• Hawke@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    6 months ago

    Are all those Germans really different enough to count separately?

    Like, I wouldn’t know how to distinguish my fluency in American English from British English. And that’s not even getting to Canadian, Australian, Irish… the differences are far more cultural than linguistic.

    • Zyratoxx@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      edit-2
      6 months ago

      Yes, German dialects can vary greatly for example here’s the same sentence “I have an apple.” in different German dialects:

      Standard German:

      “Ich habe einen Apfel.”

      Northern German / Platt:

      “Ik hab en Appel.”

      Middle German / Saxonian:

      " 'sch’habm Abbl." ( 'sch is pronounced like sh)

      Southern German / Bavarian & Austrian:

      “I hob an Opfü.” (I is pronounced like the single letter E)

      The Southern Germans are the ones with the Schwarzenegger accent.