LL-L "Phonology" 2003.09.20 (05) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: Global Moose Translations <globalmoose at t-online.de>
Subject: LL-L "Phonology" 2003.09.19 (13) [E]

John wrote:

> Years ago I was taught that one of the main features of the 'Berlin'
dialect
> was the pronunciation of  _g_ just the same as _ j _ (=English 'y'); thus
> one would say: "Ich hab' een jut jebratene jans jejessen" for "Ich habe
ein
> gut gebratenes Gans gegessen" (I ate a well-roasted goose).
>
> Can anyone tell me (a) Was this really a feature of Berlinisch? I haven't
> visited the city for years, but when I really can't recall hearing it,
> except maybe sometimes at the beginning of Past Participles in ge-.

Yes, it was and it is. And the famous sentence is: "Eene jut jebratene Jans
is eene jute Jabe Jottes" (Eine gut gebratene Gans ist eine gute Gabe
Gottes - a well-roasted goose is a great gift of God). But, the same as
everywhere, people from Berlin will mainly talk like that among themselves,
and not necessarily to strangers/foreigners.

Other distinctive features of the Berlin dialect are always saying "mir"
instead of "mich", "ee" instead of "ei", and "oo" instead of "au".

Gabriele Kahn

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From: Gary Taylor <gary_taylor_98 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Phonology

Hi all

John asked about Berlin dialect:

"Years ago I was taught that one of the main features
of the 'Berlin'
dialect
was the pronunciation of  _g_ just the same as _ j _
(=English 'y');
thus
one would say: "Ich hab' een jut jebratene jans
jejessen" for "Ich habe
ein
gut gebratenes Gans gegessen" (I ate a well-roasted
goose).

Can anyone tell me (a) Was this really a feature of
Berlinisch? I
haven't
visited the city for years, but when I really can't
recall hearing it,
except maybe sometimes at the beginning of Past
Participles in ge-.

 (b) Was this a feature of the urban dialect of
Berlin, or was it also
to be
heard in the rural dialects of the surrounding areas?

And (c) Is it still used in the modern cosmopolitan
city?"

j instead of g is a living dialect feature of Berlin
and the surrounding area. The boundary between g and j
is roughly a Brandenburg feature, although it also
extends south into Sachsen Anhalt and a bit into
Sachsen. Most people tend to avoid obvious dialect
differences when speaking to me, as they hear the
English accent and automatically modify the way they
speak for the 'stupid' foreigner ;), however, j is one
of the last things to go and they often say this even
when speaking to me. I have the feeling that these
features are more used in former East Berlin than in
West Berlin, due to the west part having a more mixed
population, with lots of people coming from other
parts of former West Germany, however j for g tends to
be a universal feature used by both Ossis and Wessis,
whereas a feature such as emphatic 'ikke' for 'ich' is
more an East Berlin feature. I know lots of people
that have come from other parts of Berlin and j for g
is one of the first things they pick up during
'Berlinification'. I also find myself saying 'jut' -
but this is mainly for comic effect, and it usually
produces the correct response, at the cute Berlinism
from the Engländer.

Gary

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