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Street Festivals

Street festivals

:A separate article is about the Festival Speech Synthesis System. A festival or fest is an event, usually staged by a local community, which centers on some theme, sometimes on some unique aspect of the community. "Cherry Days" in Paonia, Colorado is a typical festival. The word fest derives from the German language (see list of German expressions in English). In religion, a festival is also a set of celebrations in honour of God or gods.

Types of festivals

- Arts festival
- Film festival
- Food festival
- Literary festival
- Music festival
- Religious festival
- Theatre festival
- Hippy festival
- Renaissance festival
- Junkanoo festival

External links

- [http://www.festivals.com/ Festivals.com]
- [http://FestivalsandEvents.com/ US Festivals and Events]
- [http://www.sixoone.com/01/e/index.php Festivals and events in Africa]
- [http://www.bodysoulspiritexpo.com/ Holistic, Wellness Health, Newage, Alternative Health Events and Festivals] ja:祭

Festival Speech Synthesis System

Festival is a general multi-lingual speech synthesis system developed at Centre for Speech Technology Research (CSTR) at the University of Edinburgh. It offers a full text to speech system with various APIs, as well an environment for development and research of speech synthesis techniques. It is written in C++ with a Scheme-based command interpreter for general control. The Festvox project aims to make the building of new synthetic voices more systemic and better documented, making it possible for anyone to build a new voice. It is distributed under a license similar to the MIT License.

Festvox

Festvox is a suite of tools for building synthesized voices for Festival.

Flite

Flite is a small run-time speech synthesis engine developed at Carnegie Mellon University. It is derived from the Festival Speech Synthesis System from the University of Edinburgh and the Festvox project from Carnegie Mellon University.

Gstreamer

There is a Festival plug-in for GStreamer.

External links

- [http://www.cstr.ed.ac.uk/projects/festival The Festival Speech Synthesis System]
- [http://www.festvox.org Festvox]
- [http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/flite/index.html Flite: a small, fast run time synthesis engine]
- [http://carnival.sourceforge.net/ Carnival - a GUI for Festival]
- [http://tkfestival.sourceforge.net/ TkFestival, a Festival frontend]
- [http://linux-sound.org/speech.html Speech Synthesis & Analysis Software] Category:Accessibility Category:Assistive technology Category:Speech synthesis

Paonia, Colorado

Paonia is a town located in Delta County, Colorado. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 1,497.

Geography

2000 Paonia is located at 38°52'3" North, 107°35'33" West (38.867630, -107.592579). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.0 km² (0.8 mi²). 2.0 km² (0.8 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water. Paonia is home to Chaco Sandles and High Country News.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 1,497 people, 631 households, and 393 families residing in the town. The population density is 760.5/km² (1,972.2/mi²). There are 705 housing units at an average density of 358.2/km² (928.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 96.46% White, 0.07% African American, 0.47% Native American, 0.20% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 1.74% from other races, and 1.07% from two or more races. 4.48% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 631 households out of which 28.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.2% are married couples living together, 10.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 37.6% are non-families. 33.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 15.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.29 and the average family size is 2.95. In the town the population is spread out with 24.4% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 21.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 41 years. For every 100 females there are 93.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 88.8 males. The median income for a household in the town is $31,831, and the median income for a family is $40,170. Males have a median income of $35,962 versus $17,500 for females. The per capita income for the town is $16,033. 12.2% of the population and 9.7% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 12.4% of those under the age of 18 and 15.9% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

External links

Category:Towns in Colorado Category:Delta County, Colorado

German language

German (German: ), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the world's major languages. It is the language with the most native speakers in the European Union. Spoken by more than 130 million people in 38 countries of the world, German is—like English—a pluricentric language with three main centers of usage: Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Geographic distribution

German is spoken primarily in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, in two-thirds of Switzerland, in two-thirds of the South Tyrol province of Italy (in German, Südtirol), in the small East Cantons of Belgium, and in some border villages of the South Jutland County (in German, Nordschleswig, in Danish, Sønderjylland) of Denmark. In Luxembourg (in German, Luxemburg), as well as in the French régions of Alsace (in German, Elsass) and parts of Lorraine (in German, Lothringen), the native populations speak several German dialects, and some people also master standard German (especially in Luxembourg), although in Alsace and Lorraine French has for the most part replaced the local German dialects in the last 40 years. Some German speaking communities still survive in parts of Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and above all Russia, Kazakhstan and Poland, although massive relocations to Germany in the late 1940s and 1990s have depopulated most of these communities. Outside of Europe and the former Soviet Union, the largest German speaking communities are to be found in the USA and in Brazil where millions of Germans migrated in the last 200 years; but the great majority of their descendants no longer speak German. Additionally, German speaking communities are to be found in the former German colony of Namibia, as well as in the other countries of German emigration such as Canada, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Peru, Venezuela (where Alemán Coloneiro developed), Thailand, and Australia. See also Plautdietsch. In the USA, the largest concentration of German speakers are in Pennsylvania (Amish, Hutterites and some Mennonites speak Pennsylvania German and Hutterite German), Texas (Texas German), North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wisconsin and Indiana also speak dialects of German. In Brazil the largest concentrations of German speakers are in Rio Grande do Sul, where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch was developed, Santa Catarina, Paraná, and Espírito Santo). Generally, German immigrant communities in the USA have lost their mother tongue more quickly than those who moved to South America, possibly due to the fact that for Germans English is easier to learn than Portuguese or Spanish. German is the main language of about 100 million people in Europe (as of 2004), or 13.3% of all Europeans, being the most spoken language in Europe excluding Russia, above French (66.5 million speakers in Europe in 2004) and English (64.2 million speakers in Europe in 2004). German is the third most taught foreign language worldwide, also in the USA (after Spanish and French); it is the second most known foreign language in the EU (after English; see [http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_237.en.pdf]) It is one of the official languages of the European Union.

History

As a consequence of the colonisation patterns the Völkerwanderung, the routes for trade and communication (chiefly the rivers), and of physical isolation (high mountains and deep forests) very different regional dialects developed. These dialects, sometimes mutually unintelligible, were used across the Holy Roman Empire. As Germany was divided into many different states, the only force working for a unification or standardisation of German during a period of several hundred years was the general preference of writers trying to write in a way that could be understood in the largest possible area. When Martin Luther translated the Bible (the New Testament in 1521 and the Old Testament in 1534) he based his translation mainly on this already developed language, which was the most widely understood language at this time. This language was based on Eastern Upper and Eastern Central German dialects and preserved much of the grammatical system of Middle High German (unlike the spoken German dialects in Central and Upper Germany that already at that time began to lose the genitive case and the preterit tense). In the beginning, copies of the Bible had a long list for each region, which translated words unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics rejected Luther's translation in the beginning and tried to create their own Catholic standard (Gemeines Deutsch) — which, however, only differed from 'Protestant German' in some minor details. It took until the middle of the 18th century to create a standard that was widely accepted, thus ending the period of Early New High German. German used to be the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire. It indicated that the speaker was a merchant, an urbanite, not their nationality. Some cities, such as Prague (German: Prag) and Budapest (Buda, German: Ofen), were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain. Others, such as Bratislava (German: Pressburg), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. A few cities such as Milan (German: Mailand) remained primarily non-German. However, most cities were primarily German during this time, such as Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, Zagreb (German: Agram), and Ljubljana (German: Laibach), though they were surrounded by territory that spoke other languages. Until about 1800, Standard German was almost only a written language. In this time, people in urban northern Germany, who spoke dialects very different from Standard German, learnt it almost like a foreign language and tried to pronounce it as close to the spelling as possible. Prescriptive pronunciation guides used to consider that northern German pronunciation to be the standard. However, the actual pronunciation of standard German varies from region to region. Media and written works are almost all produced in standard German (often called Hochdeutsch in German), which is understood in all areas of German languages (except by pre-school children in areas which speak only dialect, for example Switzerland — but in this age of TV, even they now usually learn to understand Standard German before school age). The first dictionary of the Brothers Grimm, the 16 parts of which were issued between 1852 and 1960, remains the most comprehensive guide to the words of the German language. In 1860, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, this was declared the standard definition of the German language. Official revisions of some of these rules were not issued until 1998, when the German spelling reform of 1996 was officially promulgated by governmental representatives of all German-speaking countries. Since the reform, German spelling has been in an eight-year transitional period where the reformed spelling is taught in most schools, while traditional and reformed spelling co-exist in the media. See German spelling reform of 1996 for an overview of the heated public debate concerning the reform. During the 1870s, the German language successfully replaced Latin as the dominant language in all major European and North American universities, thanks to the prominence of German universities at the time. Most important research in the sciences for some decades afterward was published in German, and new universities preferred German instead of Greek or Latin mottoes (for example, Stanford University).

