Make Your Point > Archived Issues > SPRACHGEFÜHL
Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.
pronounce
SPRACHGEFÜHL:
Oh, boy. Here we go:
"SHPROK guh fyool."
You can hear me attempt it here, but it's best to hear it from a native German speaker.
connect this word to others:
If you catch a glimpse of the word Sprachgefühl in a newspaper, it's likely in an article about a spelling bee.
Maybe you read about Gokul Venkatachalam, a 2015 champ who spelled "Sprachgefühl" without missing a beat or requesting a definition. "Gokul didn't ask many questions. He chugged through the letters like he had dinner plans," the Associated Press reported.
See if you can recall a few other bee-worthy doozies:
1. A poco____nte is someone who's always relaxed and unexcited.
2. To ca_____ate is to laugh in a loud, long, uncontrollable way.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
We've used "Sprachgefühl" in English since 1902. It's German for "speech feeling."
Like it sounds, your Sprachgefühl is your intuitive sense of the right and wrong ways to say things in your language so that they sound natural and normal.
For example, imagine you have a friend who learned English as an adult, and she's asked you to check the English on her resume.
You cross out I assisted to the customers' questions and write it as I assisted customers and answered their questions.
Your friend says, "Why?"
You say "I dunno. It just sounds right." You're using your Sprachgefühl.
That's what "Sprachgefühl" means most of the time. But it can also mean the general feeling or characteristic of a language--in other words, a specific language's personality.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Noun, the uncountable kind: "He trusts his Sprachgefühl."
Other forms:
None
how to use it:
This term is extremely rare, but it's earned a spot in all major English dictionaries.
So, feel free to use it, especially if you prefer the beauty and concision of the single term, Sprachgefühl, over the clunkiness of phrases, like "sensitivity to language" or "instinct for idioms."
Feel free to keep the term German-looking, with the capital S and the umlaut (the two dots) over the u. Or, anglicize it and write "sprachgefuhl."
You might talk about people using, trusting, relying on, mistrusting, or doubting their Sprachgefühl. And you might talk about certain uses of language that please, bother, violate, or confuse your Sprachgefühl.
examples:
The lexicographer Kory Stamper describes Sprachgefühl as "a feel for language," "a slippery eel," and "a Teutonic imp." She writes: "Eyes closed, fingers wiggling over the keyboard, I poked my sprachgefühl awake."
— Kory Stamper, Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries, 2017
"If there is to be instruction in modern foreign languages the age of about ten is for most children the best to begin it. If it comes before this the child has not developed sufficient Sprachgefühl for his own language."
— Pedagogical Seminary, June 1914
has this page helped you understand "Sprachgefühl"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "Sprachgefühl" without saying "ear for the language" or "instinct for correct words and phrases."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "(Some weird-sounding phrase, slogan, or sentence) bothers my Sprachgefühl."
Example: "The slogan 'Be Best' bothers my Sprachgefühl."
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game this month is Apt Adjective Anagrams!
I'll invent a person's name and a brief description, and you unscramble the letters in their name to form an adjective that aptly describes the person or the person's situation.
For example: Carl Rebe has three advanced degrees. You rearrange the letters in "Carl Rebe" to form the adjective "cerebral," meaning "brainy, smart, or intellectual.” Sentimental movies always bring Martin Devesto to tears? He’s demonstrative. Lilian Tulip is dainty in the extreme? She’s lilliputian. Tia Fauns runs a sweatshop and is filthy rich? Perhaps she made a bargain with the devil, because her lifestyle is Faustian.
To see the answer, scroll all the way down.
Try this one today: As his six masseuses leave, Scot Hinedi reclines on a couch while a servant feeds him pieces of a Yubari King melon dipped into melted La Madeline au Truffe chocolates. It's a typical Monday.
review this word:
A. a sense of moral emptiness.
B. a linguistic confusion or incompetence.
C. an irrational dislike of foreign compound words.
2.
Here's a book title to tickle your Sprachgefühl: _____.
A. Toilet Paper Origami
B. How to Teach Quantum Physics To Your Dog
C. Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
On vocabulary...
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.
From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Oh, boy. Here we go:
If you catch a glimpse of the word Sprachgefühl in a newspaper, it's likely in an article about a spelling bee.
We've used "Sprachgefühl" in English since 1902. It's German for "speech feeling."
Part of speech:
This term is extremely rare, but it's earned a spot in all major English dictionaries.
The lexicographer Kory Stamper describes Sprachgefühl as "a feel for language," "a slippery eel," and "a Teutonic imp." She writes: "Eyes closed, fingers wiggling over the keyboard, I poked my sprachgefühl awake."
Explain the meaning of "Sprachgefühl" without saying "ear for the language" or "instinct for correct words and phrases."
Fill in the blanks: "(Some weird-sounding phrase, slogan, or sentence) bothers my Sprachgefühl."
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |