youth language

German youth language or Youth Communication (German: Jugendsprache) describes the linguistic patterns and characteristics used by German adolescents. Speech patterns vary by age, era, and location. According to Helmut Glück (2005), the term is not strictly defined. Heinrich Löffler refers to Jugendsprache as a transitory non-standard language (“Lebensalter-Sprache”: “age-language”) with attention to the time period. In German and West European philology, Jugendsprache is considered to be both a non-standard language and a sub-form of the standard language. These characteristics and patterns can be categorized as typical or atypical. Orality and informal language are characteristics of German youth language. Researchers claim that its main function is achieving separation from adult speech and to signal group solidarity. Language publisher Langenscheidt has designated the German youth word of the year annually since 2008, although there is some doubt whether the selected words are in actual use. The selections included terms like Gammelfleischparty ("spoiled meat party", a party for people over the age of 30) or lost (an English word used by Germans with a meaning identical to English).