I have shown what a bother it is to decline a good (male) friend; well this is only a third of the work, for there is a variety of new distortions of the adjective to be learned when the object is feminine, and still another when the object is neuter. Just the same with Zug. And if I have not also shown that German is a harassing and infuriating study, my execution has been at fault, and not my intent. However, it is not well to dwell too much on the separable verbs. This would simplify the language. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. See how it looks in print — I translate this from a conversation in one of the best of the German Sunday-school books: To continue with the German genders: a tree is male, its buds are female, its leaves are neuter; horses are sexless, dogs are male, cats are female — tomcats included, of course; a person’s mouth, neck, bosom, elbows, fingers, nails, feet, and body are of the male sex, and his head is male or neuter according to the word selected to signify it, and not according to the sex of the individual who wears it — for in Germany all the women either male heads or sexless ones; a person’s nose, lips, shoulders, breast, hands, and toes are of the female sex; and his hair, ears, eyes, chin, legs, knees, heart, and conscience haven’t any sex at all. “Freundschaftsbezeigungen” seems to be “Friendship demonstrations,” which is only a foolish and clumsy way of saying “demonstrations of friendship.” “Unabhaengigkeitserklaerungen” seems to be “Independencedeclarations,” which is no improvement upon “Declarations of Independence,” so far as I can see. Gott!’ you say `Goddamn.'”. I have tried this process upon some of the above examples. I have shown that the German language needs reforming. I wish to submit the following local item, from a Mannheim journal, by way of illustration: “In the daybeforeyesterdayshortlyaftereleveno’clock Night, the inthistownstandingtavern called `The Wagoner’ was downburnt. Such a course as this might be immodest in another; but I have devoted upward of nine full weeks, first and last, to a careful and critical study of this tongue, and thus have acquired a confidence in my ability to reform it which no mere superficial culture could have conferred upon me. You might not require more times to spend to go to the book start as competently as search for them. Think of the ragged poverty of a language which has to make one word do the work of six — and a poor little weak thing of only three letters at that. Deutsche Version. Skip to main content.ca. Some utterly brilliant, quality ‘Twain here! To describe a wife as sexless may be called under-description; that is bad enough, but over-description is surely worse. ( Log Out /  Yes! Buy Die Schreckliche Deutsche Sprache the a by Mark Twain (ISBN: ) from Amazon’s Book Store. In this way I have made quite a valuable collection. But when the bytheraging, firesurrounded Nest itself caught Fire, straightway plunged the quickreturning Mother-stork into the Flames and died, her Wings over her young ones outspread.”. Getting the books the awful german language die schreckliche deutsche sprache mark twain now is not type of inspiring means. Now that is a good idea; and a good idea, in this language, is necessarily conspicuous from its lonesomeness. Und Mark Twain unterstelle ich nach dem vorliegenden Aufsatz, daß er das auch getan hat. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Ich selbst liebe die schreckliche deutsche Sprache sehr. Then there are some words which mean one thing when you emphasize the first syllable, but mean something very different if you throw the emphasis on the last syllable. To wholly do away with them would be best, for ideas are more easily received and digested when they come one at a time than when they come in bulk. Sixthly, I would require a speaker to stop when he is done, and not hang a string of those useless “haben sind gewesen gehabt haben geworden seins” to the end of his oration. There are three-quarters of a column of Schlags in the dictionary, and a column and a half of Zugs. Our descriptive words of this character have such a deep, strong, resonant sound, while their German equivalents do seem so thin and mild and energyless. ( Log Out /  This website uses cookies to improve your experience. For instance, the same sound, sie, means you, and it means she, and it means her, and it means it, and it means they, and it means them. Also the reparenthesis, the re-reparenthesis, and the re-re-re-re-re-reparentheses, and likewise the final wide-reaching all-inclosing king-parenthesis. I spoke entirely in that language. Then you blandly sayalso, and load up again. He also wrote the amusingly literal translation that you see below. Now here is a sentence from a popular and excellent German novel — which a slight parenthesis in it. Die Schreckliche Deutsche Sprache: Mark Twain: 9783925817700: Books - Amazon.ca. Such has been, and continues to be, my experience. Strictly speaking, Zug means