Will German become Gender-Neutral?

According to an article published Monday in The Guardian, the German federal justice ministry is encouraging state agencies should try to use gender-neutral language in their documents. Here are some quotes from the article:

Changing attitudes to gender are increasingly transforming the German language, and some theorists argue that scrapping the gendered articles altogether may be the most logical outcome.

Now, with the federal justice ministry emphasising that all state bodies should stick to "gender-neutral" formulations in their paperwork, things are changing again. Increasingly, job ads use the feminine form as the root of a noun, so that even a male professor may be referred to as der Professorin. Lecturers are advised to address their students not as Studenten but Studierende ("those that study"), thus sidestepping the gender question altogether.

Many linguists question whether language can be changed through human will. "It's hard to transform grammar through legislation, and even if so, such changes often happen over centuries," said Anatol Stefanowitsch, a linguist at Berlin's Free University.

Read the full article here:  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/24/germans-get-tongues-around-gender-neutral-language. For more information on gender-neutral language issues in German, see this Wikipedia article: Geschlechtergerechte Sprache.

One response can be found here: "Can language ever be gender neutral?", Eurotalk.com.

What do you think? How will the German language change? Post your opinions below! (Also, if someone can find the original statement from the German federal justice ministry, please post a link to it below!)

German Language Interest Abroad

Recent stories about interest of the German language in other countries:

Ghana
According to the Goethe Institute in Accra, interest in the German language has increased in Ghana. Attendance at the Institute's annual German Cultural Festival has gone up, and schools in the area are interested in creating German language programs.

See the whole article on GhanaWeb here.

Seychelles
The Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture has asked the German Ambassador for assistance in creating a German language program at the Seychelles Tourism Academy.

See the whole article on eTurboNews here.

India
German is now being offered at the Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) schools (schools for children of government employees) in Bhopal, and may be expanded to KV schools in other cities. Students who want to pursue a technical career are opting for German as a foreign language.

See the whole article in the Times of India here.

CNN Article: Learning German through rock music

German indie rock band Madsen has been touring the US to perform concerts - and promote the German language.

See the article on CNN.com here.

German Railway to Reduce Use of English

Another reason to learn German: the Deutsche Bahn is cutting back its use of English.

The railway company had been making loudspeaker announcements in both English and German, and had been increasingly using English terms for its services, like "Kiss and Ride" and "Call a Bike."

However, recent complaints has made the Deutsche Bahn reconsider its use of English, and return to using German. Riders had complained that they were getting annoyed by all of the announcements. But many complaints stemmed from worries that German is being marginalized due to extensive use of English.

This may reflect a larger trend. According to the website Sueddeutsche.de, the Minister of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs, Dr. Peter Ramsauer, stated that "I know of no country on Earth, in which one deals with one's own language with such a lack of respect." (1)  

See the articles here:

Monsters and Critics - "German railways to cut back use of English"
Sueddeutsche.de - Deutsche Bahn: Call a Mietrad Bahn spricht deutsch

1. Original quote in German: "Ich kenne kein Land der Erde, in dem man so respektlos mit der eigenen Sprache umgeht."


What do you think about this? Post it in the comments below!

"Is German threatened by the English language?"

Listen to the BBC News - Radio 4 "Today" show's July 29th interview with Uwe Rau of the Goethe Institute on whether German is being threatened by the English language. (Clip is about 2 minutes long).

Listen here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8866000/8866495.stm