“It was really nicely packed,” smiled Rosenberg. “Nobody said, ‘nobody needs linguistics’ or ‘intellectuals are strange people’. They just nicely asked, ‘Do you have to go back there tomorrow?’ That’s very typical.”
Despite the popularity (or notoriety) of Berliner Schnauze, Rosenberg believes that its usage is on a slight downturn. This fall off reflects a general trend among dialects and regional languages. However, in Berlin, it’s exacerbated not just by the mix of international cultures in Berlin, but of Germans from around the country moving to the capital city.
Tuschy has noticed this trend as well, saying she seldom hears Berliner Schnauze anymore. If she hears it, it’s usually a bus driver, craftsman or someone working at the bakery. Like Rosenberg, she thinks it’s due to the increase in residents from outside of Berlin.
“That blends the language,” he said. “And so, with that we have a bit of a decline, but it’s not gone.”
What’s happening is that Berliners are using language that will be intelligible to more people. That is, High German with perhaps a regional accent. Though born-and-bred Berliners like Morisse say they’ll slip into it from time to time if addressed in the dialect.
“I know Berliner Schnauze can sound extremely rude, but I very much appreciate the honesty that comes with it,” she said. “It is such a big part of Berlin’s character as a city, and I actually find it kind of endearing most of the time.”
It’s possible sentiments like Morisse’s are keeping the dialect alive. This is, after all, still a young country in the grand scheme of nation-states, and Germany is a highly regional country. Plus, there are those who couldn’t possibly remove Berliner Schnauze from their identity, like Rosenberg, who despite relocating to Rio de Janeiro, still uses it with his wife.
“You can’t lose it,” he said. “It belongs to your language identity.”
Lost in Translation is a BBC Travel series exploring encounters with languages and how they are reflected in a place, people and culture.
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