Pull, Tug, Draught, Procession, March, Progress, Flight, Direction, Expedition, Train, Caravan, Passage, Stroke, Touch, Line, Flourish, Trait of Character, Feature, Lineament, Chess-move, Organ-stop, Team, Whiff, Bias, Drawer, Propensity, Inhalation, Disposition: but that thing which it does not mean — when all its legitimate pennants have been hung on, has not been discovered yet. They think our ladies have the same custom, perhaps; for I once heard a gentle and lovely old German lady say to a sweet young American girl: “The two languages are so alike — how pleasant that is; we say `Ach! Now there are more adjectives in this language than there are black cats in Switzerland, and they must all be as elaborately declined as the examples above suggested. Find the best information and most relevant links on all topics related toThis domain may be for sale! One is sure to lose his temper early; and if he sticks to the subject, and will not be warned, it will at last either soften his brain or petrify it. Jun 27, Matt rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Of course no bird would do that, but then you must stick to the book. Die Schreckliche Deutsche Sprache [Mark Twain] on *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Whenever I come across a good one, I stuff it and put it in my museum. It would take several lifetimes to consume everything on offer here. You can begin withSchlag-ader, which means artery, and you can hang on the whole dictionary, word by word, clear through the alphabet to Schlag-wasser, which means bilge-water — and including Schlag-mutter, which means mother-in-law. 1. This allows for an analysis in linguistic weight assigned to various typological and stylistic aspects of language which revolve around the difference between an analytic language like English with a language like German that is a synthetic language with some analytic characteristics. Anyone who has wrestled with the German language and its grammar will absolutely love this book and I defy them not to laugh out loud. One might better go without friends in Germany than take all this trouble about them. When I get duplicates, I exchange with other collectors, and thus increase the variety of my stock. The inventor of the language probably got what he knew about a conscience from hearsay. Every noun has a gender, and there is no sense or system in the distribution; so the gender of each must be learned separately and by heart. Joy, joy, with flying Feet the she-Englishwoman comes! Fifthly, I would do away with those great long compounded words; or require the speaker to deliver them in sections, with intermissions for refreshments. Very well — then the rain is der Regen, if it is simply in the quiescent state of being mentioned, without enlargement or discussion — Nominative case; but if this rain is lying around, in a kind of a general way on the ground, it is then definitely located, it is doing something — that is, resting(which is one of the German grammar’s ideas of doing something), and this throws the rain into the Dative case, and makes it dem Regen. It has ceased from its Sufferings, it has gone to a better Land; all that is left of it for its loved Ones to lament over, is this poor smoldering Ash-heap. It seems to me that the Germans could do worse than import it into their language to describe particularly tremendous explosions with. Amazon Restaurants Food delivery from local restaurants. I begin at the wrong end, necessarily, for that is the German idea. He paused for a moment, reflectively; then added with feeling: “But I’ve got that solid!”. When the fire to the onthedownburninghouseresting Stork’s Nest reached, flew the parent Storks away. Die schreckliche deutsche Sprache oder auch Die Schrecken der deutschen Sprache[1] ist ein kurzer humoristisch-satirischer Essay des US-amerikanischen Schriftstellers Mark Twain aus dem Jahre 1880. But in English, when we have used a word a couple of times in a paragraph, we imagine we are growing tautological, and so we are weak enough to exchange it for some other word which only approximates exactness, to escape what we wrongly fancy is a greater blemish. Be the first to review this item Amazon Best Sellers Rank: It’s more like an essay, but you’ll miss so very much of the humor in this brilliant read if you haven’t TRULY attempted to master the language. It’s amazing, just how much he got right! Every time I think I have got one of these four confusing “cases” where I am master of it, a seemingly insignificant preposition intrudes itself into my sentence, clothed with an awful and unsuspected power, and crumbles the ground from under me. Surely there is not another language that is so slipshod and systemless, and so slippery and elusive to the grasp. 