Where to find some examples of contemporary German dialect, that was the question. The self-imposed exclusion of Bavarian (to be linguistically exact: one of the variants from modern day Bavaria) meant we had to extend our search. But we found a useful example which included the compound from the title, "Ih-Mähl".
For your entertainment, here are two sentences which represent German in use today, in 2014: Dä hot´s jo mit usha Muddasproch. Do durer sisch rischdisch gut ouskenne, kimmt int Fännseh un int Radio un duht do schwätze wie ihm de Schnawel gewachs is.
Would you recognize this as German, aside from just guessing because of the Umlauts (ä)? The web does help when you search for Muddasproch (3 results) or Fännseh (4 results).
We forgo translating the sample sentences, they are merely the backdrop for "Ih-Mähl", which means email.
In the German language class for foreigners, you will, however, learn that email in German is Email**. Teachers may accept the spoken "Ih-Mähl" because they think you are trying to say Email, but they'll reject the written "Ih-Mähl.
We have heard of people writing everyday personal emails in a German dialect, happily keeping local culture alive. It only takes a few emails to get used to the built-in spell-checkers underlining pretty much every single word.
New technology and concepts will seep into a language, no matter what. The added "no matter what" is meant to encourage French officials to stay vigilant in their struggle against anglo words.
Other interesting variants of German can be found on the web, for instance, at the small German publishing house Edition Tintenfass. How about The Little Prince in Old High German?
The observation that languages mix merrily despite censorship efforts is by no means new, and if you would like to read more, check out Uriel Weinreich's Languages in Contact.
** Of course, there is an awfully long German term, something like elektronische Post, but even people who rant about too many "foreign" words in the German language will say "email".
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