Prussia's language and accent?

[jamaica-tan.livejournal.com]

I know this mostly going to be fan speculation, but I''ve been wondering about what Prussia's language accent would be like.

I've read that his own language (Prussian) pretty much died out in the 1800s and there are a few pockets of communities in Europe trying to revive the language today, but I'm not a Germanic history buff so I'm still guessing.

Maybe he fully speaks and thinks in German, or perhaps he thinks in Prussian and speaks in German, as way of reminding himself when he was fully 'awesome', so to speak.
I suppose it could be possible that as a 'dead' nation his accent is stuck as it was in 1947, which could be rough, Prussian accented 1940s German.  Or maybe his accent has become modern along with the other nations?
Does any Prussian and German dialect sound similar?  Am I talking out of my butt?

I'm not planning on writing a story about it, I'm just curious and wondering what everyone else thinks.

Comments

[robingurl.livejournal.com]

I know personally I just write him speaking German *shrug* but that is an interesting question!!

[fairywine.livejournal.com]

I think this is where the Kingdom of Prussia is being confused with Prussia the Baltic region/ Old Prussian peoples. The native Prussians from which the German state of Prussia took the name after the Prussian Crusade/conquest (and the kind-of transitory period where he was a state but not quite a Nation yet called Ordensstaat) would have spoke Prussian. Prussia the German state, being originally the Teutonic Knight Order (or Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem if we are being formal) as shown in the comic, would have always had German (and Latin) as his original languages.

It's all stuff pyrrhiccomedy explains far more entertainingly here (http://pyrrhiccomedy.livejournal.com/39420.html#cutid1), but the long and short of it is: Prussia only ever spoke German/Latin, the people he conquered would have spoken Prussian but were killed off and assimilated so thoroughly into German culture the language and unique cultural identity died out too.

Probably someone could elaborate more than this, but you'd be surprised what more than a cursory glance at Prussia's wikipedia page can do.

And as far as I can tell, Old Prussian would have had more in common with Lithuanian than German.

[jamaica-tan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info. As I said I was curious but wasn't a Germanic history pro so I hadn't done much reading because I knew there would be people here who would know more than me and could clear things up.

[fairywine.livejournal.com]

I'm no German pro either (my area of expertise is more Nordic-oriented), but it's pretty easy to look this stuff up on the net.

Just think of the Kingdom of Prussia as the Old Prussians terrible roommate who forced himself into their place, invited all his loud friends to party at an ungodly hour of the morning, stole their stuff, drank all the booze, and then kicked them out and claimed the whole place for himself.

Prussia is not a very good roommate, now that I think on it. No wonder no one invites him over any more.

[idraax.livejournal.com]

Now you make me want to write Prussia speaking Latin.

[fairywine.livejournal.com]

He should be able to, but Latin is such a crazy-ass language where you have to practically conjugate even the punctuation I'd be too afraid to try. But I suck at languages in general.

[squirrilsama.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that he would have a regional accent...possibly low Prussian? It has quite a few different pronounciations from high German ('Ja' becoming pronounced like 'joa') and, as far as I'm aware, have random pieces of Lithuanian, rather than German, in their speech. Knowing Prussian history, that would make a lot of sense.

[mitsunemarufuji.livejournal.com]

Just if you're interested, in the german fandom some people also believe he speaks an accent that resembles saxonian, but I believe many dialects would work for him, so you better stay with the explanation in the other posts XD"

[my random opinion: Since some people also believe in the Prussia = Brandenburg theory, which I'm personally not too fond of, he could also speak berlin-brandenburgian (lol, can I write it like that in english?)]

I would say that he uses normal german with a really, really slight russian dialect (if we follow the "hetalia logic").

[juandalyn.livejournal.com]

saxonian
LOLWHUT XD
You mean, as in modern-day-Saxon? Aaaah no, that's booked for Saxony himself XD

[mitsunemarufuji.livejournal.com]

I do.
You surely know the german dub of American dad.