3. The various words used in building them are in the dictionary, but in a very scattered condition; so you can hunt the materials out, one by one, and get at the meaning at last, but it is a tedious and harassing business. Think what overwrought reverence that shows for the turnip, and what callous disrespect for the girl. A culture as rich, intelligent, and fascinating as Germany will of course have a language just as complex and sharing the roots of many Indo-Aryan languages such as the ever-confusing, all-conjugative Sanskrit. So I insist that this important part of speech should be brought forward to a position where it may be easily seen with the naked eye. That is from The Old Mamselle’s Secret, by Mrs. Marlitt. I would require every individual, be he high or low, to unfold a plain straightforward tale, or else coil it and sit on it and hold his peace. I went often to look at the collection of curiosities in Heidelberg Castle, and one day I surprised the keeper of it with my German. In some cases, you likewise do not discover the message the awful german language die schreckliche deutsche sprache mark twain that you are looking for. If he had known what it had cost me to acquire my art, he would also have known that it would break any collector to buy it. We have the Parenthesis disease in our literature, too; and one may see cases of it every day in our books and newspapers: but with us it is the mark and sign of an unpracticed writer or a cloudy intellect, whereas with the Germans it is doubtless the mark and sign of a practiced pen and of the presence of that sort of luminous intellectual fog which stands for clearness among these people. Account & Lists Account Returns & Orders. And observe the strongest of the several German equivalents for explosion — Ausbruch. This is an extremely easy means to … Thirdly, I would import some strong words from the English tongue — to swear with, and also to use in describing all sorts of vigorous things in a vigorous ways. If a man were told in German to go there, could he really rise to thee dignity of feeling insulted? Seventhly, I would discard the Parenthesis. I spoke entirely in that language. Parentheses in literature and dentistry are in bad taste. Die schreckliche deutsche Sprache /The Awful German Language by Mark Twain, 9783868200393, available at Book Depository with free delivery worldwide. The German word for hell — Hölle — sounds more like helly than anything else; therefore, how necessary chipper, frivolous, and unimpressive it is. Even a jury would have penetration enough to discover that. Infractions of this law should be punishable with death. Of course, then, the reader is left in a very exhausted and ignorant state. In the interest of science, I will cipher it out on the hypothesis that it is masculine. Nothing gives such an air of grace and elegance and unconstraint to a German or an English conversation as to scatter it full of “Also’s” or “You knows.”. I am not that kind of person. I found this piece to be a fun elbow in the ribs at the German language. DIE SCHRECKLICHE DEUTSCHE SPRACHE TWAIN PDF. I could have used it sooner, but I was waiting to hear from the Father-stork. But mainly, think of the exasperation of never knowing which of these meanings the speaker is trying to convey. This is its simple and exactmeaning — that is to say, its restricted, its fettered meaning; but there are ways by which you can set it free, so that it can soar away, as on the wings of the morning, and never be at rest. So he resorts to the dictionary for help, but there is no help there. Seiner Meinung nach ist Deutsch eine Sprache, die I really don't know which language I should write this in. That paragraph furnishes a text for a few remarks about one of the most curious and notable features of my subject — the length of German words. Some German words are so long that they have a perspective. The Germans do not seem to be afraid to repeat a word when it is the right one. I suppose that this closing hurrah is in the nature of the flourish to a man’s signature — not necessary, but pretty. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Ehrgeiz vielleicht noch, ja sogar Neid. There are German songs which can make a stranger to the language cry. Read Online The Awful German Language Die Schreckliche Deutsche Sprache Mark Twain The truth about the ‘awful’ German language Please find the full brochure “Mark Twain: The Awful German Language” now at https://goo.gl/s5vLFL (pdf) If you’re only looking for the text of his speech, please find Mark Twain’s “Die Schrecken der Deutschen In another Moment, except Help come, the Fishwife will be no more. Reviewing applications can be fun and only takes a few minutes. Now observe the Adjective. He says, for instance: Now let the candidate for the asylum try to memorize those variations, and see how soon he will be elected. Probably not worth the bother, though, if you’ve not attempted this process, because it focuses–hilariously– on the despair of such a daunting undertaking. “The Awful German Language” is an essay by Mark Twain published as Appendix D in A On October 31, , Twain delivered a lecture titled “Die Schrecken der deutschen Sprache” (“The Horrors of the German Language” in English). The inventor of the language seems to have taken pleasure in complicating it in every way he