One of my favorite passages from Mark Twain’s “The Awful German Language”:
There are ten parts of speech, and they are all troublesome. An average sentence, in a German newspaper, is a sublime and impressive curiosity; it occupies a quarter of a column; it contains all the ten parts of speech – not in regular order, but mixed; it is built mainly of compound words constructed by the writer on the spot, and not to be found in any dictionary – six or seven words compacted into one, without joint or seam – that is, without hyphens; it treats of fourteen or fifteen
different subjects, each inclosed in a parenthesis of its own, with here and there extra parentheses which reinclose three or four of the minor parentheses, making pens within pens: finally, all the parentheses and reparentheses are massed together between a couple of king-parentheses, one of which is placed in the first line of the majestic sentence and the other in the middle of the last line of it – after which comes the VERB, and you find out for the first time what the man has been talking about; and after the verb – merely by way of ornament, as far as I can make out – the writer shovels in “haben sind gewesen gehabt haben geworden sein,” or words to that effect, and the monument is finished. I suppose that this closing hurrah is in the nature of the flourish to a man’s signature – not necessary, but pretty. German books are easy enough to read when you hold them before the looking-glass or stand on your head – so as to reverse the construction – but I think that to learn to read and understand a German newspaper is a thing which must always remain an impossibility to a foreigner.
With all due respect, but he seems to have been talking out of his ass here. Either that, or he’s been reading legal language. Or maybe language was that different in his day.
I’d argue that nowadays, in German, very nested sentences are seen as “good style” in poetic writing only. Plus, the tenses he mentions are an issue specific to English language which has like 23 of them. In German, I’ve heard people with a Master’s degree get by with using one (1) for any situation in everyday life.
Mark Twain was a writer in the late 1800s in America who wrote some real novels, but also is mainly known for his humorous and satirical writing. He’s exaggerating here for comedic effect, not trying to be serious. So it’s probably a combination of the older language and the fact that he’s trying to be funny.
To be fair, we have compound words in English. Firefly, sunflower, etc… if you get into latin prefixes and suffixes joined with root words, you can create some incredibly long words.
One of my favorite passages from Mark Twain’s “The Awful German Language”:
There are ten parts of speech, and they are all troublesome. An average sentence, in a German newspaper, is a sublime and impressive curiosity; it occupies a quarter of a column; it contains all the ten parts of speech – not in regular order, but mixed; it is built mainly of compound words constructed by the writer on the spot, and not to be found in any dictionary – six or seven words compacted into one, without joint or seam – that is, without hyphens; it treats of fourteen or fifteen different subjects, each inclosed in a parenthesis of its own, with here and there extra parentheses which reinclose three or four of the minor parentheses, making pens within pens: finally, all the parentheses and reparentheses are massed together between a couple of king-parentheses, one of which is placed in the first line of the majestic sentence and the other in the middle of the last line of it – after which comes the VERB, and you find out for the first time what the man has been talking about; and after the verb – merely by way of ornament, as far as I can make out – the writer shovels in “haben sind gewesen gehabt haben geworden sein,” or words to that effect, and the monument is finished. I suppose that this closing hurrah is in the nature of the flourish to a man’s signature – not necessary, but pretty. German books are easy enough to read when you hold them before the looking-glass or stand on your head – so as to reverse the construction – but I think that to learn to read and understand a German newspaper is a thing which must always remain an impossibility to a foreigner.
With all due respect, but he seems to have been talking out of his ass here. Either that, or he’s been reading legal language. Or maybe language was that different in his day.
I’d argue that nowadays, in German, very nested sentences are seen as “good style” in poetic writing only. Plus, the tenses he mentions are an issue specific to English language which has like 23 of them. In German, I’ve heard people with a Master’s degree get by with using one (1) for any situation in everyday life.
Mark Twain was a writer in the late 1800s in America who wrote some real novels, but also is mainly known for his humorous and satirical writing. He’s exaggerating here for comedic effect, not trying to be serious. So it’s probably a combination of the older language and the fact that he’s trying to be funny.
To be fair, we have compound words in English. Firefly, sunflower, etc… if you get into latin prefixes and suffixes joined with root words, you can create some incredibly long words.
“Subpostactuallismian.”
Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft.
The Association for Subordinate Officials of the Head Office Management of the Danube Steamboat Electrical Services.
German is on another level when it comes to compound words.
We can’t forget antidisestablishmentarianism
prime sesquipedalian word
It’s even more amusing when explained by the English
Pineapple and hedgehog are some examples which are compound words in English, but not in German.
Pineapple is a rabbit hole. Most people all call it annunuya or something like like that. I’m trying super hard to test myself. Sorry if I’m wrong.
You mean Ananas?
There we go
“Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz fachsimpeln haben sind gewesen gehabt haben geworden sein.” 🥰
That use of punctuation is both beautiful and horrifying.