Social:DDR German

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Short description: German language in East Germany


The German language in East Germany (DDR), during its existence as a separate state from 1949 to 1990, developed differently from the German of West Germany because of significant differences in the country's political and socio-cultural environment. Additionally, from the late 1960s onwards the political leaders of the DDR were intent on affirming the independence of their state by "isolationist linguistic politics"[1] with the objective of demarcating East Germany from West Germany by actively reducing the unity of the German language.[2]

This political effort did not amount to the creation of a new language in the DDR but brought about a particular usage of the language and of linguistic behaviours specific to it,[3] felt not in syntax or grammar, but in vocabulary,[4] and manifesting itself in both the official and non-official spheres.[5]

The result was that the German of the former East Germany also includes two separate vocabularies, both different from the German of the Bundesrepublik: the official Socialist one (Newspeak [6] or officialese) and the critically humorous one of everyday life.[7][8][9]

Examples

  • Führerschein (driver's licence) – Fahrerlaubnis (Replacement of the word Führer)
  • Handelsorganisation, HO – state retail business
  • Intershop – hard currency (later also Forum checks) retail store
  • Kader – personnel
  • Kommerzielle Koordinierung, KoKo – secret commercial enterprise
  • Nichtsozialistisches Wirtschaftsgebiet (NSW) - Non-socialist economic area which were countries that were not a member of Comecon
  • Partei – Socialist Unity Party of Germany
  • Plattenbau – large panel system-building
  • Stasi – state security service
  • Westpaket – parcel from West Germany
  • Winkelement – small flag
  • der antifaschistische Schutzwall – Berlin Wall[10]
  • Kollektiv – work team
  • Tal der Ahnungslosen (lit. "Valley of the Clueless") – two regions not able to receive TV programming from West Germany[11]
  • Broiler – Western 'Brathähnchen'
  • Blaue Fliesen, blaue Kacheln – Deutsche Mark (West German "hard" convertible currency, especially the 100 DM note)

Controversies

  • Jahresendflügelfigur – has been probably invented as a parody of state language.[12]
  • Erdmöbel – allegedly coffin

References

  1. ↑ Müller, Gerhard (1994), "Der "Besserwessi" und die "innere Mauer". Anmerkungen zum Sprachgebrauch im vereinigten Deutschland" (in de), In "Muttersprache. Vierteljahresschrift für deutsche Sprache": 119 ff 
  2. ↑ Hellmann, Manfred. Deutsche Sprache in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik. In: Althaus, Hans Peter u.a. (eds.). Lexikon der germanistischen Linguistik. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1980, p.520: see the paragraph on die ostdeusche Betonung sprachlicher Differenz
  3. ↑ Peter Von Polenz (1999): Deutsche Sprachgeschichte vom Spätmittelater bis zur Gegenwart, vol. 3: 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Berlin, New York, Walter de Gruyter, 776 p. ISBN:3110143445 and ISBN:9783110143447, p. 428
  4. ↑ Ibid, p.424-425
  5. ↑ On the distinction between the two, see Gotthard Lerchner (1996), Sprachgebrauch im Wandel: Anmerkungen zur Kommunikationskultur in der DDR vor und nach der Wende, Frankfurt am Main, Peter Lang
  6. ↑ "Culture : One Germany, Two Languages, Much Confusion : East and West developed their own lexicons during 40 years of separation. Some variations are minor, but others reflect different ways of looking at the world". 16 August 1994. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-08-16-wr-27595-story.html. 
  7. ↑ "Sprache und Sprachgebrauch in der DDR". 15 October 2010. https://www.bpb.de/politik/grundfragen/sprache-und-politik/42769/ddr-sprache?p=all. 
  8. ↑ "How the German language differed between East and West". 21 September 2020. https://www.thelocal.de/20200916/what-divides-the-german-language-between-the-east-and-west/. 
  9. ↑ "Language split: East German for Beginners". https://www.handelsblatt.com/english/language-split-east-german-for-beginners/23507372.html?ticket=ST-6869267-WaaswlFQSvYiA0YKuZoF-ap2. 
  10. ↑ Mary Williams Walsh (16 August 1994). "Culture: One Germany, Two Languages, Much Confusion: East and West developed their own lexicons during 40 years of separation. Some variations are minor, but others reflect different ways of looking at the world.". Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-08-16-wr-27595-story.html. 
  11. ↑ "Culture: One Germany, Two Languages, Much Confusion: East and West developed their own lexicons during 40 years of separation. Some variations are minor, but others reflect different ways of looking at the world". 16 August 1994. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-08-16-wr-27595-story.html. 
  12. ↑ Mrozek, Bodo (25 December 2006). "Wortmysterium "Jahresendflügelfigur": Wer sagt denn so was!". Der Spiegel. https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/wortmysterium-jahresendfluegelfigur-wer-sagt-denn-so-was-a-456541.html. 

Bibliography

In German

  • Frank Thomas Grub: „Wende“ und „Einheit“ im Spiegel der deutschsprachigen Literatur. Ein Handbuch. Band 1: Untersuchungen. De Gruyter, Berlin and New York 2003 ISBN:3110177757
  • Hugo Moser: Sprachliche Folgen der politischen Teilung Deutschlands. Beihefte zum „Wirkenden Wort“ 3. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1962
  • Michael Kinne, Birgit Strube-Edelmann: Kleines Wörterbuch des DDR-Wortschatzes (2nd edn). Schwann, Düsseldorf 1981 ISBN:3590155094
  • Martin Ahrends (ed.): Trabbi, Telespargel und Tränenpavillon – Das Wörterbuch der DDR-Sprache. Heyne, München 1986 ISBN:3453023579
  • Wolf Oschlies: Würgende und wirkende Wörter – Deutschsprechen in der DDR. Holzapfel, Berlin 1989 ISBN:3921226341
  • Margot Heinemann: Kleines Wörterbuch der Jugendsprache. Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1990 ISBN:3323002733
  • Manfred W. Hellmann: Divergenz und Konvergenz – Sprachlich-kommunikative Folgen der staatlichen Trennung und Vereinigung Deutschlands. In: Karin Eichhoff-Cyrus, Rudolf Hoberg (ed.): Die deutsche Sprache zur Jahrtausendwende – Sprachkultur oder Sprachverfall. Duden-Reihe Thema Deutsch, Band 1. Mannheim (Duden-Redaktion) and Wiesbaden (GfdS) 2000, pp. 247–275
  • Marianne Schröder, Ulla Fix: Allgemeinwortschatz der DDR-Bürger – nach Sachgruppen geordnet und linguistisch kommentiert. Heidelberg 1997
  • Birgit Wolf: Sprache in der DDR. Ein Wörterbuch. de Gruyter, Berlin und New York 2000 ISBN:3110164272. online bei Google-Books
  • Jan Eik: DDR-Deutsch: eine entschwundene Sprache. Jaron, Berlin 2010 ISBN:9783897736450
  • Norbert Nail: Jenseits des „breiten Steins“: Studentendeutsch in der DDR. In: Studenten-Kurier 3/2013, pp. 15–17 [1]
  • Antje Baumann: Mit der Schwalbe zur Datsche. Wörter aus einem verschwundenen Land. Bibliographisches Institut – Duden, Berlin, 2020 ISBN:9783411745326

In English

  • Russ, C. (2002). The German language today: A linguistic introduction. Routledge. (See Chapter 5 German in East Germany)
  • Stevenson, P. (2002). Language and German disunity: a sociolinguistic history of East and West in Germany, 1945–2000. Oxford University Press



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