Classification and related languages

Stanford University is divided into Upper German (blue) and Central German (green), and the Dutch/Plattdüütsch (yellow). The main isoglosses, the Benrath and Speyer lines are marked in red.]] German is a member of the western branch of the Germanic family of languages, which in turn is part of the Indo-European language family.

Neighboring languages

German forms together with Dutch, its closest relative, a coherent and well-defined language area that is separated from its neighbors by language borders. These neighbors are: in the north Frisian and Danish; in the east Polish, Sorbian, Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian; in the south Slovenian, Italian, Friulian, Ladin, and Romansh; in the west French. Except for Frisian, none of these languages are West Germanic, and so they are clearly distinct from German and Dutch. While Frisian is closely related to German and Dutch, it is generally considered not to be mutually intelligible with them. The situation is more complex with respect to the distinction between German and Dutch. Until recently, there has been a dialect continuum throughout the whole German-Dutch language area, with no language borders. In such a dialect continuum, dialects are always mutually intelligible with their neighbors, but dialects that are further apart from each other are often not. The German-Dutch continuum lent itself to a classification of dialects into Low German and High German based on their participation in the High German consonant shift; Dutch is part of the Low German group. However, because of the political separation between Germany and the Netherlands, Low German dialects in the Netherlands and Low German dialects in Germany have started to diverge during the 20th century. Additionally, both in northern Germany and in the Netherlands, many dialects are close to extinction and are being replaced by the German and Dutch standard languages. In this way, a language border between Dutch and German is currently forming. While German is grammatically similar in many ways to Dutch, it is very different in speech. A speaker of one may require some practice to effectively understand a speaker of the other. Compare, for example: :De kleinste kameleon is volwassen 2 cm groot, de grootste kan wel 80 cm worden. (Dutch) :Das kleinste Chamäleon ist ausgewachsen 2 cm groß, das größte kann gut 80 cm werden. (Standard German) : (English: "The smallest chameleon is fully grown 2 cm long, the longest can easily attain 80 cm.") Dutch speakers are generally able to read German, and German speakers who can speak Low German or English are generally able to read Dutch, but have problems understanding the spoken language, although Germans who speak High German, or, even better, Low German, can cope with Dutch much better than people from Southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria who have grown up with the Alemannic or Bavarian dialects.

Official status

Standard German is the only official language in Germany, Liechtenstein, and Austria; it shares official status in Switzerland (with French, Italian and Romansh), and Luxembourg (with French and Luxembourgish). It is used as a local official language in German-speaking regions of Belgium, Italy, Denmark, and Poland. It is one of the 20 official languages of the European Union. It is also a minority language in Canada, France, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Poland, Romania, Togo, Cameroon, the USA, Namibia, Brazil, Paraguay, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Ukraine, Croatia, Moldavia, Australia, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. German was once the lingua franca of central, eastern and northern Europe. Increasing influence from the English language has affected German recently. However, German remains one of the most popular foreign languages taught world-wide, and is more popular than French as a foreign language in Europe. 8% of citizens of the EU-15 countries say they can converse in German, in addition to the 24% who speak German as a mother tongue.[http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/lang/languages/index_en.html] This is assisted by the availability of German TV by cable or satellite, where series like Star Trek are shown dubbed into German. German is also the second language of the Internet, more than 8% of the websites are in German (English 50%, French 6%, Japanese 5%, Spanish 3% and Portuguese 2%).

Dialects

The term "German" is used for the dialects of Germany, Austria, German-speaking Switzerland (that is, outside the French-, Italian-, and Romansch-speaking areas) and some areas in the surrounding countries, as well as for several colonies and other ethnic concentrations founded by German-speaking people (for example German in the United States). The variation among the German dialects is considerable. Only the neighbouring dialects are mutually understandable. Most dialects are not understandable for someone who knows standard German. However, all German dialects belong to the dialect continuum of the continental West Germanic languages because any pair of neighbouring dialects is perfectly mutually intelligible. The dialect continuum of the continental West Germanic languages is typically divided into Low Germanic languages and High Germanic languages. Low Germanic is defined as the varieties that were not affected by the High German consonant shift. They consist of two subgroups, Low Franconian and Plattdüütsch (Low German). Low Franconian includes Dutch and Afrikaans, spoken primarily in the Netherlands, Belgium and South Africa; Plattdüütsch includes dialects spoken primarily in the German Lowlands and in the eastern Netherlands. The Plattdüütsch varieties are considered dialects of the German language by some, but a separate language by others; the Low Franconian varieties are not considered a part of the German language (see above for a discussion of the distinction between German and Dutch). High Germanic is divided into Central German and Upper German. Central German dialects include Ripuarian, Moselle Franconian, Rhine Franconian, Hessian, Thuringian and Upper Saxon. It is spoken in the southeastern Netherlands, eastern Belgium, Luxembourg, parts of France, and in Germany approximately between the River Main and the southern edge of the Lowlands. Modern Standard German is mostly based on Central German. The Moselle Franconian varieties spoken in Luxembourg have been officially standardized and institutionalized and are therefore usually considered a separate language, Luxembourgish language. Upper German dialects include Alemannic (for instance Swiss German), Swabian, East Franconian, and Austro-Bavarian. They are spoken in parts of the Alsace, southern Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, and in the German-speaking parts of Switzerland and Italy. The High German varieties spoken by Ashkenazi Jews (mostly in the former Soviet Union) have several unique features, and are usually considered as a separate language, Yiddish. The dialects of German which are or were primarily spoken in colonies founded by German speaking people resemble the dialects of the regions the founders came from (for example Pennsylvania German resembles dialects of the Palatinate, or Hutterite German resembles dialects of Carinthia). In the United States, the teaching of the German language to latter-age students has given rise to a pidgin variant which combines the German language with the grammar and spelling rules of the English language. It is often understandable by either party. The speakers of this language often refer to it as Amerikanisch or Amerikanischdeutsch, although it is known in English as American German.

