is known for its extremely long words, made by combining several other words. One of the longest, with 79 letters, is “Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft.” This impressive word means “Association of subordinate officials of the central board of the Danube steamboat electric works” and refers to a pre-war club in Vienna. Though not useful today, this word fascinates many learners of German and others. It stands as an interesting historical and cultural curiosity.
German language trivia – Unique words
There are a few unique words that exist only in German. For example, “fremdschämen” refers to the feeling of shame on behalf of another person. The word “das Fernweh” can be translated as the travel bug, the desire for adventure, or the longing for distant places. The opposite of this word is “das Heimweh,” which means longing for one’s homeland.
German speaks do not usually understand each other
Standard, textbook German is primarily spoken in the north-central part of Germany. People there speak a version of German that closely follows the rules of grammar and pronunciation taught in schools and most language courses. However, this dialect is not used everywhere in Germany, leading to instances where German speakers may struggle to understand each other. For example, the Bavarian dialect is considered particularly challenging. It is even said that Bavarian films shown in northern Germany often come with subtitles to aid understanding.
German language trivia – A unique letter
In German, there is a unique letter “ß,” called “Eszett,” which represents a double S. Interestingly, “ß” never appears at the beginning of a word and is not always interchangeable with “ss.” For example, the words “die Masse” and “die Maße” illustrate this distinction. “Die Masse” means mass or crowd, while “die Maße” means size.