3

I've just detected a misspelled "natürlich" — written like "natürlisch". Is it a mistake or slang/dialect?

|improve this question
  • 1
    It can be both. In standard German, it's natürlich, but in some dialects and sociolects it's spoken like natürlisch, which may also be written like that if one wants to emphasize this way of speaking it. – Toscho Jul 12 '17 at 19:15
  • 1
    It is not common in German to write in dialect. Only in special literature, jokes or to express the special dialect. But it is really seldom. So without any given context I would guess it is wrong spelled. By the way the dialect where "natürlisch" might be used would be Thuringian or Saxon. – Thomas Jul 12 '17 at 20:00
  • 2
    Please add more context to your question, where did you detect the misspelling, what is the complete sentence? Otherwise your question might get closed not being detailed enough or too broad. – Thomas Jul 12 '17 at 20:57
  • I'm analysing room search requests (from a linguistic perspective) written by males and females on wg-gesucht.de. – Tasha T. Jul 12 '17 at 21:56
  • 1
    Also there is a growing group of residents in Germany who seem to cultivate a sociolect in which "ch" principally is pronounced like "sch". These are mostly people with cultural roots in what once was called the Near Orient. I say "seem to cultivate" because I do not know if they are aware of this or if they just habitually are not able to discern the phones behind ch and sch, like for Germans it is usually difficult to differenciate v and w in English. – Christian Geiselmann Jul 13 '17 at 7:56
3

If somebody writes “natürlisch” in a phrase like “FIFA natürlisch!” it's virtually certain that it was done intentionally.

It's such a common word that it is not likely to be spelled wrong by genuine mistake.

On the other hand the context let's you expect such kind of jokes. It's common to spell “natürlich” formally incorrect as “natürlisch” to hint at certain sociolects or even just to emulate the slurred speech of drunk people.

|improve this answer
1

Adapted from a comment:

It can be both. In standard German, it's natürlich, but in some dialects and sociolects it is pronounced natürlisch. It may also be spelled like that if one wants to reproduce this pronunciation in writing.

|improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.