Standard German

In German linguistics, only the traditional regional varieties are called dialects, not the different varieties of standard German. Standard German has originated not as a traditional dialect of a specific region, but as a written language. However, there are places where the traditional regional dialects have been replaced by standard German (especially in major cities of Germany, and to some extent in Vienna). Standard German differs regionally, especially between German-speaking countries, especially in vocabulary, but also in some instances of pronunciation and even grammar. This variation must not be confused with the variation of local dialects. Even though the regional varieties of standard German are to a certain degree influenced by the local dialects, they are very distinct. German is thus considered a pluricentric language. In most regions, the speakers use a continuum of mixtures from more dialectical varieties to more standard varieties according to situation. In the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, mixtures of dialect and standard are very seldom used, and the use of standard German is almost entirely restricted to the written language. Therefore, this situation has been called a medial diglossia. Standard German is rarely spoken, for instance when speaking with people who do not understand the Swiss German dialects at all, and it is expected to be used in school.

Grammar

Main article: German grammar German is an inflected language.

Noun inflection

German nouns inflect into:
- one of four declension classes
- one of three genders: masculine, feminine, or neuter. Word endings indicate some grammatical genders; others are arbitrary and must be memorised.
- two numbers: singular and plural
- four cases: nominative, genitive, dative, and accusative case. Although German is usually cited as an outstanding example of a highly inflected language, it should be noted that the degree of inflection is considerably less than in Old German, or in Icelandic today. The three genders have collapsed in the plural, which now behaves, grammatically, somewhat as a fourth gender. With four cases and three genders plus plural there are 16 distinct possible combinations of case and gender/number, but presently there are only six forms of the definite article used for the 16 possibilities. Inflection for case on the noun itself is required in the singular for strong masculine and neuter nouns in the genitive and sometimes in the dative. This dative ending is considered somewhat old-fashioned in many contexts and often dropped, but it is still used in sayings and in formal speech or written language. Weak masculine nouns share an common case ending for genitive, dative and accusative in the singular. Feminines are not declined in the singular. The plural does have an inflection for the dative. In total, six inflectional endings (not counting plural markers) exist in German: -s, -es, -n, -en, -ns, -e In the German orthography, unlike any other orthography, nouns and most words with the syntactical function of nouns are capitalised, which makes it quite easy for readers to find out what function a word has within the sentence. On the other hand, things get more difficult for the writer. Like most Germanic languages, German forms left-branching noun compounds, where the first noun modifies the category given by the second, for example: Hundehütte (eng. doghouse). Unlike English, where newer compounds or combinations of longer nouns are often written in open form with separating spaces, German (like the other German languages) always uses the closed form without spaces, for example: Baumhaus (eng. tree house). Like English, German allows arbitrarily long compounds, but these are rare. (See also English compounds.) The longest official German word is Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz. There is even a child's game played in kindergartens and primary schools where a child begins the spelling of a word (which is not told) by naming the first letter. The next one tells the next letter, the third one tells the third and so on. The game is over when the a child can not think of another letter to be added to the word.

Verb Inflection

Standard German verbs inflect into:
- one of two conjugation classes, weak and strong (like English). (note: in fact there is a third class, called "gemischte Verben", which can be either weak ("active meaning") or strong ("passive meaning")) There are about 200 irregular verbs.
- three persons: 1st, 2nd, 3rd.
- two numbers: singular and plural
- three moods: Indicative, Subjunctive, Imperative
- two genera verbi: active and passive; the passive being composed and dividable into static and dynamic.
- 2 non-composed tenses (Present, Preterite) and 4 composed tenses (Perfect, Plusquamperfect, Future I, Future II)
- no distinction between aspects (in English, perfect and progressive; in Polish between completed and incompleted form; in Turkish between first-hand and second-hand information) There are also many ways to expand, an sometimes radically change, the meaning of a base verb through several prefixes. Example: haften=to stick, verhaften=to imprison The word order is much more flexible than in English. The word order can be changed for subtle changes of a sentence's meaning. In normal positive sentences the verb always has position 2, in questions it has position 1. Most German vocabulary is derived from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, although there are significant minorities of words derived from Latin, French, and most recently English.

Writing system

German is written using the Latin alphabet. In addition to the 26 standard letters, German has three vowels with Umlaut, namely ä, ö and ü, as well as a special symbol for "ss", which is used only after long vowels or diphthongs (and not used at all in Switzerland), the Eszett or Scharfes-S (sharp "s") ß. Until the early 20th century, German was mostly printed in blackletter typefaces (mostly in Fraktur, but also in Schwabacher) and written in corresponding handwriting (for example Kurrent and Sütterlin). These variants of the Latin alphabet are very different from the serif or sans serif antiqua typefaces used today, and are difficult for the untrained to read. They were abolished by the Nazis (incorrectly claiming that these letters are Jewish) in 1941 but this has been retained for broader and easier usability.

Alphabet

Main article: German alphabet.

Phonology

Main article: German phonology (pronunciation, historical sound changes).

Cognates with English

There are many German words that are cognate to English words. Most of them are easily identifiable and have almost the same meaning. When these cognates have slightly different consonants, this is often due to the High German consonant shift. There are cognates whose meanings in either language have changed through the centuries. It is sometimes difficult for both English and German speakers to discern the relationship. On the other hand, once the definitions are made clear, then the logical relation becomes obvious. There are many English loanwords in German, and a somewhat smaller number of German loanwords in English. Sometimes these also involve semantic changes, for example German Dogge, 'mastiff', from English dog, or German Handy, 'mobile phone'. German and English also share many borrowings from other languages, especially from Latin, French and Greek, but also from many other languages. Most of these word have the same meaning, while a few have subtle differences in meaning. As many of these words have been borrowed by numerous languages, not only German and English, they are called internationalisms in German linguistics.

Examples of German

Names of the German language in other languages

Because of the turbulent history of both Germany and the German language, the names that other peoples have chosen to use to refer to it varies more than for most other languages. In general, the names for the German language can be arranged in five groups according to their origin: Lao is unique in that both under the influence of English "German" (through Thai "yenman") and French (the colonial language) "Allemand", it chose a name in between: ພາສາເຢຍລະມັນ (phaxa yeylaman), which could be ranked both under category 2 and category 5. Note: The Romanian language used to use in the past the Slavonic term "nemţeşte", but "germană" is now widely used. Hungarian "német" is also a Slavonic loan-word. The Arabic name for Austria, النمسا ("an-namsa"), is derived from the Slavonic term. A possible explanation for the use of "mute" to refer to German (and also to Germans) in Slavic languages is that Germans were the first people Slavic tribes encountered, with whom they could not communicate. The corresponding experience for the Germans was with the Volcae, whose name they subsequently also applied to the Slavs, see etymology of Vlach. Hebrew traditionally (nowadays this is not the case) used the Biblical term Ashkenaz (Genesis 10.3) to refer to Germany, or to certain parts of it, and the Ashkenazi Jews are those who originate from Germany and Eastern Europe and formerly spoke Yiddish as their native language, derived from Middle High German.

