Do you know that not all languages have the same name in English and the native language? For example, German, the language of Germany as we know in English is Deutsch in German.

This is because languages can have two names, endonym and exonym. An endonym is the name used by people of the place whereas an exonym is the name that is used by people of other places and languages. Thus, Deutsch from Deutschland which is the way people in Germany refer to their country and German is its exonym that is used by English speakers.

There could be various reasons for these names such as a sound for an endonym may not exist in other languages. Second reason could be that people from a country might have different ideas or associate people from other countries with specific things. This may also happen if the name of a language has been borrowed from another language.

Germans use the name Deutschland to refer to their country which is an endonym. This word can be divided into Deutsch and land where Deutsch is derived from Diutisc in Old High German and means ‘of the people and land means land. Thus, the word has a meaning similar to ‘the people’s land’. So, people from Deutschland speak Deutsch.

Now let us understand how this word Deutsch is derived.

This disk from Early Medieval changed to Deutsch in late Medieval which became Deutsch. This is the language that was spoken by people in the Germanic regions that are differentiated from formal Latin which originated with the Romans. All Germanic languages adopted variations based on these roots.

Deutsch vs German

If you are speaking in Germany to Germans you are speaking in Deutsch, whereas when you are using German to speak to anyone outside German the language you use in German. This brings us to the point that both mean the same, the difference lies in where and who is speaking it.

Let us know a few important things about the German language or Deutsch

It belongs to the West-Germanic language group and is the official or co-official language of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, the Italian province of South Tyrol, Luxembourg and Belgium.

It also has similarities to other West-Germanic languages such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Frisian languages, Low German and Yiddish.

Deutsch is the language spoken by almost 95 % of people in Germany and if you would like to study or work in Germany, you need to clear at least the A1 level of the German proficiency exam.

It is also a major language of the world, the most spoken native language in the European Union and has approximately 135 million speakers across the world.

It is also the second most commonly used scientific language in the world.

It can be your gateway to a world-class education.

Here are some fun and interesting facts about the German language

Extensive long words are used in this language.

Certain German words cannot be translated into other languages.

The same word can have different meanings based on the context it is used in.

German or Deutsch has its own sharp ‘s’ denoted by ß which is known as scharfes ‘s’ or Eszett in German.

This can be your key to higher education or a better career. You can use it while travelling to any country where this language is predominantly spoken. This could help you enhance your linguistic skills. You could learn about the culture of Germany. It is also found that learning a new language can help you become better at logical thinking, multitasking and have better cognitive abilities which can help in your personal development. Find a reason strong enough that motivates you to learn Deutsch or German and book a free demo session with Multibhashi to take your German skills to the next level.