Oddities of the German Language

That’s what we get for assembling our language out of everybody else’ scraps! :grin:

(And yet, like cricket, the English invented it but everybody else does it better…)

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The same goes for Swedish.
First we imported a lot of German words 14th-15th-16th century
Then came a lot of French words (we even imported a new king …)
Then it was German again, mid 19th to mid 20th.
After WW II we mostly imported English/American words (adhesive tape became tejp in Swedish)
Words with Latin origin came via French and English and keeps on coming
as scientific language.
Inventing new words is an ongoing process in all languages, some languages refuse to import words (due to pride) and struggle to invent their own original words.
Jacques Toubon - Wikipedia or Mr AllGood as he was jokingly nicknamed

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So try having a last name like Koenig.
In German it has two correct spellings “Koenig” and “Konig.”
Meaning “King” or “in service to the King.”

In the US most people look at the word and pronounce it: Ko-ning.

They see “nig” and automatically transpose the letters to read/say/type “ing.”

Actual pronunciation is something like; “Kun-nig.”

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The german spellings are
König (umlaut on the o) or
Koenig (when the ö is not available, typewriters for instance)
Link to Google translate:

click the little speaker to hear the German pronounciation

I’m trying to remember some English/American word with a matching ö-sound.

Which is pretty much the Dutch name for a King :stuck_out_tongue:

I am well aware of the missing umlaut in König. (But once again i could not find it on my keyboard.)

Thanks to Robin I now have it,

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I think adding an “e” as in Koenig substitutes for the lack of umlat. I’ve seen it done with Goring to Goering (as in fat Hermann).

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Pssst, it is Umlaut :wink: :zipper_mouth_face:

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One of the funniest language course ads I’ve seen through the years:

Cheers,
Angel

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Barn, that is correct!

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OK Robin, got it!

Thanks

Mike König

I remember a co-worker at a summer camp with that same last name. He was from Lowell Mass. He pronounced it KAY-nig.

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I thought we sorted this out last year.

one year is a long time …
It would appear that some are more forgetful than others.
I think we had it sorted even in the old site but I was too
lazy to go find it so I just Googled and used the second or third result

Barn; I usually go easy on the people trying to pronounce my name and so I find KAY-nig perfectly acceptable.

However there is another family in town with the same last name. I was in a local railroad museum group and this guy was too. He would always love to correct me as to how to pronounce my own name. Because his family pronounced it KO-ning. (That is totally wrong!)

But my Dad must have met these same folks as well because he used to say; “you never tell a man how to pronounce his own name.”

Also I consulted with a full blood German Engineer we had working for us as to the CORRECT German/Dutch pronunciation before I took this guy on at the next club meeting.

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By grade 11 it was STRONGLY suggested that I just drop French and move on. I feel your pain @robbd01

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I figured the guy I knew was influenced by his regional upbringing.

Gather the facts, sharpen the knives and THEN go for the throat!
:wink: :grin:

Edit:

The Dutch spelling is ‘koning’, not sure about the pronounciation

I still cringe every time I hear someone who’s educated enough to know better pronouncing it ‘nuke-yoo-lar’ … What is ‘unclear’ about ‘nuclear’?

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