External links

-
- [http://www.declan-software.com/german German language learning audio software]
- [http://learno.com/german Online Learno german course] Free online German tutorial at Learno.com
- [http://www.washjeff.edu/capl/ Culturally Authentic Pictorial Lexicon] Free online visual lexicon of the German language with authentic photos from German speaking world.
- [http://www.sprachtausch.net Sprachtausch.net] — German website to find someone to teach you, for example german in exchange with your language.
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=deu Ethnologue report for German]
- [http://www.travlang.com/languages/german/ihgg/ Internet Handbook of German Grammar]
- [http://www.lsa.umich.edu/german/hmr/ German resources] at the University of Michigan
- [http://german.languages4everyone.com Learn German Online] with this internet German course for beginners
- [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,1595,2469,00.html Deutsche Welle's Online German Courses]
- [http://www.applelanguages.com/en/learn/german.php German courses in Germany]
- [http://www.vds-ev.de Verein Deutsche Sprache] (in German)
- A beginning [http://wikibooks.org/wiki/German German Language Textbook] under development at [http://wikibooks.org/ Wikibooks]
- [http://www.diwa.info/ Digital Wenker-Atlas] Project publishing the 19th century Linguistic Atlas of the German Empire
- [http://www.geocities.com/language_directory/languages/german.htm List of online German-related resources]
- [http://eserver.org/langs/the-awful-german-language.txt That awful German language] — A humourous essay by Mark Twain
- [http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/german/index.html Why learn German? A German language profile]
- [http://www.vistawide.com/german/why_german.htm Why learn German?] — 12 reasons to learn German
- [http://www.actilingua.com/german_courses/german_language.php Short summary on German language and varieties with a map!]
- [http://www.ielanguages.com/German.html Free German Language Tutorial from ielanguages.com]
- [http://www.passwort-deutsch.de/ Passwort Deutsch] - A German course
- [http://www.deutsch-lernen.com/ Learn German Online] containing free courses
- [http://www.loecsen.com/travel/discover_pop.php?lang=en&to_lang=1&learn-German/ Learn and listen to useful expressions in German] Each expression is presented with an audio recording and an illustration
- [http://www.expatica.com/source/site_content_subchannel.asp?subchannel_id=37&name=Germany+Education Articles on learning German] Also has a service whereby learners of German can send questions to a German teacher

Dictionary and word translations

- [http://dict.leo.org/ The LEO Online Dictionary] German-English-German dictionary at Leo.org
- [http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/ TU Chemnitz Dictionary] a 185000+ German-English Dictionary with proverbs and pronounciation
- [http://www.dict.cc/ dict.cc: User-editable German-English-German Dictionary] works similar to Wikipedia, more than 840,000 keywords (420,000 translation pairs)
- [http://odge.info/ Odge.info] uses dict.cc's data according to [http://odge.info/License/ license] page
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/German-english/ German — English Dictionary]: from [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org Webster's Online Dictionary] — the Rosetta Edition.
- [http://www.canoo.net/index_en.html German Grammar, Online Dictionary for Spelling, Infection and Wordformation for the German Language]
- [http://www.geodic.de GEODic] German-English-Online-Dictionary
- [http://www.woerterbuch.info woerterbuch.info — Free English-German Online Dictionary] with over 600.000 translations
- [http://www.dwds.de The Digital Dictonary Project]in German - Dictionary, Corpus and Statistics
- http://www.dedict.de - English-German Online Dictionary
- http://www.spell-it.net - Free English-German Online Dictionary

Grammar

- [http://www.wm.edu/modlang/gasmit/grammar/grammnu.html Grammar of German]
- [http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~skidmore/grammarpage.htm German Grammar on the Web]
- [http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~oberle/courses/review.html German Review Grammar]
- [http://www.cas.muohio.edu/~greal/netzgrammatik/grammar.html German Grammar Charts]

Reference

List of German expressions in English

Below is a list of German expressions used in English. Some are relatively common (such as hamburger or gestalt), but most are comparatively rare. In many cases, the German borrowing in English has assumed a substantially different meaning than its German forebear. English and German are both descended from the West Germanic language, though their relationship has been obscured by the large influx of Norman French words into English from the Norman Conquest of 1066 and the second Germanic sound shift. In recent years, however, many English words have been borrowed directly from German. Typically English spellings of German loanwords suppress any umlauts (the accent over Ä, Ö, Ü, ä, ö and ü) of the original artifact. German words have been incorporated into English usage for various reasons. Common cultural items, especially foods, have spread to English-speaking nations and are often identified by their German names. The history of excellence among German-speaking nations in science, scholarship, and classical music has led to many German words being adopted by academics for use in English contexts. Discussion of German history and culture requires use of German words. Lastly, some German words are used simply to a fictional passage by implying that the thing being expressed is German, as in Frau or Reich, although sometimes the use of German terms has no German implication, as in doppelganger or angst. English and German are descended from the same common ancestor, called Proto-Germanic. Because of this, a number of English words are identical to their German counterparts either in spelling (Hand, Finger) or in pronunciation (Fish = Fisch). These words are excluded from this list.

German terms commonly used in English

Words in this category will be recognized by most English speakers and are commonly used in English. A few, such as delicatessen and hinterland, are often used without awareness that they are originally German. It should be noted that some words in this list (hamburger, kindergarten) are more common than others (ersatz, wanderlust).

Food and drink

- Beergarden (German spelling: Biergarten)
- Bratwurst
- Delicatessen (German spelling: Delikatessen; abbv. deli)
- Frankfurter
- Hamburger
- Kirschwasser
- Kraut
- Lager (beer)
- Muesli (German spelling: Müsli, Swiss German Müesli)
- Pils, Pilsner, Pilsener
- Pretzel (German spelling: Brezel)
- Pumpernickel
- Sauerkraut
- Schnapps (German spelling: Schnaps)
- Schnitzel
- Spritzer (from the Austrian 'G'spritzter', commonly called "Schorle" in Germany)
- Strudel (e. g. Apfelstrudel)
- Wiener (abbreviated from Wiener Würstchen)
- Wurst
- Zwieback

Sports and recreation

- Abseil (German spelling: abseilen, a verb)
- Foosball (German spelling: Fußball, which refers to the game called soccer in the United States) - in US English, foosball refers exclusively to the tabletop soccer games found in bars and pubs, which are called Tischfußball, Wuzzler, Kicker or Krökeln in German, and simply table football in the UK.
- Rucksack (more commonly called a backpack in US English)
- Schuss (literally: to shoot - ski down a slope at high speed)
- Zugzwang
- Zwischenzug

Other aspects of everyday life

- Angst (though the meaning is much more specific in English.)
- -bahn as in Infobahn, tongue-in-cheek term for high-capacity data networks (after Autobahn)
- Dachshund (a word that Germans rarely use; they say 'Dackel')
- Doberman Pinscher (German spelling: Dobermannpinscher, Germans often just say 'Dobermann')
- Doppelganger (German spelling: Doppelgänger) - "double" or "replica"
- Ersatz, "substitute", derogatory
- Fest
- Flak (Flugabwehrkanone – literally: aircraft-defense gun), for anti-aircraft guns or their shells, as in flak jacket; or in the figurative sense: "drawing flak" = being criticized
- Hinterland
- Gesundheit (in US English, only used as an exclamation after somebody has sneezed)
- Kaput (German spelling: kaputt)
- Kindergarten, extremely common – literally: children’s garden
- Kitsch (also used in Yiddish, but derivative of German)
- Kraut, as a derogatory term for a German person. Uncommon nowadays, but current during World War I and World War II
- -meister, "Master" - in modern English used primarily with sarcastic intent
- Oktoberfest
- Poltergeist
- Rottweiler - breed of dog, named for its town of origin
- Schadenfreude, also Schadensfreude - happiness at the misfortune of others
- Schmooze (German schmusen, "to cuddle")
- Schnauzer (a dog of a German breed with a close wiry coat and heavy whiskers round the muzzle; also means mustache)
- Spitz
- uber, über, (German spelling: über) "over", used to indicate that someting is better or greater, e.g. über-hacker, über-fast, confer Übermensch
- Verboten (prohibited or forbidden)
- Volkswagen proper name in English; usually read with English phonetics (i.e. initial sound as an English v rather than an f; w as an English w, rather than a v)
- Wanderlust the yearning to travel
- Weltanschauung
- Wunderkind, "wonder child", a prodigy
- Zeitgeist "spirit of the times"
- Zeppelin, type of airship named after its inventor

German terms commonly used in academic contexts in English

German terms frequently appear in several academic disciplines in English, notably in history, psychology, philosophy, music and the physical sciences. Non-specialists in a given field may or may not be familiar with a given German term.

