Sprachgefühl

Sprachgefühl is a German term that can be translated as “language feeling” or “sense for language.” It refers to an intuitive sensitivity to how language should sound and be used in different contexts, including grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and style. The concept is widely used in linguistics, language pedagogy, and discussions of language culture.

In linguistic usage, Sprachgefühl denotes tacit knowledge that speakers possess about their own language. It enables them to judge sentences as grammatical or ungrammatical, natural or awkward, and to select appropriate registers or idiomatic expressions. It sits alongside notions of linguistic intuition and implicit learning and is often contrasted with prescriptive rules that attempt to codify language usage.

Development and teaching approaches emphasize that Sprachgefühl arises largely from exposure to real language use rather than formal rule memorization. It can help learners acquire a natural-sounding competence, though explicit knowledge about grammar and vocabulary remains valuable. Some writers distinguish Sprachgefühl from Sprachbewusstsein, with the latter describing conscious reflection on language rather than tacit sense.

Empirically, scholars study Sprachgefühl through acceptability judgments, corpus analyses, and psycholinguistic experiments that probe perceptions of naturalness and correctness. The concept acknowledges variation across dialects, sociolects, genres, and individual experience, and it is often invoked in discussions of descriptive linguistics versus prescriptivism.

Although primarily used in German-language contexts, the term has broader relevance in cognitive and sociolinguistic discussions of intuitive language competence, language acquisition, and how speakers navigate stylistic choices in everyday communication.