{"id":9404,"date":"2017-12-12T08:00:13","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T08:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=9404"},"modified":"2017-12-08T17:02:13","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T17:02:13","slug":"whats-up-with-those-es-the-dehnungs-e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/whats-up-with-those-es-the-dehnungs-e\/","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s up with those e&#8217;s? The Dehnungs-e"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/whats-up-with-those-hs-the-dehnungs-h\/\">Last Friday, we discussed the\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-h\u00a0<\/em>and how it was quite a curious<\/a>, unnecessary concept in German. Today, we look at the\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-e<\/em>, a concept that does pretty much the same thing, but is much less widespread. Other than after an i, it feels strange to many Germans as well. One famous example of such strange application of the\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-e\u00a0<\/em>in use is the name of the city of\u00a0<em>Soest<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2><em>Soest<\/em><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wippen der Soester Sch\u00fctzen 2017\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/isgwhfUWQ-4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In the video above, at 0:47, you can hear &#8220;<em>Wippen der Soester B\u00fcrgersch\u00fctzen<\/em>&#8221; (rocking of the Soest Civilian Marksmen). The reporter says\u00a0<em>Sooster<\/em>, but you write\u00a0<em>Soester<\/em>. So what is going on here, why does German not just use two\u00a0<em>oo<\/em>, or a\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-h\u00a0<\/em>(<em>Sohst<\/em>) or something else to indicate a long\u00a0<em>o<\/em>?<\/p>\n<p>It is because of history, like so many oddities in language. It may come from\u00a0<em>Sosat<\/em>, which was related to the early Germanic\u00a0<em>sod-saten<\/em>, which means something like &#8220;those situated close to the well&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The combination with\u00a0<em>e<\/em> is only found in place names or older family names. It is especially widespread around the\u00a0<em>Niederrhein<\/em>\u00a0region<em>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<em>Westfalen\u00a0<\/em>(Westphalia) in the west of Germany. Some examples:<\/p>\n<p><em>Coesfeld\u00a0<\/em>(city)<\/p>\n<p><em>Bloem\u00a0<\/em>(family name)<\/p>\n<p><em>Goes\u00a0<\/em>(family name)<\/p>\n<h2><i>Ziehen, Bier&#8230;\u00a0<\/i>Combinations with i<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"DAS passiert, wenn du jeden Tag BIER trinkst!\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/x03obHYNE2w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While\u00a0a\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-e\u00a0<\/em>is not seen often in a diphthong between\u00a0<em>o\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<em>e<\/em>, it is quite common in words with\u00a0<em>i.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The point of the video above is that the word\u00a0<em>Bier\u00a0<\/em>is said a lot. Then you get a good idea of how it is pronounced. It would be pronounced the exact same way without the\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-e\u00a0<\/em>though!\u00a0<em>Bir\u00a0<\/em>should be pronounced the same way.<\/p>\n<p>This also exists in words like\u00a0<em>verlieren\u00a0<\/em>(to lose). That combination is more common than not, actually.<\/p>\n<p>In very, very rare cases, you even have a\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-e\u00a0<\/em>AND\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-h!\u00a0<\/em>An example is\u00a0<em>ziehen\u00a0<\/em>(to pull) or\u00a0<em>sieht\u00a0<\/em>(sees, declinated from the verb <em>sehen<\/em>\u00a0&#8211; to see).<\/p>\n<p>However, you will never find\u00a0<em>ie\u00a0<\/em>at the beginning of a word. Then you take out the\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-e\u00a0<\/em>and simply write\u00a0<em>i<\/em>. Such as in\u00a0<em>ihr\u00a0<\/em>(her).<\/p>\n<p>Of course, there are exceptions to this rule as well, such as\u00a0<em>Wir<\/em>\u00a0(we) or\u00a0<em>Tiger\u00a0<\/em>(tiger).<\/p>\n<h2>The weird &#8220;exception&#8221;:\u00a0<em>Ziesar<\/em><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Die Burg Ziesar wird belagert 2017 - Ank\u00fcndigung\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5TlaYnHfnh0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Listen closely to what the narrator says:\u00a0<em>Die Burg Ziesar wird belagert\u00a0<\/em>(Castle Ziesar will be besieged). What happened there? First, she says\u00a0<em>Zi<\/em>, as in\u00a0<em>Zieh<\/em> &#8211; a long\u00a0<em>i<\/em>. And then, instead of muting the\u00a0<em>e<\/em> as you would expect with a\u00a0<em>Dehnungs<\/em><em>-e<\/em>, she pronounces it:\u00a0<em>esar<\/em> &#8211;\u00a0<em>Zi-esar<\/em>. So, this is not a\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-e\u00a0<\/em>at all, but just looks like one. The reason for this coincidence is probably the origin of the place name: It comes from the Slavic <em><span class=\"w\">za<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"w\">jezero<\/span><\/em><span class=\"w\"> (behind the lake).