“……….languages
are the pedigree of nations.” Samuel
Johnson (1709-1784)
German is a highly stylized
language which, over the centuries, has incorporated the vocabulary of friends
and enemies alike. Its grammar has many distinct
rules, most of which have at least one exception. Nouns are always capitalized; they have not
only a male and female gender, but also a neutral one (“der, die, das”). Nouns
can be linked to each other indefinitely; their gender always to be determined
by the very last noun.
Sentences can be short, but they also can be seemingly endless when “Schachtelsatze”
(sentences in boxes) are made to fit into each other like one small box into the
next size box, and so on. And the verb is usually the last word in the
sentence, which presents quite a challenge for simultaneous interpreters.