could think of. And eighthly, and last, I would retain Zug and Schlag, with their pendants, and discard the rest of the vocabulary. Credit offered by NewDay Ltd, over 18s only, subject to status. Time presses — is there none to succor and save? I heard of an Englishman who knocked at a man’s door in Heidelberg and proposed, in the best German he could command, to “verheirathen” that house. He was greatly interested; and after I had talked a while he said my German was very rare, possibly a “unique”; and wanted to add it to his museum. The writers of The Awful German Language Die Schreckliche Deutsche Sprache Mark Twain have made all reasonable attempts to offer latest and precise information and facts for the readers of this publication. The sad event has cast a gloom over the whole community. I consider this capitalizing of nouns a good idea, because by reason of it you are almost always able to tell a noun the minute you see it. Here are some specimens which I lately bought at an auction sale of the effects of a bankrupt bric-a-brac hunter: Of course when one of these grand mountain ranges goes stretching across the printed page, it adorns and ennobles that literary landscape — but at the same time it is a great distress to the new student, for it blocks up his way; he cannot crawl under it, or climb over it, or tunnel through it. ( Log Out /  These are magnificent words; the have a force and magnitude of sound befitting the things which they describe. “The Awful German Language” is an essay by Mark Twain published as Appendix D in A On October 31, , Twain delivered a lecture titled “Die Schrecken der deutschen Sprache” (“The Horrors of the German Language” in English). Here is an example which I culled from a novel and reduced to English: “The trunks being now ready, he DE- after kissing his mother and sisters, and once more pressing to his bosom his adored Gretchen, who, dressed in simple white muslin, with a single tuberose in the ample folds of her rich brown hair, had tottered feebly down the stairs, still pale from the terror and excitement of the past evening, but longing to lay her poor aching head yet once again upon the breast of him whom she loved more dearly than life itself,PARTED.”. We used to speak of a things as a “never-to-be-forgotten” circumstance, instead of cramping it into the simple and sufficient word “memorable” and then going calmly about our business as if nothing had happened. This item is dated away back yonder months ago. Change ), Mark Twain: The Awful German Language – Die schreckliche deutsche Sprache. Mark Twain schildert sehr humorvoll, wie schwer es für anderssprachige Menschen ist, die deutsche Sprache zu lernen und zu verstehen. In German, a young lady has no sex, while a turnip has. There, now, the reader can see for himself that this pronoun business is a very awkward thing for the unaccustomed tongue. For instance, those which describe lowly, peaceful, and affectionate home life; those which deal with love, in any and all forms, from mere kindly feeling and honest good will toward the passing stranger, clear up to courtship; those which deal with outdoor Nature, in its softest and loveliest aspects — with meadows and forests, and birds and flowers, the fragrance and sunshine of summer, and the moonlight of peaceful winter nights; in a word, those which deal with any and all forms of rest, repose, and peace; those also which deal with the creatures and marvels of fairyland; and lastly and chiefly, in those words which express pathos, is the language surpassingly rich and affective. That is manifestly absurd. Yes, Rechtsschutzversicherungsunternehmen is a ridiculous word, but acco “The spraxhe German language” Seing that German is my third language, I thoroughly enjoyed this. German ladies who could not be induced to commit a sin by any persuasion or compulsion, promptly rip out one of these harmless little words when they tear their dresses or don’t like the soup. Gott!” “Mein Gott!” “Gott in Himmel!” “Herr Gott” “Der Herr Jesus!” etc. They impart a martial thrill to the meekest subject. In German, all the Nouns begin with a capital letter. It will very squander the time. Let him talk right along, fearlessly; let him pour his indifferent German forth, and when he lacks for a word, let him heave a Schlag into the vacuum; all the chances are that it fits it like a plug, but if it doesn’t let him promptly heave a Zug after it; the two together can hardly fail to bung the hole; but if, by a miracle, they should fail, let him simply say also! It merely means, in its general sense, “herewith.”