Academia

- Ansatz, basic approach
- Festschrift, book prepared by colleagues to honor a scholar
- Leitfaden, illustration of the interdependence between chapters of a book.
- Methodenstreit, disagreement on methodology
- Privatdozent

Architecture

- Bauhaus
- Plattenbau

Economics

- Freigeld
- Freiwirtschaft
- Lumpenproletariat

Geography

- Hinterland
- Inselberg
- Thalweg (written "Talweg" in Germany today)

Geology

Minerals including:
- Gneiss
- Quartz (German Quarz), ultimately of Slavic origin
- Schist

History

(Some terms are listed in multiple categories, if they are important to each.)

Das Dritte Reich (The Third Reich)

See Glossary of the Weimar Republic and Glossary of the Third Reich.

Other historical periods

- Junker
- Kaiser, "emperor"
- Kulturkampf
- Landflucht
- Ostflucht
- Ostpolitik
- Realpolitik (also political science)
- Reichstag (Imperial Diet; see Reichstag (building) and Reichstag (institution))
- Völkerwanderung (pronounced folkervanderung)

Noble titles

- Freiherr, roughly equivalent to an English baron, the lowest rank of nobility
- Fürst, "prince", but see entry for notes and qualifications: in German use refers to leader of a principality, not an heir to a throne
- Graf, "count"
- Junker
- Kaiser, "emperor"
- Landgraf, count with princely (sovereign) powers, see entry for relation to "Graf"

General military terms

- Blitzkrieg
- Flak (Flugabwehrkanone), anti-aircraft gun
- Karabiner type of a gun, the correct word for the climbing hardware is "Karabinerhaken" in German
- Kriegspiel, "war game"; correct German word: Kriegsspiel)
- Luftwaffe, "air force"
- Panzer (abbreviated form of Panzerkampfwagen)
- to strafe (from "strafen" or "bestrafen" - punish)
- U-Boot (abbreviated form of Unterseeboot- submarine)
- Vernichtungsgedanken (thoughts of destruction)

Military ranks

- Soldat
- Gefreiter
- Feldwebel (Sergeant)
- Fähnrich (Ensign)
- Leutnant
- Hauptmann (Captain)
- Major
- Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant-Colonel)
- Oberst (Colonel)
- General

Linguistics

- Ablaut
- Dreimorengesetz, "three-mora law", the rule for placing stress in Latin
- Grenzsignal, "boundary signal"
- Leitmotiv, a recurring theme
- Sitz im Leben (Biblical linguistics mainly; the study of Pragmatics has a similar approach)
- Umlaut

Literature

- Bildungsroman
- Künstlerroman
- Nihilartikel, a deliberately fictitious article in an encyclopedia or dictionary
- Sturm und Drang, "storm and stress", a literary movement
- Urtext, "original text"
- Wahlverwandtschaft (pronounced with a v) (from Goethe's Die Wahlverwandschaften)
- Q, abbreviation for Quelle ("source"), a postulated lost document in Biblical criticism

Mathematics and formal logic

- Ansatz (roughly equivalent to "approach")
- "Eigen-" in composita such as eigenfunction, eigenvector, eigenvalue, eigenform
- Entscheidungsproblem
- Grossencharackter
- Hilbert's Nullstellensatz (Without apostrophe in German)
- Ideal (Originally "ideale Zahlen", defined by Ernst Kummer)
- Jacobian
- Krull's Hauptidealsatz (Without apostrophe in German)
- Möbius band
- quadratfrei
- Viergruppe (also known as Klein Four Group)
- "Neben-" in composita such as Nebentype

Medicine

- Mittelschmerz
- Spinnbarkeit

Music

- Biedermeier, era in early 19th century Vienna
- Glockenspiel, a percussion instrument
- Heldentenor, "heroic tenor"
- Hammerklavier, "hammer-keyboard", an archaic term for piano or the name of a specific kind of piano
- Kapellmeister, "music director"
- Leitmotif (German spelling: Leitmotiv)
- Lied (pronounced "leet"), "song"; specifically in English, "art song"
- Lieder ohne Worte, "songs without words"
- Liedermacher
- Meistersinger
- Minnesinger (German spelling: 'Minnesänger') "Love poet"
- Schlager
- schmaltz (German spelling: 'Schmalz'; sentimentality, esp. in music and drama; schmaltzier, schmaltziest)
- Schuhplattler, a regional dance from Upper Bavaria and Austria
- Singspiel, German musical drama with spoken dialogue
- Sprechgesang, form of musical delivery between speech and singing
- Sturm und Drang, "storm and stress", a brief esthetic movement during the Classical period
- Urtext, "original text (of the composer)"
- Volksmusic (German spelling: Volksmusik)
- Waltz (German spelling: Walzer)

Philosophy

- Gott ist tot!, a popular phrase from Nietzsche; more commonly rendered "God is dead!" in English.
- Übermensch, also from Nietzsche; the ideal of a Superman or Overman.
- Weltanschauung, Worldview or View of the world
- Weltschmerz, World-weariness, angst; despair with the World (often used ironically in German)
- Wille zur Macht, a central concept of Nietzsche's philosophy; it means "the Will to Power."

Physical sciences

- Ansatz, an assumption for a function that is not based on an underlying theory
- Aufbau principle (physical chemistry)
- Bauplan, body plan of animals
- Bremsstrahlung
- Gedanken experiment (German spelling: Gedankenexperiment; more commonly referred to as a "thought experiment" in English.)
- Gerade and its opposite ungerade (quantum mechanics)
- Lagerstätten, repositories
- Mischmetall
- minerals like Quartz (German spelling: Quarz), Gneiss and Feldspar (originally "Gneis" respectively "Feldspat"), Meerschaum
- Reststrahlen (residual rays)
- Spiegeleisen
- Umpolung (organic chemistry)
- Vierbein, and variations such as vielbein
- Zitterbewegung

Psychology

- Gestalt (psychology; much narrower meaning than in German.)
- Zeitgeber (lit. time-giver; something that resets the circadian clock found in the SCN.)

Sociology

- Gemeinschaft (sociology; community.)
- Gesellschaft (sociology; society.)

