UDC 801.3:001.4 BBK 81.002.1
Dr Bernhard Diensberg
Summary/Abstract: In the following we will briefly deal with loanwords from (American) English which occur in the German youth language. A few remarks concerning its origin, its main features and, ultimately, its linguistic status may be called for. From the 18th to the middle of the 19th century there appeared treatises dealing with the so-called Burschensprache (jargon of German students) which may have existed for quite a few centuries earlier. As far as its main features are concerned, the aspect of protest and non-conformism will be taken into account,
as well as the element of credibility, the aspect of playfulness and linguistic innovation and, last but not least, the emotional side of the youth language. Regarding its linguistic register, it should be assigned to substandard since it purposely disregards the grammatical rules of the German Hochsprache (standard language). At the end of this article there will be a selection of recent loans from English. They were gleaned from a little booklet by Hermann Ehmann, entitled Endgeil. Das voll korrekte Lexikon der Jugendsprache (2005).
Key Words: young speakers (social group), non-conformism, protest, emotions, credibility, substandard, innovation, playfulness and colourfulness, loanwords from British and American English, linguistic economy and effectiveness of communication.
* Revised version of a contribution to the scholarly conference entitled ‘Anthropological Linguistics’ at the ‘Volgograd Social-Pedagogical College’ on 31th October 2006.
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