The German language is a curious method of human communication whose future at this cataclysmic stage in the descent of man depends on the fall of a hypothetical spun coin. If the coin lands with the Hitler face up, iL fs not inconceivable that German will become the language of Europe. If the fa that of Winston Churchill, German may take its place in the limbo of dead languages along with Greek and Latin, something to be leted on schoolboys.
Germans in their relations with other Ger= mans are a docile people. They cherish great respect for authority, political or grammatical. German grammar dictates that they say: "Die am Tage des Kriegsausbruches bet-Higerige Mutter erhielt die Nachricht, dass ihr Mann. 2um_Fliegerabwehroberkommando fan der West Front als Untergeschiitzwart cingezogen worden ist." This means: "The fon the day of the war-outbreak lying-in-bed mother received the news that her husband to the anti-niveraft headquarters on the Wes~ tern Front as under gun guard called been has."
'Tolerant sentimentalists in otherTands are apt to excuse Germans, taken as persons, for this extravagant. manner of speech on' the ground that as children they pick it up around the house. Unfortunately, one does not just pick up little expressions like "Auslandsdeutschtum," "Nazionalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei" and ""Telefunkengesellschatt" while thumbing through Peter Rabbit. Words ike "Weltkviegswitwenunterstiitzungsvereh (Worldwarwidows'aidsociety) are not tossed casually even at a Teutonic tot ina high chair. "Science, a cold-blooded German love of selenee, has gone into this, Belgians, Dutchmen,' Scandinavians, Poles and Frenchmen who have found without benefit of dictionary what is meant by "Blitzkrieg" and "Schrecklichkeit" will have to develop a cer= tain scientific zeal if they wish to identity stich characters in their new literature as a averriter," a classic example which turns out be "betrayer of an attempt to assassinate the murderer of the mother of a King of the Hottentots."
There are of course many other aspects the German language. To begin with, although it may all sound ike laryngitis 9 the tininitinted, it is spoken differently in various parts of Germany. There is High German, Tow. German, Swabian, Saxon, Bavarian, Styrian, Frisian, Vorarlbergian, Baden-Baden Jan—and there is Goethe, which is like Shakespeare but more complicated. With some difficulty German can be made (o.rhyme, producing poetry or "Dichtung." In one of the rare slip-ups in the system great success at this was achieved, rather cheekily, by a Few named Heinrich Heine, Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, Hélderer and others found the lanauage quite handy; Thomas Mann and Erich Remaraue have gobo far with German, although directionally away from Berlin. Today German is proving itself a very useful medium for such literary and journalistic works as Mein Kamp}, Der Stirmer, and the Volkischer Beobachter. "It is a marvellous language for alying commands that carry conviction, since itis not cluttered up with politeness and there is no bothersome word for "fair" in the sporting. sense. But most important of all, it is spoken with utter nonehatance by: some 90.- 00,000 Germans. For Furopeans who want to know whether their broad is ersatzed, a quick course in this tongue has a new signi-
At frst glance, German deceptively simple, Yes. is Jo. With a little practice, one can, master Nein, or No. "Ach merely means "Cripes!" Then there is the matter of lar words, both English and German employing the same terms for "zeppelin" and "pumpernickel." But more involved thoughts hho with tyro Teutons. For ex tin" is "Ich bin." However, if o uses a dictionary to say "I am feeling. wel the result is "Teh bin fliblend gut," which is thoroughly wrong. The correct answer Es get mir gut," (It yoes to me good) which ix "an obviously unsportsmanlike way of solving the riddle. Then there are tenses, moods, eases and genders. Each has a little meaning all its own, as in the ease of "Der Blitzkrieg" (lightning war) which is__masculine, while "Die Arbeit" (work) feminine, und "Das Krankenhaus" (hospital)
just neuter, like "Das Midchen" (maiden.
best to stick to virtual monosyllables "Donnerwetter (Goodness me!) anid The secret of German is knowing how to pile up ideas until you get a word. For instance, an easy example is the telephone of "Fernsprecher." "Fern" "means far, and "sprechet* is speaker. Hospital is simply. "sick house," submarine "under-sea-boat." Then there is a woman's compact. First there is beauty to be considered: "Schénheit." It is Kept in a container: "Koffer," meaning "trunk." Obviously a trunk is too bulky to} carry around and must be reduced. Therefore Germans add "chen," meaning small and the final result is "Schénheitskéfferchen," or "small beauty trunk." Umlauts, or two small
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.