<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Umlaut<\/h2>\n<p>You may sometimes see words like\u00a0<em>k\u00f6nnen\u00a0<\/em>with\u00a0<em>oe<\/em>:\u00a0<em>koennen.<\/em>\u00a0That is because the Umlaut-o was not recognized or accepted by the software used, in most cases. I discussed this phenomenon in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/how-to-use-the-umlaut-right\/\">previous article.<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Even rarer\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-<\/em>letters<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_9379\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/12\/dehnung.jpg\" aria-label=\"Dehnung 1024x1024\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9379\" class=\"size-large wp-image-9379\"  alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/12\/dehnung-1024x1024.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/12\/dehnung-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/12\/dehnung-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/12\/dehnung-350x350.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/12\/dehnung-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-9379\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Dehnung<\/em>! (Stretching!) (Image by Emily Sea at Unsplash.com)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>There are very rare\u00a0combinations with\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-i\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-w<\/em> or\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-u<\/em>. We will go through them quickly.<\/p>\n<h3><em>Dehnungs-i<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>The Dehnungs-i is most prominent in the name of the city\u00a0<em>Duisburg<\/em>, pronounced as\u00a0<em>D\u00fcsburg<\/em>. Back in the day, it was pronounced as\u00a0<em>Dusburg<\/em>, and the\u00a0<em>i\u00a0<\/em>was there to indicate that the\u00a0<em>u\u00a0<\/em>had to be pronounced long. Another example is the widespread family name <em>Voigt\u00a0<\/em>(pronounced\u00a0<em>Vohgt<\/em>). And other than in some names, the\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-i\u00a0<\/em>is not used.<\/p>\n<h3><em>Dehnungs-w<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>The\u00a0<em>w\u00a0<\/em>as a stretching letter is widespread in Eastern Germany, and has a Slavic origin. It is often seen at the end of words, such as\u00a0<em>Treptow<\/em>, which is pronounced as\u00a0<em>Treptoh<\/em> &#8211; the\u00a0<em>w\u00a0<\/em>is silent. It is not found in anything else than names, either.<\/p>\n<h3><em>Dehnungs-u<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>The\u00a0<em>Dehnungs-u\u00a0<\/em>is very, very rare. The only example I could find is the place name\u00a0<em>Pouch<\/em>, which is pronounced with a long\u00a0<em>o<\/em> &#8211;\u00a0as\u00a0<em>Pohch<\/em>, basically. It is a strange exception!<\/p>\n<h4><strong>There has been a lot of criticism against the\u00a0<em>Dehnungs<\/em>-letters. Should we keep them? Should we abandon them? What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"350\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/12\/dehnung-1024x1024-1-350x350.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/12\/dehnung-1024x1024-1-350x350.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/12\/dehnung-1024x1024-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/12\/dehnung-1024x1024-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/12\/dehnung-1024x1024-1.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>Last Friday, we discussed the\u00a0Dehnungs-h\u00a0and how it was quite a curious, unnecessary concept in German. Today, we look at the\u00a0Dehnungs-e, a concept that does pretty much the same thing, but is much less widespread. Other than after an i, it feels strange to many Germans as well. One famous example of such strange application of&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/whats-up-with-those-es-the-dehnungs-e\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":9407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,11971,8],"tags":[503933,6,503934],"class_list":["post-9404","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-grammar-language","category-language","tag-german-spelling","tag-grammar","tag-irregularity"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9404"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9413,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9404\/revisions\/9413"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}