German terms mostly used for literary effect

There are a few terms which are recognised by many English speakers but are usually only used to deliberately evoke a German context:
- Achtung
- Frau and Fräulein
- Führer (umlaut is usually dropped in English) — always used in English to denote Hitler or to connote a Fascistic leader — never used, as is possible in German, simply and unironically to denote a (non-Fascist) leader, (i.e. Bergführer = mountain guide, Stadtführer = city guide, Führerschein = driving licence etc.)
- Hände hoch — "hands up"
- Herr — evokes German context; but when used with military titles ("Herr Oberst"), it may connote the Nazi era to English listeners.
- Lederhosen (Singular Lederhose in German denotes one pair of leather trousers. The original Bavarian word is Lederhosn, which is both singular and plural.)
- Meister — used as a suffix to mean expert, or master; in germany it means also champion in sports
- Nein, "no"
- Reich — to English speakers, "Reich" does not denote its literal meaning, "empire", but strongly connotes Naziism and is often used to suggest Fascism or authoritarianism, e.g., "Herr Reichsminister" used as a title for a disliked politician. German "reich" as an adjective means "rich", as a noun it means "empire" and "realm".
- Jawohl a German term that connotes an emphatic 'yes' -- "Yes, Indeed!" in English. It is often equated to "yes sir" in Anglo-American military films.
- Schnell! — Fast!
- Kommandant — officer or person in command, especially of a military camp or U-Boat. (Applies regardless of military rank, in distinction to the English "commander".)
- Schweinhund (German spelling: Schweinehund) - literally: Schwein = pig, Hund = dog, Vulgarism like in der verdammte Schweinehund. But also used to describe the lack of motivation (for example to quit a bad habit) Den inneren Schweinehund bekämpfen. = to battle the inner pig-dog.

German terms rarely used in English

This is the unsorted, original list. If a term is common in a particular academic discipline, and there is no more commonly used English equivalent, then please move it to the list above.
- Autobahn — particularly common in British English referring specifically to German motorways which have no general speed limit
- Fahrvergnugen (German spelling: Fahrvergnügen, literally pleasure of driving. Coined for a Volkswagen advertising campaign; caused widespread puzzlement in America when it was used in television commercials with no explanation.)
- Kobold
- Schmutz (smut,dirt, filth)
- ... Über Alles (originally "Deutschland über Alles"; now used by extension in other cases, as in the Dead Kennedys song "California Über Alles")
- Ur- (as a prefix to mean "proto-")
- Vorsprung durch Technik ('advantage through technology'): used in an advertising campaign by Audi, to suggest technical excellence
- Weltpolitik
- Zweihander (German spelling: Zweihänder)

Music

For terms used in music, see above.

Meanings of German band names

- Böhse Onkelz = (correct German spelling: böse Onkels, although it should be noted that "Onkels" is itself an incorrect plural form of "Onkel", the correct plural being "Onkel" without the s) "evil uncles," a term used in German as a euphemism for child molesters. The wrong spelling is done to "harden" its appearance (h in this context amplifies the ö; z is pronounced ts in German, and sounds sharper than s).
- Die Ärzte = (medical) doctors, a German rock band.
- Die Sterne = the stars
- Die Toten Hosen = literally dead trousers. A slang expression for a boring place to be (only used in certain regions). It can also refer to impotence.
- Einstürzende Neubauten = "collapsing new buildings". For the band this evokes the image of buildings built during the postwar era, which were very hastily erected, hence supposedly prone to collapse.
- Fettes Brot = fat bread
- Juli = July
- KMFDM = Kein Mehrheit für die Mitleid (The correct German form is Kein Mitleid für die Mehrheit), no pity for the majority.
- Kraftwerk = power plant
- Wir Sind Helden = we are heroes
- Rammstein = named after Ramstein Air Base, but could mean "ramming stone" (literal) or "battering ram" (figurative).
- Silbermond = silver moon See also: Krautrock: "Kraut (= cabbage) rock". A German-like English name for a variety of German rock music.

Classical Music Works

- Johann Sebastian Bach's Das wohltemperierte Klavier: "the well-tempered clavier"
- Brahms's "Schicksalslied": "song of fate"
- Kreisler's "Liebesleid": "pain of love"
- Kreisler's "Liebesfreud": "joy of love"
- Liszt's Liebesträume: "love dreams" or "dreams of love"
- Mozart's Nachtmusik: "night music" (serenade)
- Schubert's Winterreise: "winter journey"
- Schumann's Dichterliebe: "poet's love"
- Strauss's Rosenkavalier: "cavalier of the rose"

External links

[http://www.germanenglishwords.com Dictionary of Germanisms] Category:Germany-related lists Category:German language Category:Glossaries German
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Religion

)]] Religion (see etymology below) —sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system—is commonly defined as belief concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine; and the moral codes, practices, values, institutions and rituals associated with such belief. In its broadest sense some have defined it as the sum total of answers given to explain humankind's relationship with the universe. In the course of the development of religion, it has taken many forms in various cultures and individuals. Occasionally, the word "religion" is used to designate what should be more properly described as "organized religion" – that is, an organization of people supporting the exercise of some religion, often taking the form of a legal entity (see religion-supporting organization). There are many different religions in the world today.

Etymology

religion-supporting organization] The origins of the word "religion" have been debated for centuries. Some explanations for the origin of the word are:
- re-reading--from Latin re (again) + legio (read), referring to the repetition of scripture.
- treating carefully--from Latin relegere (Cicero's interpretation)
- re-connection to the divine--from Latin re (again) + ligare (to connect, as in English ligament). This interpretation is favoured by modern scholars such as Tom Harpur, but probably originated with St. Augustine.
- to bind or return to bondage--an alternate interpretation of the "reconnection" etymology, possibly also originating with Augustine but emphasising a sense of servitude to God. However, the bondage interpretation, while popular with critics of religion, is often considered imprecise and possibly offensive in many modern religious contexts.
- concerning a gathering--from Latin ablative res (with regard to) + legere (to gather). More emphatically, religion concerns an organization. What is clear about the word "religion" is that the religious connotations (in the sense of gods, morality, afterlife, etc.) were not a part of the term's Latin precursors.

Religion and science

According to the religious, knowledge can be gained from a religious leader, a sacred text, or personal revelation. It is not limited in scope and can try to answer any question. Some religious people maintain that knowledge obtained in this way is absolute and infallible (religious cosmology). Religious knowledge tends to vary from religion to religion, from sect to sect, and from individual to individual. In contrast, the scientific method gains knowledge by interaction with the world, and can only answer cosmological questions about the physical universe. It tries to give theories of the world which best fit the observed evidence. All scientific knowledge is tentative, and subject to later improvement or revision in the face of better evidence. It should be noted that science can not only describe the world physically, but can also state facts that aren't physical, e.g. facts of economics, linguistics or much of psychology. Many early scientists held strong religious beliefs (see Scientists of Faith) and strove to reconcile science and religion. Isaac Newton, for example, believed that gravity caused the planets to revolve about the sun, but credited God with the design. In the concluding General Scholium to the Principia Mathematica he wrote "This most beautiful System of the Sun, Planets and Comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful being." Nevertheless, conflict arose between religious organisations and individuals who propogated scientific theories which they deemed unaccaptable. The Roman Catholic Church, for example, has reserved to itself the right to decide which scientific discoveries are acceptable and which are unacceptable. Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake for unacceptable scientific theories, while Galileo was tried and forced to recant the theory that the earth goes around the sun. The modern Roman Catholic Church accepts most current scientific theories, but still reserves the right to make the final judgment. Here are a few of the areas in which some scientists and the organized Church have come into conflict from time to time.
- Does the earth move around the sun or does the sun move around the earth?
- Is the earth a few thousand years old or more than a billion years old?
- Was there a flood that covered all the earth?
- Did the various species evolve or were they individually created by God? (see Evolution)
- Did the universe have a beginning or is it infinite?
- Is the speed of light constant and is Einstein's Theory of Relativity correct?
- Does radioactive decay occur at a predictable rate? (see Age of the Earth)

