After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the victorious Soviet soldiers brought from Germany not only memorable trophies, but also various words. Fraulein is one of them. Let's find out how it is translated from German, what it means and in what cases it is appropriate to pronounce it.
What does the word "Fräulein" mean?
Translated from the language of the descendants of blond Aryans, the term in question means "girl", more precisely - "lady".
Furthermore, the word "fraulein" is also a polite form of address for unmarried ladies. It is analogous to the noun "frau" which is used when speaking to married women. It should be borne in mind that for forty-year-old unmarried ladies, the appeal "fraulein" would be inappropriate, although logically correct.
In a conversation, it is permissible to use this word by itself or put it before the name and surname of the person with whom the conversation is being conducted.
For example:
- "Today in the park, Hans saw a charmingFraulein".
- "Fräulein Margaret looks amazing today."
- "Please, fraulein, introduce yourself".
It is worth noting that this pronunciation of the noun is not entirely correct. From the point of view of German orthoepy, it is correct to say "fraulein". However, in Russian, the form with "o" has long taken root, despite its fallacy.
How to spell Fraulein in German
In the original language, this term would look like this: Fräulein.
It is capitalized because it is a noun. And in German, words related to this part of speech always begin with a capital letter. Even when they mean common nouns.
One more value
In pre-revolutionary Russia, at the court, there was a junior female rank - the maid of honor.
Unmarried ladies of noble birth could hold such a position. They made up the retinue of the female half of the imperial family. The main reason why noblewomen aspired to become court ladies-in-waiting was the opportunity to find a worthy husband of noble birth. For the first time in the Russian Empire such a
The mentioned word "maid of honor", although not similar to "fraulein", was also formed from the German treatment Fräulein. Therefore, it can be considered the second meaning of the noun in question.
By the way, those courtiers who spoke Russian with a German accent often called maid of honorFraulein.
The position appeared in 1744 and lasted until the Revolution of 1917. In lower social circles, during the existence of the monarchy, this word was practically not used.