[Info for non-german speakers: In the german dub, Klaus speaks saxonian, a german dialect]

And on YT are/were a bunch of vids with his audiotrack and Prussia.
And many people liked the idea.
That's where it orginated it from I think XD

[atiko.livejournal.com]

that resembles saxonian

Whaaaa--? B-but... how does that make sense...? 8D
In my headcanon Prussia speaks Standard (after all, that's what Southerners identify "Prussians" by), but if he wants to he can put on a mean Berlin accent like you said.

Außerdem spricht er Asideutsch wie ein Profi, weil er weiß, dass es Österreich in den Wahnsinn treibt. :D

[mitsunemarufuji.livejournal.com]

Well, it's more for fun than really historical. XD

It somehow wouldn't work out, yes, because Saxony and Prussia have a kinda hateful relationship I think, so it's a bit of nonsense XD

This got a little long......Part 1

[din-84.livejournal.com]

Oh dear where to start.
I have so much to say about this but all my source links are saved on my home mac, whilst I'm sweating in Japan fighting with this weird keyboard.

Anyways I will try my best.

Languages I think Prussia (still) speaks fluently

German (durrhurhur)

Well kinda obvious.
The Teutonic Order was a German Order which... you guessed it spoke German.
They also roamed through parts of later-to -be Germany until in 1211 Andrew II of Hungary granted Burzenland in Transylvania as a fiefdom to the Teutonic Knights.

Of course the German back then was not the same German that we use now, it evolved like all languages um but I think that is also obvious.

To get into the various dialects would go to far, I'm very sure Prussia spoke various versions and dialects of German through the ages
Among them East Central German, High Prussian, Standard German and High German.

Latin

Prussia most definitely spoke Latin, since the Teutonic Order only answered to the Pope and to no "earthly" lord (that was until Prussia was like "fuck dis I'm protestant, no wait now I'm a calvinist oh you know what fuck dis religious shit SECULARISM FTW" ehem ) and Latin was and is of course the official language of Vatican City.
A number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy still speak it fluently.
Not only that but Latin was a lot like English today... used as a common speech between people of high education from different countries until well into the 18th century (when it was replaced by French for a short time, we'll get to that.....)

Latin courses still play a part in todays German school system (which like many other things was originally installed by Prussia).
Prussia introduced a type of secondary school with a strong emphasis on academic learning during the humanistic movement of the 16th century.
The first general school system to incorporate the Gymnasium emerged in Saxony in 1528, with the study of Greek and Latin added to the curriculum later; these languages became the foundation of teaching and study in the Gymnasium, which then offered a nine-year course. Hebrew was also taught in some Gymnasia.

Today, German Gymnasia teach English or Latin as a compulsory primary foreign language, while the compulsory second foreign language may be English, French, Latin, Ancient Greek, Spanish or Russian.

The German State of Berlin, where secondary education normally begins in the seventh year of schooling, has some specialised Gymnasia beginning with the fifth year which teach Latin or French as a primary foreign language.

I myself sat through 11 painfully long years to get my Great Latinum.

Re: This got a little long......Part 1

[mitsunemarufuji.livejournal.com]

Eh, one question.
Since English is also required in any other german school type, wouldn't it be "English and Latin"?
I mean, English is normally thaught anyways, and Latin is extra for Gymnasia, or?

Re: This got a little long......Part 1

[idraax.livejournal.com]

I like the way the Hebrew bit is bolded. What exactly is the Gymnasium?

Part 2 languages... languages everywhere

[din-84.livejournal.com]

French

Well this one goes not only for Prussia but also for Austria and Italy

(I personally don't know about the Spanish royal house tbh but since their had a connection to the Austrian royal house I'm pretty sure they spoke French too, someone please enlighten me)

French was the language of the European royal houses and it was to be expected for everyone at court to speak it.
That doesn't mean some kings didn't change it from time to time.
Frederick William I for example was not a big fan of French and changed the court language to German, his son Frederick II (yeah the old man) was like "bitch please" and changed it back to French when he became king.

In October 1685, King Louis XIV of France issued the Edict of Fontainebleau, ordering the closure of Huguenot churches and schools which led to a surge of harassment of religious minorities in France.

