Turkish‐German language: an innovative style of communication and its implications for citizenship and identity

Abstract

In multilingual communities speakers capitalize on the co‐existence of two or more languages by using innovative styles of communication within and across national, ethnic and social groups. The examination of such speech styles is particularly intriguing for Turkish and German, two languages that have been in close contact in urban areas of Germany for more than 40 years. This article traces the development from the Guest Worker German (Gastarbeiterdeutsch) of the first migrant generation in the 1960s to the emergence of a Turkish‐German variant (Türkendeutsch) among young Turks and Germans in Germany today. The discussion of Turkish German touches on issues of citizenship, identity, language acquisition and maintenance, and the appropriation of ethnic varieties by speakers of the dominant language. The article first provides some background information on immigration to Germany; second, it discusses the role of language in the interaction between Germans and migrant workers in the early stages of migration to Germany; the third section examinees the verbal interaction among young Turks, and between Turks and Germans; and the fourth and final section explores how society has responded to the development of an ethnic variety of the German language.