Philosophy and metaphysics

In between the doctrines of religion and science, stands the philosophical perspective of metaphysical cosmology. This ancient field of study seeks to draw logical conclusions about the nature of the universe, humanity, and god. One important philosophical tool that attempts to resolve the conflict between religion and science is Occam's razor, which was originally developed by William of Occam to support religion but is now often used in the philosophy of science to support science. Occam's razor cuts both ways. One should also take note of the related philosophic field of epistemology which questions the very nature of how we come to understand and accept that a belief is true or false, such as belief in Darwinian evolution as compared to Christian young earth creationism and vice versa. young earth creationism]

Esotericism and mysticism

:young earth creationism] Mysticism, in contrast with philosophy and metaphysics, denies that logic is the most important method of gaining enlightenment. Rather physical disciplines such as yoga, starvation, self-strangulation, or whirling (in the case of the Sufi dervishes) or the use of drugs such as LSD, lead to higher states of consciousness that logic can never hope to grasp. Mysticism ("to conceal") is the pursuit of communion with, or conscious awareness of ultimate reality, the divine, spiritual truth, or God through direct, personal experience (intuition or insight) rather than rational thought. Mystics believe in the existence of realities beyond perceptual or intellectual apprehension that are central to being and directly accessible through personal experience. They believe that such experience is a genuine and important source of knowledge. Esotericism claims to be more sophisticated than religion, to rely on intellectual understanding rather than faith, and to improve on philosophy in its emphasis on techniques of psycho-spiritual transformation (esoteric cosmology). Esotericism refers to "hidden" knowledge available only to the advanced, privileged, or initiated, as opposed to exoteric knowledge, which is public. It applies especially to spiritual practices. The mystery religions of ancient Greece and the modern religion of Scientology are examples of Esotericism. Esotericism

Spirituality

Members of an organized religion may not see any significant difference between religion and spirituality. Or they may see a distinction between the mundane, earthly aspects of their religion and its spiritual dimension. Some individuals draw a strong distinction between religion and spirituality. They may see spirituality as a belief in ideas of religious significance (such as God, the Soul, or Heaven), but not feel bound to the bureaucratic structure and creeds of a particular organized religion. They choose the term spirituality rather than religion to describe their form of belief, perhaps reflecting a disillusionment with organized religion (see Religion in modernity), and a movement towards a more "modern" — more tolerant, and more intuitive — form of religion. These individuals may reject organized religion because of historical acts by religious organizations, such as Islamic terrorism or the Spanish Inquisition. Mahatma Gandhi who was born a Hindu wrote the following about religion in his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth :"Thus if I could not accept Christianity either as a perfect, or the greatest religion, neither was I then convinced of Hinduism being such. Hindu defects were pressingly visible to me. If untouchability could be a part of Hinduism, it could but be a rotten part or an excrescence. I could not understand the raison d'etre of a multitude of sects and castes. What was the meaning of saying that the Vedas were the inspired Word of God? If they were inspired, why not also the Bible and the Koran? As Christian friends were endeavouring to convert me, so were Muslim friends. Abdullah Sheth had kept on inducing me to study Islam, and of course he had always something to say regarding its beauty." He then went on to say: :"As soon as we lose the moral basis, we cease to be religious. There is no such thing as religion over-riding morality. Man, for instance, cannot be untruthful, cruel or incontinent and claim to have God on his side." He also said the following about Hinduism: :"Hinduism as I know it entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being ... When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita." Later in his life when he was asked whether he was a Hindu, he replied: :"Yes I am. I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew."

Myth

Hindu, Israel]] The word "myth" has two main meanings, according to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: # a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon # a person or thing having only an imaginary or unverifiable existence Ancient polytheistic religions, such as those of Greece, Rome, and Scandinavia, are categorized under the heading of mythology. Religions of pre-industrial peoples, or cultures in development, are similarly called myths in the anthropology of religion. Mythology can be a term used pejoratively by both religious and non-religious people. But by defining another person's religious stories and beliefs as mythology, one implies that they are less real than one's own religious stories and beliefs. The term "myth" in sociology, however, has a non-pejorative meaning. There "myth" is defined as stories that are important for the group and not necessarily untrue. Examples include the death and resurrection of Jesus, which, to Christians, explains the means by which they are freed from sin, as well as being ostensibly a historical event.

Approaches to the study of individual religions

Methods of studying religion subjectively (in relation to one's own beliefs)

These include efforts to determine the meaning and application of "sacred" texts and beliefs in the context of the student's personal worldview. This generally takes one of three forms:
- one's own — efforts by believers to ascertain the meaning of their own sacred text or other traditions, and to conform their thoughts and actions to the principles enunciated in those traditions. For most believers, this involves a lifetime process of study, analysis, and practice. Some faiths, such as Hasidic Judaism, emphasize adherence to a set of rules and rituals. Other faiths, such as Christianity, emphasize the internalization and application of a set of abstract principles, such as Love, Justice, or Faith. Some believers interpret their scriptures literally, and apply the text exactly as it is written. Other believers try to interpret scripture and other tradition through its context, to derive abstract principles which they may apply more directly to their lives and contexts. Jesus
- another's compared to one's own — efforts by believers of one belief system attempt to describe a different belief system in terms of their own beliefs. One example of this method is in David Strauss's 1835 The Life of Jesus. Strauss's theological approach strikes from the Biblical text the descriptions of angels and miracles which, due to his presupposition that supernatural events do not occur, he does not believe could have occurred. He then concludes that the stories must have been inserted by a "supernaturalist" merely trying to make an important story more convincing. In this course of his argument, Strauss argues that the supernaturalist who inserted the angels into the story of the birth of Christ borrowed the heathen doctrine of angels from the Babylonians who had held the Jews in captivity. That is, the New Testament's fabulous role for angels "is evidently a product of the influence of the Zend religion of the Persians on the Jewish mind." Due to his presumption that supernatural events do not occur, he dismisses the possibility that both cultures came to believe in angels independently, as a result of their own experiences and context.
- another's as defined by itself — efforts by believers of one belief system to understand the heart and meaning of another faith on its own terms. This very challenging approach to understanding religion presumes that each religion is a self-consistent system whereby a set of beliefs and actions depend upon each other for coherence, and can only be understood in relation to each other. This method requires the student to investigate the philosophical, emotional, religious, and social presuppositions that adherents of another religion develop and apply in their religious life, before applying their own biases, and evaluating the other faith. For instance, an individual who personally does not believe in miracles may attempt to understand why adherents of another religion believe in miracles, and then attempt to understand how the individual's belief in miracles affects their daily life. While the individual may still himself not believe in miracles, he may begin to develop an understanding of why people of other faiths choose to believe in them.

