Deutsch ist eine schöne Sprache

Germans are very proud of their language.  The phrase "Deutsch ist eine schöne Sprache" (German is a beautiful language) is guaranteed to appear in all German language courses and at least once early on in any new friendship with a German.

It is obvious to all, including Germans, that "beautiful" does not refer to the sound.  By contrast, French must rank as one of the most beautiful sounding languages.  As a male moving reluctantly from "do I still look young for my" middle age to "dirty old man" age, the image of a beautiful woman speaking French with the slight pout that is so easily accommodated by the language still gets to me.  I just cannot envisage substituting the harsh tones of German into my daydream.  I remember once when travelling to Berlin, before I could speak the language, trying to figure out whether two Germans sitting next to me were business associates or close friends ... the sound suggested business associates, the body language friends.  I had a similar experience the first time I overheard my German girlfriend calling her parents.   Switching from English, her voice dropped an octave and seemed to get very serious.  When I asked what was wrong she couldn't understand what I meant.  A story from a friend confirmed that this was not just my imagination.  His German friend had married a Russian girl who was being introduced to his family for the first time.  During the introductions she ran crying from the room to the bewilderment of all present.  Apparently, because she didn't speak any German she had interpreted the heartfelt greetings as anger.  Of course it is a third hand story, so it may not be true or exaggerated, but I want to believe it, so I will!

So what does the beauty refer to?  It has been explained to me that the source of the beauty is the language's ability to allow you to express yourself better.  Presumably the idea is that the hellish complication (no subjective bias here you understand) allows things to be expressed that could otherwise not be expressed.  If that is the contention, it must be highly suspect.  I don't see the English traditions of literature, poetry etc. held back by its simplified grammar, or the Spanish speaking world troubled by an inability to express their feelings.  I come from Jamaica, where commonly spoken English grammar has been further simplified, and if you have ever heard a Caribbean poetry recital you would see that it does not seem to hamper expression.  What cannot be conveyed by formal grammar is wonderfully conveyed in phrasing, inflection and idiom.

However, I think that this then takes us to what the "beautiful" in the phrase is really about.   The German written language is certainly a very unambiguous language.  I do not know whether it is true or not, but a friend told me that he knows of non German companies that draw up contracts in German to ensure they are as unambiguous as possible.  I hesitate to give an example since 3 months of intensive language tuition still leaves me confused and ignorant of the finer points of German grammar, but one might be the word "the".   Where English makes do with one word for "the", German has many, incorrect selection of which will completely change the meaning of the sentence.

To my way of thinking, unambiguous does not equate to beautiful.  I also have my suspicions that Germans themselves may be unsure.  I was constantly being asked "Why on earth would you choose to learn German?".  The only valid reason that anyone could conceive of was that I had a German girlfriend, which of course is the case.  However I found that claiming that it was for "no reason in particular" significantly enhanced my image as an interesting and unusual dude!

But maybe I should give the language the benefit of the doubt.  After all "Alles in Ordnung" (everything in order) is a beloved phase of the Germans. In the land where shoes are generally always shiny, people generally wait for the pedestrian lights before crossing the road, and practical, appropriate clothing is the norm, orderliness and unambiguousness is a beautiful thing.

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For those interested in a laugh at the expense of the German language the look no further than Mark Twain's essay "The awful German language".  I give these links to you in the spirit of revenge for all the suffering that German has and continues to put me through!

Extracts and comments on essay
Full essay - "The awful German language" by Mark Twain

Comedy video with Hape Kerkeling. Check out the second sketch on video about foreign language announcements in St Peters Square.