Only nine days later, Frederick William issued the Edict of Potsdam, which gave French Protestants safe passage to Brandenburg-Prussia and allowed them to hold church services in their native French. The immigration of about 20,000 religiously suppressed French Huguenots triggered a wave of migration not only by French Protestants but also by the persecuted of Russia, the Netherlands, and Bohemia.

By 1700, a significant proportion of Berlin's population was French speaking. The Berlin Huguenots preserved the French language in their church services for nearly a century. They ultimately decided to switch to German in protest against the occupation of Prussia by Napoleon in 1806-07.
Even today you can still here the influence of the French immigrants in the Berlin dialect: “seefe”, derived from the French phrase “c'est fait”, which means “it works,” and similarly, “Maller” is derived from “malheur”, and “pö à pö” from “peu à peu" etc.

Today French is taught as the first foreign language (instead of English) in German (former Prussian) states that border France, these states are Saarland, Baden-Würtemberg and parts of Rheinland-Pfalz.

Part 3 I'm done now I swear

[din-84.livejournal.com]

Which dialect do I think Prussia speaks today?

Obviously Berliner Schnautze (colloquial term for Berlin dialect):

Berlinerisch, or Berlinisch, is a dialect of Berlin Brandenburgish spoken in Berlin.
It originates from a Mark Brandenburgish variant. However, several phrases in Berlinisch are typical for the city, indicating the manifold origins of immigrants, among them the Huguenots from France.
(thank you wiki)
This makes the most sence historically, obviously he speaks High Standard German just like Germany during meetings.

What is the most conspicuous difference in accent between Hochdetusch and Berlinerisch?
The famous “ick bin Berliner!” At least in Hochdeutsch, the convention is to say “ich”, with the “ch” sound coming from the back of the throat, as if with a bit of a cough. Berliners, on the other hand, say it with a harder “ck” sound, just like in English words with a hard “k” sound.

Another example is the tendency for Berliners to replace the final “s” in many common words. For instance, “das” is often just pronounced as “dit”, “was” like “wat”, etc. Changes like these beg where the line between a funny pronunciation and whole new words, of course.

Many words ending with “er” also tend to lose that, turning more into an “a” sound. Think “Wassa” instead of “Wasser.” The “r” sound tends to get dropped elsewhere as well, especially when they're speaking fast.

Many Berliners also tend to pronounce hard “g” sounds as soft “j” sounds at the beginning of the word. For example, “gibt” is often pronounced “jibt” or “gehen” as “jehen.”

As for examples of specific changes, “auf” is often pronounced more like “uff” and “einmal” like “eenmal.”

Grammar Differences:

Berlin, ich liebe dir! Look weird? It should: in Hochdeutsch, one says “ich liebe dich.” The difference is that Berliners use the indirect object instead of the direct object for many verbs, the dative case instead of the accusative. There's no real difference in meaning; just a Berlinerisch quirk.

Another important difference is that many Berliners tend to use the dative case instead of the genitive case, both when denoting ownership and for prepositions and other constructions that normally require the genitive. For example, “Wegen dieses Freundes” becomes “Wegen diesem Freund”, and taking into consideration pronunciation differences, into “Weg'n dies'm Freund.”

Berlinerisch Slang:

Just like in English, slang is very sensitive to the era in which you live and the social groups in with which you interact. You won't catch too many Portlander hipsters of 2009 saying “groovy,” for instance. So, bear in mind that slang is a volatile thing in a language, and without living there, there's no way to keep up on the changing nuances.

Some examples: a dumpling is usually referred to as “Klops,” and the verb “schauen” (to look) is replaced with “kieken.”

There are also many slangy terms that Berliners will use to refer to locations within their own city, names you won't be finding on any map. For example, the “Alexanderplatz” is often referred to as just “Alex.”

Then there is the influence of French words I already talked about.


Ok I think I'm done here.

(http://s135.photobucket.com/albums/q159/Fehdin/GIF%20PARTY/?action=view&current=coolstorybro.gif)

You could probably say that Prussia/the Teutonic Knights also Spoke Hungarian, Polish, Lithunian and Russian during times they had close conncections/lived/belonged to those countries but yeah, I will not get into that, I think I made you read enough today.