Methods of studying religion objectively (in a scientific and religiously neutral fashion)

There are a variety of methods employed to study religion which seek to be religiously neutral. One's interpretation of these methods depends on one's approach to the relationship between religion and science, as discussed above.
- Epistemological and ontological approaches to religion deal with the very nature of how one comes to accept any belief or assumption as true on its own terms and questions such matters of the nature of reality and existence of the universe and humanity. Such an approach may begin from philosophic first principles of epistemology and philosophic logic such as the law of non-contradiction, the law of excluded middle and others. This is perhaps one of the strongest approaches as one's assumptions here will underline one's assumptions and subsequent approaches to analysis of all of the history, people, sciences (or pseudosciences), humanities and social sciences, texts, ideologies, literatures, emotions and experiences associated with religions.
- Historical, archeological, and literary approaches to religion include attempts to discover the sacred writings at the "dawn of humanity." For example, Max Müller in 1879 launched a project to translate the earliest sacred texts of Hinduism into English in the Sacred Books of the East. Müller's intent was to translate for the first time the "bright" as well as the "dark sides" of non-Christian religions into English. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe01/sbe01002.htm]
- Anthropological approaches include attempts to lay out the principles of native tribes that have had little contact with modern technology as in John Lubbock's The Origin of Civilization and the Primitive Condition of Man. [http://darwin.lib.cam.ac.uk/perl/nav?pclass=calent&pkey=7286] :The term "religion" is problematic for anthropologists, and their approaches to the subject are quite varied. Some take the view that religion, particularly in less technically complex cultures, is a form of proto-science--a primitive attempt to explain and predict phenomena in the natural world, similar to modern science but less advanced. :However, most modern anthropologists reject this view as antiquated, ethnically and intellectually chauvinistic, and unsupported by cross-cultural evidence. Science has very specific methods and aims, while the term "religion" encompasses a huge spectrum of practices, goals, and social functions. In addition to explaining the world (natural or otherwise), religions may also provide mechanisms for maintaining social and psychological well-being, and the foundations of moral/ethical, economic, and political reasoning. :While many early anthropologists attempted to catalogue and universalize these functions and their origins, modern researchers have tended to back away from such speculation, preferring a more holistic approach: The object of study is the meaning of religious traditions and practices for the practitioners themselves--religion in context--rather than formalized theories about religion in general.
- Sociological approaches include attempts to explain the development of the ideas of morality and law, as in for example, Auguste Comte's Cours de philosophie positive hypothesizing in 1842 that people go through stages of evolution 1) obeying supernatural beings, then 2) manipulating abstract unseen forces, and finally 3) exploring more or less scientifically the social laws and practical governmental structures that work in practice. Within a sociological approach, religion is but the earliest primitive stage of discovering what is morally right and wrong in a civilized society. It is the duty of intelligent men and women everywhere to take responsibility for shaping the society without appealing to a non-existent Divinity to discover empirically what moral concepts actually work in practice, and in the process, the shapers of society must take into account that there is no Divine authority to adjudicate between what are only the opinions of men and women. Comte wrote, in translation, "It can not be necessary to prove to anybody who reads this work that Ideas govern the world, or throw it into chaos; in other words, that all social mechanism rests upon Opinions. The great political and moral crisis that societies are now undergoing is shown by a rigid analysis to arise out of intellectual anarchy." The intellectual anarchy includes the warring oppositions among the world's religions. [http://www.forum-global.de/soc/bibliot/comte/comtepositivephilosophy.htm]
- Psychological approaches. The Psychology of religion involves the gathering and classification of data (usually wide ranging) and the building of the explanations of the psychological processes underlying the religious experiences and beliefs. It includes a wide variety of researches (psychoanalytical and others) : Sigmund Freud (Oedipus Complex, Illusion), Carl Jung (Universal archetypes), Erich Fromm (Desire, Need for stable frame), William James (Personal religious experience, Pragmatism), Alfred Adler (Feeling of inferiority, Perfection), Ludwig Feuerbach (Imagination, Wishes, Fear of Death), Gordon Alport (Mature religion and Immature religion), Erik Erikson (Influence on personality development), Rudolf Otto (Non-rational experience), James Leuba (Mystical experiences and drugs).
- Philosophical approaches include attempts to derive rational classifications of the views of the world that religions preach as in Immanuel Kant's 1788 Critique of Practical Reason. Within a philosophical approach, the reason for a religious belief should be more important than the emotional attachment to the belief. [http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/etext04/ikcpr10.txt] And in attempting to provide a reasonable basis for morality, Kant proposed the categorical imperative: "Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." [http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/etext04/ikfpm10.txt]
- Neuroscientific approaches seek to explore the apparent similarities among religious views dominant in diverse cultures that have had little or no contact, why religion is found in almost every human group, and why humans accept counterintuitive statements in the name of religion. In neuroscience, work by scientists such as Ramachandran and his colleagues from the University of California, San Diego [http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro01/web2/Eguae.html] suggests evidence of brain circuitry in the temporal lobe associated with intense religious experiences. See also neurotheology, the scientific study of the biological basis of spiritual experience.
- Sociological approaches include the work of Rodney Stark who has looked at the social forces that have caused religions to grow and the features of religions that have been most successful. For example, Stark, who claims to be an agnostic, hypothesizes that, before Christianity became established as the state religion of Constantinople, Christianity grew rapidly because it provided a practical framework within which non-family members would provide help to other people in the community in a barter system of mutual assistance. Similarly, evolutionary psychology approaches consider the survival advantages that religion might have given to a community of hunter-gatherers, such as unifying them within a coherent social group. : Critics assert that this approach is inadequate insofar as it asserts that people subscribe to religions merely because of practical advantages.
- Cognitive psychological approaches take a completely different approach to explaining religion. Foremost among them is Pascal Boyer, whose book, Religion Explained, lays out the basics of his theory, and attempts to refute several previous and more direct explanations for the phenomenon of religion. Religion is taken in its widest sense (from holy mountains over ancestral spirits to monotheistic deities). An explanation is offered for human religious behaviour without making a presumption, to the positive or the negative, about the actual subject matter of the religious beliefs. Essentially, the reasoning goes that religion is a side effect to the normal functioning of certain subconscious intuitive mental faculties which normally apply to physics (enabling prediction of the arc a football will take only seconds after its release, for example), and social networks (to keep track of other people's identity, history, loyalty, etc.), and a variety of others. For instance, the same mechanism that serves to link, without explaining, an event (e.g. rustling of tall grass) with a cause (the possible presence of a predator) will help to form or sustain a belief that two random events are linked, or that an unexplained event is linked to supernatural causes. The reasoning would imply that there is no direct causal link between the subject matter of a belief (e.g. whether the ancestors watch over us) and the fact that there is such a belief. :Critics assert that cognitive psychological approaches are unfalsifiable and hence are unscientific speculation. For a discussion of the struggle to attain objectivity in the scientific study of religion, see Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey (ISBN 1581344589), who argues that some studies performed pursuant to these methods make claims beyond the realm of observable and verifiable phenomena, and are therefore neither scientific nor religiously neutral.

Development of religion

subconscious and Islam]] Islam, India.]] There are several models for understanding how religions develop.
- Models which view religion as untrue include:
- The "Dogma Selection Model," which holds that religions, although untrue in themselves, encode instructions or habits useful for survival, that these ideas "mutate" periodically as they are passed on, and they spread or die out in accord with their effectiveness at improving chances for survival.
- The "Opium of the Masses Model," in which "Religi