The beginning of the influence of English on German vocabulary: English terminology and its germanization

Abstract

It is commonly assumed that English began to exert an influence on German vocabulary after the Second World War. Although it is true that, throughout the history of the German language, it had never reached the levels seen today, the appearance of Anglicisms in German and the consequent misgivings aroused in certain sectors had already started to have a significant effect at the turn of the century. At the end of the 18th century, Kinderling listed eight words of English origin used in German. Eighty years later, Dunger listed 148, but by the end of the 19th century, there had been a massive influx of Anglicisms in German, mainly due to the huge influence of English fashions and customs on German society, particularly in the area of sports. The spread of these Anglicisms was also favoured by a more widespread knowledge of the English language. This paper deals with the beginnings of the influence of the English lexicon on German, focusing specifically on the 1900s, and especially in the vocabulary used for sports and social life. Various publications from the period have been reviewed to evaluate the success of attempts to stem the incoming flow of Anglicisms and create specifically German words.