Re: Part 3 I'm done now I swear

[idraax.livejournal.com]

This is fascinating! Are you studying language movements by any chance?

[juandalyn.livejournal.com]

If we follow Himaruya's logic he would speak German or Latin from the beginning on, the Teutonic Order was (or still is) a German medieval military order. Because of the high religious thoughts behind that I think Latin would be something Prussia knows, but maybe not speaks (honestly guys. Since the Romans vanished Latin has been a written language, except for prayers in the mass or maybe in the Vatican).

On the dialect, that's my headcanon. He had a strong East Prussian accent before he moved in with Brandenburg. After that, his dialect started to become smoother, he probably adopted some parts of Berlinese.
Since I follow the headcanon that he becomes the GDR after WW2 he uses typical East German phrases (like "Nietenhose" instead of Jeans or "Broiler" for roast chicken).



Peter Frankenfeld's weather report is still one of the highest quality sound examples of East Prussian on YouTube (imo). You can hear East Prussian around 1:46. Nuscht nich neij :)

[juandalyn.livejournal.com]

Now, looking at languages Prussia knows...

I'm pretty sure he knows French. Old Fritz nearly spoke French only and it was trés chic to speak French in the court (that's for many German/Austrian courts).
Also. I think Prussia understands Polish. Not only did many Polish people live on grounds that were ruled by Prussia, he was ruled by Poland one time as well.
Also, I don't know if he speaks them but I bet he could understand Lithuanian, Estonian and Latvian as well.
Russian. Yes, as I follow my headcanon that would be quite obvious. Not only if he becomes Kaliningrad after the fall of the GDR, but also because Russian was for East Germany what English was for the Western world - the second language.
Oh, and probably English. Because English is the universal language today. The quality and accent are discussable, though.

[juandalyn.livejournal.com]

Oh, okay, maybe I should add something to Latin. It has been a dead language for I don't know how long but okay, clergy and some of those oh-so-intelligent academics had fun using it for normal conversation.
But seriously, I can't see Prussia speaking it (except for in a mass or to the pope). He was a knight, he was born to fight!

[din-84.livejournal.com]

Ahhh German dialects you gotta love them <3 (I still nominate Hessisch Babbele for most unsexy accent ever)

In my head canon he annoys the hell out of Germany mimicking the different dialects.

Oh dear I totally forgot to mention English in my post, but I think that of course like all European nations he speaks good English, I mean it had been the pre-dominant communication language for over hundred years, enough damn time to learn it.

[xxmapsyrxx.livejournal.com]

I am someone who knows nothing about this topic, but I would like to thank everyone who provided information. I like a community that is not only fun, but educative as well. THANK YOU.

[din-84.livejournal.com]

Thank you （＾Ｏ＾☆♪

Speaking for myself I had lots of fun looking into the subject again after having thought about it for quite a while some months ago. Posts and discussions like this are what I love most about the fandom ♪(*^^)o∀*∀o(^^*)♪

[taylorphantom.livejournal.com]

As xxmapsyrxx said, thanks to everyone who posted here~ This is why I love this fandom, I just got learn some pretty cool things I prolly would never have know if it weren't for Hetalia :D

And as for my thoughts, I'm no language expert and I don't know any German so I can't say anything about dialects, but I can throw in what I think about Prussia's variety of languages, other than German. Headcanon says that the nation-tans do not simply know languages when born and they do not have a nation-tan language either. Just as any human, they need to learn languages.

Prussia, having started off as a religious order during the Middle Ages, would definately know Latin, seeing as it was also the lingua franca for a good long time. And he'd know Polish as he was a Polish duchy for a while. Also possibly Hungarian, Lithuanian and other Baltic Languages. French for sure because Old Fritz loved the language and it was the language of the European courts. And then of course Russian because I go by the headcanon that after Prussia was abolished, he was East Germany during the Cold War, and is still alive today because he is officially Kalinigrad, even if he refuses to accept this and avoid his duties because of his hate of Russia.