As we travel through Germany I am making a discovery of sorts. There are many German words that you can figure out if you have a decent English vocabulary. I think I have stumbled upon the reason...and it is not what you may think.
There are scholars and linguists who may tell you that the reason there are many language similarities between English and German because many of the roots of English are Germanic in nature and therefor and so on and blah blah blah. My blog shall not become a lecture series! After weeks of imaginary research I have discovered that the truth behind these so called "roots" in our language is due to a guy with a hearing problem, a speech impediment, and a sense of humor. I will now pause for a moment while academics the world round slap their palms to their foreheads and reconsider their chosen professions. Also, this would be a good time for all of you students writing final exams to delete everything you have already written and instead write about the mumbling guy.
Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that Germany was established first. The fact that there are cities here that trace back to dates that end in "B.C." should be help you accept this, but we won't quibble over facts. So people were speaking German a long time before America was a country. Then a guy named Wolfgang traveled over to America to establish a language. (Prior to Wolfgang's arrival Americans just sat around saying "forsooth" a lot.) Well he met Fred (Wolfgang spelled it Pfred) and decided to have some fun trying to communicate. I think it went something like this.
Wolfgang: Hallo
Pfred: huh? I mean, huh forsooth?
Hallo...it's a greeting.
Pfred (ears still ringing from shooting at squirrels) Hello got it!
So I see you live in a hutte.
That there? Hut...got it.
May I have an apfel?
Here you go...enjoy...let me write that down. Apple.
You don't seem very bright Pfred...may I speak to your vater?
My father? I guess, he's over there.
Hey! Who ist sie?
Who is she? Forsooth!
Sie ist your schwester.
My sister? If you say so.
It went on and on like this for hours until the two of them had come up with the basics of a new language. During a thunderstorm Wolfgang said "donner", Pfred wrote down "thunder". Pfred pointed at the "flowers" and Wolfgang said they were "blumen". Pfred said, "of course they are blooming...they're flowers!" And with that a comedy routine was born.
I have been able to follow along with many stories that Sylvia has told by just listening closely and picking out key words. It's interesting how much you can pick up on when you know the story of Wolfgang and Pfred. Of course they didn't get everything mixed up. Camera, for instance, is kamera. Ya is ya. There are many more but I keep vergessen (forgetting).
I tried to put my newfound language into practice when I asked about going to the apothecary to get some medicine. It is spelled apotheke and it has that mortar and pestle symbol next to the words so I was able to figure it out. I was not, however, able to pronounce this new word. I said something like (a POTH o k) and was met by confused looks from everyone. I said it again. Nothing. I knew it was the right place to talk about. I knew it was where we would need to go. Still nothing. Then I explained that it was where you needed to go to get band aids or rubbing alcohol or cotton balls..."Oh!!! Ah po TAY KAY!" Then they laughed and pointed and called me Pfred. I think that I will come up with a game that involves pronouncing words the wrong way with the wrong emphasis on the wrong syllables. It could be lots of fun. I won't try to let the fact that they already have such a game stand in my way! I am on a mission!
There are a lot of things that make sense when trying to learn German. Tired, for instance, is müde in German. It's like you are pronouncing the word "moody" with a rubber band wrapped around your lips. I think anyone who has been near a two year old would be able to tell you that moody and tired go hand in hand.
The last one I want to talk about takes a bit of explanation since I have discovered that there are many new German readers of the blog. Der Weinerschnitzel is a restaurant in America that serves hot dogs. They specialize in them. I have never been there. Apparently my parents never thought there was anything special enough about hot dogs to go to a restaurant to eat them...even if that restaurant specialized in them. I have continued this tradition of not going. Also, now that I am embracing my German roots, I know that true Weinerschnitzel is delicious and breaded, and seasoned, and has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with hot dogs, and dang...now I'm hungry! The point is, if you are from the land of hot dog restaurants and wish to eat something that is hot dog shaped, you should order something completely different than a Weinerschnitzel.
In conclusion, I will say that all of this food and language talk has reminded me of a joke. And it fits in to this topic! But I have decided that I will not tell it at this time. You see, German sausage jokes are the wurst!
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