Hello, my German brothers and sisters

Discussion in 'Germany' started by Fawkes, Oct 19, 2008.

  1. Fawkes

    Fawkes Member

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    I have a question;

    Your country is called Deutschland, yes? You are Deutsch? So how come your country is called so many things by the rest of Europe.

    England says Germany
    France, Spain and Italy all say something that sounds like Alemania.
    But I think the Italians may call you Tedesco, what????

    I have read that in Poland your country is called Niemcy, or something.

    In the baltics your country is called Vacija or Sakssamaa (My spelling is probably terrible. If you have never heard of this I can find references, I just don't want to look this up right now.)

    I just find this wierd that people around Europe don't even respect you enough to call your country what you call it. I understand if the mess up the spelling to fit there native tongue. All countries do that. But How do they get away with changing things so drastically. Maybe, I's just a little retarded.

    Just a question from a dumb redneck in Tennessee.

    Danke, gute nacht,

    Fawkes
     
  2. Misjudged Genius

    Misjudged Genius Member

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    Yes, you're right. I think the correct English spelling for "Deutschland" would be "Doitshland".
     
  3. Aliciao

    Aliciao Member

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    Here's another example to clear things up for you Fawkes:
    This happens in any language dealing with the name of any other country
    I bolded some of the more interesting words. It is not a qurestion of respect or disrespect rather one of foreign language.

    America:


    • Afrikaans -- Vereinigde State van Amerika
    • Albanian -- Shtetet e Bashkuara të Amerikës
    • Amharric -- ya-tabābarut ya-amerikā mangśtāt / Yunāytəd stets
    • Arabic -- al-wilāyāt al-muttaHida al-amrīkīya
    • Armenian -- Amērikayi Miatsyal Nahangnēr
    • Azeri -- Amerika Birləşmiş Ştatları


    • Catalan -- Estats Units d'Amèrica
    • Chechen -- amerikan tsHänatöhna štataš
    • Chinese -- Meilijian Hezhongguo / Meiguo
    • Chuvash -- Amerikări Pĕrlešüllĕ Štatsem
    • Cornish -- Statys Unys Amerika
    • Corsican -- Stati Uniti d'America
    • Croatian -- Sjedinjene Američke Države
    • Czech -- Spojené Státy Americké

    • Danish -- Amerikas Forenede Stater
    • Dhivehi -- Emerikaa
    • Dutch -- Verenigde Staten van Amerika


    • Faroese -- Sambandsríki Amerika
    • Farsi -- eyālāt-e mottaHedeye emrīkā / etāzūnī
    • Finnish -- Yhdysvallat
    • French -- États-Unis d'Amérique
    • Frisian -- de Feriene Steaten fan Amearika


    • Hawaiian -- 'Amelika-Hui-Pu-'ia
    • Hebrew -- Artsōt ha-Brīt šel Amerīqa
    • Hindi -- Sãyukta Rājya Amrikā
    • Hungarian -- Amerikai Egyesült Államok


    • Japanese -- Amerika Gashukoku / Beikoku

    • Kadbardian -- Amerikăm i Soedinjonnă ŠtatHăr
    • Karakalpak -- Amerika Qurama Štatlary
    • Kazakh -- Amerika Qūrama Štattary
    • Kirghiz -- Amerika Košmo Štattary
    • Komi -- Soedinjonnöj Štat'jas Amerikalön
    • Korean -- Miguk
    • Kurdish -- Dewletên Yekbûyî yên Amerîqayê / Amerikayê

    • Lao -- Sahalat Æmelikā
    • Latin -- Foederatae Civitates Americae
    • Latvian -- Amerikas Savienotās Valstis
    • Lithuanian -- Jungtines Amerikos Valstijos
    • Luxembourgish -- Vereenegt State vun Amerika



    • Ossetian -- Amerikäjy ] -- Iugond Štattä



    • Sami -- Amerihká ovttastuvvan stáhtat
    • Samoan -- Iunaite Setete o Amerika
    • Serbian -- Sjedinjene Američke Države
    • Sindhi -- Āmrīkā
    • Slovak -- Spojené štáty americké
    • Slovenian -- Združene države Amerike
    • Somali -- Qaramada Midoobey ee Maraykanka
    • Sotho -- Amerika
    • Spanish -- Estados Unidos de América
    • Swahili -- Muungano wa Nchi za Amerika
    • Swedish -- Amerikas Förenta Staterna



    • Vietnamese -- Mỹ / Hợp chúng quốc Hoa kỳ

    • Welsh -- Unol Daleithiau America


    • Zulu -- iStetisi / iMelika
     
  4. matthewh1

    matthewh1 Member

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    It's a matter of history. the Alemanni were a "tribe" in Southern Germany, next to what is now France, so the name stuck. Deutsch is the German word, related to "Dutch", of course. "Tedesco" is derived from "Deutsch". Saksamma is "Saxon": the people who came to England (cf Scottish Sassenach, Welsh Saesneg), It's not a matter of respect, but one of Germany's complex history.
     
  5. BiLover

    BiLover Guest

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    LOL im danish and we say in danish TYSKLAND
     
  6. El Alemán

    El Alemán Guest

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    Just as matthewh1 said.

    You also have to keep in mind, that until very late in history there was actually no such thing as one nation called Germany. There was Prussia, Bavaria, etc. There also was a time when Germany was like a big patchwork of individual tiny states. Even nowadays there is a strong sense of distinction between the inhabitants of Germany, which goes back to this collection of independent states. For example some Bavarians see themselves more as Bavarians than as Germans. This can especially be recognised in the dialects/variations of German (like in any other country and language of the world), and that's why I imagine learning German and talking to actual native speaking Germans might be quite the surprise :D

    To the word "Germany" itself: I presume it relates back to what the Romans called the land of the tribes living in the area that nowadays is the German Republic: Germania.

    As to the actual origin of "Deutsch": The word stems from Old High German "diutisc" which means "belonging to the people" and the word "Deutsch" was originally used to distinguish it from the other languages like French, Latin, etc.
     

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