Spoken German

"One should secretly take stenographs of what people say... you should literally take down in stenography - one hundred and eighty eighty syllables a minute - what people are buffing... The highest law is: the person you are talking to is hard of hearing and a bit feeble-minded - so it is good to say everything six times." (Kurt Tucholsky) Spoken utterances of everyday life often appear chaotic, banal, tautological and, in terms of their precision and elegance, far inferior to written language. However, on closer inspection or rather listening, one can see that the above-mentioned characteristics do have their functions. In this introduction, all aspects of spoken German will be examined. The opening chapter deals with medial similarities and differences between speech and writing. Always with an eye on the essentials and always using examples w.