Hello, my name is Stephan Schaffrath, a passionate life-long learner. Welcome to Loquidity, the RU-vid channel about anything and everything that has to do with language and languages. As a native German speaker with degrees in psychology and English literature from American universities and decades of experience as an educator, I started this channel to share my own insights and to learn more about the many questions I have about how we communicate with one another. Most of my videos are how-to pieces on German as an additional language from an English language perspective. However, there is a broad range of topics to be covered, including the science of learning. Many videos will simply be about how to learn additional languages and improve on the ones you already know. There will be specific as well as general tips. There will be in-depth learning strategies. Do and don'ts. Whys and whynots.
Learn more about me on my LinkedIn page: www.linkedin.com/in/sschaffrath/
@@alfredosolari7597 Vielen Dank für das Like!!! I have done all sorts of things, including that thing where you try to impart knowledge and skills in another person.
Hat man dich entlassen? Lange nichts Neues gesehen. Heute früh, auf meinem Spaziergang, sah ich eine Menge Abfall überall verstreut. Das erste Wort, daß mir in den Sinn kam, war Schweinsköppe!!! Für viele Jahre nicht daran gedacht.
Anlass, anlassen, einlassen, auslassen, belassen, durchlassen, erlassen, verlassen...... Too early, too foggy.... See you nächst zu immer wechselnden Anlässen, Noch immer Anpassungsfähig, aber im abnehmenden Maße. Ach wie gut, das niemand weis, wie ich Heute Abend heis. Heute, anlässlich eines weiteren Hochzeitstages, kann ich mir erlauben, ein wenig zu blödeln, auch ohne das essen von Bajuvarischen Knödeln. Gehabts Euch wohl Mijnheer, Ich weis nichts mehr.
@@loquidity4973 Danke Herr Professor. Nun wird es interessant: Um Professor zu sein, es ist doch wohl notwendig, etwas zu haben, dass geeignet ist, zu profess, oder aber confess. Aber wo Professor etwas zu tun hat mit Lehrer, entgeht mir völlig. In der Umgangssprache bedeutet Professor das gleiche wie Lehrer, nur auf höherem Niveau. So, was hat ein Professor zu profess? Das er eigentlich ein schlechter Lehrer ist, oder daß es unendlich lange dauern würde, zu profess alles was dessen würdig ist? Oh geehrter Professor, ich bin schon fast verzweifelt. Da ich kein Professor bin, habe ich vielleicht nicht das Recht zu profess, obwohl ich dazu vieles zu sagen hätte. Aber ich professe hier und jetzt, Ich fische gelegentlich mit/ohne Netz.
Thank you. I am learning german and it is such a complex language.Its very interesting that so many words can have prefixes as modifiers. A suggestion would be to make a video just about the prefixes, origins and general meaning.
Oh there are a few I didn't include. After I post a video I start realizing which ones would have been to also include. Needless to say, neither my videos nor I am near perfect. But imperfection makes life interesting too.
“Laisser” has an interesting etymology in Wiktionary: From Old French lesser, lessier, laissier (“to let, let go, leave”), from Latin laxō, laxāre (“to relax, loosen”); partly from or influenced by Old High German lāzan (“to let, let go, leave”) (German lassen), from Proto-West Germanic *lātan (“to let, leave, leave alone”).
@@loquidity4973 Strange that the second consonant in the French word reflects the High German Consonant Shift. Frankish, source of most of French’s Germanic vocabulary, did not experience the Shift. One would expect “laiter” or somesuch.
@@loquidity4973 Italian may have gotten it, in part, from Lombardic, which did have the High German Consonant Shift. That said, Lombardic is sadly not well attested.
@@joshadams8761 It remains a mystery. although the Latin word laxus clearly points to an Indo-European origin of all these words. Languages sometimes have a funny way of associating with old and distant relatives.
