German spelling in the late 19th century

In the 19th century there was still no binding spelling for the entire German-speaking area. In 1876 the 1st Orthographic Conference took place, at which pioneering resolutions to reform and standardize German spelling were taken. However, it was difficult to implement, not least because of prominent resistance (including Chancellor Otto von Bismarck ) to the innovations that had been decided. The school ordinances issued in the next few years in Austria, Bavaria and Prussia differed significantly from one another. The Konrad Dudens dictionary, published in several editions from 1880 onwards , got the public used to the spelling favored in 1876. In this way, the Orthographic Conference of 1901 was finally able to give most of the decisions of 1876 general validity and even go beyond them.

The spelling of the fourth edition of the Duden (1895)

The following text partially contains quotations from the Duden dictionary from 1895. The spelling of these quotations, apart from the word examples, is done here in the current spelling.

Th

The following seven originally German words must be spelled with "th":

Thal, Thon, Thor (this and that), Thran, Tear, do and door

as well as their derivatives.

Example: Thaler, clay, foolish, treacherous, tears, active, subject

Further words and their derivatives can be written with "th" or "t", whereby the spelling with "t" is favored:

Thau / dew, tea / tea, tar / tar, part / part, dear / dear, Thibet / Tibet, animal / animal

The F sound and ph

There were originally German words with ph:

Epheu, Rudolph, Westphalen

In "completely naturalized" foreign words, ph was also written:

Elephant, Elphenbein, Phasan and Sopha

However, these spellings were already out of date in 1895 and as such were only partially included in the Duden .

C.

The letter C was in many foreign words, but inconsistently:

Accent, Accord, Accusativ, cedieren, Centimeter, Cession, Citat, Cylinder etc.

But:

Adjective, commerce, commission, correction, etc.

Both spellings:

Case / case, cement / cement, censorship / censorship, center / center, concept / concept, concert / concert, corpus / corpus etc.

Other important words with a different spelling

Literature (in Bavaria: literature )
Wage (now scales )

About the S-sounds

Where the spelling requires a single or double s (i.e. no ß ), you usually write ſ .

Example: ſehen, Vaſe, wachſen, Erbſe; Waſſer, I leave (but: Leave it!); Drechſler (because of turning), Baſler (because of Baſel).

Write s on the final word and syllable .

Example: what, house, wax; Dresden, Potsdam, Santa Claus.

The following applies to the connection of the S-sound with other consonants.

Before t and p there is usually ſ .

Example: Faſten, Knoſpe, Kiſte, Pfoſten, Haſt, Luſt, Roſt, he lets, reiſt, toſt, Haſpe, Weſpe, Riſpe, knuſpern; but: oilcloth, Christmas fir (because the syllable ends)

Likewise in foreign words.

Example: Diſtanz, Deſpot.

s precedes k in the syllable .

Example: grotesque, brusque.

Only in the case of compositions whose first part starts with s and is easily recognizable as an independent component of the composition does this s remain in front of t and p .

Example: distribute, dispute, transport.

Against: ab :trakt, abſtrus, abtinenz, apphalt.

In “tranpirieren” and the like, the s of the first component ( trans ) is dropped before the ſ of the second ( ſpirieren ).

In connection with a second s there is always ſſ if there is no ß .

Example: weſſen, diſſonance (although dis + ſonance).

An s can never appear twice.

ſ is retained at the end of the line even when the word is broken.

Example: Waſ-ſer, weſ-ſen.

Before consonants other than p , ſ and t , the S sound usually belongs to the first syllable and is therefore denoted by s .

Example: mask, bosket, convalescent, discus

However, if it can be seen from the etymology or the sound laws that the S sound belongs to the second syllable, it is also written here with ſ

Example: register, obſkur.

Meeting of three identical consonants

According to the Prussian rule, one writes:

nevertheless, third part, noon, stinging nettle, shipping

In all other words in which three identical consonants come together through a combination, all three maintain their place.

