Die Familie Selicke - Kopelke's speech.

Well I'm reading "Die Familie Selicke" at the moment, as it is a play on the Durham reading list and they expect all of the plays to have been read before arriving in October. I'm finding it difficult to read some of what the characters are saying however, specifically Kopelke. He doesn't seem to speak in Standard German, so I was wondering whether there was a technique in understanding his speech? For example, does anybody know whether he has problems with specific letters? So far I've noticed he doesn't say the "G" sound properly - instead he pronounces words with a 'g' as a 'j'.

So yes, any help would be greatly appreciated!

Reply 1

llys

17

Hi

I don't know this play, but it sounds like he's speaking some northern/north-western dialect (g->j). I can't tell you which one because I'm from the SouthWest :biggrin:

, but would that make sense?

Reply 2

generalebriety

16

Yeah, this sounds almost like Berlinisch, or possibly something even more exotic. Perhaps you could scan / type a section of his speech and we can try to help?

Reply 3

Gooner

OP

14

Yeah they make sense :smile:

I think I've got the hang of what he's said so far (but obviously I'd still like to know for certain :p:

) as I've noticed a few patterns in the way that he's speaking :yes:

Anyway, as Billy requested, here's a sample of what he says:

"Jo...Na!...Wissen Se: det kommt jo bei mir nich so druf an! (Begütigend.) det verseimt mir jo weiter nich! det - ach wat! det hat jo janischt zu sagen! det's jo Mumpitz!!...Abber det, wissen Se, det mit de Dokters, versthn Se, da hab'n Se eejentlich woll nich so janz Unrecht! Ick...nu ja! Se wissen ja! Ick bin man sozusagen 'n janz eenfacher Mann...Abber det kann 'k Ihn' versichern: jeholden hab 'k schon manchen...Jott! Ick kennt jo wat bei verdienen! Wat meen'n Se woll! Abber sehn Se...will 'k denn? Ick...nu ja! Ick bin nu mal so! (Eifrig.) Wissen Se? de Hauptsach' is jetz': man immer scheen warm halten! det Ibrije, verstehn Se, det Ibrije jiebt sick denn janz von alleene! Janz von alleene! Ick sag: man bloß nich immer so ville mang der Natur fuschen, sag ick!...Det mit die olle Medizin da zun Beispiel..."

As it is written in the edition I have :smile:

So far I've realised that:

sick=sich
Jott = Gott
Se = Sie
det = daß (?)
vorbeijehn = vorbeigehen
janischt = ja nicht/gar nicht (?)
eejentlich = eigentlich
Ick = ich
eenfacher = einfacher
Abber = aber
jeholfen = geholfen
meen'n = meinen
scheen = scheint (?)
alleene = allein (?)
zun Beispiel = zum Beispiel :p:

At least I think they are right :s-smilie:

Reply 4

kftjkp

Berlinerisch. The 'j' sound is pronounced more like a hard 'ch'. Anywhere there's a "'k" replace with ich. 'druf' is 'd(a)rauf'. 'ville' is viele. nu is 'nun' (which Berliners use as a filler world)

My suggestion would be to read it aloud until you get a feel for his way of speaking.

Reply 5

llys

17

^ That's a really good suggestion.

You poor guy lol, I can't imagine how much concentration it takes to read that.

Ibrije = Uebrige

g -> j
ue -> i
ei -> ee
s at the end of a word -> t (was=wat, das or dass=det)

what's "mang" though? :confused:

ed: scheen = schoen, everything else you got right (I think :biggrin:

).

Reply 6

Gooner

OP

14

Ooh thanks for all the suggestions guys! :smile:

Luckily Kopelke only plays a small part, i.e., he's in the first 16 pages and then in one or two pages at the end of the play. :p:

I'll certainly try reading it out loud though :smile:

As for "mang" I have absolutely no idea! :rofl:

I just read around that sentence! :p:

Reply 7

james99

1

Apparently "mang" is short for "mittenmang" which somehow means darunter or dazwischen?! Crazy dialect. This site, although it's not that organised, might help you: http://checkpoint-charlie.blog.de/?tag=berlinerisch-f%FCr-touristen

Reply 8

Gooner

OP

14

james99

Apparently "mang" is short for "mittenmang" which somehow means darunter or dazwischen?! Crazy dialect. This site, although it's not that organised, might help you: http://checkpoint-charlie.blog.de/?tag=berlinerisch-f%FCr-touristen

That's an excellent website, thanks! :biggrin:

I'll rep you tomorrow when I have some rep again! :biggrin:

Die Familie Selicke - Kopelke's speech.

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