. I heard lately of a worn and sorely tried American student who used to fly to a certain German word for relief when he could bear up under his aggravations no longer — the only word whose sound was sweet and precious to his ear and healing to his lacerated spirit. Having pointed out, in detail, the several vices of this language, I now come to the brief and pleasant task of pointing out its virtues. Deutsche Version. In the first place, I would leave out the Dative case. There are people in the world who will take a great deal of trouble to point out the faults in a religion or a language, and then go blandly about their business without suggesting any remedy. Buy the selected items together This item: Twain doesn’t just complain about the absurdity of some of German language’s aspects, he also offers suggestions for its improvement. Thanks for deutschhe us about the problem. Sent from and sold by Amazon. I have heard of an American student who was asked how he was getting along with his German, and who answered promptly: “I am not getting along at all. Or would not a consumptive feel too much bundled up, who was about to go out, in a shirt-collar and a seal-ring, into a storm which the bird-song word Gewitter was employed to describe? The word Schlag means Blow, Stroke, Dash, Hit, Shock, Clap, Slap, Time, Bar, Coin, Stamp, Kind, Sort, Manner, Way, Apoplexy, Wood-cutting, Enclosure, Field, Forest-clearing. I suppose that in all languages the similarities of look and sound between words which have no similarity in meaning are a fruitful source of perplexity to the foreigner. The Germans have another kind of parenthesis, which they make by splitting a verb in two and putting half of it at the beginning of an exciting chapter and the other half at the end of it. “Also!” If I had not shown that the German is a difficult language, I have at least intended to do so. These cookies do not store any personal information. Now, the foreigner, equipped with these three noble words, is master of the situation. A brilliantly insightful essay by our own Samuel Clemens on the inner workings of the German language. There are some exceedingly useful words in this language. Personal pronouns and adjectives are a fruitful nuisance in this language, and should have been left out. We used to have a good deal of this sort of crime in our literature, but it has gone out now. My philological studies have satisfied me that a gifted person ought to learn English (barring spelling and pronouncing) in thirty hours, French in thirty days, and German in thirty years. This as a tribute of respect, if nothing else. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Feb 03, Miguel rated it really liked it. If it is to remain as it is, it ought to be gently and reverently set aside among the dead languages, for only the dead have time to learn it. With our advanced file filters, unlimited language and advanced file support, memoQ translator pro has been designed for translators and reviewers who work on their own, with other translators or in team-based translation projects. Everyday low prices and free delivery on. No, she bites off a Fin, she holds her in her Mouth — will she swallow her? But their German equivalents would be ever so nice to sing the children to sleep with, or else my awe-inspiring ears were made for display and not for superior usefulness in analyzing sounds. You could not isolated going subsequent to books accretion or library or borrowing from your friends to gate them. Now there is that troublesome word vermählt: to me it has so close a resemblance — either real or fancied — to three or four other words, that I never know whether it means despised, painted, suspected, or married; until I look in the dictionary, and then I find it means the latter. There are no discussion topics on achreckliche book yet. They are, therefore, an offense, and should be discarded. The Dative case is but an ornamental folly — it is better to discard it. For surely it is not clearness — it necessarily can’t be clearness. Mark Twain: The Horrors of the German Language / Die Schrecken der deutschen Sprache Address to the Vienna Press Club, November 21, 1897, Twain wrote this speech in excellent German, and is said to have delivered it without reading (contrary to what he says in the first paragraph). And they are not rare; one can open a German newspaper at any time and see them marching majestically across the page — and if he has any imagination he can see the banners and hear the music, too. For instance, my book inquires after a certain bird — (it is always inquiring after things which are of no sort of consequence to anybody): “Where is the bird?” Now the answer to this question — according to the book — is that the bird is waiting in the blacksmith shop on account of the rain. — I was informed, later, by a higher authority, that there was an “exception” which permits one to say “wegen den Regen” in certain peculiar and complex circumstances, but that this exception is not extended to anything but rain. Boom, burst, crash, roar, storm, bellow, blow, thunder, explosion; howl, cry, shout, yell, groan; battle, hell. Tach Allerseits, vielleicht gibt es Kollegen, die diese Liebeserklärung an die deutsche Sprache noch nicht kennen. The Awful German Language A little learning makes the whole world kin.— Proverbs xxxii, 7.I went often to look at the collection of curiosities in Heidelberg Castle, and one day I surprised the keeper of it with my German.