Translate the following sentence: Die Firma ist UNTERGEGANGEN, weil ihre Maschinen nicht mehr GINGEN, jetzt GEHEN Monteure zu den Maschinen, um sie zum GEHEN zu bringen, damit nicht alle Mitarbeiter GEHEN müssen.😂🤣😂🤣
Writing in a German vernacular didn't start (mainly) in the Frankish areas. Most of the oldest texts we have originate from the Alemannic or Bavarian regions and were written in the regional vernacular from there: Switzerland, Austria, South Tyrol, Bavaria, Swabia, Alsace, ... That includes such prominent texts like the Muspilli, Abrogans, the Hildebrandslied, Notker, Isidor of Sevilla, etc. from Old High German times, or Walter von der Vogelweide, Frau Ava, Meier Helmbrecht, Oswald von Wolkenstein, etc. in the Middle High German era. German language history, which was mainly researched in the 19th century during the romanitc national patriotic era, systematically plays down the importance of the Southern regions and gives everything a more Prussian and Protestant spin. All famous scholars and writers that you will hear about when you look up German language histroy were Protestants from Central or East Central Germany, like the Grimm Brothers, Karl Lachmann, Friedrich Heinrich von der Hagen, even Goethe and Schiller. But from these regions the German language and writing tradition did certainly not originate, which even those scholars (silently) admit. They apropriated a history of other regions to give their Pan-German political program more weight. You could even say they stole the language history from other regions. P.S.: the same is true for German philosophy. Name a few German philosophers that come into your mind and than check whether they were Protestants or Catholics. The result will surprise you.
Most Europeans are Aryans. The Aryans from the Caucasus were two groups...Vanir and Asuras. The Asuras were the first ancestors of the Germans, they came from the Tigris, which in 2500 BC was called Tetcherem. From this comes the name German in phonetic = Tscherman = Man from the Tigris. Their forefather was Nimrod named Tuisco. From this comes the name German. more about this in: geschichte-bronzezeit.blogspot.com/2024/07/blog-post.html
One of the small languages which is still spoken to some extent is Scots. It was one of the two languages that came from Old English which is taught as a foreign language in some universities. It isn’t intelligible to English and Scots speakers today.
I didn't realise there were so many connotations of the German verb 'halten,' so I am very thankful for your comprehensive and straightforward explanation. Would you consider helping your audience (especially me) with the connotations of the German word 'Bahn' especially the prefixes and suffixes that make it a very interesting word please?
@@user-tm9od8if8y I am glad you found my video helpful. Thanks for the excellent idea for a video on "Bahn." Not sure if that would be as much about prefixes and suffixes as it would be about compound nouns like Eisenbahn and Bahnhof. Thanks!!!🙏
@@loquidity4973 Thanks for your prompt reply. Yes, I meant compound nouns, but couldn't think of that word at that time. I never quite got to grips with Bahn in the sense of a Bahn of cloth as well as the two examples that you wrote. It seems like there's no direct English equivalent of 'Bahn.' so I think it's a tricky word for a non-German to use correctly.
Eben kam mir der Gedanke, daß Beichte und beichten auch von der gleichen Wurzel kommen wie "Bericht, berichten". Das habe ich nun zum ersten mal von der rein sprachlichen Seite betrachtet....
@@loquidity4973 Sprachliches Wissen und Möglichkeiten scheinen mir fast unendlich zu sein. Je mehr ich mich damit beschäftige je größer die Erkenntnisse und Möglichkeiten die sich ergeben und anbieten.
Could you please tell me if there is any specific strategies I can follow to learn the irregular verbs by heart with their forms präteritum perfekt 3 Person singular, I've been looking through the whole internet and what I have got is only the strategy to make categories with change of the vowels , based on your experiences what would you say about this topic, thank you in advance !
That's a tough one! I have studying Spanish for years and have been asking myself the same question there. I hope this is not a disappointing answer, but my best advice is twofold: 1) practice using them, reading, listening, and speaking, developing an internal grammar so you don't even have to think about the rules. 2) look for patterns that help you form mnemonic devices that work for you. I noticed that in many languages the more commonly used a verb is the more likely it will also be an irregular verb. Prime example is the conjugation of "to be" in English which is completely insane and all over the place. Does that help at all?
