All You Need to Know for Accurate German Translation
German Language
German is one of the West Germanic languages and is widely spoken in Central Europe. It is an official and co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and South Tyrol’s Italian province. It is the co-official language of Belgium and Luxembourg. German has quite a few similarities with other languages such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, and other Frisian languages.
Documents That require German Translation more Often
German is one of the widely spoken languages in the world. Hence, it has great importance and significance in the European Union. Businesses who want to go global and go for expansion, wish to start from the German market. Therefore, these are the main services that need German translation services more often.
- German website localization
- German marketing copy
- German ads and social media
- German entertainment content
- German news article
- German game localization
- German mobile app localization
- Customer support translation
- German emails, letters
- German travel listings and guide
Important German Translation Tips
Text expansion
The German language has compound words and is known for it. It is made to replace the smaller words sequence. For example, “Freundschaftsbezeugungen” refers to ‘demonstrations of friendship’ in English. Another important thing to note before starting German translation services is that text that has a translation from English to German is usually 35% lengthier than the original text. This further affects the design, navigational menus, taglines, and other displays. This is one important factor to keep in mind when translating from English to German in order to have professional translation services.
Formal & informal Speech
German has two speech patterns. These are formal and informal. The usage and implementation of the pattern depend on the recipient, person being addressed, situation, and setting. Although informal is quite convenient and appropriate for one and all in many contexts. It is better to stick to the formal version while addressing the German audience.
German Language Facts
The German language has many fun facts that business owners need to go through before starting translation services. It is better to check these so that German translation services can be better and more professional.
- It belongs to a family of English, Dutch, and Afrikaans
- It has more than 100 million native speakers and is widely spoken in Europe, beating Italian, French, and English.
- Proto German is the origin for German speakers, and it dates back to 500 B.C
- German is quite popular among new language learners. As many as 15 million learners.
- German and English share almost half of the library due to the close relationship
German Outside of Germany
German is though an official and first language of Germany and maximum speakers are there. However, it is also imperative to keep in mind while venturing into German translation services that there are 8 million German speakers in Austria and 5 million speakers in different parts of Switzerland.
There is a considerable vocabulary difference in standard German, Austrian German, and Swiss German. These all are generally intelligible. However, a particular difference is there between standard German and Swiss German, where the Swiss one has more English terms for technological innovations. They often use the English word ‘Harddisk’, however, the German word for Harddisk is “Festplatte”.
Similarly, English speakers are already familiar with many German words without even realizing it. Most commonly German loanwords are hamburger, frankfurter, and doppelganger. The shared roots of English and German as well as adapting each other’s culture in terms of food, culture and other practices has led both languages to have this exchange of words from each other’s vocabulary.
Dialects of German Language
Before locking the professional translation services, it is really imperative to conduct market research to check who could be the best choice for German translation services. Dialects of the German language are also important for professional translation services. German is spoken in several countries, it has English vocabulary as well. Therefore, the people of different countries speak the German language in their style and according to their local vocabulary. This is why the German language has a number of dialects.
These are
Low German or Low Saxon
Middle low German is a dialect that is assumed to be spoken by the uneducated class of German speakers. Also, it was a predominant language in Germany until the 16th century.
Low Franconian
In Germany, Low Franconian dialects are commonly spoken in North-Rhine Westphalia as well as Lower Rhine. Low Franconian dialects are usually referred to as Low Rhinish. This form of dialect fall in a linguistic category that classifies contemporary and historical Germanic varieties. Moreover, these dialects are now taken as a sociolinguistic point of view.
High German
High German dialects comprise three further dialects. These are
- Central German
- High Franconian
- Upper German
Upper German further consists of these classes of dialects
Alemannic and Swabian
Alemannic and Swabian dialects are common in Switzerland and its surroundings.
Bavarian
Bavarian is the Austrian version and dialects of German which people speak in Austria.
Final words
Only a professional translation services vendor can provide perfect German translation services. It is important to have sufficient knowledge of a language, its speakers, fun facts, and dialects before outsourcing the project to professional translation services. Business owners need to know the language, details, and other important information for professional German translation services.