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Glite Dictionary
🔤 Changing to German form 🇩🇪 Making more German
Germanization

Germanization

1 8.9
Changing foreign words or names to sound and look German
  • noun
  • /ˌɡɜrmənaɪˈzeɪʃən/
  • Specialized
: germanización
  • Linguists study the Germanization of borrowed terms to understand how language evolves in multicultural societies.

Examples

  • The Germanization of many place names in Poland reflects the historical influence of German culture.

  • Polish immigrants who settled in Milwaukee came mostly from Polish lands under German rule at the time of forced Germanization.

    Academic text (1994)

  • As part of the Germanization process, foreign words are often altered to fit German spelling rules.

Surface Forms

Germanization singular
Germanizations plural

Morphology

Germanization = Germanize (transparent) = German + ize + ation

The verb 'Germanize' denotes 'make German', and forming the noun with '-ation' is a regular, easily recognizable nominalization.

Etymology

Germanization comes from German plus the endings -ize and -ation, where -ize means 'make' and -ation means 'the act of'. So Germanization of words is the act of 'making' foreign names or words fit German sounds, spelling, or grammar, like putting them into German 'clothes' so they are easier to say.