Example: sheet, swimming master

The Bavarian rulebook prescribes that in all words in which three identical consonants would collide due to the combination , one should be left out.

Example: soundhole, sheet, Kammacher

but: return, protective tariff

About the word breaker at the end of the line

For the word division at the end of a line which reads main rule : One separates by speech syllables , d. H. after the pronunciation, not after the derivation.

Example: love, not love; Ending, not ending.

Deviating from this rule, compound words are broken down according to their components, even if this division is not in accordance with the pronunciation

Example: was-um, vor-aus, her-in, observing-observing, completing, interest, atmosphere, microscope, dissonance, dispute.

As special rules to remember:

If there is only one consonant between two vowels, it always comes on the second line, if there is no composition, as in the examples above.

Example: step, read, sew, penance

The consonant connections, which only designate one sound: ch , sch , ph , th , cannot be separated and therefore also come on the second line

Example: Customs, deleting, orthography

Likewise, dt is to be treated where it forms only one sound

Cities, relatives

If there are several consonants , the last one is on the second line

Example: hard, load (also laſ-th), water, knock, armpit, anchor, finger, hope

ck is dissolved in kk :
hook-ken

If there is an r or m before pf , pf belongs to the second line
steam, carp

Likewise, after the preceding consonant, st is on the second line

Princes, cheap, sultry

(Never separate S and T, because it hurts them terribly!

ST is not separated even if the whole school building is on fire!)

Bavaria and Württemberg always allow pf , Bavaria also sp , st , ck and ß to appear on the second line without being separated. Both always leave ng unseparated on the first line
Fingered, hope-en

About the hyphen

(according to the Prussian rule book)

If a word segment belonging to several consecutive compounds is used only once, a hyphen is used instead of it.

Example: Field crops and garden crops, vowel length and shortness (in this case, lower case letters are used)

The hyphen also occurs

in the composition of proper names and in adjectives that are formed from such

Jung-Stilling, Reuss-Greiz, Lower Silesian-Brandenburg Railway

in confusing compositions

Higher Regional Court President, State Debt Repayment Commission, being-for-yourself

Note: In other cases, too, consideration for the clarity of the writing makes it desirable to use the hyphen.

Example: Closing-s, stretching-h, earth-back to the difference between earth-backs and the like. Ä.

About the apostrophe

(according to the Prussian rule book)

When sounds that are usually designated are suppressed, their place in Scripture is designated by an apostrophe.

I love him. I'm not sorry. Heil'ge

However, such a mutilation of the word form should be avoided in the usual prosaic presentation, with the exception of the pronoun "es"

is it, is it

If the preposition is merged with the article governed by it, the apostrophe is not used

am, beim, unterm, zum, ans, auf, ins

In the case of proper names, it is not necessary to separate the s of the genitive with an apostrophe

Cicero's letters, Schiller's poems, Homer's Iliad

On the other hand, in proper names that can not form the genitive after s , the ratio of rejection is indicated by the apostrophe

Voss 'Louise, Demosthenes ' speeches

About the Trema

Ä, Ö, Ü instead of Ae, Oe, Ue

Tremata are only used sporadically in German writing. They are only allowed to avoid misunderstandings. They should never be used to separate a and e , o and e , u and e , not even at the beginning of capitalized words. Here, according to the official rulebooks, the umlaut is now denoted by Ä, Ö, Ü instead of Ae, Oe, Ue ; Ae, Oe, Ue must always be two-syllable, and it can e.g. B. Aeronaut can only be read as four syllables.

Otherwise, the trema is only used when incorrect pronunciation is to be prevented, for example in Aï ( sloth ) or Alëuten , but not in rhomboid , atheist . The Trema is not regulated in official rulebooks.

Point rules

The Duden from 1895 makes no statement about point rules; as these were not changed in the reform of the German spelling of 1901 , the rules from the Duden dictionary from 1919 can be used.