@@B777Cap yes, I agree that you need to focus on just learning the target language without translating. Immerse yourself as much as possible. Learn from context. That's how you build an internal grammar.
Halten: Abhalten Anhalten Aufhalten Behalten Durchhalten Dranhalten Festhalten Haushalten Hinhalten Verhalten Wie wir uns verhalten, ist abhängig von einer Reihe von Gewohnheiten, Regeln und Bestimmungen, und auch reinen Gefühlen. Oder, in der Politik, dem gegenwärtigen Zustand des allgemeinen Unwissens, dem Bildungsstand, oder dem Stand der Fachidiotie
Ein sehr schönes Video mit guten Erklärungen! Wenn ich darf würde ich mir aber noch ein paar kleine Ergänzungen und Korrekturen erlauben. Tatsächlich gelten heute nur noch die Bezeichnungen Heer, Luftwaffe & Marine bei der Bundeswehr. Die Vorsilbe "Bundes..." wurde bei den drei Teilstreitkräften (TSK) nach der deutschen Wiedervereinigung im Zuge der Abwicklung und Eingliederung der NVA Soldaten in die Bundeswehr im Rahmen einer Reformierung gesetzlich abgeschafft. Was hingegen nicht abgeschafft wurde ist die gesetzliche Wehrpflicht. Sie ist seit 2011 zwar offiziell pausiert aber könnte (zumindest theoretisch) jederzeit wieder eingeführt werden. Das ist allerdings höchst umstritten und unwahrscheinlich das sie jemals in der alten Form wieder kommt. Derzeit wird ein "verpflichtendes Dienstjahr" nach skandinavischem Modell öffentlich diskutiert... Mit kameradschaftlichen Grüßen StUffz. a.D. C.Engelbart ehemals Stab/Pz.Btl.84 Lüneburg 🎗
@@user-pp6fx7si4g Berichtigen ist ein wichtiges Wort, das ich übersehen habe. Ich arbeite an einem neuen Video über „halten“ was hoffentlich bald rauskommt.
Austrians also speak this way, but it makes sense as they are pretty much just Bavarians. I can always point out an Austrian when I hear their dialect, guåte instead of guten.
Interestingly there are a lot of English words that are almost the same as the examples you have (aufricht, upright) that were not included in the list of cognates, even though that would really highlight the links!
True, but the English word "upright" is mostly used to express a physical circumstance such as standing upright as opposed to lying down. The German "aufrichtig" does not mean that. We would use "aufrecht," which I did not include along with many others.
The same word exists in Persian: Raast, meaning right (as in right vs left) straight (vs crooked or bent, also as going straight forward) or true/truth (vs. false or lies).
Yes, when that letter is between two vowels it would naturally soften to a voiced sound. Notice the difference between heather and heath or mother and moth. I can't prove that these dead languages were pronounced that way but it just makes sense to me.
@@loquidity4973 i wouldn't say these languages (excluding old high German) had them specifically because all of them already had separate letters for these sounds and we know the spellings pretty accurately reflect that since there was no standardization of spelling for these languages at the times they were written down.
Very nice video on this root "richt", "rect". So many deep meanings and once again an opportunity to present the many prefixes and their power to form meanings. Some honorable mentions that came to mind immediately: - ausrichten = bewirken, aber auch veranstalten - verrichten = etwas (auf die rechte Art) tun, bewerkstelligen, schaffen - unverrichtet - rechtschaffen Obviously the root word has a spiritual meaning as it almost always has to do with the realization of a plan (God's plan?), an idea, with the truth and the true way of doing things. God = good; God = truth; truth = good Not so easy to find the RIGHT !!! words....
You give "honest, dependable, trustworthy" as translations for "aufrichtig", but I presume you could also have chosen the synonym "upright" as a very direct one-to-one parallel! (also "upstanding" and "stand-up" along the same lines in regard to someone's character)
If "to construct" is a cognate with "recht"/"richt", then Latin must have the prefix "st". But does it exist? In Russian the prefix "с" /s/ exists, in English I don't know (may be it is in the word "slightly"). Then the word "straight" may have the same root.
