'Vowels to blame' for German grumpiness

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An American professor has developed a theory that Germans are bad-tempered because pronouncing German sounds puts a frown on the face.

Professor David Myers believes that the facial contortions needed to pronounce vowels modified by the umlaut may be getting the Germans down in the mouth.

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The umlaut is the two dots which modify the sound of the vowels a, o and u - dots which many foreigners omit altogether, but which give the German language three alternative vowel sounds.

Saying "u" - one of German's most recognisable sounds - causes the mouth to turn down.

But the English sounds of "e" and "ah" - expressions used in smiling and laughing - have the opposite effect.

Professor Myers told the Royal Society of Edinburgh on Thursday that frequent use of the muscles which the brain associates with sadness can adversely affect a person's mood.

"Research has shown that the facial expression of a person can affect how funny they find cartoons," The London Times quotes him as saying.

"Even when speaking, movements of the muscles in the face can change a person's mood.

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"This could be a good reason why German people have got a reputation for being humourless and grumpy," said Professor Myers, who heads Psychology at Hope College, Michigan.

He has just finished a sabbatical at St Andrews University which involved using electrodes to manipulate the muscles of the face - research which, he said, bore out his theory.

A spokesperson for the German Embassy said: "We can give no comment on this as it is too scientific."