ICK BIN EEN BERLINER

Ick bin een Berliner

Today I am gonna talk about Berlinerisch - the dialect spoken in Berlin and its surroundings. Some aspects of the dialect:

1. Pronouncing CH as CK

First of all, if you ever heard the dialect spoken in Berlin, you must have noticed that even the simple word "ich", that means "I" in standard German is pronounced in Berlinerisch as "ick".

2. Pronouncing G as J

Many words using the letter G in standard German change this sound to J.

genau - jenau

groß - jroß

Sorgen - Sorjen

gut - jut
gehen - jehn

3. Special vocabulary

As any dialect, Berlinerisch also has its own special vocabulary:

Das weiß ich nicht - Dit weeß ick nüscht

die Gesicht - die Fresse

der Frisör - der Glatzenschneider

Das ist mir egal - Dir is mir wurscht

das Brötchen - die Schrippe

weinen - plärren 

ein Glass Bier - Molle

schlafen - pennen
warte mal - wadde ma
was - watt

4. I love you!

In standard German you'd say "ich liebe dich" using the accusative case, while in Berlinerisch you simply use the dative case for this - "ick liebe dir".

An example of Berlinerisch being used