The video has reminded me of the slogan at a T-shirt which I saw recently in a sale. "Прав не тот, кто прав, а тот, кто лев" /Prav ne tot, kto prav, a tot, kto lev/ (Is right not who is right, but who is a lion). Here is words' play: the word "лев" means both "lion" and formally "(he) is left" in Russian.
@@loquidity4973 I don't know about the cognate. The root "right" and "richt" correlates with the root "prav". правый /právyy/ - right (adj.) права человека /pravá chelovéka/ - human's rights направо /naprávo/ - to the right справа /správa/ - from the right налево /nalévo/ - to the left слева /sléva/ - from the left направление /napravlénie/ - direction управление /upravlénie/ - control правительство /pravítel'stvo/ - government отправлять /otpravlyát'/ - to send отправить /otprávit'/ - to have sent приправа /pripráva/ - sause or something with similar destination заправка /zaprávka/ - gas/benzine station справка /správka/ - an information document, I don't know it in English. выправка /výpravka/ - the style, how proud officiers hold their backs and shoulders исправлять /ispravlyát'/ - to correct, to repair
@@loquidity4973 R+vowel+(x)T, seems, exists in Russian only in loanwords (as "рихтовать" /rikhtovát'/ - to correct) and in the word "рот" /rot/ (mouth). But if we change T to D, then there is the word "ряд" /ryad/ (line of objects, sequence), "порядок" /poryádok/ (order = Ordnung), "рядовой" /ryadovóy/ (usual; lowest rang in army), "наряд" /naryád/ (nice clothes; order for some work), "отряд" /otryád/ (organized group of people or animals), "заряд" /zaryád/ (charge), "рядом" /ryádom/ (together, at adjacent place), and some other words with the same root; and there are words "рад" /rad/ (glad), "род" /rod/ (gender, bear (as verb), kind (as noun)), "руда" /rudá/ (ore), "редька" /réd'ka/ (radish), "редиска" /redíska/ (vegetable which red surface and white inside), редко /rédko/ (seldom), рыдать /rydát'/ (to cry laudly).
The thing that caught my eye in this video was "umkommen", which I've never seen before. It reminds me specifically of the verb "umbringen", and I know the prefix um- can mean other things, like.. "around", but those two verbs seem awfully specific with the um- prefix - Jemand war umgebracht, und deshalb ist umgekommen, oder?
Exactly, although “umkommen“ implies a more passive or natural way of dying than being murdered, which ”umbringen“ essentially means. We Al’s have the expression ”jemanden um die Ecke bringen“ for killing someone.
So if Knecht can be boy (2:26), how does it differ from, or have similarity to Knabe (which my German friend told me was more like a kitchen boy or helper), which is very clearly related to knave in English (now a dishonest or unscrupulous man, but its archaic definition is exactly that of knabe = a boy or male servant.)
I suspect that the German cognates share a root with English "erect" in Latin "erectus", especially given the very similar meanings. (written before 04:15)
@@loquidity4973 Nicht annähernd so schlimm wie ich. Seit etwa einem Jahr vergesse ich immer Namen. Dabei waren Namen und Telefonnummern immer meine Stärke. No more , and it ain't age alone.
Man, did you ever pick something complicated: I remember my youthful experience as Zimmerman in Germany: When all wooden parts of a roof construction and the joists for a ceiling/floor were ready to assemble at the jobsite, it was taken there and Gerichtet. When ready, the Richtkranz was nailed to the ridge, a Richtspruch vorgetragen und ein Schnaps getrunken, dann kam ein Richtfest with food and drinks. All das, mußte eingehalten werden und vom Auftraggeber oder Bauherrn bezahlt werden....
@@loquidity4973 By the way: If the owner/Bauherr was tight, there was no Richtkranz or small tree nailed on, but a dried out old broom, made from Birch twigs.
Loved it! Thanks especially for the fitting images. Btw do you know book called „Master German Vocabulary“ by Bruce Donaldson? This book also covers such word groups.
