Loanwords and anglicisms

In short: Languages constantly take over words from other languages. In German, many everyday words originally come from Latin, French, Italian or, more recently, English.

In more detail: Some borrowed words have adapted so much that their origin is hardly noticeable any more. Others still sound foreign today and are often debated, especially the many anglicisms.

In detail

• Loanword and foreign word: A loanword (Lehnwort) has adapted to the borrowing language in pronunciation, spelling and grammar, while a foreign word (Fremdwort) is still clearly recognisable as foreign; the boundary is fluid, however.
• Latin from Roman times: German words such as Fenster (window), Mauer (wall), Wein (wine) and Straße (street) go back to Latin models and came into the Germanic languages with Roman building techniques and culture.
• French: Especially in the 17th and 18th centuries French was regarded as the language of the nobility, which is where words such as Balkon (balcony), Möbel (furniture) or Restaurant come from.
• Italian: Terms such as Konto (account), Bilanz (balance sheet), Tempo or Oper (opera) came from trade and music.
• Long journeys: Some words travelled through several languages; Zucker (sugar), Alkohol and Algebra, for example, reached German from Arabic via other European languages.
• Anglicisms: Since the 20th century, and increasingly with computers and the internet, German has adopted many English words such as Team, Meeting, Download or Laptop.
• Pseudo-anglicisms: Some words sound English but are not used that way in English, for example Handy for a mobile phone or Beamer for a projector.
• The other way round too: English has also borrowed German words, for example kindergarten, rucksack or angst.
• Language change, not decline: Linguistics sees borrowing as a normal part of language change, although people can still disagree about how much of it is appropriate in individual cases (wie-sprachen-sich-wandeln, sprachfamilien-der-welt, mehrsprachigkeit-vorteile).