Berlinerisch — Berlin Dialect

Berlin Dialect and the Berliner Schnauze

Berlinerisch, or Berlinisch, is the traditional speech of Berlin. It grew out of a mix of Low German, spoken in the region for centuries, and the standard High German that spread through the city from the sixteenth century on. Its best-known features are the pronunciation of g as j before vowels, ick for ich, wat for was, dit or det for das, and the cheerful mixing of mir and mich. Typical words include Molle for a glass of beer, Schrippe for a bread roll and Stulle for a sandwich. The dialect comes with an attitude, the Berliner Schnauze, literally the Berlin snout: a quick, blunt, often sarcastic humor that can sound rude to outsiders but is usually meant as directness or even affection. Bus drivers, market vendors and pub landlords are its classic practitioners. Today, many younger Berliners and newcomers speak standard German with only a light Berlin coloring, and the full dialect is heard mostly among older residents and in traditional neighborhoods. Linguists generally advise learners to understand regional speech but not to imitate it, since an imitated dialect is easily heard as parody.