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The language of East Germany has undergone distinct semantic change since the arrival of the Soviet occupation forces in 1945, especially in the areas of politics, philosophy, and social organization. This is evident in governmental publications and in the shortwave transmissions of the official broadcasting station. Four sources of the change can be determined: the influence of classical Marxism and socialism, the influence of Leninism and later developments in Marxist-Leninist theory, the influence of Russian terminology as developed in the Soviet Union, and the influence of governmental and party institutions. Almost all of the change in East Germany has been based upon state philosophy. The most frequent type of change is a narrowing of semantic field accompanied by a considerable increase in frequency of usage. Different terms may, thus, be applied to overtly similar acts performed by socially and philosophically opposed groups. (VM)