Date: Fri, 27 Oct 1995 12:53:27 EDT

From: mai MAINGR01[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UKCC.UKY.EDU

Subject: Re: upspeak in German



On Fri, 27 Oct 1995 10:43:32 -0500 Kathleen M. O'Neill said:

While I've never heard "upspeak" in standard German, there is at least one

dialect (Schwabisch) in which people tend to put the word "oder" (or), with

an upward intonation, at the end of statements - sort of the equivalent of

saying "isn't that right?" after a sentence. I knew one guy when I studied

in Germany who used it at the end of almost every sentence - much to the

amusement of Germans from other regions.





While living in Heidelberg, my Landlady Frau Gessner used to say "gel'?"

in somewhat the same manner, with a rising tone. It meant about the same as

"nicht wahr, nicht, nitt" etc. She used it quite frequently.



Mark Ingram

maingr01[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ukcc.uky.edu