Introduction to german language....

German is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Globally, German is spoken by approximately 120 million native speakers and also by about 80 million non-native speakers. Standard German is widely taught in schools, universities and Goethe Institutes worldwide....



Origins

The history of the language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, separating Old High German dialects fromOld Saxon. The earliest testimonies of Old High German are from scattered Elder Futhark inscriptions, especially in Alemannic, from the 6th century AD; the earliest glosses (Abrogans) date to the 8th; and the oldest coherent texts (the Hildebrandslied, the Muspilli and the Merseburg Incantations) to the 9th century. Old Saxon at this time belongs to the North Sea Germanic cultural sphere, and Low Saxon should fall under German rather than Anglo-Frisian influence during the Holy Roman Empire.

As Germany was divided into many different states, the only force working for a unification or standardization of German during a period of several hundred years was the general preference of writers trying to write in a way that could be understood in the largest possible area.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

PRONOUN
A pronoun in German as well as in English is like a shortcut to refer to a noun, a word that stands for or represents a noun or noun phrase, a pronoun is identified only in the context of the sentence in which it is used.
Personal Pronouns in German
Singular
I                                   -           ich
you (familiar)              -           du
you (formal)                -           Sie
he, she, it                     -           er, sie, es
Plural
we                               -           wir
you (familiar)              -           ihr
you (formal)                -           Sie
they                             -           sie

Possessive Pronouns in German
Singular
mine                            -           mein/e
yours                           -           mein/e
yours (formal)             -           Ihr/e
his, hers, its                 -           sein/e
Plural
our                               -           unser/e
yours (familiar)                        -           eur/e
yours (formal)             -           Ihr/e
theirs                           -           ihr/e
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)