Eine Frage der Deutschen Sprache

Roger   Wed Dec 23, 2009 5:18 am GMT
Hello.
I recently had a conversation on a plane with a German national sitting beside me. He was an oncologist returning home after a convention in Houston. We spoke a blend of both English and German during our flight. Amazingly, he said he was impressed with my German, and didn't seem to believe me when I told him I was not a native speaker. I was upfront with him from the very beginning, that it was very bad (and it is), but I think what caught him most off-guard was my pronunciation. I do not have an English accent. I sound like a native German.

Anyway, my question is: How do most Germans pronounce ü today? because it seems that many I hear are saying ö instead for ü. He said that he lived near Düsseldorf, and it sounded like he pronounced it Dösseldorf. When I repeated the town name as /dyseldorf/, he just smiled at me. This is not the first time I have heard Germans use /œ/ for /y/. I hear it often. Dössenflieger for Düssenflieger, Trömmern for Trümmern, etc. Is this a change occurring in the German language at this moment, or am I just imagining?
PARISIEN   Wed Dec 23, 2009 7:20 am GMT
<< Düsseldorf -- Düssenflieger -- Trümmern >>:

-- These are good examples. The position before double consonants shortens the vowels, thus preventing the "ü" sound to fully develop. Indeed, it sounds nearly like a short "ö" — unlike the typical long "ü" sound of "die Türe", "Süden", "Blüte" etc. Or "der Führer".
Werder   Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:17 am GMT
Just a minor hint...it's not Düssenflieger, but Düsenflieger with a long ü.
--   Wed Dec 23, 2009 2:27 pm GMT
I never heard of that weird pronunciaton you mention. Maybe it is personal speaking or dialectal. And yes, it's Düsenflieger, with a long ü.

Please, don't expect everywhere to be a change in language or pronunciation. Humans make mistakes, even as a native.
Roger   Wed Dec 23, 2009 2:28 pm GMT
<<Just a minor hint...it's not Düssenflieger, but Düsenflieger with a long ü. >>

Yes, thank you! I realized that after I had posted, but it was after midnight, and I was sleepy :)

That always seems to up my mistakes a bit more :)
Hula   Wed Dec 23, 2009 8:52 pm GMT
Shouldn't this be 'Eine Frage ZUR deutschen Sprache'
K. T.   Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:43 pm GMT
Why did you speak in a blend of German and English if he thought that you were a native speaker?
politburo   Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:44 pm GMT
Why isn't Brennus doing his job?
Roger   Wed Dec 23, 2009 11:18 pm GMT
<<Shouldn't this be 'Eine Frage ZUR deutschen Sprache' >>

Yes, I know.
'Eine Frage ZUR deutschen Sprache'
'Eine Frage bezüglich der Deutschen Sprache'...

I told you all it was late.

<<Why did you speak in a blend of German and English if he thought that you were a native speaker? >>

We started off speaking English. I remained incognito for the first stound or so. I actually slipped up when I asked him offkey "Was machen Sie beruflich"?--then it was out of the bag. I didn't mean to, there were just so many Germans aound, all speaking German, I couldn't control myself :p. Then it was English/German the rest of the way.


<<Why isn't Brennus doing his job? >>

Good question.
K. T.   Thu Dec 24, 2009 12:34 am GMT
I guess "Stound" is an example of blended language. That seems like hour and Stunde.
Darrell   Thu Dec 24, 2009 2:10 am GMT
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stound
K. T.   Thu Dec 24, 2009 2:45 am GMT
I did not know that word. Do you use it frequently?
Roger   Thu Dec 24, 2009 3:14 am GMT
<<I did not know that word. Do you use it frequently? >>

I use it occasionally. We'll just say: it's in my arsenal.
Hula   Thu Dec 24, 2009 3:02 pm GMT
What's wrong with 'Was machen Sie beruflich?'?
Roger   Thu Dec 24, 2009 4:19 pm GMT
<<What's wrong with 'Was machen Sie beruflich?'? >>

Nothing, except that I meant to say "What do you do?"--but it came out auf Deutsch instead. Nothing wrong, but I didn't intend to have to speak German. I wasn't going to Germany per se, just thru it.