German Language

German Language

German (Deutsch ) is a West Germanic language related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.

Most German vocabulary is derived from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. A number of words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer from French and English.

German is written using the Latin alphabet. In addition to the 26 standard letters, German has three vowels with umlauts (Ä/ä, Ö/ö, and Ü/ü) and the letter ß.

Read more about German Language:  Geographic Distribution, Standard German, Dialects, Grammar, Vocabulary, Orthography, Literature, German Loanwords in The English Language

Famous quotes containing the words german language, german and/or language:

    The German language “speaks Being,” while all the others merely “speak of Being.”
    Martin Heidegger (1889–1976)

    The German language “speaks Being,” while all the others merely “speak of Being.”
    Martin Heidegger (1889–1976)

    Nothing so fretful, so despicable as a Scribbler, see what I am, & what a parcel of Scoundrels I have brought about my ears, & what language I have been obliged to treat them with to deal with them in their own way;Mall this comes of Authorship.
    George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)