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From: deb5@midway.uchicago.edu (Daniel von Brighoff)
Subject: Re: Verb moods
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References: <32D04BD9.24D9@postoffice.worldnet.att.net> <32D288DB.71A6@online.no> <E3qAuu.ItD@midway.uchicago.edu> <32D34E0C.560F@online.no>
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 17:03:24 GMT
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In article <32D34E0C.560F@online.no>, Anders Blehr  <ablehr@online.no> wrote:
>Daniel von Brighoff wrote:
>
>> In article <32D288DB.71A6@online.no>, Anders Blehr  <ablehr@online.no> wrote:
>>
>> >The Konjunktiv I is always used to indicate indirect speech in radio and
>> >TV broadcasts, and is also used in everyday speech, although not very
>> >commonly.
>> 
>> Sorry, my phrasing was misleading.  When I said "literary", I meant
>> "characteristic of the formal standard variety".  Standard German was
>> originally a purely literary dialect; it did not acquire a standard
>> pronunciation ("B"uhnenausprache") until last century and, arguably, did
>> not become the native speech variety of a substantial number of Germans
>> until this century.
>
>When I lived in Germany a few years back, I was told that the Standard
>German (Hochdeutsch) you hear on radio and TV, and which also more and
>more "ordinary" people use, is actually the Hannover "dialect".

This is a myth.  What they may mean is that the *pronunciation* reflects
the Hannover accent.  True Hannover dialect is a form of Low Saxon.  Of
the modern German dialects, Meissnisch (spoken near Dresden) is most
similar to NHD, but far from identical to it.

>> Konjunktiv I is consistently employed by news announcers and other
>> broadcasters who are reading from a teleprompter or other written aid.  It
>> is rarely heard from DJs or in programmes where colloquial speech is being
>> reproduced.
>
>Konjunktiv I *is* used in everyday speech by everyday people.  During my
>first couple of months in Germany, I remember having to concentrate not
>to forget to use Konjunktiv I when I was referring to something that
>someone else had said, because everybody else used it.  And I mean
>everybody: the cleaning lady, the lab assistants, my colleagues, their
>wives, their kids, everybody.  It's not very common, but it's definitely
>not *uncommon*.  This might be an influence from mass media, however.

Were you living in North Germany, by any chance?
-- 
	 Daniel "Da" von Brighoff    /\          Dilettanten
	(deb5@midway.uchicago.edu)  /__\         erhebt Euch
				   /____\      gegen die Kunst!
